CCTV installation and repair in Canterbury
Canterbury is where we are based, so our camera engineers know the city street by street. We plan, fit and repair CCTV for homes, landlords and shops, and set it up on your phone before we go.
Established 2000. £5 million public liability insurance. Cameras fitted, upgraded and repaired across CT1.
CCTVfitted and fixed
Planning CCTV for a Canterbury property
Inside the city walls, and along streets such as St Dunstan’s and Castle Street, most houses are listed or in a conservation area. Cameras there need to be small and fixed into mortar joints rather than old brick faces, so they can come off without a mark. We bring cable in through existing holes where we can, and we tell you at the survey if the council might want to see the plans first.
Away from the centre the jobs change. For student houses around Hales Place and off the Sturry Road, landlords usually ask us to watch the entrance and the bin store. Family homes in Thanington and off the Old Dover Road usually want the drive, the side gate and the garden covered, all recorded on one box in a cupboard.
Camera planner for a Canterbury home
Pick a place on the house and answer three short questions about it. The planner suggests the camera we would put there on a Canterbury job. Build up a list and send it over for us to check, free of charge.
Back garden
Turret
Our standard home camera. The lens sits in a ball outside the main housing, which keeps infrared glare down and makes it easy to angle neatly.
Back garden
Dome
Mounted flush under a soffit or ceiling inside a toughened bubble. Vandal-resistant, and it is hard to tell which direction it points.
Back garden
Bullet
A tube-shaped camera with a narrower field of view for distance. Very visible, which is a deterrent in itself.
Back garden
Varifocal
Its adjustable lens is zoomed in during installation, so an entrance a long way off still shows a recognisable face.
Back garden
Colour night
Makes use of low ambient light to record in colour after dark, so clothing and vehicles keep their real colours.
Back garden
Number plate (ANPR)
Tuned to capture registrations as vehicles enter, in daylight and darkness, with a searchable record of plates.
Back garden
Video doorbell
Lets you see and speak to visitors from your phone. We wire ours into the bell circuit, so it never runs flat.
Back garden
PTZ
Can be steered and zoomed remotely, or set to sweep a route automatically, covering ground that would need many fixed cameras.
Back garden
360° fisheye
A single ceiling lens covers the whole room, and the software flattens the image into normal camera views.
Back garden
Solar and 4G
Powered by a small solar panel and connected over the mobile network, so no mains supply or broadband is required.
Covers the garden right back to the fence.
There is some light, so a colour night version keeps full colour after dark.
1. Where is it going?
2. What do you need to see?
3. After dark
4. Can we run a cable to it?
CCTV we fit in Canterbury
A single doorbell, a camera over the drive or a dozen for a yard: one Canterbury team surveys it, wires it and comes back if anything goes wrong.
Home CCTV in Canterbury
A typical house needs cameras on its approaches: the front, the driveway, the side passage and the back. Larger plots need a few more.
What we doPositions are agreed with you on site, wiring is routed through the loft and walls, and the recorder goes in a cupboard or the loft.
Shops and business units in Canterbury
Retail, offices and industrial units need identifiable faces at entrances, coverage of tills and stock, and plates captured at the gate.
What we doInterior domes, wide-angle yard cameras, ANPR on the entrance, and a recorder sized to hold several weeks.
Video doorbells in Canterbury
See and speak to callers from anywhere. A wired doorbell takes its power from the bell circuit, so there is nothing to recharge.
What we doWe connect it to the existing bell wiring, adding a transformer if needed, and link it into the same app as the cameras.
Landlords and flats in Canterbury
Shared entrances, stairs, bin stores and car parks in blocks, conversions and shared houses.
What we doWe cover the shared areas only, never the inside of a flat, add signs and set up who can view and export footage.
Farms and outbuildings in Canterbury
Yards, barns, stables, workshops and gateways, often a long way from the house and the router.
What we doWe run cable underground or use a wireless link, and fit solar or 4G cameras where there is no power or broadband.
Repairs and upgrades in Canterbury
Cameras that have gone dark, a recorder that stopped saving, a drive that is full, an app that will not connect, or grainy analogue pictures.
What we doWe repair whatever has failed, regardless of the original installer. Old analogue wiring can often carry new HD cameras, and if replacement is better value we say so.
Camera types we use in Canterbury
All of these run back to a single recorder kept inside, in 4MP or 8MP (4K). Here are the ones we use most around Canterbury and what each is best at.
Turret
Homes: doorways, paths and gardens
Our standard home camera. The lens sits in a ball outside the main housing, which keeps infrared glare down and makes it easy to angle neatly.
Dome
Under porches, inside shops and in shared hallways
Mounted flush under a soffit or ceiling inside a toughened bubble. Vandal-resistant, and it is hard to tell which direction it points.
Varifocal
Distant gates and long driveways
Its adjustable lens is zoomed in during installation, so an entrance a long way off still shows a recognisable face.
Number plate (ANPR)
Entrances to drives, yards and car parks
Tuned to capture registrations as vehicles enter, in daylight and darkness, with a searchable record of plates.
Video doorbell
Front doors and individual flats
Lets you see and speak to visitors from your phone. We wire ours into the bell circuit, so it never runs flat.
360° fisheye
Shops, offices and open-plan spaces
A single ceiling lens covers the whole room, and the software flattens the image into normal camera views.
How a Canterbury CCTV job runs
A typical Canterbury house is surveyed, wired and working on your phone within one visit.
- 01
Look at the property
You send photos on WhatsApp or an engineer visits. We decide together which areas need covering and what each camera should capture.
- 02
Fixed price
We confirm the camera positions, the recorder location and the total cost before you commit.
- 03
Installation
Wiring is hidden in lofts, walls and cupboards wherever possible, outside connections are sealed, and the recorder is kept out of sight.
- 04
Handover
We test each camera in daylight and set it for night, apply privacy zones, and install the app for everyone in the household who wants it.
CCTV repairs in Canterbury
Plenty of Canterbury systems went in during the 2000s and 2010s, often on student lets and city-centre shops, and they are now showing their age. Typical calls are recorders that quietly stopped recording months ago, apps that broke when the landlord changed broadband, and old analogue cameras on listed fronts that give a picture too grainy to identify anyone. We repair what can be repaired, and where the cable in a listed building is sound we reuse it, so there are no new holes in old walls.
Choose the problem that sounds most like yours to read what usually causes it.
What is the system doing?
Nothing has been recorded
Usual cause
Usually a hard drive that is full and set not to overwrite, a drive that has died, or settings lost in a power cut.
What we do
We check the drive, fit a new surveillance-grade one if it has failed, switch on overwriting, and set the recorder to message your phone if it ever stops saving.
Arrange a repairThe app won’t show my cameras
Usual cause
Most often a replaced router, a new WiFi password, or an old app the manufacturer has withdrawn.
What we do
We put the recorder back on your network, move you onto the supported app and prove it works away from home over 4G.
Arrange a repairOne camera keeps going offline
Usual cause
Typically a damp or corroded connection outside, a tired power supply, or a cable that has been nicked.
What we do
We test the run end to end, remake joints inside weatherproof boxes, and swap the power supply or camera if either has given up.
Arrange a repairNight footage looks washed out
Usual cause
The camera’s infrared is reflecting off something close by: the soffit, a wall, a cobweb, or a scuffed dome.
What we do
We clean it, change the angle or position, and where glare persists replace a dome with a turret, which handles it much better.
Arrange a repairThe image is fuzzy or soft
Usual cause
Grime or condensation on the lens, a knock that has shifted the focus, or an early analogue model with a soft picture from day one.
What we do
We clean, refocus and realign it. Older analogue systems can usually be upgraded to HD over the wiring already in place.
Arrange a repairThe doorbell keeps disconnecting
Usual cause
Poor WiFi at the front of the house, or a bell transformer that cannot deliver enough power.
What we do
We measure the signal and the supply, add a mesh point or a correctly rated transformer, and make the wiring permanent.
Arrange a repairRecording time for a Canterbury system
Your footage lives on a hard drive inside the recorder. When the drive fills up, the newest recording replaces the oldest, so the system never stops. Try the buttons to see how far back a system like yours would go.
These are rough figures for H.265 recording. A busy street, or trees moving in the wind, uses more space than a quiet view, so we check the real figure on the recorder before we hand it over.
days
About a month, which suits most homes.
Canterbury streets and villages we cover
All of CT1 and the estates and villages on the edge of Canterbury. These are the places our vans visit most often.
- St Dunstan’s
- Wincheap
- Hales Place
- Sturry Road
- Thanington
- The streets off the Old Dover Road
Common CCTV questions in Canterbury
Quick answers for Canterbury. If yours is not here, send a WhatsApp or give us a ring.
Can I put CCTV on a listed house in Canterbury?
Often yes, but a camera fixed to a listed wall can need listed building consent. We use the smallest cameras that will do the job, fix them where they will not damage historic fabric and tell you before we start if consent is likely.
Do you fit cameras for student lets near the universities?
Yes. Landlords around Hales Place, St Stephen’s and Wincheap ask us for front-door and bin-store cameras, with the recorder locked away and the app on the landlord’s phone only.
Can you cover a shop in the Canterbury city centre?
Yes. We fit small domes above the till and the door, with signs for the window, and position them so the street outside is not recorded more than it needs to be.
The landlord’s CCTV at my Canterbury student house has stopped. Can you fix it?
Yes, with the landlord’s or agent’s go-ahead. We usually find a full hard drive or a recorder that lost its settings after a power cut, and send the agent a short report with photos.
Can you upgrade old cameras on a listed Canterbury building without new holes?
Usually. If the existing cable is sound we fit HD cameras on the same fixing points and wiring, so nothing new is cut into the historic fabric.
Am I allowed CCTV on my Canterbury home?
Yes. A camera that only covers your own property is outside data protection rules. If it takes in a pavement or a neighbour’s garden, you take on duties for that footage, so we angle each camera carefully, black out areas that are not yours and leave you a sign for the front.
Will the Canterbury cameras work on my phone?
Yes. You get the live picture, playback and a notification when the cameras spot a person or a car. We install the app on each phone in the house and check it works away from your WiFi before we go.
How far back can I look at Canterbury footage?
It depends on the number of cameras, the picture quality and the size of the drive. A typical four camera system on a 4TB drive goes back around a month. Our calculator on this page gives you a figure for your own setup.
Quicker with a few photos
Take a few pictures of the front, the drive and the back of the property and WhatsApp them with your postcode. An engineer suggests camera positions and replies with a guide price.
WhatsApp a photoAerials, dishes and WiFi in Canterbury too
We also put up aerials and dishes, mount TVs and fix the WiFi that the cameras rely on.
TV aerials in Canterbury
New aerials and extra TV points, aimed at the right transmitter.
Aerial repairs in Canterbury
Lost channels and no signal, usually fixed the same day.
from £99same-day repairs
Satellite dishes in Canterbury
Freesat, Sky and TV from abroad, fitted and realigned.
WiFi that reaches the cameras
Mesh points and data cable so every camera and doorbell stays online.
TV wall mounting
Watch the cameras on the TV as well as your phone.
More CCTV pages close to Canterbury
Each larger town has its own CCTV page. Questions about a bigger job? Contact the CCTV team.
Talk to a CCTV engineer
Ring the CCTV line, or WhatsApp a few photos of the outside of the property with your postcode. We suggest where the cameras should go and give you a guide price before anything is booked.
WhatsApp us- Our base
- Canterbury, since 2000
- Open
- Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm
- Where
- Every part of Kent: Thanet, the coast, Medway, Maidstone, Ashford and the Weald
- Cost
- A clear price before any work starts