I.m still my first days of testing this system to see what the max. range is. I'll update as time goes by on durability etc. I am getting a good picture at 160 feet between camera and NVR, which I find impressive for this cost of the system. That's with no walls, and a clear line of sight. The manual seems pretty well written, compared to some, but does not match on some screen shots etc.. I may have a newer unit? Not sure. Software seems a bit glitchy. E-mail product support seems prompt (replies within about 24 hours). This system will be monitoring a car gate, that we expect to have vandalized. We plan to power the cameras off our large 12volt solar gate power system, and the NVR in a home up a long driveway, so we will be pushing range limits. I read reviews before buying that stated this system had removable/upgradable antennas. This turned out not to be the case, which was disappointing, as larger antennas would have helped with range. Again, older versions may have had this option, but this one does not. So far I like the system overall and it seems to be a good value in its price range. We are very rural with no network, so I cant comment on the smartphone software. PS the included 1TB hard drive is the Seagate brand, and I have found these to be reliable in the past.