Swann - 8-Channel, 8-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Professional Security System

I am amazed at the clarity of the cameras even at night. They are not very good in total darkness such as a warehouse but outdoors with security lighing off the building they are amazing. We even got to watch thieves stealing material out of our yard about a week after installation but unfortuniately could not get a shot of the licence tags. Police said the clarity of the picture was professional quality and would be a help in watching the area for that vehical

Based on the store display/demo & my I-net research, the product seemed perfect for my residential use. System was well packed and all components were included. The Ops Manual is quite extensive but requires technical knowledge especially when connecting system to your home network and when trying to remotely access w/ laptop and/or smart phone. Installation of the cameras are very simple except the crawling thru the attic. Highly recommend 2-person installation. Got system to work on 1st try but have subsequent problems: 1) Camera #5 not reliable; lots of "video loss" events; 2) Cables that come with system way too short so had to buy addidtional Swann cables that are higher guage but expensive; 3) System's been operating 1 week then left on a trip. Accessed the system remotely w/ laptop successfully for 8 days albeit same problem with camera #5; others ok. Day 9 unable to log into system anymore. Called support; Tech said I had to be at home to help diagnose problem????? I might have 1 lemon camera and maybe a bad DVR as well. Since I can still access my smart thermostat and other network peripherals, I know my router, etc. are ok so it must be a Swann system problem. Trying to stay positive after making this investment but I'm still on my trip and now more concerned about security. This system was supposed to ease my mind about my property but it really hasn't. They told me I had a 1-year warranty so I'm hoping my issues will be resolved. y'all be careful!

EXCELLENT THE CAMERAS ARE VERY GOOD INDEED NEED MORE DISK SPACE FOR THE SYSTEM

I want to write a review to help others pick a security system as other reviews have helped me. First I thought 4 camera's would be enough but for only $200 more I figured the the extra wire and camera's would come in handy if one were to break in the future. This paid off as soon as I was setting up the system. I found that the camera view is not as wide as I thought it would be so the extra camera's did come into play. The system came packaged very well and I was happy about that. Very easy setup with the DVR and cameras. Not as bad as I thought. I did have a problem with one camera not working and called Swann and they were very helpful. Sent it back and they sent a new one out to me in a week. So far, so good! Now as far as the DVR. I had to change the location to place the unit due to the noise it made while running. It's as loud as a desktop computer. Now if someone broke into my home it would have been found with little effort. So having to move it to a better location it changed my wiring plans greatly and I will need longer wire. It comes with 60' but I will have to buy the 100'. Make sure it's the correct Swann wire if you buy extra. The camera's have motion detection but I've noticed that sometimes a camera will not detect motion. Not sure why but my other camera's pick up the miss. The camera's are smaller than I thought and remind me of a small landscape light. With the infrared the image at night is good. You will see the red infrared on the camera if your looking at it straight on at night. Now the fun part, setting up the Swann app to get your views from your ipod, phone or computer from a different location. It is very hard if your not good with computers like myself. Downloading the app and viewing it on your home network is a piece of cake but had to setup an external port 85 & 9000 from my router. Called the tech people a few times and they took control of my computer to set up DVR and make sure the external ports work. They were very helpful. A lot of people will complain about the app and the setup but I think any security system has to be setup basically the same way. My friend paid professionals to set up 4 camera's for $1,900 and he also had connection problem that took hours to work out. I only had the system with 5 camera's setup for a few weeks and I would recommend it to anyone. Only time will tell if it was truly worth the money.

Well, I have only installed 2 of my 8 cameras so far because I spent hours trying to get my iPhone to connect. I called support the first time and was basically told to deal with it myself but I called back today and got a very nice lady named AJ whom I gave control of my computer to by way of the internet and she configured my router and settings and had me up and watching my cameras on my iPhone and iPad fairly quickly. THANK YOU AJ! Now this weekend I can have fun installing the other 6 cameras. Having your iPhone to view the camera when on the roof installing them helps out tremendously as far as directing it in the right direction.

This is a good camera system if you don't mind spending hours crawling through the attic. Customer service is great, I wouldn't have been able to set the system up without them. Also, there is sound.

This is an upgrade to my last DVR security unit....when I say 'upgrade' that was not a misnomer. Although the complete unit with 8 cams was a little up there on cost...it was worth it. The ROI on this unit was very short as it already paid for itself with a recent incident. This unit has many 'usable' features that a consumer would want to aid in protecting their family. Take a look at the features on the spec section or directly from the manufacturer. Good stuff and no regrets