Security Camera Installation

Wired cameras (traditional or PoE): Run a single cable from camera to recorder. Most reliable, no batteries to replace, no Wi-Fi dependency, continuous recording. Requires drilling through walls and running cable. PoE (Power over Ethernet) is the modern standard -- one Cat6 cable carries power and 4K video. If you're doing more than 2 cameras, go wired. Wireless battery cameras: Mount anywhere, no cable runs. Trade-off: battery life (1--6 months depending on activity), and recording only on motion detection, not continuous. Excellent for rentals, temporary installs, or locations where wiring is impractical. Popular options: Arlo Pro 4, Ring Stick Up Cam, Eufy SoloCam. Wireless with wired power: The middle path. Camera is wire-free for video (sends to Wi-Fi) but has a power cable plugged in. No battery swaps, but you need power at the mount location. Best for locations near an outdoor outlet. Solar-assisted battery: Same as battery cameras but with a small solar panel trickle-charging the battery. Works best in sunny climates with consistent sun exposure on the panel. Shade, cloudy months, or north-facing walls reduce effectiveness significantly. PoE wired system (best for whole-home coverage): Involves a NVR (Network Video Recorder) with built-in PoE ports, or a standalone PoE switch. Cameras connect via Cat6 to the NVR, which handles recording, power, and remote access. Brands: Reolink RLK series, Amcrest, Lorex, UniFi Protect (premium). Local storage, no cloud subscription required.

Draw a rough top-down sketch of your property. Mark every entry point: front door, back door, garage doors, side gates, driveway. These are your priority coverage zones. Coverage rules of thumb: - One camera covers roughly 90 degrees of horizontal field of view (varies -- check the spec). Don't assume one camera covers a whole corner. - For driveways: aim for license plate capture distance (20--40 feet). Cameras with 2--4mm focal length work well for wide coverage; 6--8mm for longer, narrower shots (like a long driveway). - For front door: mount 7--9 feet high, angled down. You want to capture faces, not the tops of heads. Too high = bad face capture. Too low = vandalism risk. - Avoid pointing cameras at neighbor's property, public sidewalks (in some jurisdictions), or directly into windows. Check your local laws -- some states have specific surveillance notification requirements. Prioritize by risk: front door and garage are statistically the highest-risk entry points. Cover those first, then expand. Camera placement mistakes to avoid: - Mounting where the camera looks directly into the sun at any part of the day (causes silhouetting) - Pointing at a light source (streetlight, porch light) that will trigger motion detection constantly - Positioning where rain or sprinklers hit the lens directly (even weatherproof cameras blur in heavy rain) - Mounting too high for effective face recognition

For every planned camera location, answer this question: is there power within reach? Outdoor outlets: many homes have them on the front porch, back porch, or garage exterior. If one exists within 25 feet of your mount location, a power-over-coax or plug-in wireless camera is viable. Soffit and eave mounting (very common for security cameras): there's often no outlet nearby. Options: (a) run new power from the attic or nearest interior outlet -- requires an electrician for a new outdoor-rated outlet, or a DIY junction box if you're comfortable with wiring, (b) use a PoE camera and run Cat6 from the camera to your indoor NVR or PoE switch through the soffit into the attic, (c) use a battery camera and accept the trade-offs. Garage mounting: garages typically have outlets on the ceiling or walls. Easiest location for wired cameras. Run Cat6 from the NVR (usually in the garage or a utility closet) to each camera. Attic routing tip: PoE camera runs often go through the attic. Drill up through the soffit from outside, through the top plate, into the attic, across the attic, down through an interior wall to where the NVR lives. This is the standard wired camera cable route and avoids exterior exposed cable runs.

Standard mounting height for outdoor security cameras: 7--10 feet. High enough to be out of easy reach (vandalism), low enough for usable face capture. Mounting to wood siding, fascia, or soffit: use the included screws if rated for the material. Pre-drill pilot holes to avoid splitting. Two or three screws per mount is standard. Mounting to brick, block, or stucco: use a hammer drill with masonry bit. Drill into mortar lines when possible -- easier to drill and easier to repair if you ever move the camera. Use plastic or lead masonry anchors appropriate for your screw size. Don't over-torque into stucco -- it cracks. Run the cable through the wall before finalizing the bracket position. Drill your cable entry hole through the wall first, thread the cable, then mount the bracket. Mounting the bracket first and then trying to drill through the wall next to it is awkward. Cable entry sealing: once the cable passes through the wall, pack around it with silicone sealant from the outside. Don't skip this. Water intrusion through cable penetrations is one of the top causes of interior wall damage and mold. Let it cure per the sealant's instructions before heavy rain.

Wired camera cable runs are the bulk of the installation work. Budget 1--2 hours per camera for a first-time installer. Attic route (most common for soffit cameras): 1. Drill 3/4" hole through exterior soffit or wall 2. In the attic, locate the hole and feed cable across to your target drop point (above an interior wall where the NVR or router lives) 3. Drill down through the top plate of that wall 4. Fish the cable down through the wall to the NVR location or to a low-voltage ring behind a wall plate Exterior conduit route (for cameras on garage exterior or outbuildings): 1. Run weatherproof rigid conduit (PVC or metal) from camera to nearest penetration point 2. Use conduit fittings and weatherproof connectors at every junction 3. This route is visible but protected from the elements Interior wall route: 1. Use a fish rod to push cable down through a wall cavity from above 2. Requires two holes: one at top (attic or above ceiling) and one at the destination 3. Use a right-angle drill bit attachment if drilling through top plates at angles Cat6 cable: always use pre-made cables or terminate with RJ45 connectors if cutting to length. A mis-wired RJ45 connector is a common source of "camera won't power on" problems. Use TIA-568B wiring standard on both ends.

PoE camera system: Plug each camera's Cat6 cable into a numbered port on the NVR or PoE switch. The NVR will auto-detect each camera when it powers on. If a camera doesn't appear: check cable connections at both ends, try a different port, test with a cable tester (cheap, saves hours of troubleshooting). Wi-Fi cameras: Power on the camera using the included adapter, then follow the app pairing process. Most use a QR code scan or Bluetooth handshake. Camera must be within range of your Wi-Fi router during pairing. After pairing, you can usually move it to its final location. NVR setup: Connect the NVR to your router via ethernet. Connect a monitor temporarily to the NVR's HDMI port for initial setup (some NVRs require this for first-time configuration). Create an admin password -- not the default. Enable remote access if you want to view cameras on your phone. Set the recording schedule. App setup: most systems have a companion app. Download it, add the NVR or cameras, and test remote viewing over LTE (not your home Wi-Fi) to confirm external access works. If remote view fails: check that the NVR's app or P2P is enabled, and that your router isn't blocking outbound connections.

Aim is set at the bracket. Most cameras allow horizontal rotation at the mount point and vertical tilt angle. Some have a third axis for rotation. For each camera: Open the live feed on your phone or NVR monitor while standing at the camera. Loosen the mount adjustment screw (or ball-head lock) and rotate/tilt until the coverage zone matches your plan from Step 2. What to check in the live view: - Is the full target zone visible? (Driveway, doorway, path) - Is there sky in the frame? Sky overexposure makes foreground subjects silhouettes. Point down enough to have the horizon below the frame center. - Is a light source in the frame that will cause night washout? Move the camera angle to exclude it. - For face capture: confirm the camera is aimed to catch faces, not the tops of heads. Someone standing at the door should fill 1/3 or more of the frame height. After aiming: tighten all mount screws firmly. A loose camera that vibrates in wind will trigger constant motion alerts and give blurry footage. Test the motion detection zone in the app: most cameras let you draw a polygon on the live feed to define exactly where motion triggers an alert. Set this now to exclude tree branches, busy streets, or any area that will cause false positives.

Storage is where security camera costs hide. Know your options: Local storage (SD card in camera): cheapest, no subscription. Cards typically hold 3--7 days of motion-triggered footage at 1080p. When card fills, oldest footage overwrites. Vulnerability: if camera is stolen or destroyed, footage is gone with it. Local storage (NVR with hard drive): best overall value for multi-camera systems. A 2TB drive holds 14--30 days of continuous recording from 4--8 cameras. No subscription, footage stays in your home, no internet required for recording. Access remotely via NVR's app or web interface. Cloud storage (subscription): Ring, Arlo, Nest (Google), Eufy, and others offer subscription plans from $3--$10/month per camera or household. Footage is stored on the manufacturer's servers. Advantage: footage survives camera theft or destruction. Disadvantage: recurring cost, footage subject to manufacturer's privacy policy, doesn't work if manufacturer shuts down. Hybrid (local + cloud backup): some NVR systems support cloud backup to Dropbox, Google Drive, or an FTP server for critical events. Best of both worlds. End-to-end encrypted options: Eufy's local storage and some Synology NAS setups offer encrypted storage where footage is never accessible by the manufacturer. If privacy is a concern, this is the path.

Out-of-box settings for most cameras are too sensitive. Every car, bird, and waving branch triggers an alert. Take 20 minutes to configure this properly or you'll disable notifications within a week. Motion sensitivity: start at 50--60% and lower it until only human-size motion triggers alerts. Most apps have a slider. Pet-immune or AI-based detection (person vs. vehicle vs. animal) is worth the upgrade -- Arlo, Nest, and Reolink Duo all offer AI detection on paid tiers or built-in. Motion zones: draw a detection zone that excludes the street, the neighbor's driveway, and any trees or plants that move in the wind. Include only the zone you care about: your driveway, path to door, entry area. Alert scheduling: many people only want alerts when they're away from home. Use a schedule (or geofencing if available) to silence alerts when you're home and enable them when you leave. Push notifications vs. email: push is faster. Email is useful as a backup or for a record. Enable both for critical cameras (front door) and push-only for secondary cameras. Test every camera's alert by walking through the coverage zone. Verify you receive a notification. Verify the thumbnail shows what you need to see. Adjust sensitivity and zones until it's right. Two-factor authentication: enable it on every camera app that supports it. Security cameras with compromised accounts have been used for remote viewing by strangers. Take this seriously.