Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’ll start by saying that I expected more from this system than it seems capable of delivering. I’ll start with the good stuff. The cameras themselves are fine; they do all the things you would expect of a basic 1080p fixed camera system like motion recording, night-vision, even audio recording. There is a digital zoom feature that is included that allows you to get closer to the action being recorded but its heavily pixelated when the subject is not in bright lighting. The camera plastic casing is solid enough to stand up to the outdoor rain they will need to endure for those use cases and while not the most attractive cameras on the market the blocky rectangle form factor is functional, not stylish. The cameras are easy to attach and adjust requiring nothing more than a Philips head screwdriver, but what frustrates me about them is that Swann is not using power-over-ethernet to wire them up. Ethernet makes for a much easier installation with fewer wires which this system does not offer, instead this unit ships with a split wire audio/video via BNC-like-coax connector that is both bulky and limited to the 60 foot cables included in the box. Worse, the audio wires require a separate power supply, achieved using a 4-way splitter. In other words to use the maximum supported 8 cameras with this system you need 4 plugs in the wall to supply power: two for audio, one for a monitor and a fourth for the DVR directly. It’s a terrible mess of wires that could have easily been avoided by switching to power-over-ethernet. I’ll argue most home users should opt for wireless cameras overall, but when you are looking for a wired experience, not having POE in my mind is a problem. When I think about the types of places where this kind of wiring makes any kind of sense I think of drop-ceilings and small rooms/offices, not multi-story homes. Which brings me to the next challenge: the DVR. The DVR offers HDMI and VGA connections which I love because it means I can dedicate a super cheap old monitor with VGA to this system instead of needing to spend extra on a nicer monitor. The DVR unit comes with a two button mouse with a scroll wheel. No keyboard. This is because the entire menu system, including all keyboard related commands, are driven from the left button mouse click and an on-screen-virtual-keyboard display. The left mouse button is the equivalent of the enter button, and the right mouse button serves as the back button. The scroll wheel was only useful when using the digital zoom. Adopting to a single mouse button experience was annoying and I found myself cursing far more than I should have when trying to open and close the dozens of configuration and on-screen displays available within the viewing system. I would have preferred to have a keyboard available, but then again that would have been one more piece of hardware. The DVR physical unit is compact enough to be stored on a desk or table but it’s not designed to have a monitor or any other heavy objects stored on-top of the unit. What attracted me to this system was the local DVR footage: I needed offline storage and had no interest in paying for a cloud subscription service. In fact my intended use case for the system is in a building that has no Internet access which presented its own set of challenges. Bottom line: At least for the initial setup you need to plug the DVR into ethernet for a wired internet connection during the initial setup. The system expects to be permanently connected to the Internet so that it can leverage NTP time servers, perform firmware updates, and connect up to the mobile app so you can use your phone as the primary viewing experience. But the system also fails to support modern 2-factor authentication for SMTP email systems, in other words if you forget your password for the admin pages and want to use a Gmail address for password recovery, you’ll need to lower your Google account security to Google’s “Less secure app access” in order to receive the email. Once the initial firmware update is complete, NTP can be disabled, and you can skip email recovery options, so the system will function without Internet, but of course you lose all remote access to the camera feeds, which in my case was acceptable. Overall I think Swann has missed the mark for most home use scenarios.

It is nice to see a camera system where a company get it right and I feel like Swann is on the right track with this camera system. I will begin by saying that I was supposed to get a 4 camera system, but received and 8 camera system instead. Opening the box, I found the 8 cameras, the DVR box, 8 60 foot cables, and a power supply with splitters, ethernet cable, mouse, an HDMI cable, and stickers. Right away I was extremely impressed with the cables. I have stayed away from wired systems because the first one I tried had a power adapter for every single camera in addition to the signal cable. It drove me nuts because every power adaptor needed an extension cord to use it. Finally someone has decided to incorporate both power and signal into one joint cable. This is a game changer for me as now I can get rid of the wireless system I currently use but needs to be charged every 2 weeks. Installation is pretty easy if you know how to use a drill and a screwdriver. All the mounting hardware you need (plastic mollies and screws) are included in the box. You need to mount each camera to the wall and make accommodations to secure the run of cable how you see fit. I used a combination of wire mold and zip ties to secure my cables as best I could. Once all of my cameras were installed (I used a couple indoors to cover entry doors) and my monitor and DVR hooked up I was ready to go. I have to say I was very impressed by the performance of this system. The cameras all have a fantastic picture, clear as a bell. I downloaded the app for checking in on my system on the go. It's not the best app, but it functions and I only use it when I am away. You will definitely have to play with your sensitivity settings. Out of the box, it will pick up cars and whatnot, but you really need to fine tune it to pick up people correctly and to identify the zones you want your cameras to mostly pay attention to. Once I got the video settings dialed in, I tested the audio of each of the cameras. I must say that the audio capture is one of the best I have found. It really does a great job of picking up the sound you want and not background noise. The night color night vision is very good! All in all, this camera functions extremely well. The picture is crystal clear, the sound is very good, and the DVR system is easy to use. They need to work on their app a little but it is serviceable. I have no complaints about the Swann 8 channel, 8 camera system and have no reservations on recommending it to anyone.

This is a very good security camera system. I’ve had two other systems in the past from different manufacturers, and this has by far the best picture quality among all of them. The night vision is decent, but it's typical of these type systems where the lack of color and resolution at night are lacking. I like the playback interface for recorded videos. It's easy to search for recordings and play them back with slow, fast and frame-by-frame controls. The user interface is intuitive and clean. The Android and Windows desktop apps work well. One thing I do wish that this system had was a simple web interface. It does actually have a direct web interface, but it requires an old, outdated video plug-in that is no longer supported in modern browsers – it will not word in Edge, and requires very dol version of IE, Chrome or Firefox, which pretty much make that feature useless (hence my 4 star rating instead of 5). Overall I like this system and would recommend it to other home or small business owners looking for a security camera system.

I recently had the opportunity to use the Swann Enforcer 8 channel Indoor/Outdoor security camera system. I have had it in the box for about a week because the wire management and installation seemed a little daunting (especially with the amount of boxes in the box). After overcoming some fear and reading the instructions, I was able to test them out and have used them for about 72 hours now. While there were some impressive features, there were also some drawbacks to the system that were worth noting. The setup process for the camera system was straightforward, and I was able to get 1 of the cameras running in about 45 minutes. The DVR does come with a card that gives you a phone number and code to call in for professional installation. When I called, I was told by the customer service that it is a 2 camera minimum and the prices range between $100-$200/camera. I would highly recommend this option, especially when considering how difficult the wire management will be for the less technically inclined consumer. This leads into the most one significant drawback. The DVR needs to be hardwired to a router, and if I wanted to connect to the internet wirelessly, I had to purchase a $30 Wi-Fi antenna separately. This adds an extra expense to an already pricey system and made it less convenient to use. Another drawback was that the system's motion detection was not always accurate. It sometimes failed to detect motion when someone was in the detection zone, and other times it triggered a false alarm if a bird flew past the field of detection. This could be a significant drawback for those relying on the system to keep their home secure from actual threats. The camera's video quality was impressive, with 1080p resolution and a 90-degree field of view. The infrared night vision was also impressive and allowed for clear footage in low-light conditions. However, the system's True Detect heat-sensing technology was not always accurate and triggered false alarms, which could be frustrating for homeowners. Despite the drawbacks, the Swann Enforcer camera system has some impressive features. Specifically, the Swann Security app for Android. It is very comprehensive with a clean user interface that allows you to pair devices, Dropbox DVR recordings, add security plans...etc. The siren and flashing lights were are also excellent deterrents for potential intruders, and the weatherproof design made it suitable for outdoor use in harsh weather conditions. Overall, as someone who has only used the device for 2 days for testing purposes and has not yet put it into act during a real emergency, I think the Swann Enforcer 8 channel indoor outdoor 1 way security camera system has some impressive features. However, the drawbacks, such as the need for a tedious self-installation, hardwired connection and the inaccurate motion detection, should be taken into consideration before making a purchase.

Swann - Enforcer 8 Channel, 8 Camera Indoor/Outdoor 1080p Video, Wired Surveillance CCTV, once I read all of the information that came with the system it was easy to set up I think the hardest part of it for setting up the system was running the wires but once that part was done everything fell into place they say in the paper work to hook the system up to a HD TV but it will work with a 1920 x1080 monitor so long as there is an HDMI port.The picture that the cameras produce are very clear both day and night. Motion sensor is sensitive which is a good thing, the light are bright enough to make it look like day, Once everything is up and running the program that is on the dvr has a lot of features to go through which is easy to follow which the on screen instructions. The hardest part in my opinion was getting the online part done as it took three try's on getting the system to accept my email address and password and the same thing for the app on my phone but as I did say it easy once everything is setup I would 100% say this is worth getting. I would recommend it to anyone

I was able to get this system installed in less than 2 hours start to finish. Basically, I took everything out of the box and ran all of my cabling to the front of the building and the back of the building in the attic and drilled holes to get the cable from the attic to the outside mount of the cameras flush against the building and then connected everything powered up the DVR and connected a display. Set everything up on the on-screen display and within minutes had all the cameras up and operating. I had a previous camera system that used cat5 cables for power over ethernet. So basically I was able to just pull the new wiring using the old wiring as a guide. The video on these cameras is extremely clear and the app on the phone as simple and quick to install. Definitely would recommend this company to anyone looking for great quality cameras. I have actually set these up for several of my customers as well and have been really happy. My customers have had a few of the cables get chewed by squirrels and some of the cameras also have just gone out unexpectedly and contacting swan customer service. They have replaced the cameras that were faulty and covered under warranty and my company had replaced the squirrel chewed cables. Great company. Great value. Highly recommend!

Very clear picture and rest to set up Only downside is the app, lag time in notifications, and some times the channels will cross feed. Actual DVR recordings are very clear.

This system seems to be a really great alternative to expensive monthly monitoring from a third party. You really only need RELIABLE internet. In windy conditions, there may be some interference such as there was for me the last two days. It looks good, cameras feel a little cheap, but they work. It is wired, also, I thought it was wireless. Being a single woman, with no experience hooking anything like this up, it sat in a box for a while until my brother was able to help me install it. The wiring kind of made it difficult to spread the cameras across the whole house / garage, so I only installed two at the most visible points outside and one inside the garage where the cables would reach. There seems to be enough space on the DVR for what I need, only been up for a few days, but still plenty of space left to record. I'm thinking that if I review the footage and clear space maybe once per week, it'll be fine. Good enough picture, haven't used the colored lights yet, tested the sound and it is pretty loud! App interface is fine, this is the first system like this that I've owned, so I'm not sure about how to review the tech specs with nothing to compare to, but I'll review again after it's been up for some time.

Getting everything setup from a hardware perspective was easy (outside of actually running wires of course). You almost have to try to improperly connect everything. In regard to the software (the DVR unit), when I first booted up the unit and went through the setup I had a good 45 min wait while the firmware upgraded. After that completed, it was easy enough to get going. There is no paper manual, so unless you've used one of these before, I suggest you spend the time to download the user manual and watch the multitude of videos that Swann has posted online. The audio setting in particular with this unit is *important*, as it's not defaulted properly to use the camera microphones. I don't know if I'd say the actual interface is intuitive, but I've had to deal with worse. If you're really going to get into proper use though, setting up schedules for certain actions etc, you should plan on a day (or more) of digging deep. I did call into support to get some help at one point and that went poorly at best. Their support is setup such that you don't wait in a queue, but get a call back. Nowadays when everyone (and every cell phone) is setup to screen unknown numbers, that ended up with me calling 3 times before actually talking to someone. Once I did, I was provided incorrect information even after providing device model numbers.

The cameras work pretty well, and it's all pretty much "Plug and Play", and the mobile app is OK, but try downloading videos and then playing them on your computer and you will waste hours of your life. They seem like compatible video files MP4's and AVIs but I can't get them to play on either my Mac or Windows with the standard video playing/editing apps. You have to download a specific app to play the downloaded files, which I can't get to work on my Mac. I'm not even sure if once that happens I'll be able to do what I want which is cut down a 20 minute video to a 20 second video (the only 20 seconds the perp was on video) or even have a format to share with others that they can actually watch and no who to look out for in the neighborhood. Worthless.