CCTV installation, with wired cameras and the picture on your phone.

Wired IP cameras with an on-site recorder

The standard system is four IP cameras, each on its own Cat6 cable back to a recorder. That one cable carries the picture from the camera and the power to it, a method known as PoE, so there's no socket needed up at the camera and no battery to charge.

Wired cameras keep recording when the Wi-Fi drops, and a cable doesn't care how thick the walls are. Wireless cameras still need power from somewhere, usually a battery that wants charging or a plug-in lead, and their signal back to the router is only as good as the house allows.

The recorder holds the footage on its own hard drive and writes over the oldest recordings once it's full, so nothing is kept for good unless you save a clip. How much storage it has, and which make of camera goes up, is agreed at the survey.

Fitting a CCTV kit you've already bought

If you've bought a kit, I'll mount the cameras, run and terminate the cables, commission the recorder and get the app working on your phone. Any fault with the cameras or the recorder themselves goes back to the shop or maker under their warranty, and the fitting is priced separately from the kit.

Check what's in the box before booking. A wired kit with a recorder needs its cables run back to the recorder, much like a system I supply. Battery cameras that connect over Wi-Fi need far less fitting, though they do need a strong signal wherever they're mounted.

Where to put CCTV cameras

Camera positions are decided at the survey, standing where each one will go. The front door and the drive are the usual starting points. Mount a camera too high and it shows the tops of heads instead of faces.

Night needs as much thought as daylight. Most cameras switch to infrared after dark, and a bright security light or a white wall close by can flood the picture, so I look at what's lit before settling on an angle.

With the positions agreed, putting the system up can be a day's job.

CCTV and data protection

The Information Commissioner's Office gives one test for a home system. UK GDPR applies once cameras capture beyond your own boundary. A camera that only sees your own house and garden stays outside data protection law.

Once a camera does see past the boundary, the ICO expects you to have a clear reason for it, put up a sign, keep the footage secure, delete it regularly and hand over a copy when someone asks for footage of themselves. If a neighbour objects, you need a strong reason to keep recording them. Privacy masking, which blanks out part of the picture, can take the neighbour out of shot.

A business has more to do. The ICO's checklist for organisations asks for signs that say who runs the cameras and how to contact them, and a set period for keeping footage. It also expects the business to pay the data protection fee if it hasn't already. Recording sound is rarely justified, the checklist says, so I leave audio switched off unless you have a reason for it.

Farm CCTV and cameras for holiday parks

On a farm the cameras usually need to see the yard and the fuel store, and the buildings can sit a long way from the house, so the runs get long. Cable crossing a yard goes in duct or is armoured, and the recorder lives somewhere dry, often the farm office. I can plan the cameras alongside other electrical work across a farm, so the ground only gets opened up once.

For small holiday parks and caravan sites along the Yorkshire coast, the cameras tend to cover the entrance and the amenity blocks, with the recorder where seasonal staff can't unplug it. Pitch roads and car parks mean long runs again, and power over one cable only reaches so far, so a distant camera may need a switch with its own supply part-way along.

Viewing on your phone needs an internet connection at the recorder. If the site has no usable broadband, a Starlink connection can give the recorder its route out.

What changes the price of a CCTV install

The four-camera price covers the standard job, cable runs included. Extra cameras, longer runs, cameras on outbuildings and mountings high enough to need access equipment all change the price, and so does a recorder with more storage. We put the total in a fixed quote after the survey, and I do the job for the price we said.

If the recorder has to sit somewhere the router isn't, a run of Cat6 back to the router connects it to the internet so the app can see it.

Guesthouses and other let premises often need the fire alarm side looked at as well, and one survey can cover the cameras and the fire alarm system together.