Do I Need A Home Security Camera?

The first question you may ask yourself is simple: is a security camera necessary in the first place? And the answer depends on the level of security you want to add to your home or business. While sensors can detect motion, letting you know if doors or windows have been opened or closed, without cameras, you canโ€™t actually see whatโ€™s going on at home.


How Many Security Cameras Do I Need?

The amount of security cameras you need depends on the size of your home as well as the amount of security you want in general. At a minimum, we recommend putting a camera in the main entrance of your home on the ground floor. Ideally, you also use outdoor security cameras on all ground floor entrances; however, this wonโ€™t apply to someone living in an apartment. For more security, you can put more security cameras on the ground level, and in any room that you use frequently or must pass through to enter or exit your home. For additional security, you can put security cameras in main hallways on second or third floors. However, we donโ€™t recommend placing cameras in bedrooms or bathrooms because of privacy issues. In fact, putting up cameras in those places is illegal in some states.


Different Types of Home Security Cameras

There are a few different ways to approach the different types of security cameras, either by location, where you put them in your home or business, by power, how they receive power, by connectivity, whether they require Wi-Fi or cellular signals, by the way they record footage, whether locally or on a cloud, or by their design.


By Location

Most people will start their search for a security camera by location: where do you want to monitor? If you live in an apartment, you probably only need indoor cameras, but those with front and back yards can benefit from outdoor cameras and video doorbells, as well.

  • Indoor Cameras: Indoor cameras, which typically cost around $100, should be placed on the ground level of your home at the very least. Avoid private areas like bathrooms or bedrooms, but cover any area thatโ€™s easily accessible, like a front hallway, or any area thatโ€™s central to your home, like a living room. Indoor cameras are more likely to be plug-in than outdoor cameras, which may not be near an outlet. 
  • Outdoor Cameras: Outdoor cameras, on the other hand, tend to cost around $200. The reason? They come with weather-resistant cases so that they can withstand large temperature ranges as well as various solids and liquids, be it rain, snow, hail or dust. How you determine how durable a camera is will depend on the IP rating, which we detail below in our buying guide. Unlike indoor cameras, outdoor cameras are more likely to be wireless โ€” meaning that theyโ€™re powered by batteries and connect to Wi-Fi โ€” due to fewer outdoor outlets
  • Video Doorbells: Video doorbells are another type of outdoor cameras used specifically on front doors. Otherwise known as doorbell cameras, they may include a chime or replace an existing doorbell setup so people can see and speak to their guests remotely through a mobile application or smart home device. For example, when someone rings our doorbells, we get alerted not only on our phones but also on our Echo Show, where we see our guest in full color.

  • By Power

    How will your camera get power, through a battery or from a wall outlet? This is an essential question to ask yourself before purchasing a camera, and it may come down to your personal preference, with pros and cons for each type.

    • Wired Cameras: Wired cameras, typically indoor, have the advantage of never requiring us to replace their batteries; rather, theyโ€™re either plugged in or hardwired into our home. However, the disadvantages are there as well; one, we donโ€™t love adding more wires to our already connected smart home, and two, if our power or Wi-Fi goes out, which occurs more often than weโ€™d like, the camera may not be able to connect to our app.
    Ring Stick Up Cam Wired
    Ring Stick Up Cam Wired
    • Wireless Cameras: Wireless cameras are much easier to install than wired cameras, but of course, we had to take battery life into consideration; a year is a reasonable time period for a camera to last, in our opinion. While some batteries are rechargeable, some we have to replace completely every so often. Some outdoor cameras, like the Ring Spotlight Cam Solar, come with solar panels, meaning that they charge continuously from the sun, never requiring a battery change. To learn more, check out our page on the costs of Ring cameras.

    By Connectivity

    Believe it or not, not everyone uses the Internet. In fact, in 2019, 10 percent of Americans donโ€™t use the Internet, according to the Pew Research Center.3 But whether or not you have Wi-Fi in your home, you can find a security camera thatโ€™ll work.

    • WiFi-Connected Cameras (Digital or IP Camera): These days, most security cameras are WiFi-connected, meaning that they have a corresponding app that allowed us to livestream footage, receive motion or person-activated notifications, and control our camera remotely. This took our home monitoring from local only to remote; we could literally see what was going on at home from anywhere in the world, so long as it had Wi-Fi. For the most comprehensive monitoring, we recommend getting a smart security camera, meaning itโ€™s connected to the Internet.
    • Cameras That Donโ€™t Require WiFi (Analog): If you donโ€™t have Wi-Fi, there are still cameras thatโ€™ll work for you. Most record directly onto either a micro-SD card or hard drive, so while we couldnโ€™t livestream footage, we could see what went on in retrospect by downloading the local storage onto a device like our computer. A company known for their security cameras that donโ€™t need WiFi is Reolink; read our Reolink GO camera review for more information.

    By Recording

    How does the camera record footage? In a nutshell, cameras with DVR process the footageโ€™s data in the recorder, usually a hard drive, NVR systems process the data in the camera itself then stream it to the recorder. Hereโ€™s more of the nitty-gritty.

    • Digital Video Recorders (DVR): DVR cameras are typically analog cameras, meaning theyโ€™re not Wi-Fi-connected; theyโ€™re usually part of wired security systems. Typically, the camera connects to a hard drive via a coaxial cable.
    • Network Video Recorders (NVR): The majority of NVR cameras are Wi-Fi-connected, otherwise known as IP or Internet Protocol cameras. These cameras can either be wired or wireless.
    • Cloud Recording: Cloud recording refers to off-site footage recording through a cloud server operated by the camera manufacturer or a third-party. Some older IP cameras can use your own cloud storage (e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.), but most cameras nowadays use their own subscription-based cloud storage. That is, you pay the company monthly or yearly to store videos in the cloud. The advantage of cloud storage is that you can view your footage anywhere with an internet connection, and if your camera gets destroyed, youโ€™ll still have access to its recordings.

    By Shape

    Finally, you may want to pick a camera based on its shape, with different shapes working best in different spaces.

    • Bullet: Bullet cameras, usually wireless, are good for securing on roomsโ€™ corners for the most coverage.
    • Dome: A bit harder to install than bullet cameras, dome cameras have the advantage of being hard to steal, as theyโ€™re placed on ceilings. They also provide a wider field of view than a regular camera due to their spherical design.
    • Pan, tilt or zoom: Sometimes, we donโ€™t want to be limited to a cameraโ€™s field of view, which is where panning, tilting and zooming comes in. This gives us more freedom to see exactly what we want to see, and the best cameras can pan all the way around for total coverage. Read our Wyze Cam Pan review to see this in action.
    Wyze Cam Pan and Box
    Wyze Cam Pan and Box
    • Box: A box camera is exactly what it sounds like, a camera shaped like a box. These arenโ€™t super common when it comes to smart home security and were more popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
    • Hidden: Also relatively self-explanatory, hidden cameras are designed to look like other objects, be it a pen, teddy bear, or simply a camera small enough to remain unnoticed. We donโ€™t recommend getting hidden cameras, as visible cameras can be a deterrent to would-be burglars.
    • Turret or eyeball camera: Looking pretty similar to a dome camera, a turret camera has the best of both worlds, as we could position the camera in any angle we wanted in a theft-resistant setup.