Security cameras for your home come in many types and have endless features and options. With so many different flavors of home security cameras available, deciding which one makes sense for your home can be a difficult.

The simplest way to think about the types of surveillance cameras is to break them down into two groups: indoor and outdoor cameras. While each of these groups have different styles of cameras within them, those differences will become apparent when you compare features, so separating them further isn’t necessary.

The type of cameras we recommend are those that work with interactive monitoring services (example Homeywell AlarmNet Total Connect) and this is our focus.  Being able to view cameras from anywhere is what the modern connected security world is all about!

Camera Features

Below are some of the important features to keep in mind when comparing home security cameras.

Wireless Capability

A camera with WiFi can communicate with your home network wirelessly, which can make installation much simplier, and is also less susceptible to being tampered with because it doesn’t have wires that could be cut.

Motion Detection

Cameras with motion detection can send you notifications when the camera sees motion within its field of view. These notifications can alert you to suspicious activity so you can monitor the situation.

Night Vision

The distance from which your camera can record images in low light situations can have a great impact on its effectiveness because many times criminal activity happens at night.

Movement

A camera that can pan and tilt may be able to record a larger area than a fixed camera and therefore reduces the total number of cameras needed to observe a particular area.

Field of View

Field of view refers to how wide an angle a camera can observe. This is important because it will affect how many cameras you’ll need and where you should place them.

Resolution

Resolution defines how clear the image from your camera will be. A clearly visible image is very helpful when trying to identify faces or items in the images your camera records.