The five positions that cover most homes
- Front door. The single highest-value camera on the property; most approaches, deliveries, and knocks happen here.
- Driveway and vehicles. Covers the cars and the most common path onto the property.
- Rear and side entries. The doors nobody watches are the doors that get tried.
- Garage or shop. Where the tools, bikes, and equipment live.
- Main interior hallway. One interior camera at the choke point everyone must pass covers more than four scattered ones.
Most homes are properly covered with three to five cameras. Placement quality beats camera count every time.
Height, angle, and light
Mount at roughly eight to nine feet: high enough to stay out of reach, low enough to capture faces instead of hat brims. Angle down along the approach path rather than straight out, keep lenses out of direct sun and away from bright backlight, and let infrared do the night work. A doorbell camera pairs well with a fixed camera above it; the doorbell talks, the fixed camera testifies.
Inside the house, judiciously
Interior cameras belong at entry points and main passages, and nowhere private. Aim them at your own property, not the neighbor’s windows, and if video verification is part of your monitored system, interior placement is what turns an alarm signal into a confirmed event for faster response.
Common questions
How many cameras does a home really need?
Three to five, placed well, covers most homes: front door, driveway, rear entry, garage, and one interior choke point.
What height should cameras be mounted?
Eight to nine feet, angled down along the approach. Out of easy reach, still at face level in the frame.
Should cameras go inside the house?
At entries and main hallways, yes, especially with video verification. Private rooms, never.
Get the placement right once.
A walkthrough maps your five positions in about twenty minutes.
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