Newbie.... protecting front of townhouse/terrace house

[townhouseguy 0]

So I'm new to CCTV but I have spent the last week or so investigating everything.

 

I have settled on a Hikvision 3MP IP setup because I want the best quality possible and it's also relatively affordable and seems easy to put together. Also my background is network/IT so I've got the network/poe knowledge all covered.

 

My main problem at the moment is deciding camera locations and therefore which camera format to buy for the particular location. I want to make sure that the footage I get is usable so I don't really want cameras all the way up under the roof where they can capture the tops of peoples heads.

 

This is the front of my house:

Another angle :

Doorway entrance :

 

So the fitting/installation/configuration is no problem, but I'm lost and need your expertise on deciding camera locations to get the most out of my CCTV install.

 

Also I wanted to know why everyone mounts them so high? Are these really targets of vandalism? Do people have no problems walking up to cameras and breaking/spraying them or should I not worry about that and put them lower anyway, and if anyone does vandalise them at least I'll have a hd image of them doing it?

[zr1 0]

Your Pics (the disclaimer portion)

While your pics give a pic of the mounting choices, choosing the best locations mean somebody going up to the window and looking out of them to see if that's the view you want.

 

Hik 3MP

The Hik 3MP's are nice and give a great video feed! The 4MP's are even better (and better with their nighttime image too).

Vandalism

Yeah, for the cams that are within people-height, vandals seem to try to smack them with a stick. Not so much throw rocks. So when possible, I move them up if the view is getting what the customer wants. They don't seem to try to go after the vandal-dome-cams as much...people are learning. But I do replace a number of the cheaper-Costco-kit cameras that are usually bullet cams. I like bullet cams, but they're sitting ducks for vandals down low.

 

Higher View

Getting higher simply gives a better view in some situations. Supervisors want to see the factory floor, etc. So many times, a higher cam is not so much for vandalism, but for the view.

Of course, for people's faces, a camera can be too high to catch that.

 

Front Door

Speaking of faces, when the doorbell rings (or you hear a baseball bat banging on the front door), it's popular to have a camera set up to tell you what's going on at the front porch. A lower cam, even if it gets taken out, will have already recorded the best view of the vandal before they smacked the cam. Plus it's common for burglars to check out a place ahead of time, so the NVR can sometimes catch the "casing" being done. Plus...go with a vandal-resistant dome if you can (convince the Mrs. that it looks stylish and all too )

 

Roof Cam

If you want to see far, it'll be a great view. But maybe you don't want every camera way up there. Perhaps an "overview" cam (or two) up under the rooftop, but another cam (or two) mounted under the 2nd floor window (to watch the scooter...of course ).

Again...depending all on the view you want to cover.