Home CCTV: What to Buy, Where to Point It, and When a Doorbell Camera Isn't Enough
By the DC Fire & Security engineering team — installing and maintaining fire and security systems since 2010. Updated July 2026.
Quick answer
For most houses the honest answer is 2–4 wired cameras covering the approaches — front elevation, rear garden, side passage, driveway — at 4MP with proper night performance, recording locally to an NVR (no monthly fee). A doorbell camera is a good doorstep witness but covers one narrow cone; DIY Wi-Fi kits work until the Wi-Fi or batteries don't. Professionally installed wired systems run roughly £250–£400 per camera all-in — try the 30-second camera calculator for your own count before anyone quotes you.
The three routes, honestly compared
The pattern we see at surveys: households buy route one, add route two, then call about route three after an incident the first two half-recorded. If budget forces phasing, phase positions (front first, rear second) rather than quality — two good cameras beat six struggling ones. The full cost guide breaks down every number above.
| Route | Really costs | Where it wins | Where it bites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doorbell camera (Ring, Nest, etc.) | £50–£200 + usually a cloud subscription | Parcels, callers, the doorstep conversation | One narrow cone at door height; the burglar at the back is invisible; footage often hostage to the subscription |
| DIY Wi-Fi kit | £150–£500 | Renters, quick wins, tight budgets | Battery rotas, Wi-Fi dropouts at range, compressed footage when bandwidth dips — the failure modes cluster at the moment you need it |
| Professional wired (PoE) | £250–£400/camera installed, ~£1,000–£1,600 for a typical 4-camera house | Reliability, 24/7 local recording, real night detail, no monthly fees, adds value at survey time | Cabling day; costs more upfront — that's the honest whole list |
The four positions that cover most houses
- Front elevation, 2.5–3m up — the approach, the door, the drive edge: the camera that captures the face on the way in, not just the hood on the way out
- Rear garden — where actual break-ins concentrate; cover the patio doors and the fence line people climb
- Side passage / blind side — the unwatched route between front and back; a narrow field of view or curtain-style coverage suits it
- Driveway / vehicles — angled to catch plates and door handles, which is also the camera that pays for the types guide's advice on night colour
- Skip: cameras on every window (approaches beat openings), indoor cameras as the mainstay (evidence you want is outside), and anything pointed at the street or a neighbour's garden by default — see the law section
Night performance is the spec that earns its money
Domestic incidents skew heavily to darkness, and this is where camera ranges genuinely differ. Standard infrared gives usable black-and-white footage to a stated range — treat the box figure as optimistic through British drizzle. The step worth paying for on the key positions (front, drive) is full-colour low-light — Hikvision's ColorVu class — because clothing and vehicle colour turn 'a person approached' into an actionable description.
Resolution: 4MP is the sensible floor, 4K earns it on wide drives. Frame rate: 12–15fps is plenty; smooth-motion 25fps mostly eats recording days. Recording: 14–30 days of local NVR storage covers holidays — the discovery window for most incidents.
Home CCTV and the law (two-minute version)
You're free to record your own property. The moment cameras capture beyond your boundary — street, pavement, a neighbour's garden — UK GDPR and the ICO's guidance apply to you as a domestic operator: be able to explain why the coverage is needed, minimise it (physical angle and privacy-mask zones in the camera), tell people (a sign does most of it), and handle footage sensibly. It isn't a ban — it's proportionality with a paper trail.
The practical translation we apply at installs: angle cameras down and inward, mask the neighbour's windows and garden in-camera, put a small sign where a visitor would see it, and keep app access limited to the household. Done that way, home CCTV coexists happily with both the neighbours and the law — and footage stays usable if the police ever ask for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does home CCTV installation cost?
Is a Ring doorbell enough security for a house?
Do home CCTV cameras need Wi-Fi?
Can my neighbour point a camera at my garden — or can I point one at theirs?
Do wired CCTV systems have monthly fees?
How many cameras do I need for my house?
Home CCTV without the guesswork
We install wired home CCTV across Luton, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and North London — SSAIB certificated, tidy cabling, phone app included, and a design that covers the approaches rather than decorating the walls. Free survey, fixed price, no subscription required.
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