A home for your security camera: 4 top places for your surveillance cam

At Smartfrog we are often asked, “Where is the best place to install my security camera?” As the Smartfrog Cam just needs WiFi and a nearby power point, there are any number of options for you to place your cam to keep your home safe. While it will always depend on the layout of your home and its surrounds, focusing on key entry points is often the best approach.

These tips talk to the ways most burglars enter homes, and how to stop them in their tracks – in short, where is the most advantageous spot for your home surveillance camera.

In front of a window, from an angle

A majority of burglars force entry via a window or door on the ground floor. Having the camera facing the window from an angle, thereby giving a view of the courtyard or the garden outside, can offer you clear vision of some main entry points. Even more than that, it can also be a warning to burglars who approach a window. If they see a security camera facing them, they’re often less likely to want to break in. Avoid aiming it directly front-on to the window, or there could be too much light behind a burglar to identify them. Additionally at night the camera may see its own reflection in the glass, so better to place the cam at an angle to the window frame.

A few paces from the door

Placing your home security camera in front of the door is another good way to identify intruders. Ideally one camera would be facing the back or side door, and one at the front door. The camera should be either on a side table a few paces from the door, or on a shelf of some kind higher than the door frame, with the camera pointed at a downward angle. If some of your rooms are accessible via a balcony, nearby tree or neighboring building, a burglar may try to enter via a door or window on an upper floor. So, you should also place a security camera there.

Up high, out of reach

Burglars like garages, because they’re often full of expensive tools, valuable cars and they aren’t the major thoroughfares in a home where a burglar is likely to run into trouble, or you. Consider placing an IP cam on a high shelf in the garage, out of reach and where you will have a good view over your things. As long as your garage or shed has a power socket and access to WiFi, it’s an ideal place for a home surveillance camera.

Watching over valuables

If you have a safe, a box of valuable jewelry, or expensive tech gear, then having a security camera centered on these precious goods could be incredibly worthwhile. Having such high net-worth items covered under a home insurance plan is recommended, and a camera offering a live feed of the room with these items is a strong second layer of protection. If a burglar tries to take these goods, you’ll have them on the record doing so. Often burglars will head to the master bedroom or the living to find these valuables, so consider quickly and easily setting up your Smartfrog Cam in these areas.