A couple of years ago we installed and tested the Swann AllSecure650 2K Wireless Security Kit. As impressed we were with the overall performance of that kit, there were a few specific areas left open for improvement. One of them was range.
The new Swann MaxRanger 4K seems to have that concern more than adequately solved with a max range of up to 200m. And there are a few other great features I want to wax eloquent about.
So let’s begin with highlighting some of these features.
Scaling Up
Yes, if your property or business is scaled up from the golden standard of yesteryear – the quarter acre block – you also need to scale up the reach of your security system.
I had already problems with the WiFi reach of all the security cameras I’ve tested if I put them in the desired spots around the house on our 11 acre property.
Will the MaxRanger be making that crucial difference with the dedicated 900MHz channel?
The claims are that with this wireless technology connectivity will be maintained up to 2000 feet (some 600 metres). Direct line of sight, of course.
Or, as Swann prefers to say: the coverage is about 20 times that of conventional WiFi cameras.
So, the short answer is Yes but how far we can make it stretch, we’ll find out in our Stretching It section.
Sensors
The MaxRanger is a top-of-the-wozza product, not just as far as range goes, but also with the super-high quality of the Sony STARVIS sensors.
They will produce brilliant 4K video quality day and night. They can even turn night into day (up to 30m) with colour vision.
Solar, Spotlights, Speech and Sirens
Here is another bunch of features, the main one of which is the integrated solar panel.
No more separate solar panels or batteries that need to be swapped out.
This is a great improvement, particularly when the cameras are far away and mounted high up.
Two cameras of my older system I had mounted up high and every couple of months I need to get the long ladder out…
Of course, the placement of the new cameras would need to be considered more carefully, particularly if it is under the eaves of a house or on the south side away from direct sunlight.
The camera units have a large battery capacity so cloudy days should not present too many problems.
Only long-term testing would bear that out so you may expect some updates to this review over time.
There are TrueDetect+ heat and motion sensors present as well.
In the past I had some problems with moving tree branches or even their shadows triggering a recording.
Not with the MaxRanger.
Spotlights and sirens are nothing new on most security systems and could be great deterrents.
Security
As already mentioned, TrueDetect+ senses heat, motion, people & vehicles to trigger mobile alerts and recording, as well as activate spotlights & sirens.
And with the ability to speak remotely with delivery people or yell at unwanted intruders, you’ve got all the tools to deter crime around your place.
Sundry
There are various other things to note about the MaxRanger system.
The Hub has a removable battery (same one as in the AllSecure650 Kit) that will provide 5 hours of juice when mains power goes down.
Backup of video can be done via the provided 64Gb microSD card or via the Cloud.
Initially, I thought the internal backup capacity was a bit stingy, given the much more ample 1TB hard drive of its predecessor.
But, frankly, it’s probably all you need as footage will be overwritten as time goes by.
Swann reckons you’d be able to get a full year’s worth of recordings onto the included storage card.
And there’s always the upgrade to a bigger microSD card (up to 256Gb) and the Cloud option (with NO monthly fees!).
You could also plug in an additional USB storage device into the base station.
Stretching It
The max distance I could take the MaxRanger was the 225m from my office to the furthest paddock corner. Very respectable!
And there were large trees in between. So the claim of 200m range is justified.
The only problem was getting a 4G signal on my phone there…
For practical reasons I installed the 2 cameras a bit closer to the buildings where the AllSecure650 kit was already doing excellent guard duty.
It’s a pity they can’t run off the 1 hub as the earlier cameras are not compatible. (deducting 10 points of the total score here!)
The two hubs are very similar in design and utilise the same backup battery.
Software
Ah, the software!
I wondered if the software experience would be better than the previous iteration.
The initial install is promising: power to the Hub and ethernet cable to my router.
After setting up the admin and password I connected a TV to the base station via HDMI.
The cameras are already paired so live view on my phone is instantly available.
It’s just when you go a bit deeper into the software to create schedules and fine tune the settings that I experienced some frustration about the clunkiness of the software design.
One such thing: On my brilliant ultrawide 3440×1440 monitor Swann gives me the display options of 4, 6 or 8 camera views.
So, I got 2 small screens of the active cameras and 2 black boxes with VIDEO LOSS.
There should be some better display options.
Another bugbear: you need to log in every time you want to see a live view of the cameras on your monitor or playback recordings.
Snags
The placement of the Hub might be affected by the requirement to have an ethernet cable between the unit and your router.
In my case, I had to re-jig things a bit to make it work because of the need for the cable.
It would be nice if this would just work off the WiFi mesh system throughout the house.
I’m told Swann is working on a solution for this.
Sales Price
This is the painful bit.
Super high quality doesn’t come cheap but your property or business needs the best protection you can afford.
The unit, as reviewed with 2 cameras, sells for AUD949.
And a single add-on camera is 398. A 4 cam kit is $1699.
The system can handle 8 cameras in total.
Summary
I love the fact that an Aussie company of origin (now owned by Infinova, a US/Chinese company) can come up with innovative tech.
We here at DRN appreciate that with Swann we won’t have to have the same concerns about some of the (in)security cameras that are sold in Western countries.
Some brands are even banned…
And footage can stay on the local hub if you don’t want to send it into the Cloud.
Key selling points we love: extreme long range, super high quality video, tough and elegant design, extremely well-built, integrated solar, simple setup.
So, head on out to the big appliance stores and check them out.
Also have a look at the Swann website.
Finally, DRN thanks Swann for making this test unit available.
