The most common problem we see on existing systems isn’t poor cameras. It’s cameras in the wrong places: four views of the front lawn and nothing on the side passage. Good placement starts with how someone would actually approach and get into your home.
Start with the routes, not the walls
Walk round your home and ask how someone would get from the street to each door and ground-floor window. On a typical semi or detached house, that gives you four priority areas:
- The front door.You want a clear face shot of anyone who comes to the door, not just the top of their head. A camera above and slightly to one side of the door, or a good video doorbell, does this.
- The driveway.Cars, vans and people approaching the house. A wider view here also catches number plates as vehicles turn in, if the camera is set up for it.
- The side passage.The route most burglars prefer, because it leads to the back of the house out of sight of the street. It’s often the most overlooked spot.
- The rear garden and back door.Where most break-ins actually happen. A camera on the rear corner of the house can usually cover the back door and most of the garden.
Mounting height
We usually mount cameras around 2.5 to 3 metres up. That’s high enough to be out of easy reach and to see over fences, but low enough to capture recognisable faces. Mount too high and you get great views of the tops of heads.
Choosing the right lens
- Wide (2.8mm, roughly 100–110°).Covers a lot of area close to the camera. Great for gardens and side passages.
- Standard (4mm, roughly 80–90°).A good balance of width and detail for driveways and front gardens.
- Long range (8mm and up, roughly 40°).A narrow view that sees detail further away, such as the end of a long drive or a gate.
Wider isn’t always better. A very wide view makes everything smaller, so faces and plates at a distance become unreadable. Matching the lens to the job is one of the biggest differences between a good installation and a box-standard one.
Think about night time
- Infrared night vision usually reaches less far than the camera can see in daylight, so check coverage after dark.
- Avoid aiming cameras through windows, because infrared bounces back off the glass and blinds the picture.
- Keep cameras clear of soffits and walls in the edge of the frame. They reflect infrared and wash out the image.
- Watch out for cameras pointing straight at a security light, which can dazzle them.
Overlap the important bits
Where it matters most, at doors and the side passage, it’s worth having two cameras that see the same area from different angles. If one is blocked, dazzled or tampered with, the other still records.
Respect the neighbours
Aim cameras at your own property, and use privacy masking to black out neighbours’ windows and gardens where a view can’t avoid them. Our article on home CCTV and the law explains why.
Try it yourself
Our coverage planner lets you place cameras on a typical home, choose lenses, switch to night mode and run an intruder test to find the gaps. When you’re happy, send us the plan and Raaj will fine-tune it for your property on a free survey.