Frequently Asked Questions

A 4G solar camera. It carries its own SIM for the connection and its own panel for the power, so it needs nothing from the site at all. This is the single most common question we get, and it is why the range exists.

Start with the 4G Security Camera Buying Guide, which compares all 54 models by solar wattage.

More than the product page implies, and it depends where you are. At the June solstice the midday sun reaches about 29.7 degrees above the horizon in Auckland and only 20.2 degrees in Invercargill.

Two things follow. Tilt the panel steeply, roughly your latitude plus 15 degrees, and buy more wattage than you think. A flat mounted panel in Invercargill collects about 34 percent of what a correctly tilted one does. Full working in the Solar Security Camera Guide.

The battery decides, not the panel. A camera with a 12,000mAh battery records motion clips of about a minute and then waits. A camera with 20,000mAh will record continuously while the battery stays above roughly half charge.

If you need genuine 24/7 coverage, check the battery figure rather than the wattage.

Optical zoom moves real glass and keeps full detail at distance. Digital zoom crops the image and enlarges it, so you lose detail as you go in.

Only optical zoom will read a number plate or a face at range. We list the two separately in every comparison table for that reason.

Usually not. Most cameras and recorders take a microSD card that you supply, and we sell 128GB and 256GB Samsung cards. A few models have storage built in, and the comparison table in each buying guide says which.

No. Spark, One NZ and 2degrees all completed their 3G shutdowns on 31 March 2026. There is no longer any fallback below 4G anywhere in the country.

Any device sold as 3G, or as 4G with 3G fallback, will not connect. Everything we sell is 4G.

Yes. Our 4G devices take a standard nano SIM from Spark, One NZ or 2degrees. A prepaid data plan is enough for most cameras, since they send alerts and clips rather than streaming constantly.

A camera set to motion alerts typically uses well under 1GB a month. A camera streaming live continuously will use far more, so budget accordingly.

Almost always the 2.4GHz problem. These cameras connect on 2.4GHz only, and most modern routers broadcast 2.4GHz and 5GHz under the same network name. Your phone picks 5GHz, the camera cannot see it, and setup fails.

Split the bands in your router settings, or temporarily disable 5GHz while you pair the camera.

Yes. Under section 216B of the Crimes Act 1961 New Zealand is a one party consent country, so you may record a conversation you are taking part in without telling the others.

Recording a private conversation you are not part of is an offence carrying up to 2 years imprisonment.

Not inside. A tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment under section 38 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and cameras inside a tenanted property breach it.

Cameras covering the exterior of a property you own are a different matter, provided they do not look into the dwelling or a neighbour's private space.

Only openly and for a genuine reason. The Privacy Act 2020 requires people to know they are being recorded, and section 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 requires employers to act in good faith.

Covert workplace surveillance is very hard to justify and has cost employers dearly in the Employment Relations Authority. Tell staff, put it in writing, and keep the cameras out of bathrooms and break rooms.

No. Since 26 May 2026 the Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment makes tracking another person a specified act under the stalking offence, carrying up to 5 years imprisonment.

Trackers are for vehicles and assets you own, and for people who know they are being tracked, such as your own family or your own fleet.

Owning and using them is lawful. Where you point them is what matters.

Making an intimate visual recording of someone without consent is an offence under sections 216G to 216N of the Crimes Act 1961, carrying up to 3 years. That covers any place where a person expects privacy: bathrooms, bedrooms, changing areas.

Often yes, but the court decides. Section 30 of the Evidence Act 2006 lets a judge exclude improperly obtained evidence, weighing the seriousness of the matter against how the recording was made.

Practical advice: keep the original file unedited, note the date, time and who was present, and do not crop or enhance the copy you hand over.

Both. We hold stock in New Zealand and in our Sydney warehouse, and your order ships from whichever holds the item. Some orders containing several items may arrive in more than one parcel.

Your dispatch confirmation tells you which parcel came from where, with tracking for each.

We dispatch every business day. Orders placed on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday go out on the next business day.

Stock held in New Zealand typically arrives in about 2 business days. Items shipping from our Sydney warehouse travel by express post and typically take 4 to 7 business days.

Every order is sent with tracking, and your dispatch confirmation lets you follow the parcel from the moment it leaves us.

A few products are too large or heavy for standard express post: full multi-camera systems, the bigger solar panels and the professional construction cameras. These ship by courier rather than post.

For those items we quote the freight separately, because the cost depends on size, weight and where in New Zealand it is going. Contact us with the product and your delivery address and we will come back to you with a price and a timeframe.

Yes. Every parcel ships in plain packaging with no product description, brand or category anywhere on the outside. Nothing on the label indicates what is inside.

Contact us as soon as you can. We dispatch every business day, so in practice you have about 24 hours on a working day to change or cancel an order.

An order placed on a Friday evening, over the weekend or on a public holiday is not dispatched until the next business day, which gives you longer.

Once an order has been dispatched it cannot be cancelled, and the return process applies instead.

Thirty days from delivery to return a product because you changed your mind. It must be unused, in its original condition and in its original packaging.

We cover the return postage and send you a label, so a return costs you nothing. Faulty products are handled separately and are not limited to 30 days.

Twelve months from the date of purchase on every product we sell.

If something fails inside that period, contact us with your order number and a description of the fault.

We do. Contact us to start a return and we will email you return instructions and a postage label. You do not pay to send an item back, whether it is faulty or you simply changed your mind.

Contact us with your order number and a photo or short video of the fault, and we will arrange a replacement or a refund.

The 30-day window on our returns page is for change of mind. It does not apply to faults. Your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 are not limited by any deadline in our policy, and the 12-month warranty runs from the date of purchase.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and UnionPay. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay. PayPal.

Card payments are processed by Shopify Payments. We never see or store your card number, only a confirmation that the payment succeeded and the last few digits of the card.

Yes. Every price shown on this site is in New Zealand dollars and includes GST.