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One of the best places to place your outdoor wireless security camera is over any entrances or exits.  Since people go in and out of here all the time, the camera is sure to catch people’s eyes and provide a deterrent.  It’s also your easiest chance to catch a good close-up image of someone that can be used to ID them.

Smile, You're on Camera

The best way to install outdoor security cameras over an entrance is to place it with it zoomed in to an area about three feet wide, which is about the width of a normal door.  This will make sure that you get the closest images possible of anyone walking into your home or place of business.  If you are installing a higher end system, monitors installed just above a door chime work very well to get better picture of people as well.  People’s eyes are usually drawn to monitors, making them aware that they are on camera and giving you a great chance to get a great picture of their face.  This serves as both a great deterrent and a great way to make sure criminals ultimately get caught.

Another good place to place cameras around your home is in secluded spots.  Place cameras with good night vision in darkened corners or other areas that are not frequently trafficked, especially if there are other entrances like windows nearby.  This will make sure potential thieves know that they are on camera wherever they go on your property and that there aren’t any uncovered entrances to your home.

Finally, also think about placing cameras near the entrances to your property in general, especially if you have a few chokepoints where most people will enter.  A well-placed security camera may convince some people that it’s not worth investigating any closer to your house because they are afraid of being on camera.

Having the right placement is essential for having the most effective outdoor wireless cameras for your home or business.  Before you buy your system, take time to search out the best places to place the cameras on your property.  For most homes, the best places to place cameras are near entrance to your home and property and also in secluded areas, especially if these secluded areas have windows or other break-in points that can be exploited.

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Place the Camera Up High to Avoid Vandalism

One of the main benefits to having a outdoor wireless surveillance camera is that is has a deterrent effect on criminals.  If potential criminals see that you have a camera system outside your home, most will move on to the next house, afraid of being caught on camera and going to jail.  For this to happen, you need to put your cameras in a very prominent, conspicuous location.  However, don’t put them down within arm’s reach of any people.  This allows people to vandalize or break the camera.  Instead place the camera up high and out of reach, but still make sure it is able to be seen.

Find a Good Protective Case for Your Camera

Placing your camera in a protective case will protect the camera from both the elements and vandals.  If you camera does get hit with some kind of object, a durable, rugged case will make sure the camera inside keeps working.  More advanced cases even come with heaters or fans that help protect the camera in extreme cold or heat, in addition to protecting it from rain and moisture.

Encrypt Your Wireless Signal

The biggest weakness of outdoor wireless cameras is that the wireless signal that they send out can be hacked into fairly easily if it’s not properly encrypted.  Try to find a camera that comes with a high level of security initially, but if you already have a camera make sure you have all the security features enabled.  If you don’t, anyone passing by that can receive a wireless signal can see what your camera is seeing by connecting to your feed.

Find a Camera That Doesn’t Work on 2.4 GhZ

Most home appliances that are wireless, including cordless phones, internet routers, and numerous other appliances work on the 2.4 GhZ frequency.  If your camera works on this frequency, any of these appliances that are in your home could interfere with the signal.  Even microwaves cause some cameras problems.  On top of this, since 2.4 GhZ is easy to receive a signal from, your signal can be easily picked up by others.  Avoid these problems by finding a camera that works above or below the 2.4 GhZ frequency.

Outdoor security cameras are a great way to keep your home or business safe.  However, you still need to take precautions to make sure that your cameras themselves stay safe and thus continue to keep you and your family safe for years to come.  Following these recommendations will put you a long way in this direction.

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You can find many different camera covers on the web, and it’s incredibly important for your system that you find the best one.  It will affect the longevity and effectiveness of your cameras more than anything else.  Here are a few things to look for in quality covers.

The Casing Material

Camera with Metal Casing

The material that a case is made out of will affect how waterproof, weatherproof, and vandal-resistant you can expect a given enclosure to be  Plastic cases, while they are great right out of the box, have a tendency to melt in the heat and crack in the cold, especially if they’ve already melted in the heat.  Both types of damage will make sure that your outdoor security camera doesn’t withstand one season out in the heat or cold.

A much better option is a metal case.  Metal cases are more durable, won’t warp in the heat, crack in the cold, and can even take a beating from a few vandals.  The major problem with metal cases though is that if you have a wireless system the metal interferes with the wireless signal.  You can get around this by buying and installing an external antenna for your camera.

IP Rating

Another attribute of a camera case that should not be overlooked is the IP rating of the case.  An IP rating is a number that is recognized internationally that shows how waterproof and dustproof certain electronics are.  There are two numbers that make up an IP rating.  The first one is the dust rating, which ranges from zero to six and the second is the waterproof rating, which ranges from zero to eight.  You should always look for camera enclosures that are rated with an IP of at least 65.  This will make sure that they are dust proof and can take a direct spray from a water jet.

Heater or Fan?

Depending on the climate in your area, you may need to look for a case with a heater or a fan.  Most cameras work in a fairly large range of temperatures, but during the dead of winter and the dog days of summer, the mercury will probably either drop or rise to levels that will test the camera, and possibly break it.  You can avoid this by finding a case with a fan or a heater installed to protect the camera.  They are a little bit more expensive, but they’re much less expensive than buying a new camera!

Ruggedness

Finally, you need to look at how rugged the case is.  This is especially true if the camera will placed fairly low to the ground where it can take a beating from vandals.  Most metal cases stand up pretty well to abuse, but before you place a camera within the potential reach of a projectile, make sure that its welded together well and can take a hit.

A quality outdoor security camera case will pay you dividends for years to come.  It will keep your camera safer and working better for a longer time.  Take your time and find a great one at a trusted online realtor.

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Number of Cameras

One of the biggest things that determines how tight your outdoor wireless camera security is is how many cameras you have in your system. If you’re buying a complete system yourself, it cam come with anywhere from two to twenty-four cameras. So how do you know how many you actually need?

Everybody’s security needs are different. At a bare minimum you should have camera covering every possible break in point. The most common ones are doors and windows. This isn’t to say you need one camera over all these different areas, you can still have one camera cover several of them, but you don’t want to leave an area open. After this, you should also install cameras places where people generally enter your property, like the driveway, in darkened corners, and also one covered the area where you store a lot of valuable belongings. Doing this will make sure your home or business is as secure as it needs to be.

Picture Definition

Another aspect that determines how tight your outdoor wireless security camera system is is the level of picture definition that your camera and receive allow you to see. Just like the number of cameras though, how much money you spend on a great camera depends on your security needs. Are you going to actually need to ID someone with facial recognition? Or do you just want to know when someone’s coming? If it’s the latter, it doesn’t make much sense to buy the most expensive camera on the market.

Features

The security of your exterior wireless security camera system is also determined by the extra features that you have on your cameras. These can include, but aren’t limited to, IP features that let your camera broadcast its feed on the web and your iPhone, and pan, tilt, and zoom functions that are controlled remotely. Again, whether you need each of these will be determined by your own security needs. Most home security systems won’t need highly advanced systems, but if you’re on the road a lot, it can be reassuring to check in at home and know that everything is all right. Business, on the other hand, can need a bit tighter security.

Dome Security Camera

Wireless Signal

Finally, how well your system works will be determined by the type of wireless signal that your cameras use. Lower-end cameras tend to use the 2.4 GhZ signal, which, while effective in certain areas, tends to also overlap with other consumer electronics like microwaves, wireless routers, and cordless phones. This works in remote areas, but in most of today’s homes there are plenty of electronics that can interfere with the signal.

You also need to take care that your wireless signal doesn’t get hacked. Because the signal is on open airwaves anyone with a receiver can theoretically receive the signal. Make sure that you get a system that offer your signal a high level of security, especially if your cameras are broadcasting anything private.

If you want the best, clearest signal you need to find a camera that creates a distinct connection on its own signal with the receiver. Luckily, today there are a lot of cameras that satisfy this requirement for a affordable price.

The level of security that you can expect from your outdoor wireless security system is determined by four features of your system. These features are the number of cameras involved, the picture quality the cameras give you, extra features that come with your cameras, and the type of wireless connection that is used. The type and quality of cameras that you buy will ultimately be determined by your own individual security needs and budget.

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Wireless Range

The number one feature that is going to affect the performance of your wireless camera is its wireless range.  Wireless range is furthest distance that you can place the camera from the receiver with the receiver still being able to pick up a clear signal.  Wireless signals go the furthest when there’s a line of sight between the camera and the receiver.  Unfortunately, this rarely happens and the signal has to go through walls which greatly cut down on the signal strength.  If your camera is out of sight of your transmitter plan on factoring in a little bit of a buffer with your wireless range.  You don’t want a huge range however, because anyone within the range can tap into your wireless signal, which brings us to the next feature to look for.

Wireless Signal Security

If your camera is recording images you don’t want others to see or is in a sensitive area, the security of the wireless signal is of the utmost security, especially if your camera uses the 2.4 GHz frequency.  If your camera operates at 2.4GHz, anyone with an ordinary wireless router or wireless card in their modem could hack into your system is they are within the range.  Most newer cameras today come with sufficient safeguards where the camera will only talk with the specific transmitter it’s paired with.  If privacy is an issue for you, make sure to look for this when you purchase your next camera.

Signal Interference

Another reason not to buy an outdoor security camera that operates at the 2.4GHz frequency is that in many circumstance, they can be interrupted by signals from other appliances and wireless devices that operate at the same signal strength.  Cordless phones, microwaves, wireless routers, and any other electronic device that uses wireless could put noise into the signal from your camera and degrade the picture to the point where it is not usable.  If you’ve got a lot of appliances at home, try to find a camera that either operates above 2.4GHz or uses a packet transfer method to reduce or eliminate noise.

Durability

Another important factor in choosing an exterior wireless camera is the durability of the camera.  Your camera is going to be subjected to the harshest extremes that Mother Nature can throw at it, so make sure it’s prepared for the weather in your region.  Your outdoor security cameras should at a minimum be water resistant and dust-proof and able to withstand the extreme hot and cold temperatures that are in your area.

Depth of Field

Finally, also make sure to take into account the depth of field that the camera is capable of focusing on.  Depth of field is how far in the distance that objects are still in focus.  Most home cameras can have objects up to three hundred feet away in focus.  If you need to see further out, you may want to look for either a camera with a telephoto lens or a higher depth of field.

Picking out a wireless security system that can keep your family safe is an incredibly important decision that should not be taken lightly.  Look up all the information that you can on the subject online and do comparison shopping to figure out which one will be best for you and your family.

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These cameras work by picking up on a wavelength of light that is given off by objects that are heated up, like human bodies. Most of these cameras are dual function and come with two sensors in the camera itself. One sensor is for the daytime images that every outdoor security camera will catch during the day hours. But, infrared cameras have a second sensor in them that captures the infrared light and is activated automatically when ambient lighting in an area drops below a certain level.

Night Security Camera Footage

An outdoor wireless security camera that comes with night vision enabled will usually advertise that it comes with ten, twelve, or more infrared LEDs. What these lights do is flood the area around the camera in infrared lights, which are then reflected back to the camera, intensifying the weak infrared light that is given off by heated objects already. It’s the equivalent to shining an invisible flashlight over the area that the camera is watching. The image comes out in shades of green because the naked eye can perceive more tones of green than any other color, making it easier to pick up the outlines of objects in an otherwise colorless night image.

The major downside with most wireless outdoor night vision security cameras today is that they have a limited range. There are cameras that can see up to over three hundred feet in the night that are available, but these are generally too expensive for home or small business use. Instead, most home security cameras will see around thirty feet at night. Another limitation, if you are trying to hide your cameras, is that the infrared sensors can give off a red glow if someone looks right at the camera, giving away the camera’s position.

Despite these two drawbacks, it is essential for any outdoor security camera that you buy to be equipped with night vision. Otherwise, you are limiting yourself to only seeing what goes on during the day. At night the cameras will still serve as a deterrent, but only if the criminals saw where they were located at during the day, otherwise you will be effectively running blind.

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The number one thing you have to look at when you are looking outdoor security camera cases is the IP code or rating. The IP, or International Protection Rating, is a two digit code that indicates how impervious an electrical enclosure is to dust and other physical objects and water. The first number is protection against solid objects and ranges from 0, no protection to 6, dust tight. The second number is how well he outdoor security case resists water, and ranges from 0, not protected, to 8, which is immersion below one meter.

When you’re looking at an enclosure, it should have an IP rating of at least 65. This will make the camera dust tight, so that you don’t get any unwanted specks on the lens and will protect it against water jets, defined as water projected from a nozzle hitting the camera at any angle. Anything less than this and you risk your camera being rendered useless after a strong rain.

If you live in an area that can be subjected to extreme heat or cold, you should also consider buying a case with a heater or fan installed. Most cameras are good from around 12 degrees to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. This may seem like a lot of room to work with, but remember in the summer that heat can get trapped in the case, raising the temperature dramatically. If it gets anywhere close to 100 degrees during the summer or down in the single digits in the winter, you should think hard about including a fan, heater, or both. It’s better to invest a few dollars more than have your outdoor security camera break during the first cold snap or heat wave.

Finally, your case needs to also be able to stand up to random knocks and abuse that vandals can give it. The best, toughest, type of cases for protecting your camera from the elements and vandals are metal cases. Metal cases are tough, won’t snap in the cold or melt in the sun like plastic cases can, and will last a long time. The only downside to metal cases is if you have a wireless camera, you may need to get a booster antenna for it because the metal and interfere with the signal.

Outdoor security camera enclosures will protect your camera from the elements, vandals, and most other hazards that you can think of. Make sure you pick out the right one by comparison shopping, I suggest this model from VideoSecu, and your camera will last outside for years to come.

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