Yale Smart Home CCTV XL Kit

Straightforward to get going but as with all cable cameras, cable runs and installation key.Was able to send a video clip to friends of an accidental clip of their vehicle by a delivery driver. Quality perfectly adequate.

Setup and installed myself simple if you know a few basics about wiring and have a drill. The cameras have a connection close to them so if you run cables externally get small junction boxes to run the cables through to protect the plugs.

I bought this kit to increase my family's comfort and feeling of safety whilst at home. I consider this kit alongside many others available online and found that this Yale branded kit was pretty much the same price as all of the other alternatives being offered by lesser-known brands. I chose this kit because I feel like Yale is a big name in the security industry, who aren't going anywhere anytime soon, which gives me the reassurance that their support and their App would be around for years to come.The kit was well packaged, with plenty of protection, and immediately I was surprised by the build quality of the cameras themselves. In my mind, I was expecting the camera bodies to be composed of a hardened plastic, but they are infact made of a much more rugged metal material. The DVR looks pretty modern and low-price too, unlike the other, much wider and more plain-looking DVRs that are available on the market.I opted to install this kit myself (with the help of a handy friend), and this went pretty successfully (as pictured). We used our own plugs, but we used the screws that came with the kit (although plugs are also included). We decided to run the cables outside of the building, which meant that we had to use IP-rated junction boxes to protect the connections between the cameras' cables and the extension cables to the DVR. We then pinned the cables and ran them into the attic, where we originally positioned the DVR (the cable lengths were fine for this). This also required us to run an ethernet cable from the router, outside the house, and into the attic, although there are other ways of achieving this (such as mains adapters).It quickly became apparent that the DVR had become very hot in the attic (it was a very hot day), with the metal base plate at the bottom becoming far too hot to touch. This concerned me quite a lot, as I considered this to be a significant fire hazard, so have since bought some CCTV extension cables, and run the DVR down into a cupboard in one of the upstairs bedrooms. This seems much more reasonable, and I am now far less considered about any potential fire hazards.When setting up the kit, I did accidentally download the wrong app (Yale Smart Living Home instead of Yale View) and was getting an error message when registering. I called the support telephone number for Yale, and the lady who answered was able to resolve my query within seconds (it much be a pretty common mistake!). With this resolved, I was able to set up the App with ease.Both the mobile app, and the software on the DVR are packed full of features, although sometimes I must say I get a little bit lost when using the software. This isn't helped by the fact that the documentation is a little light or difficult to find. However, I have since been able to find the settings to adjust the image on a schedule (in terms of brightness, contrast, etc), set motion detection ranges (on the app), add privacy overlays (on the DVR), and much more.I think I need to work on the motion detection settings a little bit, as I'm getting a lot of notifications on my phone, but this is just a small details that is on me. Furthermore, I found that at night, the night vision can be pretty poor if the built in IR has too much of a reflective surface to bounce off. This had the affect of casting the rest of the image into darkness. I have since adjusted the camera position to be pointed less at the wall, and this image balance seems much better.Overall, I am very please with my purchase. It is reasonably priced, is of good build quality, was simple to install, and many complaints are minor and few in number. I would certainly recommend this product to others, and I highly doubt they'd be dissapointed.

December / DVR box no longer working, returned for a refundUpdate 3rd November 2020 / I finally did get this system up and going and was surprisingly impressed and planned to do a detailed review based on its operations and limitations. However, now I have a further issue, no display from the cameras, when I plug my DVR box into my screen there is no display.If you buy this system, make sure you know what you are doing and how to resolve issues that may arise because you are 100% on your own.First reviewThis is a FULLY wired system, this means EVERY wire is connected to the box and power. The logistics of configuring this is sheer and utter madness. I have spent hours rambling around my house with the dvr box, 4 cameras, cables, wires etc setting up extension leads beside my tv, beside my pc - its so utterly logistically complicated it is terrifying. You must connect this to a monitor to set up, the only monitor that worked was my 13 year old tv.If I could give less than 1 star on this review I would.Unless you have the patience of a saint and all of the time in the world to set this stuff up, then please don't buy this

Easy to fit, good quality equipment, easy to use app.

Good quality vs value for money. Motion detection is a little hard to set up. Overall easy to install and good quality picture.

Christmas present

Simple to set up, I found the motion sensors a little to active.