CCTV Installation Belfast: What to Expect

If you are getting CCTV installed at your business in Belfast or anywhere in Northern Ireland, here is what the process actually looks like from start to finish. Not the sales version. The practical version, including the decisions you need to make and the mistakes I see other installations get wrong.

Before Installation: The Site Survey

A proper install starts with a site visit. Not a phone call, not a quote based on Google Maps. I need to see:

• Where the entry and exit points are, and what angles cover them
• Where cables can run (existing trunking, cavity walls, ceiling voids)
• Where the NVR (recorder) will live, and whether it has power, ventilation, and network access
• What the lighting conditions are at different times of day
• Whether there are obstructions: trees, signage, reflective surfaces, neighbouring property boundaries
• What your internet upload speed is (this matters for remote viewing quality)

This takes 30 to 60 minutes. You walk me around, tell me what you want covered, and I tell you what is achievable and what is not. Some angles look obvious on paper but produce useless footage due to backlight or distance.

Choosing Cameras: What Matters and What Does Not

Resolution

For most business CCTV, 4MP or 5MP is the sweet spot. It gives you clear facial identification at reasonable distances without generating enormous file sizes. 8MP (4K) cameras exist but they eat through storage quickly and need more bandwidth for remote viewing. I only recommend 4K for specific use cases: wide car parks where you need to read number plates at distance, or high-value stock areas where evidential quality is critical.

2MP (1080p) cameras are fine for general coverage where you just need to see what happened, not identify individuals at 20 metres.

Turret vs Bullet vs Dome

• Turret cameras - the best all-rounder. Good IR range, easy to adjust angle after mounting, less prone to spider webs building across the lens than domes. This is what I install most often.
• Bullet cameras - longer IR range, more visible deterrent. Good for long corridors or perimeter coverage. The downside is they collect more rain and dirt on the lens housing.
• Dome cameras - harder to see where they are pointing (useful in retail to prevent people ducking out of view). IK10-rated domes are vandal-resistant. Downside: harder to adjust post-installation and prone to IR bounce on the dome cover.

Features that actually matter

• WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) - essential if the camera faces a doorway, window, or any area with both bright and dark zones. Without WDR, the bright area blows out and people entering are silhouettes.
• IR distance - 30m is standard. If you need to cover a large car park at night, look for 50m or 80m IR cameras, or supplement with dedicated IR illuminators.
• IP67 rating - weatherproofing. Any external camera needs this as minimum.
• PoE (Power over Ethernet) - one cable carries both data and power. No separate power supply at the camera location. Simpler cabling, cleaner install, fewer failure points.

Features that are marketing noise

"AI-powered person detection" on a £40 camera is not doing what you think. "Colour night vision" requires constant white LED illumination (essentially a floodlight), which annoys neighbours and washes out footage compared to proper IR. "Pan-tilt-zoom" sounds impressive but introduces mechanical failure points and is rarely used in practice because nobody sits watching a live feed all day to control it.

The Installation Day

Cable runs

This is where 70% of the installation time goes. Running Cat6 cable from each camera location back to the NVR. We use Cat6 for all new installs (not Cat5e) because it handles PoE+ power delivery better over longer runs and supports higher data rates if cameras are upgraded later.

Maximum cable run for PoE is 100 metres. Beyond that, you need a PoE extender or a second switch at a midpoint. For very long runs (warehouses, large yards), we sometimes use fibre with a media converter at each end.

Cable routes are planned to avoid running parallel to mains power (interference), external walls where possible (easier to tamper), and areas that might be disturbed later (future building work).

NVR placement

The NVR should be:

• In a locked room, cupboard, or secure cabinet. Not under the reception desk.
• Ventilated. These boxes run warm and need airflow.
• Connected to the network for remote access.
• On a UPS (battery backup) so a power cut does not kill your recordings mid-incident.

If the only option is an accessible location, we use a lockable wall cabinet with ventilation holes. The goal is that an intruder cannot simply grab the recorder and walk out with all the evidence.

Network isolation

This is where most CCTV installers stop thinking. They plug the NVR into your office network and call it done. That means your cameras are on the same network as your staff computers, your accounts system, your email. If a camera firmware vulnerability is exploited (and they are regularly exploited, especially cheap Chinese cameras), the attacker is now on your entire business network.

I install CCTV on a dedicated VLAN. The cameras can reach the NVR and nothing else. The NVR can reach the internet for remote viewing and nothing else on your internal network. Firewall rules enforced at the router. The cameras cannot see your staff VLAN. Your staff VLAN cannot directly access the camera network. If you need to view footage from a workstation, it goes through the NVR's web interface, not direct camera access.

Remote Viewing Setup

Every system includes remote access via a mobile app. You can view live feeds, play back recordings, receive push notifications on motion, and export clips. This is set up as part of the installation, tested on your phone before I leave site.

Remote viewing quality depends on your upload speed. Most broadband in Belfast delivers 10-20 Mbps upload, which is enough for 2-3 simultaneous remote streams at 1080p. If you have 4+ people regularly checking cameras remotely, or you have 4K cameras, you may want a connection with higher upload or a dedicated connection for the CCTV system.

Storage and Retention

How long your recordings are kept depends on:

• Number of cameras
• Resolution and frame rate
• How much motion there is (motion-only recording saves significant space)
• Hard drive capacity in the NVR

A rough guide: 8 cameras at 4MP recording on motion detection, a 4TB NVR will store around 30 days of footage. For 24/7 continuous recording at higher resolutions, you need larger drives or a shorter retention period.

GDPR requires that you only retain footage for as long as there is a legitimate purpose. For most businesses, 30 days is standard. Some insurance policies specify minimum retention periods, so check yours.

Common Mistakes I See on Other Installations

1. Cameras too high - mounted at 4+ metres "for coverage", but the footage shows the tops of heads. Useless for identification. Optimal mounting height for facial ID is 2.5 to 3 metres.
2. No IR illumination planning - camera IR covers 30m, but the car park is 50m deep. Result: clear footage for the first half, darkness beyond.
3. Consumer cameras on business networks - Ring doorbells and Nest cameras route footage through third-party cloud servers. Fine for homes. Problematic if you are handling sensitive commercial footage or are in a regulated industry.
4. No network segmentation - cameras sharing the same network as staff PCs. One compromised camera firmware and your entire business is exposed.
5. NVR in an accessible location - under the till, behind the bar, on a shelf in the stock room. First thing a burglar does is grab it.
6. No signage - GDPR requires that people know they are being recorded. You need visible signs stating the purpose, data controller, and how to request access.

What a Proper Installation Costs

I am not going to quote exact figures here because every site is different. Cable run distances, camera count, mounting surfaces, and whether we are working with existing infrastructure all affect the price. But here is what determines cost:

• Number of cameras - more cameras means more cable, more mounting hardware, more PoE switch ports, and more time
• Cable run complexity - a ground-floor office with ceiling void access is quick. A multi-storey building with concrete walls and fire-stopping requirements is slower.
• Camera spec - a 4MP turret with 30m IR is significantly cheaper than a 4K vandal-proof dome with 80m IR
• NVR size - 8-channel vs 16-channel vs 32-channel with varying storage capacity
• Network work - if VLAN segmentation, a new PoE switch, or router configuration is needed

Ring me with your requirements and I will give you a fixed quote after the site survey. No hidden extras.