CCTV Surveillance Systems are installed for all kinds of reasons, with the most common one being for the protection and security of homes and businesses. CCTV Installations are also used for recording wildlife, monitoring activities in shopping malls, at airports and other public places. CCTV Surveillance Systems for homes and small businesses can be installed indoor or outdoor, and can be either connected with cables to the various components – camera, screen, recording equipment – or without cables using WiFi.
Advantages of wireless CCTV Surveillance Systems are that they are easier to install, images can be viewed remotely over the internet or smartphone, cameras can be networked together without using cables and cameras can be moved easily. Generally speaking cameras must have line of sight to what you want to record, but this is not necessary with a wireless CCTV installation. Cameras can be placed anywhere within the range of the signal, giving flexibility on siting of the cameras and therefore the area being monitored. The main disadvantage of a wireless CCTV Surveillance System is that the output image is not such as a good quality as a wired system.
The installation of a wired CCTV Surveillance System can be a time consuming process and you are restricted where cameras can be sited due to the limitations of cabling lengths. Although a camera can be located further away from the recorder, there may be current loss along long lengths of cable which can affect picture quality. With a wireless CCTV Surveillance System the restriction is the signal strength between the camera and the recorder.
With the growth of wireless technology, smartphones and the internet, CCTV Installations can include remote viewing of images by using a dedicated server and internet protocol (IP). This is of benefit if you are constantly on the move and want to see what is happening at home or if you want to have a centralised place to view the output from your CCTV Surveillance System. Integration of the cameras with laptops or smartphones means that cameras can send alerts to your email or PDA only when movement is detected which means that you do not have a constant stream of images downloading to your mobile device. This saves bandwidth and download costs.
There is a continuing upward trend for the CCTV Installations both in the domestic and business environment due to the rising crime rate. The easier a system is to install, the better and hence the demand for wireless technology. The components of wireless CCTV Surveillance Systems may be more expensive than a wired system initially, but the ease of installation and flexibility partly compensates for this. Take advice from CCTV Installation Companies if you are uncertain. If the installation is to be outside you will also need to take into account whether the cabling and connections are waterproof, which is a whole other subject. Indoor CCTV Surveillance Systems are much easier to install, and are sold with full instructions and software drivers for wireless systems.