Anlapus 8CH 2K 5MP PoE Security Camera System H.265+ NVR with 2TB Hard Drive and (8) 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Camera for Home Surveillance, 100ft Night Vision, Metal Casing

Product is very good and easy to install! Good customer care , we had a problem with one camera and it was sorted out, replacement sent.A really good product and seller

Love the product, seamles to set up and easy to use. Had an issue with the wiring and camera but customer service was great and resolved it very quickly. Would definitely recommend this product.

The Anlapus 8 channel 5MP PoE security camera system is quite a comprehensive kit and looks great on paper with it’s 2K video and H.265+ video compression, but does it live up to it’s looks?The NVR is small and compact with 3 LED indicator lights on the front panel to let you know that it has power, has a network connection and whether it is recording, along with a front USB port (handy for saving video to a USB stick).The rear of the NVR has an Audio RCA in and an RCA out, 2 USB ports, an RJ45 Ethernet port (to connect the device to your network), both HDMI and VGA ports for connecting to TV screens or monitors, a power socket and on/off switch and 8 x RJ45 network sockets which support Power Over Ethernet (to power the cameras). The NVR comes pre-installed with a 2 Terabyte Seagate Lite Hard Disk, which is specifically designed for 24 hour video surveillance systems.The supplied cameras look very nice and have an all metal construction. The 5MP lens and IR LEDS are obviously located at the front and have a little protection from sun glare and rain via a small hood. The camera mount is also metal and easily adjusted by slackening the screws to allow the ratchet to move, before tightening them again. A single cable exits the rear of the camera mount and splits into 2 (1 cable for the Ethernet cable and a second cable for an optional 12v power connection).***** In The Box *****1 x PoE NVR8 x PoE 5MP Cameras1 x 48v 2 Amp Power Supply1 x Kettle Type Mains Lead4 x 60 Feet Network Cable (With Waterproof fittings)4 x 100 Feet Network Cable (With Waterproof fittings)1 x USB Mouse1 x HDMI Cable1 x Short Network Cable8 x Security Window Stickers8 x Camera Drilling Guides1 x User Manual24 x Screws and Wall Fixings***** Installation / Usage *****If you have installed a CCTV system before, then this system is pretty much the same as any consumer system to install.I would definitely recommend connecting everything up in the comfort of your living room to make sure everything is working as expected before running cables and drilling any holes.Once you’ve checked everything, mount the cameras in your chosen locations using the screws and wall fixings provided and then run an Ethernet from the rear of the NVR to each camera. Being as this is a PoE system, you do not need to worry about running any extra power cables as the camera will take it’s power from the Ethernet cable.Once everything is connected, power up the NVR and after around 30 seconds the system will boot up and present you with a simple installation wizard where you can set the time. On the main screen, right click the mouse to access the menus and settings. You will need to add the cameras to the system using the IPC Channel Config option – using the search function to find the cameras and then the add button to add them to the system.There are various settings in the menu which allow you to set recording schedules and set alerts for motion etc. You can search and view recorded video as you would expect and can also back it up to USB stick. You can also set up email alerts and if you use the mobile phone app, you can receive push notifications.The smartphone app is quite easy to use but fairly basic. It does let you view live video, as well as recorded video and to take snapshots.***** Conclusion *****Once again I have mixed feelings about a CCTV system.The live and recorded video is very good, both during the day and at night time and I really like that this system uses the far more efficient H.265+ video codec, which saves space on the hard disk.I also love the look and the build quality of the cameras and the fact that they are PoE makes installation much easier and neater than having to use multiple power supplies. I also like the viewing angle of the cameras – it’s fairly wide, but not to the extreme.I should also add that the lengths of supplied Ethernet cables are also really good and should be long enough to install the cameras where you want them, even in quite a large house.However, I have a few negative points.There isn’t any way to turn off the cloud log in side of things (which to me opens up a big security hole). When viewing my cameras remotely, I like to log in directly using DDNS and not via a cloud. In the settings for the NVR, there is no option to even add DDNS settings (such a basic thing that I’ve found in all CCTV systems I have used (even those NVR’s which cost around £30).I also found that when you enter the playback screen from the right click menu, there is no way to search different days/cameras/alerts etc. There is a search option, but you have to right click then enter the Main menu and then search – which seems a bit of an odd way of doing things.Unlike most other systems I have used, the options available seem to be quite limited – even the Advanced settings menu only has 3 options - reset, import/export and Exit (hardly what I would call advanced).I was also unable to add my existing IP cameras to the NVR. The NVR just would not search for them, even though they are ONVIF compatible and entering in the IP address of the cameras manually wouldn’t work either, which is extremely annoying.I was able to connect the supplied cameras to a PoE switch that I have connected to my network instead of directly to the NVR and it did still managed to connect to them ok.Also slightly annoying, but not really a problem is that half of the sealed packets of fixings were missing the screws.I do like that Anlapus have supplied the kit with a Seagate Skyhawk hard disk, as this is specifically designed to record surveillance video 24 hours a day, so a bonus point here.And I also like being able to set up multiple user accounts and being able to limit each account so that they can only view certain cameras or recorded video etc, which is handy for family members to be able to see the cameras but to stop them from changing any settings.So for me, once again I’m left feeling slightly disappointed with a reasonably expensive CCTV system. Perhaps my expectations are a little high, but I kind of expect simple things like being able to search in the playback screen and being able to turn off the cloud log in and be able to access the system using DDNS – all of these things are available on cheap NVR’s that cost around £30.The system itself is pretty good in terms of video, so i’d have no problem in recommending it in this regard, but for me it is lacking in a few areas for the price that it costs, hence my 4 star rating.