CCTV near you

In a wired system, each camera connects by network cable to the recorder, or to a network switch that feeds it, and draws its power over that same cable. There are no batteries to recharge and no Wi-Fi signal to lose, so every camera keeps recording when the Internet is down, and picture quality holds up when several cameras stream at once. The trade-off is the cable itself: each run has to reach its camera through an attic, a soffit, a basement ceiling or a wall, which takes more labour in a finished house.

Wireless camera systems send video over Wi-Fi to a base station or to the cloud. They go up quickly and suit renters, cottages and spots where cable is impractical, but each camera still needs power, Wi-Fi is often weak outside the walls, and many cameras streaming together can strain the home network. Many owners mix the two, with wired cameras on the doors and driveway and a wireless one for a shed or a far corner of the lot.

Cable is where a recorded system succeeds or fails. The installer plans each run from the recorder to the camera, finds a route through the attic, the basement ceiling or the garage, and chooses cable made for each location: rated for use inside walls in the house, and outdoor or direct-burial cable for exterior runs and trenches to a detached building.

A PoE switch or recorder simply plugs into an outlet. If there's none where the equipment should go, or a camera at a gate or garage needs line-voltage power, the work belongs to a licensed electrician: a Licensed Electrical Contractor in Ontario, registered with the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), or a master electrician who is a CMEQ member in Quebec.

A recorder can capture every camera around the clock, only when it detects motion or a person, or a mix of the two, such as continuous recording at the doors and events elsewhere. Continuous recording catches what detection misses, like someone moving slowly along the edge of the frame, but fills the drives faster. When the drives are full, the recorder writes over the oldest footage, so how far back you can look depends on drive capacity, the number of cameras, resolution, frame rate and compression.

Keep footage only as long as you're likely to need it. Most incidents are noticed within days, and there's rarely a reason to hold weeks of neighbours and tenants coming and going. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) guidelines for businesses using overt video surveillance offer a sensible benchmark: keep recordings only as long as their purpose requires, destroy them afterwards, store them securely and limit who can view them. When something does happen, export the clip right away, before it's overwritten, and keep a copy off the recorder, which is safer in a locked cabinet or utility room than on a shelf beside the TV.

A recorded system keeps far more than a doorbell clip: every car, pedestrian and neighbour who crosses the frame, day after day. Aim each camera at your own entrances, driveway and yard, use the recorder's privacy masks to block a neighbour's windows, and avoid wide views of the sidewalk or street that aren't needed to protect the house. The OPC's guidelines for businesses ask that cameras be positioned to reduce capturing people who aren't the target and never look into windows; applying the same restraint keeps a home system reasonable.

The OPC's tips for web-connected cameras add two points: know where each camera is pointing, and make sure outdoor cameras don't reveal information such as your street number or licence plate. Many CCTV cameras also have microphones, and the OPC guidelines say sound shouldn't be recorded without a specific need, so leave audio off unless you have one. If a neighbour worries about what a camera sees, showing them the live view often settles the matter.

In a condominium, cameras on common elements such as hallways, the lobby, the parking garage or exterior walls are the corporation's decision, and the declaration or rules often limit what owners may attach to the building or aim at shared spaces. Get the board's approval in writing before any drilling. Tenants usually need the landlord's consent to mount equipment or run cable through walls, and a wireless camera inside the unit is simpler to remove at the end of the lease.

Owners who rent out part of a duplex or triplex should keep cameras on shared entrances, parking and exteriors, never pointed into a tenant's unit, windows or private yard, and tell tenants where the cameras are and why. A sign at shared entrances, as the OPC recommends for businesses, avoids surprises. In Quebec, installing, repairing and maintaining video surveillance systems requires a BSP licence, so ask the installer for theirs.

Remote viewing is what makes a recorder useful while you're away, and it's also how many systems end up exposed. Get Cyber Safe's advice for smart devices applies to the recorder as much as to any camera, and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security's router guidance covers the network it sits on.