Home security cameras - what to look out for!

Home security cameras are now more affordable than ever – with most packages now including mobile phone viewing and a HD picture as standard, however not all are created equal!

Avoid - Super Cheap Options from the likes of ebay

Low quality offering are known to present the following issues:

• Poor clarity, especially at night
• A one size fits all approach (viewing angle is not best suited to all locations)
• Poor operation and controls
• Unreliable and awkward to setup app control
• Suspect long term reliability and poor support & warranty

We have come across many who intially go down this route and then buy twice!

Avoid - More costly retail (may be wireless) options/with cloud storage

• Poor clarity at night still (4k actualy makes this worse, check our other blog post)
• A one size fits all approach (viewing angle is not best suited to all locations)
• Surprisingly poor support still - just check some of the Trustpilot reviews!
• May not record locally – expensive ongoing fees for cloud recording

These options can appear very smart and may have slick marketing and a price tag to suit, but still generally offer sub standard performance for the money.

What we recommend

At CCTV Kits we specialise in providing custom security camera packages, which are reliable and have NO ongoing costs. Using our kit builders you can configure a CCTV system with a mix of camera types suited to positions around a property for an optimal setup. Should you get stuck along the way, we are here to help!

On a budget - Stick to coax

If you are on a budget a HD Coax CCTV Kit will provide best value for money - the most important thing of all here still despite this budget is having a reliable DVR which is easy to setup and use with mobile viewing, and of course a half decent picture from the cameras. HiLook (Hikvision) and VALE are quality offerings backed by 2/3 year warranties.

 IP CCTV for best features and image quality

IP CCTV is a must for larger installs and cameras have more settings to play with. The cheaper options however may offer no better image quality over a good coax setup. Our best solution for home security cameras is the VALE 5mp IP Kit as cameras feature a higher quality sony starlight sensor, for better low light performance.