We recently completed a home CCTV installation in Adel, Leeds after the customer decided their existing system was no longer giving them the level of detail they needed. The CCTV had been installed around 10 years earlier and was still working, but after a recent incident the customer reviewed the footage and could hardly make out the person who had been around their property. They wanted a clearer system with better camera positions that would provide much more useful footage if anything similar happened again.

The customer got in touch after we had previously installed CCTV for a friend of theirs. We arranged a thorough site survey to look at the existing system, the layout of the property and the areas that needed better coverage. This allowed us to recommend the best approach rather than simply adding extra cameras to an ageing system.

After completing the survey, we decided the best option was to remove the older CCTV system and start again. Rather than trying to work around the existing camera positions and cabling, we reran the cables and positioned the new cameras in more suitable locations around the property. This gave us much more control over the areas being covered and allowed the new CCTV system to be planned around the customer’s current security requirements.

Camera positioning can make a big difference to how useful recorded footage is. A camera can be working perfectly but still provide limited evidence if the angle, distance or position is not right for the area being monitored. Taking the time to plan the system properly helped improve the overall coverage around this Adel property.

One important area was the garage at the bottom of the garden. The customer wanted better visibility at the rear of the property, particularly around an area they considered vulnerable. We installed two cameras on the garage so this part of the garden could be monitored as part of the main home CCTV system.

The distance between the garage and the house meant we needed a practical way of getting the camera data back to the main recorder. Instead of treating these as separate wireless cameras, we installed the garage cameras as part of the same cabled CCTV system. This means the customer still has one main recording system covering the property.

The two cameras at the garage are cabled into a PoE switch, which provides their network connection and power. A point-to-point wireless bridge then carries the camera data between the garage and the main house, where the CCTV recorder is located. There is a transmitter at one end of the link and a receiver at the other, creating a data connection between the two buildings.

It is important to make the distinction that these are not wireless CCTV cameras. The cameras themselves are cabled into the equipment at the garage and their footage is recorded on the main CCTV system inside the house. The wireless bridge is simply the method used to carry the data across the garden where running a direct cable between the two buildings was not the preferred option.

For the new installation we used Hikvision Live Guard cameras. One of the main benefits for this customer is the ability to produce colour images at night, giving them much more useful visual detail around the property after dark. This was particularly important following their experience with the older CCTV footage where identifying the person around the property had been difficult.

The customer also liked the active deterrent features built into the Live Guard cameras. When a person is detected in a configured area, the camera can activate its flashing strobe light, making it clear that the CCTV system is active and that their presence has been detected. An automated audio message can also be used alongside the flashing light.

This is particularly useful for the cameras covering the bottom of the garden. If somebody enters the monitored area, the system can activate the visual and audio warning while also notifying the customer that somebody has been detected. This gives the CCTV system an active role as well as providing recorded footage for review.

The finished installation gives the customer a completely updated home CCTV system with new cabling, better planned camera positions and additional coverage around the garage and rear garden. By removing the older system rather than trying to build around it, we were able to position the cameras around the areas that mattered most to the customer. The garage cameras are also fully linked back to the main recorder despite being located at the opposite end of the garden.

The customer was really happy with the finished CCTV installation and kindly left us a great review afterwards. For us, this was a good example of why upgrading an older CCTV system is not always just about fitting newer cameras. Camera positioning, cabling and making sure important areas are properly covered can be just as important as the equipment itself.

Zone CCTV & Burglar Alarms provides home CCTV installation, CCTV upgrades and Hikvision CCTV systems throughout Adel, Leeds and the surrounding area. We can survey an existing system, identify weak areas and recommend whether an upgrade or complete replacement is the better option.

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