Thinking about boosting your home security with CCTV cameras? You’re not alone. Many homeowners grapple with the question of where to place cameras for maximum effectiveness, and the sheer cost can be daunting. Outfitting an entire house with high-spec cameras and robust, high channel recording systems can quickly push your budget into the thousands, leaving many to wonder if true peace of mind is simply out of reach. The good news is, you don’t need a huge network of cameras to significantly enhance your home’s safety. If you're working with a limited budget and can only choose the most effective spots for your CCTV cameras, this guide is for you. We'll show you where we would place our cameras if we were limited just 5 key locations (and some honourable mentions) creating the most impactful surveillance system for your home. We’re going to cover external and internal locations and what level of security we would recommend for each spot.
The first camera location is your front door, covering as much of the entrance and driveway at once as you can. If you only have one camera, this is undoubtedly where it should go. Your front door isn't just an entrance; it's the primary gateway to your home. Depending on your living situation, intruders won’t be able to sneak in through a back door or window; they often go for the easiest, most obvious and direct point of entry: through the drive to your front door. This camera will act as your vigilant sentinel, keeping an eye on everyone who approaches your property. Beyond deterring potential burglars, it’s invaluable for monitoring deliveries, watching over your parked vehicles in the driveway, and even identifying package thieves. For this critical spot, we highly recommend investing in a camera with specific advanced features:
- 2K to 3K Resolution (as a minimum): What’s the point in using grainy, unidentifiable footage? Higher resolution means more pixels, which translates to crystal-clear images. This is necessary for identifying faces, reading license plates of suspicious vehicles, and capturing fine details that could be vital evidence for investigations or insurance claims. You can determine how far away you can identify a person using the DORI standard provided on our product pages. Of course, going with a higher resolution will provide longer lifespan before becoming obsolete (to learn more on obsolescence check out our blog on the lifespan of a CCTV system).
- Human & Vehicle Detection: Standard motion detection can be a nightmare of false alarms, triggered by everything from a squirrel scurrying across the path to a leaf blowing past. Cameras with AI-powered human and vehicle classification intelligently differentiate between irrelevant movement and actual threats. This means you only get alerts for what truly matters, saving you time and preventing "alert fatigue."
- Two-Way Audio: This feature transforms your camera from a passive observer into an active communicator. Imagine seeing an unfamiliar person loitering by your door – you can speak directly to them through the camera's speaker, asking "Can I help you?" or "You're being recorded, please leave”. This alone is often enough to send an unwelcome visitor packing, making them think you're home even if you're miles away. It's also incredibly useful for communicating with delivery drivers or guests when you're not able to get to the door immediately. Cameras with two-way audio often come with sirens and pre-recorded messages you can play instead.
Examples of these cameras include the entire SPRO Active Deterrence Range and some Reolink cameras including the TrackMix POE and RLC-1224A.
Your back door and garden are often the most overlooked, yet vulnerable, areas of your property. Unlike the front, which typically faces a street or public path, the rear of your house usually offers more seclusion, making it an attractive target for intruders who prefer to operate away from prying eyes. This camera isn't just about the door itself; it's about covering your entire private outdoor space, including any valuable items you might store there like garden tools, children's toys like bikes, or even contents in your sheds and workshops. It’s your best bet for catching anyone attempting to sneak around your property, whether they’re trying to force a back door, jimmy a window, or break into a shed. For this external position, consider these essential features:
- 2K to 3K Resolution (minimum): Just like the front door, clarity is paramount. You need high-definition footage to identify faces or specific tools an intruder might be carrying. The extra pixels mean you capture clearer evidence, even at a distance or in challenging lighting.
- Human Classification: Much like the front camera, human classification makes sense, obviously in a back garden you don’t expect to see any moving cars.
- White Light: Many outdoor cameras rely solely on infrared (IR) night vision, which produces black and white footage. While IR is discreet, white light illumination offers several key advantages for a back garden camera. Firstly, when triggered by detection, a sudden burst of bright white light can act as a powerful visual deterrent, instantly startling and often scaring off an intruder. Secondly, it allows your camera to record in full colour at night, providing much richer and more detailed evidence – like the colour of an intruder's clothing or specific markings on their bag – ideal for identification.
- Two-Way Audio: This feature remains just as important for your back garden as it is for your front. If you see someone lurking in your garden, you can immediately speak through the camera or set off a siren, making your presence known and often deterring them before they can even attempt a break-in.
Camera location 3 is the watching the front door from the inside. While external cameras are your first line of defence, an important piece of your security puzzle is an internal camera positioned to oversee your main entrance from within. We recommend placing this camera in your hallway, cloakroom, or a central vantage point that offers a clear line of sight directly towards your front door. If your hallway permits, angle it to also capture as many adjacent doorways (leading to living rooms, up stairs, etc.) as possible.
This camera is important for a number of reasons:
- Monitoring Ingress and Egress: For everyday use, it provides a simple way to keep track of who comes and goes from your home. Did the kids get home from school on time? Did a cleaner arrive as scheduled? It offers peace of mind without needing to be physically present.
- Tracking Intruder Movement Post-Entry: In the unfortunate event that an intruder does enter your home, this camera provides footage of their initial movements inside the property. You'll see exactly who entered, what they looked like from a different angle, and their immediate direction of travel. This helps in identifying suspects and understanding their objectives.
- Documenting Damages and Incidents: Beyond intrusion, this camera can also capture unexpected events. Whether it's a pipe burst, an accidental fall, or damage during large deliveries like furniture or the big shop, it provides a visual record of activity in a high-traffic internal area.
For this internal location, simplicity often suffices without sacrificing effectiveness. A 2K resolution camera is highly recommended, offering sharp enough detail to identify faces clearly even in varying indoor lighting. Paired with reliable motion detection, it will alert you to any unexpected activity, ensuring you’re always aware of what’s happening just inside your front door. Cameras like this could include the SPRO 6MP IP Economy camera.
Our fourth key camera placement focuses not on an entry point, but on the items you wish to protect most. This internal camera should be strategically positioned in a room or area where you store your most valuable possessions. This might be a spare bedroom, a home office, or even discreetly placed to monitor a safe or a specific display cabinet. Think about where you keep important documents, valuable jewellery, expensive electronics, or potentially, the CCTV recorder itself.
The reasoning behind this placement is straightforward yet critical:
- Targeted Evidence: In the unfortunate event of a break-in, intruders will often make a b-line for rooms or areas they believe hold the highest value. A camera here acts as a silent witness, capturing their actions, what they are searching for, and potentially what they take. This direct evidence of their interaction with your valuables is essential for police investigations and insurance claims.
- Deterrence (even if subtle): While often more discreetly placed, the very presence of a camera in a 'private' room can add another layer of psychological deterrence, making an intruder feel more exposed and increasing the likelihood they will abandon their efforts or be more easily identified.
- Protecting Your System: Placing a camera to monitor your CCTV recorder, if it's a separate unit, provides an excellent failsafe. If an intruder attempts to disable or steal your recording device, you'll have footage of them doing so, ensuring at least some record of their presence.
If you are choosing to cover your NVR, and the recorder does get stolen, a camera with an SD card installed as a backup will keep record of your important evidence being taken. For this vital internal position, the same camera specifications as your other indoor cameras are perfectly suitable. A 2K resolution provides the necessary clarity to identify faces and details of actions, while reliable motion detection will ensure you are immediately alerted to any unexpected activity in these sensitive areas, giving you peace of mind that your most cherished possessions are under watch.
Camera number 5 can be changed depending on your personal circumstances between this and the honourable mentions below. Much like the front, an internal camera covering your back door provides a layer of security for a commonly targeted entry point. This camera should be positioned in the room directly leading to, or facing, your back exit. Similar to the front internal camera, try to angle it to encompass any other adjacent doorways if possible, to maximise coverage of this high-traffic area. The reasons for this camera’s placement are much the same as for your front entrance.
While our budget-focused five-camera strategy prioritises the absolute essentials, there's a few locations that deserve a significant honourable mention. Why have honourable mentions if your key locations are all covered? Well, some properties have different circumstances and will be better off with cameras in a different position, so we recommend using these placements instead of camera locations 3 & 5. If your home fits the criteria, the first is the garage. Often seen as a separate entity, the garage is frequently a treasure trove of valuables and can sometimes serve as an accessible, less-secured entry point into your main home.
For comprehensive protection, install a camera inside your garage. Position it to cover as much of the interior as possible, paying particular attention to the main garage door (whether manual or automated), any side doors or windows, and the general areas where you store valuable items.
Garages are prime targets for thieves. They frequently house expensive vehicles, power tools, specialised equipment, bicycles, sporting goods, and often even cherished collectibles. An unsecured garage is an open invitation. Beyond the contents, a successful garage break-in can sometimes grant access to an internal door leading directly into your house, bypassing your primary home security. A camera here acts as a powerful deterrent and provides vital evidence should your garage be targeted.
Because of the high value of contents and its potential as an entry point to your home, we recommend equipping your garage with the same level of robust defence you would use for your front garden camera. This means looking for:
- 2K to 3K Resolution (minimum): To clearly identify individuals, differentiate between various tools or items, and capture details of vehicles.
- Human & Vehicle Detection: To filter out false alarms from garage door movements, shadows, or even small animals, ensuring you're only alerted to relevant threats.
- Two-Way Audio: This feature is incredibly effective. Imagine seeing someone suspicious inside your garage; you can immediately speak to them through the camera, making your presence known and often prompting them to flee. It’s also useful for communicating with delivery drivers leaving packages or tradespeople.
- White Light: For excellent night vision in full colour and an additional deterrent effect, a camera with built-in white light illumination can be highly beneficial for a garage.
Don't underestimate the vulnerability and value held within your garage. A single, well-placed camera here can significantly bolster your overall home security.
Our second honourable mention also only applies some homeowners, it only applies to those where the perimeter of their property isn't just a garden fence – it might border a public footpath, an alleyway, or an open field. These areas, while legally accessible to the public, can also be used by individuals looking for a discreet route to gain access to your property or scope it out undetected. A camera positioned along this boundary catches any vandalism or trespassers without breaching any privacy laws. When recording in public spaces it is a good idea to put up CCTV signs.
Placement: This camera should be strategically mounted to cover the length of your property that runs alongside the public path or alleyway. Crucially, it should be angled to focus primarily on your property's boundary and ingress points (like gates or weak spots in the fence), minimising its view of the public path itself. While capturing some public space may be unavoidable to secure your boundary, be mindful of privacy regulations (GDPR in the UK). You should aim to only cover what's necessary to protect your property.
People often use these public thoroughfares to approach a property without appearing to target the main front or back doors. They might be testing gates, looking for unlocked windows, or observing routines. This camera will capture anyone loitering or attempting to cross your property line from this less visible side, providing early detection of suspicious activity. Given that this camera will likely operate in varied outdoor lighting and potentially capture activity at a distance, we recommend robust features:
- 2K or 3K Resolution: High resolution is paramount for identifying individuals, their clothing, or any tools they might be carrying, even from a distance.
- White Light Technology: When triggered, a bright burst of white light can act as a powerful visual deterrent, making it clear to anyone that they have been detected and are being recorded in full colour.
- Low-Light Technology: Beyond standard infrared night vision, cameras with advanced low-light capabilities (often marketed as 'Starlight' or similar) can produce clearer, more detailed colour images in very dim conditions, even before the white light needs to activate. This provides superior identification potential compared to traditional black-and-white IR footage during twilight or moonlit nights.
This camera ensures that no part of your property perimeter is left vulnerable, adding an essential layer of security where your private space meets public access.
Securing your home effectively doesn't have to break the bank or require an elaborate, multi-camera setup covering every square inch. As we've explored, the real power lies in strategic placement and selecting cameras with features that truly matter for each critical zone. By focusing your budget on these five key locations:
- Your front door and driveway
- The often-overlooked back door and garden
- Your most valuable possessions
- If you’re lucky enough to have one, your garage
- If applicable, covering your boundary to public spaces.
- But if not, the interior view of your front and rear entrances
You can build a formidable security shield around your home.
This carefully considered five-camera approach provides maximum impact for minimal investment. Each camera serves a distinct purpose, deterring potential threats, capturing vital evidence, and giving you an unparalleled view of what's happening both inside and outside your property. From proactive communication with two-way audio to crystal-clear identification with high resolution and smart detection, these placements transform your home into a fortress of peace of mind. Invest wisely in these essential spots, and you'll gain a powerful sense of security that truly protects what matters most.