Vehicle crime · 5 min read
Best CCTV
for a driveway.
The driveway is where the expensive things are and where most cameras are pointed wrongly. Here's what it needs to capture, and how to get it.
The two jobs a driveway camera has
Read the number plate of anything that arrives, and identify the face of anyone who walks up. Those need different angles: plates want the camera looking along the drive at bonnet height; faces want it lower and closer to the house. One camera can't do both well on a long drive — which is why we often fit two.
The specification
- 8MP (4K) — the difference between a shape and a plate at driveway distance
- Colour night vision — vehicle colour and clothing colour, not grey
- Person and vehicle alerts — so you're told when someone steps on the drive, not when the car's gone
- A white light that comes on for a person — deterrent and colour at the moment it matters
- Height 2.5–3m — high enough to be out of reach, low enough to see faces
- Local recording — keeps working if the broadband drops
Common mistakes
- Mounted under the eaves at 5m — you get the tops of heads.
- Pointed across the drive rather than along it — plates are never square to the lens.
- Infrared only — headlights wash it out and everything's grey.
- Alerts on 'motion' — every passing car triggers it and it gets muted in a week.
A plate camera at the road end of the drive, a face camera at the house, doorbell for the door, AcuSense-type person and vehicle alerts on both, colour night vision on both. See home CCTV and the estimate builder.
Your property decides. Not the logo.
Questions
Good to know.
Can one camera cover the drive and the front door?
On a short drive, sometimes. On anything over about 8m we'd fit two — it's the difference between usable and not.
Will it read plates at night?
With colour night vision and the right angle, yes at driveway distance. Dedicated ANPR is for gates and car parks.
Wired or wireless for a driveway?
Wired (PoE). It's outside, it's the camera that matters most, and Wi-Fi to the front of the house is rarely solid.