Defender Ultra HD 4K (8MP) DIY Wired Security System with 4 Weather Resistant, Night Vision Cameras, 1TB Hard Drive and Remote Mobile Viewing

I upgraded from this company's 1080 cameras to these 4K, and I regret getting rid of my 1080 cameras. The field of view is much smaller with the 4K, so I am limited to 65-70% of the 1080's field of view. The solution from Defender was to set the resolution to 1080, which seems counter-intuitive to having 4K cameras in the first place. I still cannot see as wide a field as I did with my 1080 cameras, but it is better. Now that I have done that, however, there are pink lines that run down the side of the picture. I reported this to Defender 2 weeks ago, and I have yet to receive a resolution, and the rep is non-responsive. The DVR UI is also far more quirky than the 1080 DVR I had, so they have work to do on stabilizing that. If you already have the 1080 cameras, keep those and give Defender time to improve this product.Update 6/18/19Found out from Defender the DVR in this system only supports 4K on the camera that is in connection 1. So I assume from that, the other cameras can go to 1080 at best, and I can find that information nowhere in the description. It seems counterintuitive to sell a 4K system with 4 cameras if only 1 camera can display at 4K.Update 6/27/19Received a new DVR and a new camera. The new camera took away the pink line on one of the old cameras, but there are 2 other cameras with the same pink line when set to 1080 resolution. The 4K resolution is not useable for me because it reduces the field of view significantly, so I cannot see the area I can see under 1080, which in turn makes me regret the decision to go with the new 4K cameras. I am still waiting on the explanation for why I cannot see nearly the field of view under 4K as I can under 1080. I have included new photos to show the difference. The 1st photo is 1080, the 2nd is 4K.Update 7/3/19Still have 2 defective cameras that the company now says I must return before they ship new ones. So, for 2 weeks I will go without cameras until they ship the new ones. They also still will not tell me why the field of view on the 4K cameras is dramatically less than my Defender 1080 cameras, and why the picture quality is poor when the 4K cameras are set to 1080. Adjusting the star rating because this product was obviously not fully tested and needs improvement.Update 7/17/19So the cameras were replaced, but the pink line still shows up on the left side of the cameras unless they are positioned "just so." I attached a plastic piece to shield the left side, and that resolves things for the most part, but it looks tacky. There is no issue with reflections or glare, as it is always on the left side no matter where the cameras are placed. The company had no answer for this other than to provide new cameras. The picture quality has been resolved, as has the field of vision part.Update 7/23/29Still have not heard back from the company despite being told they would contact me with 1 business day on 7/17. Due to the fact I first told them about the issue over a month ago, I assume they have no idea what is causing the issue. I now regret getting rid of my old 1080 cameras that worked just fine.Update 7/25/19Support told me they are unable to reproduce and do not have an answer. I guess I continue to wait. I originally reported the problem on May 31, so approaching 2 months without a resolution.Update 8/10/19Still no response from Support. If you are looking for a company that backs up their products, this is not the one. 2.5 months is FAR too long to sit on a support request. The only time they send updates is if I bother them with 3-4 emails, then they finally respond with a message saying they do not have a fix yet. Ridiculous. I am going to file a BBB complaint, as they refuse to escalate the matter to management, and the 2 managers I have contacted (after finding their information on the web) do not respond.Update 8/12/19So after basically harassing the company, they have identified a problem that affected a "small portion of our customers," and they will send a fully functional system when it is ready. There is no timeline for the fully functioning system, so that makes me think it is not just a small portion, or they would send a new one right away. They have agreed to refund the purchase price, then will send a new system when ready. Obviously this is not a perfect resolution, but at least it is something.Update 8/23/19So the refund that was supposed to be processed in 1-3 business days still has not arrived, and of course, there are no updates from the company 11 days later. I am adjusting my review to 1 star because of the inordinate amount of time I have spent dealing with this nonsense and the incredibly poor customer service. It has taken 3 MONTHS, and I still have no acceptable resolution.Update 9/18/19Finally received the refund for the cameras, which was not the outcome I wanted. The company claims the problems I experienced only affected a small portion of customers who purchased these, yet they cannot provide a working set to me. So, basically, I assume they mean not enough people have noticed the problem, so those customers do not have the issue. At any rate, I have a set of free cameras, which is nice, but the company cannot provide fully functioning cameras. At this price point, I would expect much better. If I had not given my 1080 Defender cameras away, they would be reinstalled.

I wanted a surveillance system with hard-wired cameras, with high resolution, and night vision, that I didn't have to pay a monthly fee. This system is awesome and the price was very reasonable for what you get. The 4K resolution provides excellent hi rez detail, even in the dark. The hard drive DVR box records close to a month of continuous recordings on all 4 cameras that I can easily access via my phone or tablet. Even when I'm away, the app lets me monitor real-time, or back in time to view and extract video recordings from any camera.The cameras each only come with BNC coax 65ft cables, and for at least 2 of my cameras that wasn't long enough (2900 sq ft home), so I ordered extra standard 100ft cables off Amazon. The system does not come with a monitor to connect to the DVR box. You will need this (or a TV) to setup and operate the system locally. I found a cheap 10" LCD HDMI monitor that sits on top of the DVR (see photo) in my network closet (I don't turn the monitor on unless I'm in the closet using the system). I can do everything I need to with my phone or iPad, literally from anywhere. I also have a back-up battery in my network closet to keep the cable modem, DVR & cameras alive and running in the event of a power outage.I have a single story home, so wired cameras are more reliable and not difficult to install. A 2-story home would be a bit more difficult depending on where you decide to mount the cameras and run the wire.Bottom line the system and software are rock solid and are a great value, with none of the wireless camera setup issues that everyone is reporting for wireless cameras.

I bought 4K 4 camera system for $220. For the price system so ok. Quality of material is good . Had the system for few months now. Mobile notification is ok. You can get alert on iPhone and see the history of alerts and video. The system has lot of built in feature. It could get complicated for newbie. Feature I missed is the wide angle and the audio capture from camera. The angles On camera is too narrow for security system cam. The system alerts too often. It is not smart enough to detect the clouds and sun light change and not alert. You basically get alert for even smallest of light change in frame.Again, ok for the price.Also there is no way to output 4K video as the receiver hdmi output only supports 1080p. So not sure what good it does to most people having 4K cameras.

This is not my first Defender USA product. We have two others, this one was to replace a much older model that will be relocated to provide coverage at the farm, as it is still working fine. Simple set up. You really can't plug things in wrong. Easy to understand interface, and even a software tool to help you quickly change some settings on your router to allow for remote viewing on your phone or PC without knowing how to change router settings yourself.This is a wired system, so it requires a little more work to get the cables run, but you also have the peace of mind knowing that you won't have a blank signal on one of your cameras at the worst possible time.The cameras are small yet powerful. The night-vision functionality has to be seen to be appreciated. A one terabyte hard drive allows for a lot of footage to be saved before it gets recorded over. Of course that sort of behavior is up to you, I find it simpler to just let the thing run all the time and then to start recording over older footage automatically. You have plenty of time to get any needed footage before it is overwritten.I am sure you will find this product a great entry into the world of home security. You will find yourself pulling up your cameras on your smartphone frequently, not because of alerts, but just because you can. Nice to see if a package is on the porch and to call home and ask that it be brought inside. Defender has had the best pricing on these sorts of systems that I have ever seen. I have not had a bad experience with them, and continue to recommend their products and buy from them too.Thank You!

The notifications to my cell phone don’t work and they said there are working on it and have not contacted me in a month. Very disappointed with that.

Coverage area was not good as compared with other 4k cameras. That is the only reason of return