Folkestone CCTV installers and repairs
Folkestone has grand Victorian blocks on the Leas, small studios in the Creative Quarter and new estates at Hawkinge. We plan cameras for each, and look after older systems too.
Established 2000. £5 million public liability insurance. Cameras fitted, upgraded and repaired across CT19 & CT20.
CCTVfitted and fixed
What Folkestone houses and shops need from CCTV
Many of the big houses along the Leas and in the West End are now flats with a shared entrance, bike store and car park. Residents’ companies and managing agents ask us for cameras on those shared spaces, with the footage locked away and only released when there is an incident. We fit cameras that blend with the building and keep away from residents’ windows.
In the Creative Quarter, small shops and studios on the Old High Street want a discreet dome inside and a clear view of the door. Out at Cheriton, Hawkinge and Sandgate it is mostly family homes, where a camera on the drive and one at the back, plus a video doorbell, is the usual set-up. We also fix systems where a recorder has filled up or the app has stopped working.
Which camera goes where on a Folkestone property?
Pick a place on the house and answer three short questions about it. The planner suggests the camera we would put there on a Folkestone 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?
Home and business CCTV in Folkestone
A single doorbell, a camera over the drive or a dozen for a yard: one Folkestone team surveys it, wires it and comes back if anything goes wrong.
Home CCTV in Folkestone
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 Folkestone
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 Folkestone
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 Folkestone
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 Folkestone
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 Folkestone
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 for Folkestone homes and businesses
All of these run back to a single recorder kept inside, in 4MP or 8MP (4K). Here are the ones we use most around Folkestone 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.
Bullet
Deep gardens, yards and parking areas
A tube-shaped camera with a narrower field of view for distance. Very visible, which is a deterrent in itself.
Colour night
Where there is a street lamp or porch light
Makes use of low ambient light to record in colour after dark, so clothing and vehicles keep their real colours.
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.
PTZ
Farms, big sites and large grounds
Can be steered and zoomed remotely, or set to sweep a route automatically, covering ground that would need many fixed cameras.
Solar and 4G
Stables, moorings, allotments and building plots
Powered by a small solar panel and connected over the mobile network, so no mains supply or broadband is required.
What happens when you book CCTV in Folkestone
A typical Folkestone 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.
Fixing CCTV in Folkestone
The large blocks on the Leas often have communal systems that were fitted when the building was converted and have not been looked at since. We test every camera, replace the ones that have failed, put a new hard drive in the recorder and give the managing agent working logins. In the Creative Quarter, small shops call us when an app update has stopped their old recorder from connecting, which we fix by updating the recorder or replacing it on the same cables.
Choose the problem that sounds most like yours to read what usually causes it.
What is the system doing?
The 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 repairThe recorder is beeping
Usual cause
It is warning you about something: a disk error, a camera that has dropped off, or a full drive.
What we do
We check the recorder’s log, sort out the cause, and redirect warnings to the app so you get a notification instead of a noise.
Arrange a repairDays of recording for your Folkestone cameras
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.
Our Folkestone CCTV area
All of CT19 & CT20 and the estates and villages on the edge of Folkestone. These are the places our vans visit most often.
- The Leas
- Sandgate
- Cheriton
- Shorncliffe
- Hawkinge
- The Creative Quarter
Folkestone CCTV questions answered
Quick answers for Folkestone. If yours is not here, send a WhatsApp or give us a ring.
Can you fit CCTV in the shared areas of a Leas block?
Yes, for the freeholder or managing agent. We cover entrances, stairs and parking, put up signs and set up who can view and export footage.
Do you do CCTV for small shops in the Creative Quarter?
Yes. Usually a dome over the counter and one by the door, recorded on a small box out of sight, with the app on the owner’s phone.
Do new Hawkinge houses need wiring for cameras?
Not usually. We run the cable through the loft and down inside the walls, so there is very little to see outside.
Our Leas block’s cameras have not been checked in years. Can you service them?
Yes. We test every camera and the recorder, replace failed parts, check the hard drive and footage retention, and leave the agent a short report.
An app update stopped my Folkestone shop cameras connecting. Can you fix it?
Usually. We update the recorder’s firmware or move you to the current app. If the recorder is too old, we replace just that and keep the cameras and cable.
Will the Folkestone 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 Folkestone 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.
Will you fix a Folkestone system we did not fit?
Yes, most of our repairs are on other installers’ work. We test each camera, cable, power supply and the drive, then give you a plain answer on whether a repair or a replacement makes more sense.
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 photoOther work we do in Folkestone
We also put up aerials and dishes, mount TVs and fix the WiFi that the cameras rely on.
TV aerials in Folkestone
New aerials and extra TV points, aimed at the right transmitter.
Aerial repairs in Folkestone
Lost channels and no signal, usually fixed the same day.
from £99same-day repairs
Satellite dishes in Folkestone
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.
We also fit cameras around Folkestone
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