How can I really understand this $500 thing I bought?

Ray

I've now spent many hours over the last month trying to understand how to setup and operate my Reolink NVR 8 ch / POE kit with 4, 5K cameras. I'm starting to give up hope. For example, the screen shots in the docs, videos and stills are almost never the identicle set of fields on the screens of my devices (NVR, app and client). For another, there is no description of system functions and how they are related to each other and the overall design goals of the product.

Like, what is the difference between alarm, beep, buzzer, alarm beep, siren, alarm siren, etc.? Do some of these terms have different meanings / functions or are they all just different words that mean the same thing?

Another mystery: After I setup the NVR, If I change a setting in the app or the client, does it change the NVR settings too? Or, does it just change the setting for the device running the app or the client? Are the changes persistent or not in each of those devices? A chart would be helpful.

I have had various alarms and beeps, pushes, etc. working and then some mysteriously stop working or start working after I turn them off. This morning I woke up to find two motion push notifications around 3 AM for the same camera. After testing the push notifications one last time before turning in, I slept with my android mobile app and my laptop client running within inches of my ears. I'm a light sleeper but never heard a thing. Fortunately, the video was captured and showed no suspicious activity.

I've never been a "push button A to make B happen" type of person. I really want to understand how this system works at a deeper level so that I can apply as much of the available value as possible. Maybe there's something on the Reolink site or elsewhere that provides this type of info that I just havn't found yet. Or, maybe I'm stuck with only using a small amount of the capability in this system.

Any help or advice will be appreciated.