Security cameras, and placement

[Cats_pyjamas]

So a good friend just has had 12k worth of tools stolen, from his project house, tools which have been tracked to a property only 2 miles or so from my own.

Another friend has just had some unwanted visitors scoping out his property this morning, only half a mile away.

We live in a sleepy cul-de-sac of 16 detached properties. Which I think may deter people as you do notice coming and goings.

However my property does back onto a footpath, that said we have a 3 to 4 ft thick hazel hedge which has been laid and a fence. If I'm honest we don't really have anything worth stealing in the house, 15yr old LCD TV anyone? However the garage has a few items of value.

I have been looking at a Eufy system.

It's worth noting I park my h2l2 transit custom in the position of the black car on the screen shot, which may obstruct straight view points.

Would this setup be sensible? Red line is property boundary, green would be camera directions. Garage side door is opposite my front door.

Edited by Cats_pyjamas on Wednesday 18th December 13:13

[b14]

It might be worth thinking about it in the opposite direction, if you know what I mean. Cameras work better when they are pointing at the thing you want to secure, not when they are mounted to the thing you want to secure. So if you think the garage is the likely target and that's what you need to keep most secure, mount the cameras on the house so they show the house to an extent but mainly to cover the garage?

I'd be inclined to go for a PoE solution as well, rather than Eufy. Reolink or similar, generally more reliable.

[netherfield]

Eufy alright up to a point, it will alert you not always in real time though. Foliage blowing in the wind can set them off, and spiders seem to love building a web over them which also sets them off. Charge lasts around 6 months unless you fit a solar panel, and Homebase needs to be close enough to communicate with the cameras, and with your network.

We have some PTZ cameras recording all the time, the Eufy setup is good for alerts if a parcel or post is delivered.

[g40steve]

Get some decent lighting, dawn till dusk & some Hikvision cams.
You won’t stop tea-leafs but you might deter them enough to visit elsewhere.

[Mortarboard]

g40steve said:

Get some decent lighting, dawn till dusk & some Hikvision cams.
You won’t stop tea-leafs but you might deter them enough to visit elsewhere.

This.

Cameras dont deter thieves, but lights will.

Cameras are great for telling you/ your insurance folsom when it happened though.

M.

[ro250]

And I think the reality these days is that cameras are by no means a complete deterrent (how many videos have we watched on cars being stolen from driveways?).

I'm sure you already have but I'd be looking at strengthening physical security i.e. gates, locks, bars etc.

[MDUBZ]

The advice the police give you is to make your house a less desirable/ more difficult target than your neighbours. Whilst cameras seem to act as a deterrent, the smart doorbells used in isolation seem to attract them. Don’t place vehicles or trees/bushes in places that obscure the view of the garage/house from the road as this gives the bds cover behind which they can work undetected, horrible spikey hedges that act as a barrier are obviously good. As others have said lights are good as they draw attention. I’m using the nest products and they have a speaker so you could challenge them, tell them to FRO, that the police have been called, or allow you to go full ed-209 if you spotted someone casing the place out.

Edited by MDUBZ on Wednesday 18th December 19:21

[CoolHands]

Unfortunately it’s a full time no-consequences job for them these days. Absolutely disgusting.

[Mortarboard]

We use Japanese Burberry quite a bit.

Does look bad, grows easily.

M.

[david mcc]

Another vote for a POE system here. I went with a reolink system and its far far superior to the wireless system I had before. Never goes down and quality of image is like night and day.

Wasnt too hard to wire up (Ive got very little DIY skills )

[Richtea1970]

Another little tip. See if you have anywhere where you can put a ground level camera looking up (hide in a plant pot etc).
Villains expect houses to have cctv so always approach with heads down. Having a low level one can sometimes be the difference between getting a face shot and not.

[rodericb]

david mcc said:

Another vote for a POE system here. I went with a reolink system and its far far superior to the wireless system I had before. Never goes down and quality of image is like night and day.

Wasnt too hard to wire up (Ive got very little DIY skills )

Some people are using jammers to interrupt wireless cameras. But then if someone is coming that "prepared" then they're probably not terribly fussed about being filmed anyway. It sounds counter-intuitive but a jammer is probably cheap (I guess!) and would be just one of many things done to reduce the chance of being identified.

Richtea1970 said:

Another little tip. See if you have anywhere where you can put a ground level camera looking up (hide in a plant pot etc).
Villains expect houses to have cctv so always approach with heads down. Having a low level one can sometimes be the difference between getting a face shot and not.

There's a range of Ubiquiti cameras suited for this: https://ui.com/us/en/camera-security/interior-desi...

[DonkeyApple]

I think it's relevant to ask oneself how a camera would stop someone who wants something from inside your home?

They have a benefit but generally they're closer to chocolate teapots than china teapots.

For preventing crimes that have little deterrent or punishment then you really need to focus on what makes the neighbours' more appealing targets.

Lighting and locking generally. I'd consider cameras not much more than icing on the cake.