Security Systems- Pro's n Con's of different brands

[Cirt]

Good morning all.

I'm not the most tech savvy person even though I'm a maintenance fitter. Through some recent events I've decided to get another security system, I've not had one at this property for several years.
I went with swann because I felt familiar with the brand. I'm actually looking at selling up and moving soon which made my choices limited as I don't have WiFi (living in the mountains) and I didn't want to run cables.
I was told of the main brands easily purchased, swann was the only wireless WiFi system that works as a stand alone system. Apparently the other WiFi systems will not save footage without being connected to the internet. Happy to be corrected.
The swann maxranger4k does work as a stand alone system not being connected to the internet but you don't have full access to all the features advertised. I have had it set up for almost a week now and thought I would let you guys know about my experiences.

 

[Cirt]

My first struggle I guess has been no real instruction manual came in the box. After contacting swann only pdf version available and they can not send me a paper hard copy.
It seemed to be very easy to set up initially. I could get all cameras installed and connected to the base station very easily.
I do also like that the base station has a removable back-up battery if I lose power (can happen frequently here) even for only a few minutes.
Trying to find appropriate sensitivity settings without chewing through the camera battery has been not terrible but definitely recommended add-on solar panel for high traffic areas.
The inbuilt intelligent recognition software seemed ok at first (uses heat signatures along with shape, size and movement of objects) cars, people, ect so that a moving branch or the neighbours pet doesn't trigger the motion sensor.
It could be operator error (probably is) until I finish going through the manual I won't be sure.
I find a lot of inconsistent activations. ie; the same person moving along the same place or path regularly will not always trigger the sensors.
I couldn't manually record until I connected an external HDD, at this point I can't delete or transfer any footage without being connected to the internet and swanns app.

That's it for today my brain hurts
If anyone else has the same system, do you have any helpful hints or tips

 

[Administrator]

I use wired cameras from a Chinese brand "Dahua". They have much better tech than anything you'll get from a lot of other brands.

The reason I use wired cameras is it's too easy for criminals to block WIFI signals, rendering the cameras useless. Also with wired cameras I can record the stream 24/7 not just when events occur.

The cameras I have use built in AI to recognise objects (vehicles or humans) meaning I get virtually zero false positive alarms. Also the NVR system I can detect and recognize human faces on two of the cameras. This means I put all my family and some friend's faces in the database, and they won't trigger alarms, so if I ever get an alert from the camera it's always from someone who doesn't live in my house.

I'm also in the process of hooking up an alarm bell to the NVR for night time surveillance. The alarm bell will trigger if a person moves across boundary lines during the time I normally sleep. Meaning it will wake me and give me advanced notice of an intruder.

 

[Cirt]

Thanks, that's what I had in mind as the last system i put in place about 8 years ago (at a different property). But for ease of last minute installation as a reaction to a potential immediate threat I took the easier option. This choice is not ideal as I'm finding out after the fact. Don't get me wrong, this wireless system definitely has its merits, especially on rural properties with independent structures away from the main residence. Maybe I need to realign my expectations.

I do miss having the fail safe of 24/7 recording. The facial recognition is not available without being connected to the internet, I love that you can load trusted people's faces to the database.

The MR4K camera has lights and sirens that can be set to activate within scheduled time frames which is handy, aswell as the buzzer/alarm at the base station but it's not that loud so your idea is great.

Another frustration with this system is, when manually accessing a camera on its own it times itself out even when I'm in the middle of attempting to do something like zooming in to capture a single picture.

Anyways thanks for the ideas n feedback