Swann MaxRanger4K up to 600 metres long-range wireless security cameras (review)

The Swann MaxRanger4K long-range wireless security cameras can transmit a signal up to 10 times further than 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. They use the new IEEE 802.11ah 900 MHz Wi-Fi HaLow band that can better penetrate buildings and obstacles.

Swann is one of the first to harness this recent technology for security cameras.

• Makes the most of its long-distance capabilities (in theory, 1km line of sight).
• Penetrates doors, walls, windows, and other obstacles with minimal signal loss, where Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz can lose up to 50% of the signal strength each time they pass through a barrier.
• Leverages the new power-saving sleep and power management modes, where the camera instantly wakes the HaLow link when an event happens. Traditional Wi-Fi requires constant polling of the link and uses more power.
• Avoids the network-congested 2.4 GHz IoT band.
• Supports up to 4K resolution bandwidth for up to 8 devices
• Supports native IP addresses, OFDM, and WPA3 encryption.
• Part of the IEEE Wi-Fi stack, so it is easy to integrate HaLow into a Wi-Fi network or Cloud via Ethernet, Wi-Fi or 4/5G networks or VPNs.

We will see a lot more HaLow devices, and soon, premium routers may support HaLow and standard Wi-Fi.

Australian Review: Swann MaxRanger4K long-range wireless security cameras

Website	Product Page Manual  (well worth reading if you are a serious buyer)
Price	See below
Warranty	12 months ACL
From	Swann Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi
Made in	China
Company	Based in Melbourne, Australia, it now has offices in the USA, Canada, UK, Hong Kong and China and a presence in over 40 countries on six continents.  It focuses on security cameras. Now owned by Infinova, a US/Chinese company
More	CyberShack Swann news and reviews

Ratings

We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards a score between 70 and 80/100 as a fit-for-purpose pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.

• Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
• Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
• Pass (meets expectations).
• Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
• Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).

First Impression – good, but doubting the distance claims

MaxRanger4K uses a HaLow Power Hub and special cameras with external antennas to communicate over longer distances than Wi-Fi.

Swann makes good gear, and this is no exception. Cameras are all now USB-C chargeable, but the Power Hub is a bit old school with USB-A ports and a plug pack power supply.

This review is not so much about the hardware as the practical limits of MaxRanger4K and its app.

Set up

Test date: 1-23/09/2025.

• Firmware: 18.2.2.202507718
• Agent: 4.2.23
• App: 4.4.25

The Swan Security App for Windows, Android, Mac and iOS. Desktop apps are so rare, and we really appreciated that. And it also has a Power Hub with an HDMI and a mouse user interface as well.

When you access the hub via an HDMI monitor and a USB-A mouse, you get the most responsive experience with all cameras coming up instantly. It allows you to add an SSD or HDD and format the drive. It also gives you far more granular setting options.

When you access via Android, it only gives a limited feature subset. Camera images were slower to load. We did not test Mac and iOS.

We can explain the lack of responsiveness for off-hub apps. They are communicating via Wi-Fi to the main router, then to the hub over Ethernet and vice versa. Even with the excellent TP-Link Deco BE85 Wi-Fi 7 BE22000 tri-band mesh router – If you feel the need for massive, distributed speed (the current fastest), there is quite a lag, 3-4 seconds, in converting the native 4K HDMI User Interface to a format the app can use.

All of this could be avoided if the Power Hub simply had a Browser interface 192.xxx.xxx.xx, where any web-enabled device could access it.

Distance claims: 600 metres – possible

It uses 900 MHz Wi-Fi HaLow with a maximum data speed of 32.5Mbps, sufficient to cover a 4K@15fps stream.

HaLow claims 1km, and Swan claims 600 metres ‘line-of-sight’ range, which are technically feasible.

You can select the camera resolution to match the signal strength (there does not appear to be auto-selection) – either low or high, and image format of 4:3, 1:1, 16:9 or stretch. All this does is crop the image sensor’s native 3840 x 2160 resolution. Similarly, digital zoom (looks like 2X) is cropped from the full frame. The sensor can also bin 8MP to 2MP (2K) if bandwidth is an issue.

Back to range. The practicalities are much less – between 100 and 300 metres. Swann is aware of this, and of course, the finer print states it is subject to environmental issues.

So, we tried to stretch the limits of the Swann MaxRanger4K.

• We tested at 100 metres from the Power Hub (located indoors), and while the signal strength was low, it still gave a decent High/16:9 4K image without stutter.
• We tested at 150 metres, and an acceptable image was at Low/16:9. At 200m, it dropped out.
• We added the optional Hub antenna and put that outside in almost line-of-sight. We got close to 300 meters before it started to drop out.

I have no doubt we could get more distance with the proper permanent setup.

Swann MaxRanger4K long-range wireless security system overview

All MaxRanger 4K products are here.

Swann MaxRanger 4K Power Hub: Pass

The key is that all Swann MaxRanger4K products communicate with a Power Hub NVW-MR4K.

• Up to 8 MaxRanger4K cameras
• HDMI output to a TV or monitor (720/1080/4K)
• 2 USB-A 2.0 ports – mouse and storage
• Up to 512GB microSD local storage (64GB onboard. Tested to 256GB)
• Optional external SSD/HDD via USB-A to 5TB (tested to exFAT 4TB)
• Ethernet connection to the router
• $59.95 Rechargeable Battery Backup pack SONVW-600BAT V2 for up to 5 hours of recording. 3.6V/8.7A/31W rechargeable from USB-C.
• 12V/2A/24W plug power pack.
• 3 front LEDs: Green = power, Blue = Storage and Red = Network via Ethernet

If you want to use Wi-Fi to connect to the router, you must buy a $39.95 SAWACC-USBWIFI V2 adapter. It has a maximum 2.4/5 GHz range of 20/10 metres line-of-sight. Probably not recommended as it would increase the lag.

If you want to improve the hub range, there is an optional 8m SMA cable and magnetic base $59.95 SOACC-MRANTENNA to enable your antenna to be placed in the best line of sight position to the cameras. It is weather-resistant but best under cover. It cannot be used on the cameras.

Cameras: Pass+

There are three cameras, remembering that the Power Hub can support up to eight. You need to buy a bundle with the Power Hub, as that does not appear to be available for standalone sale.

• Swann MaxRanger4K Mini Model SWNVW-MRMINICAM  $249.95
• Swann MaxRanger4K Solar 2 Model SWNVW-MAXV2CAM  $374.95
• Swann MaxRanger4K Video Doorbell and Chime SWNVW-MR4KVDB $349.95

Swann also has a $24.95 pole mount (for 70mm pipes, but you can use zip ties for smaller or larger pipes) and a $32.95 gutter mount that works on gutters or fences up to 22mm thick.

Where the item is the same, the table is blank.

	Mini	Solar	Doorbell/Chime
Sensor	4K/8MP Sony STARVIZ IMX7XX		??
Motion detection	True Detect+ PIR to 9m and motion analysis		True Detect+ to 5m
Field of view	105°		140°
Spotlights	2 x LED not adjustable		No
Night Vision	IR mono to 40m LEDs colour to 30m		IR only to 10m
External aerial	SMA connector		No
Maximum Line-of-sight	600m		300m
Practical distance	200m		100m
Mic/Speaker	Yes/Yes Push to talk
Battery	?? mAh USB-C recharge	12,600 mAh USB-C recharge Built-in solar panel	USB-C recharge or 12-24VAC
Size	60mm x 60mm x 89mm x 235g	70mm x 144mm x 78mm	56mm x 41mm x 146mm x 317g
Solar	Optional panel	Buit-in	No
IP	66	66
Modes	Home, Night, and Away.

True Detect+: Pass+ with caveats

It uses a PIR (Passive Infrared) sensor to detect thermal changes from the ambient background temperature (most animals and devices emit heat). It then uses the image sensor to detect motion. If they agree and an event is created (typically a video clip and notification).

Swann claims that this minimises false triggers due to wind, falling leaves, bugs, and rain. In comparison to traditional pixel motion detection, the PIR/motion detection gives users over four times more efficient use of their hard drive space by ensuring only important footage is captured, stored, and reported.

In practice, we experienced several false positives causes by birds (seagulls, pigeons, magpies, cockatoos, crows and Myna birds) and animals (pesky possum) crossing the field of view within 9 metres.  In one case, a motorised pool skimmer (heat from the solar panel and motors) set off an event every time it crossed the field.

It is vital to set zones and adjust sensitivity.

It also took, on average, several seconds for the notification to arrive on the smartphone. These do not contain thumbnails unless you pay for a Swann Secure+ subscription.

Swann Secure+

While Swann touts no subscriptions and stores videos locally, this is limited to standard notifications and on-device storage.

The Swann Secure+ plans include:

• Extra: Single camera or recorder kit: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year
• Unlimited: All Swann devices $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year.
• Payments are via iTunes or a Google account with auto-renewal.
• Terms of use: You grant to Swann and its vendors and licensees an unlimited, irrevocable, fully paid and royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual, transferable, worldwide right and license to use, store, access, delete, download, receive, collect, retain, analyze, translate, copy, modify, display, and create derivative works from Your Content in any media formats in any media channel.
• Privacy Policy. Swann can sell or share personal information with data analytics and programmatic advertising.

Both packages have

• Extra alerts
• Rich notifications *
• Extra cloud recording **
• Lifetime equipment warranty
• Insurance coverage
• Priority customer support
• Event history summaries
• Special offers

* Fair Use: 60 days means up to 200 clips of 10-60 seconds duration each day and camera.
** Rich notifications: mean thumbnails with notifications and humans, vehicles, pets, and facial recognition are in development.

AI – Not really

AI is usually something that is baked into the hardware or the Cloud. There is little in the cameras or the hub.

In Swann’s case, AI will come from the Cloud at extra cost.

Eufy, a Swann competitor, has AI Bionic Mind in its HomeBase3 security system that offers real AI at no cost in the hub.

• Person tracking and hand-off to the next camera.
• Face detection – family, friends, contractors, etc., can be added and filtered out. Strangers’ faces can be added to familiar faces via the notification.
• No notification if known to the system.
• Vehicle detection can tell you what type it is (sedan, wagon, SUV, truck, van, bus, etc), whether it is running, filtering out frequently parked vehicles, etc.
• Package Detection
• Animal and bird detection
• Colourises night images and image processes for low noise and sharpness.
• And much more as developed (e.g., baby crying) from Eufy Labs.

The main issue is not the lack of AI but what expectations you may have about AI.

Image quality – good to great

We had no issues with being able to read number plates and get good facial features.

Battery: Pass+

We charged all cameras to 100%.

• Mini: 2-3% per day use, depending on activations. The highest was 5%
• Solar: Solar panel maintained the power above 90%.
• Doorbell: 10-13% per day, but we discovered that the robot pool skimmer was creating too many events. We estimate 90 days, but it could be longer. A reminder that it needs 8-24V AC, not 8V DC power and will likely require a new transformer. Allow $200ish for an electrician to install.

Siren: Pass

About 90dB at the device and 65dB at 10m.

Two-way audio: Passable

Using the Android app, it’s best described as push-to-talk (half-duplex) with an average lag of 3-5 seconds and sometimes much longer if you are using mobile data.

The Power Hub does not have a mic, which would reduce lag.

CyberShack’s view: Swann MaxRanger4K – buy it for the incredible signal distance

It is tough to review security cameras unless you install them and use them for a month or more. That is what we did. Our only issue we would like to try the subscription to see how much value it adds.

Our opinion is that the MaxRanger4K system has long legs!

Swann MaxRanger4K ratings

You can’t rate the cameras without the hub. Packages with the hub start from

• $499.95 includes 2 x Mini
• $959.95 includes 2 x Solar
• $249.95 Mini camera
• $374.95 Solar camera
• $349.95 Wireless or Wired doorbell

• Features: 85/ 4K and long range, but lacking AI features without a subscription
• Value: 80. There is a premium for HaLow if you need the distance, but if Wi-Fi works, then the Eufy system offers more for less.
• Performance: 90. No issues with the camera performance or the Power Hub. The Apps have issues that can be fixed.
• Ease of Use: 80. The setup issues with the Power Hub were largely solved using the Android app to update the firmware. After that the frustration of having different features in different interfaces. Some of which did not work) was frustrating. At present on the HDMI/Mouse interface is relatively stable.
• Design: 85. The cameras are modern and well-made. The Power Hub is old school and needs things like Wi-Di direct access from a smartphone to the interface, USB-C, and a modernised UI – it is meant for a programmer, not an end user.