Where to place home security cameras

Decide what each camera is for

A camera that tries to see everything sees nothing useful. Give each one a single job, because the job decides height, angle and lens width.

• Identify: a close, face-height shot of whoever stands at a door. A video doorbell does this; a separate camera needs to be lower and closer.
• Detect: a wide view of a yard, driveway or side passage that tells you someone is there. Here you accept less detail.
• Record a scene: a camera aimed at a garage door or a car, where a clear overview matters more than a face.

A typical house needs one identify camera at the front, one detect camera for the back and one at the garage or driveway. Add more only when you find a blind spot.

Where to start: entry points first

Height and angle

For outdoor cameras, 8 to 10 feet is a common mounting height: out of casual reach, but low enough to see faces instead of the top of heads. Many manufacturers suggest a similar range, so check your camera’s instructions and any maximum height for the motion sensor. Tilt the camera down so that it covers the ground 6 to 10 feet in front of the door. Mount it under an eave, soffit or covered porch when you can: it keeps rain off the lens and cuts spider webs and glare.

Stay out of reach of a ladder. A camera that a person can grab at a first-floor window or on a low porch rail can be turned, covered or taken. If you must mount low, use a tamper-resistant mount and a camera that sends an alert when it goes offline.

Light, glare and backlighting

• Face the lens away from the rising or setting sun. A camera that looks east at sunrise or west at sunset turns faces into silhouettes. Check the live view at several times of day before drilling.
• Avoid bright lights in the frame. A porch light or streetlamp directly in view makes the rest of the image dark. Aim so the light falls behind the camera or off to the side.
• Watch out for glass. A camera behind a window picks up reflections of the room at night and may switch off its infrared to avoid glare. Our guide to night vision, infrared and color explains why.
• Add light where you can. Motion-activated lighting helps color night vision and gives a visitor a reason to leave.

Check the Wi-Fi at the exact spot

Before you mount a Wi-Fi camera, stand where it will go and test the signal on your phone. A 4 MP stream may need a few megabits per second to the router, which a weak connection cannot sustain, so you get dropouts and missed clips. Brick, stucco, metal siding and long distances weaken the signal. Extend your network instead of mounting the camera and hoping: see extending Wi-Fi outdoors and to the garage, or choose PoE cameras for the hard-to-reach spots. If cameras run on batteries, read battery vs wired cameras before you pick a location you cannot easily reach to recharge.

What not to point at

• Your neighbor’s windows, yard or door. Use the camera’s privacy zones or masking to block those areas, and aim the lens toward your property. Our guide to security cameras and neighbors explains the legal ideas involved.
• Bathrooms, bedrooms and other private rooms, including guests’ rooms. Cameras there are widely seen as a serious privacy intrusion.
• Public sidewalks and streets beyond what is needed. A narrow view of your own property is easier to defend and produces fewer pointless alerts.
• Shared areas in an HOA or apartment building, until you check the rules.

A simple way to test before you drill

1. Tape the camera in place with painter’s tape or hold it at the planned height.
2. Check the live view in the morning, at midday and after dark.
3. Walk the approach from the street and the side yard. You should see a face at 6 to 10 feet from the door.
4. Check the Wi-Fi signal and the motion alerts over a day. Reduce false alerts from trees, cars and passing pedestrians by trimming the motion zone.
5. Only then mark the holes. Use weatherproof sealant around screws and any cable hole.

Cameras connected to your network can be hacked if left on default settings. The FTC recommends changing default passwords, keeping firmware current and thinking carefully before enabling remote viewing.