Zmodo 1080p HD NVR WiFi System 4 HD Outdoor and 4 HD Indoor 1.0 Megapixel Wide Angle Wireless Security Camera with 500GB Hard Drive, Intelligent Recording, Smart Motion Detection, Web Access

I have installed several different systems including Q-See, Swann, Defender and Foscam. All required some port forwarding and networking savvy. The only networking I had to complete with this system was plugging the NVR into my router. The app manages initial camera setup so all you need to know is the password to your 2.4Ghz band router and the SSID should have no spaces. If your router signal is named Get off my LAN it should be renamed to Get_off_my_LAN.If you plan on using a 3rd party service like Tinycam or IPcamviewer this NVR/cameras will not work without some solid tinkering. I emailed zmodo for old firmware, went through the installation process and was able to get video through Tinycam, but it was only low def. I didn’t feel like setting up RTSP streams for HD viewing so I boxed everything up, printed the return label and there the package sat for days.In my dealings with zmodo online chat I asked them why they bricked so many users’ cameras with the firmware update that locked out 3rd party viewers. They stated port vulnerabilities and users not setting passwords left hundreds of thousands of cameras ‘open’ to the internet hence the new firmware update. I was furious. I didn’t care that some idiot out there forgot to set a password and Vladimir Putin is now watching their dog make sweet sweet love to Teddy Ruxpin. That’s on them. I had a mixed bag of cameras watching my house and used Tinycam as my monitor/DVR since it could upload motion to google drive.Then I started thinking about these cameras and NVR sitting in the box. My current system is over 4 years old, 960H, hardwired with huge bullet cameras. I started thinking about the network vulnerabilities zmodo proactively took action to correct. Granted the update wasn’t rolled out in a professional manner as Zmodo should have warned users (or given a choice) that their devices 3rd party capability will be removed, but at least they did something.Conversely, Foscam hasn’t released a firmware update (for my cameras) in over 2 years.I rolled the dice, setup and installed a few cameras to check their quality and I was very impressed! As another reviewer stated the power cord needs electrical tape on the coupling connection if mounted outdoors as they are glorified phone chargers. Four of these cameras have wide(r) angles and the fact that they block bright spots in frame, like the sun or reflections, was a great feature. Testing at night I found the IR cut very good at rendering images clear and crisp. I could even read the plate number on my car! I decided to jump in 112%As other reviews have stated just make sure you plug in all the cameras before your initial setup or you’ll end up having to delete and reinstall devices through the NVR/app. Speaking of the app.... it has a nice GUI and seems like more thought went into the app than the NVR itself. I DO NOT like the face that I can only view one camera live at a time but found that if you drag down from the top menu, the app will refresh and update the images. The neat thing that also sold me on this kit was the ability to review old NVR footage from the app. Holy crap what a great feature that my other systems never had available.The NVR itself isn’t that bad - it has basic features but in my mind needs a GUI update. I like being able to choose between “intelligent recording” that only records on motion or set to record constantly. One complaint I do have is how the NVR recognizes cameras and assigns them channels. Upon initial camera setup the NVR assigns channel numbers which corresponds to how it’s displayed on your monitor. If you want a camera displayed on a certain channel in a certain order you have to log the IP address/channel of the cameras then delete and reassign them manually in the NVR. Not a deal breaker, but click and dragging the frame would be much easier (Q-see, Defender and Swann have this feature).Motion detection is a big deal for me. I am a fan of definable motion grid areas that limit false notifications and recording. However I found the amazon listing isn’t straight forward regarding motion detection of the dome cameras. I confirmed with Zmodo chat that the end user cannot define any detection zones on the dome cameras. This means they will record ANY motion detected like your dog walking by, paintings falling off the wall, Uncle Ted’s poltergeist or confirming aliens exist. The motion detection is fairly accurate across the zmodo board (bullet/dome/cube). Defining the motion grid area is done in the app and I haven’t noticed many false positives once that step is completed. I usually keep the area height short, fairly long and at human height, simulating hikvisions “cross the line” feature.I contacted Amazon and explained the dome camera issue to which they offered a refund but I asked for a discount instead. The customer service rep offered a goodwill refund of $55! I purchased this during a lightening sale for $219. So I ended up spending $164 on this kit after the refund.FYI, this NVR can only handle 8 cameras. The app however doesn’t limit the number of cameras so if I wanted I could actually set up the additional 4 cameras but I’ll probably sell them on ebay.All in all after I got over the lack of 3rd party compatibility I’ve been impressed with this system. It’s a relatively simple set up, just follow the instructions and you’ll be okay.

I installed myself this set in a rather large 3 story house made of brick and mortar. Not the tipical American house. It is working properly and I discover great possibilities as days pass. I installed during several days, starting with the adequation of the wifi installation that needed an upgrade and also needed some extensions of the network to get to rather far places of the house. That was a tip I read from a previous buyer, and it was good that I heeded it because I did not have connection problems with my wifi. I did buy a dual 5G and 2.4G wifi equipment. Surprisingly, this NVR system and cameras are not 5G. They just work with a 2.4G wifi. They should update this as this amount of video should be handled better by a 5G network.I followed the instructions which are not good at all. I had some trouble making the initial set up and linking the NVR to the cameras all in one room. I had to check several times the poor instructions and I had to chat with the online help, that was actually helpful, although they showed me that they do not know the app very well. In any case, I was able to make the connection after a few hours. All cameras and NVR were working properly.After that, amother day, I started installing the cameras permanetly in place. It is not so difficult because of the fact that they are wifi so they do not need to be connected to the NVR by cable. However, the cameras do need electricity, so that you have to install them in place and get electricity to each one. The 4 outdoors are very easy to install and they are very sturdy. The others are OK also. Image quality is very good and full color with light or durting the day. Image quality is not so good at night or in darkness. It is usually Black and White but it is ok and the most important thing is that motion detectors work anyway.Using the app was problematic at first because there is no manual or adequate help for it. At one time I ask in the chat line for guidelines to playback videos on the app, and they told me that it was impossible, that I had to do it conecting the NVR to a TV set. But as a matter of fact, you can playback with the app with no problem, something that it is wonderful. You can also record video or take photos from any camera or playback directly to your phone or tablet.Another excellent feature is the motion sensors. You get in your cell phone a message that indicates motion in a camera, and the time, so that you can go and play back the exact moment with no problem. It is important to choose the area of the image where you want the motion sensor to work.None of those things were adequately explained in the manual or in the app. You have to learn by yourself. One thing that I had to ask in the chat is that to use the NVR with a television set, not the app, you need to connect a mouse. That is written nowhere!One draw back of the app is that it is impossible to change the configuration of house, groups of cameras, etc. You can change the name of the camera but they are all stuck in one group and it is not possible to arrange them in a certain order or simply move around different groups. Maybe there is a way, but I have not found it.Overall, I highly recomend this product as it does cover the needs for it in the first place.

Great for home surveillance

Entrega a tiempo Muy fácil la instalación, muy amigable la APP, y el servicio al cliente 24 hrs en la APP EXCELENTE!!!

Las cámaras pierden la señal WiFi, es necesario reiniciarlas frecuentemente