Home Security

"CCTV" is the word most people use for any security camera system, but in the industry it usually means a traditional analog system: cameras wired to a recorder. Most modern home cameras are IP cameras that send digital video over a network. The two work differently, cost differently and suit different homes. This guide explains the differences in plain terms so you can decide whether to keep or replace a CCTV system, or choose a new one. It is part of our home security cameras guide . What is CCTV? A traditional CCTV system uses analog cameras connected by coaxial cable to a digital video recorder (DVR). The camera sends an analog signal, and the DVR converts it to digital, stores it and plays it back. Each camera needs its own cable run back to the DVR, often with a separate power cable or a combined "siamese" cable. Standard analog cameras have limited resolution; one buying guide puts typical analog resolution at 480p or 960H. Newer HD-over-coax formats such ...

Good home security is a set of layers, not a single gadget: locks and lighting, then sensors and an alarm, then cameras, then monitoring and smart features if you want them. This page is the starting point for this blog. It shows what actually matters, where to begin for your situation and which guide to read next in each of six areas. Why it is worth the effort Burglary is far less common than it was, but it has not gone away. The FBI recorded 779,542 burglaries in 2024, about 8.6 percent fewer than in 2023 and roughly 64 percent below 2005, according to MoneyGeek's summary of the FBI data. Residences accounted for 405,776 of them, about 52 percent, and about 55 percent involved forced entry. The point is not to be afraid; it is to close the easy ways in. Where burglars get in An often-cited ADT study reports that the front door accounts for 34 percent of break-ins, first-floor windows 23 percent, back doors 22 percent and garages 9 percent. These figures are older, but the l...