A few things to bear in mind.

1) Most CCTV cameras are fairly low definition, so yes you do get to know when you got broken into but working out who did it may not be so easy.

2) Burglars know to cover up when they know that there are cameras.

3) Having too many cameras can make it very tedious to find any usable information.

My preference is for a couple of wide angle cameras covering general areas (front garden, back garden and path for example) and then to have concealed cameras in likely places. Near doors / windows where they are going to have a go at getting in. These should be well lit at all times and be set so that a good image of the persons face is captured.

Regards.

David.

Cheapest solution is an old camera phone and an IP camera app. if you are after a real recorder and not a deterrent.

Of course have both – big cameras outside, hidden ones where they will drop their guard.

N.

When i lived in south london I installed extensive CCTV at both my home and clinic. One ocassion we had a car vandalised at home and another time a bicycle stolen from the garage. When the Police finally turned up (1 & 2 days later) they bluntly stated 'If you don't know who they are we're not going to find them'. When the clinic was broken into it was by a stolen fire extinguisher used to smash through toughened glass by a hoodie-wearing job. Police didn't even turn up that time..just gave me a crime number and a letter saying 'sorry you were a victim of crime'. The towrag got a whole £15 in cash – the float from the till- and did several hundred pounds worth of damage to get it.

I've even heard it said that security lights just help the burglars see what they're doing and no-one bothers looking if an alarm goes off in town. Society has gone feral.

pgk

Mick

High def cameras with good quality imaging are these days both cheap and plentiful. To avoid complexity though I would recommend buying and installing a kit comprising camera/s and a recording device (NVR) – of which ebay for instance display multi choices.

I tried doing it using wifi cameras and free software on a PC but it did not suit me and I would not recommend it. My 1080 IP HD cams are branded PRIKIM and I use one of these for storage:

f:0″>https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HiWatch-By-Hikvision-4-Channel-4MP-IP-Network-NVR-CCTV-Recorder-H-264-NVR-104-A/202242425532?hash=item2f169682bc:m:mkgVYltdqKFeR-67I5vh8Vg:rk:57f:0

It’s not a kit I know but I had the cameras already. Choose to connect your cams directly to the NVR by Ethernet cable rather than wirelessly if you want to keep things simple

Rik

"From personal experience CCTV provides bugger all deterrent."

Sorry to hear that Tony but straight from the mouth of a DI quite recently after a nearby break in the best deterrents in order are:

Visible alarm system

Visible CCTV

Large noisy dog

Rik

(I suspect Tony Martin would like to add to the above list!)

Get yourself a dog, nothings able to pass other side of road day or night.

Probably looking at a deterrent, lqst 16 years round here it took them 3 days to come out for a citizens arrest had to let them go. Any videos worthless ot dont do their job. Not to mention last time they came from 30 mile away and next job on 20 odd mile towards where they came from 2hrs travelling and wear and tare wasted of tax payers dosh how inefficient.

Expect i would get a good response now from two teams, theres a marker on the property.

Yes, that's been my experience too. And unless you have high-res cameras and floodlights so you get a decent colour image at night they are little use for identifying the intruders.

The last time we had night-time intruders in the yard the CCTV recorded their entry but the IR pictures were no use for ID purposes and they then ripped the camera off the wall before removing several vehicle batteries.

High definition CCTV got me a new front wall when a Tesco delivery van collided with it. Sent a couple of stills to the claims department showing the van index plate at the moment of destruction and received an almost instant e-mail saying they would send someone round to measure up.

Worth having I think. If nothing else you can see what's happening outside without curtain twitching

John

I have CCTV in my workshop and as a result of upgrading my system I fitted a new camera HD 1080 in daylight the quality of the picture is very good however a night with infrared lighting it's not so good. I'm thinking of turning on the lights when the door is opened, so the point I'm making if you do fit one make it a good one.

H

CCTV a complete and utter waste of money for reasons previously mentioned. I speak as a commercial Insurance Broker with 47 years hands on experience.

Robert Butler

For what it,s worth,

I have two dogs roaming free around my site. They dont mind anyone coming in,but it,s a different matter when they try to leave.!

The word seems to have got around !

Call the cops ? forget it,you might as well call the Pizza Man,chances are he would get to you !

Please don't use such a sign if you value your dog. Regardless of the 'circumstances' you have a duty of care towards anyone who may come into contact with your dog. If your dog then bites them, both you & the dog are in trouble, the dog perhaps more so.

If your dog bites someone, in whatever circumstances, you have a possible defence of not knowing your dog is/was likely to attack, your dog has never displayed aggressive behaviour before & such behaviour is totally out of character.

By displaying a sign such as 'Beware of the Dog' you have thrown this possible defence away. It is taken that you had fore knowledge enough to warn people.

Much better to display 'I Live Here'.