Surveillance Cameras – The Truth About Wireless Cameras

Security cameras are one of the best options available to monitor your business operations or home, ensuring safety and security. Proper security camera installation and equipment choices play a huge role in their performance. The first steps in installing a video surveillance system are selecting the right cameras and identifying the installation site.

There are different types of surveillance cameras, e.g. B. Infrared cameras are mainly used in places with little light; Bullet cameras, which are highly visible and easy to install and can be mounted on a wall or ceiling; Dome Cameras which are trending for home security; and vandalism dome cameras, where cameras are mounted in areas where they can be easily accessed or in areas of high crime. There are several considerations to make before installing security cameras:

• Make sure there is an adequate power source, especially for outdoor installations
• Choose the right lighting options around the camera or choose a low light or infrared camera
• Weather Issues – This issue can be addressed by using weatherproof cameras or protective housings for outdoor camera installations
• Use the correct lens for the camera, e.g. For example, a wide-angle lens for small hallways or hallways, or a telephoto lens for aiming at targets further away.
• Consider using wired or wireless security cameras

Wireless security/surveillance cameras are increasingly becoming a desirable alternative to the wired systems of the past. One of the main benefits of wireless is the ease of installation and the portability of your cameras if you change locations or want to take them with you when you move house. You’ll spend more money when you buy a wireless camera, but if it works, you can save hours of installation time. Wireless cameras can either be plugged into a power source or run on a battery.

Here are the top reasons NOT to use a wireless camera:

• Battery life is very short. Just a few hours if you’re lucky. Remember that the battery powers both the cameras and the transmitter. We get countless customers who look shocked that the wireless cameras don’t last longer on battery power. They are used to months or years of benefiting from their wireless alarm components that use very little power to operate and they think cameras are the same. You are not!

• You have to wire anyway! If you are not satisfied with 2-3 hours of battery life, and most people are not, then you need to connect the camera to a power source. This likely means drilling through the wall and finding an outlet to plug into. This also means that if someone accidentally or intentionally disconnects the camera from the wall, the camera will stop working. Keep in mind that most wired installations do not have this problem as the power cable is routed safely in tandem (siamese cable) with the video signal back to the control room where the recorder and monitor are located. The only way to stop the camera from working inside the cable housing would be to cut the actual wire.

• Wireless reception or interference is another problem. The FCC only allows a few frequencies for wireless cameras. 900 MHz range, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz for now. But cameras aren’t the only devices sharing this radio spectrum, causing major headaches for customers and installers trying to find a good picture. And remember that your DVR recorder has a 99% chance of recording motion-detected video. This means that any screen flicker caused by interference will be recorded by your DVR. This, in turn, means you have hours or days more video to watch when an event occurs, consuming your hard drive’s capacity. Where you might have expected 4 weeks of recording capacity, you are now only getting a few days due to the constant recording caused by the poor radio signal.

• When you broadcast a wireless signal, anyone can intercept and watch the transmission. This means that a wireless signal in your home gives a voyeur or thief an easy view of what’s going on inside. Keep your clothes on and hide your cutlery when using a wireless camera indoors. HBO is no longer required for your neighbors as the true lifestyle of you is broadcast as far and wide as your cameras broadcast.

• The specified transmission distance is never the case. Remember that wireless cameras report a transmission distance measured in a lab. This lab was likely located in a desert or remote region where there are no trees, walls, houses, or other transmissions. So your actual results will vary, and they will vary down a lot! 300′ now becomes 100-150′ with walls and adjacent transfers.

But wait! There’s hope for WiFi. The wireless problems mentioned above have a newer technology that can save you from some of these mentioned pitfalls. Digital transmission to the rescue! The new digital transmission for cameras will eliminate some (not all) problems with poor wireless reception. Digital transmission blocks some of the wireless interference from wireless routers, wireless phones, etc. by encoding the signal. This creates a much more secure connection and also scrambles the signal preventing a peeping Tom or Sneaky Pete from looking into your home on the wireless channel. Digital will not guarantee you 100% since you are still using wireless transmission; However, digital encryption will prevent the average Joe from becoming a Tom or a Pete.

Even with the higher quality, we always recommend wiring the cameras unless absolutely necessary. There is almost never a problem when wiring. Occasionally there may be a severed wire; however, it can be easily repaired. I can say with confidence that less than 0.05% of all installations I have been involved with have ever had a broken wire.

Bottom line is that Wire is King and Wireless is still working towards becoming practical. Until then stay tuned!

Thanks to Perry Myers | #Surveillance #Cameras #Truth #Wireless #Cameras