WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SEE YOUR HOME CCTV ON YOUR MOBILE

Written on the 5 July 2022 by Kerri Vandenberg

Adding smartphone viewing capability to your existing or a proposed new home CCTV system has several clear benefits.  Most obvious is the ability to monitor its output whenever your smartphone is connected to the internet anywhere in the world. Some CCTV systems can also be adjusted remotely, including activating or deactivating sensors and moving from the streaming camera feed to the system’s recordings. Some even enable two-way voice communication - allowing you to talk to whoever is being filmed by the camera you’re viewing.

CONVENIENCE

Being able to monitor your home CCTV system on the go is also more convenient, especially if you have more than one home to monitor.

Mobile monitoring has also been shown to improve emergency response times and levels of home-targeted criminal activity by increasing the identification, apprehension and conviction of the people involved.

CONSIDERATIONS

Alongside these benefits of connecting your home CCTV system to your smartphone, you need to be aware of security considerations when doing so and how you can avoid any issues.

• Security of wireless transmission of video and data: your home CCTV camera will use a wireless security protocol to encrypt and transmit the data from the cameras to your mobile. Fortunately, these are improving all the time, so as long you ensure your system is running the latest protocol you should be fine. Some demand two-level verification to be enabled when setting up or adding extra users, which also helps.
• Ensuring your home network is secure: there’s no point in having a secure home CCTV system feeding into an insecure home network, so you should: change the SSID (wifi name) from the default and hide it from being found by scanning for local wifi networks – so anyone trying to find it has to know the name; enable the strongest network encryption protocol your router supports; occasionally check what devices have accessed your network; turn off remote access to your network’s settings when you’re away.
• Secure transmission of your video and data over the Internet: when information is sent outside your home network by definition it’s going to be less secure than if it remains within your network. Using cameras with higher levels of encryption, including ones only accessible using passwords will help. Look for cameras that use SSL/TLS - the same security system secure websites use to secure data transmitted - to secure their information once sent over the internet to your mobile. Also, only use a secure password-protect wifi connection or your mobile network when away from home, or use a VPN to create a secure connection if connected to someone else’s wifi.
• Software updates: to maintain maximum system security, you need to ensure your system’s software, including that on your smartphone, is always up to date. Manufacturers typically release software updates at least once a year. We can advise you when you need to update and do it for you if you wish.
• Strong password habits: you need to use password protection protocols and follow the best practice advice on passwords – setting strong ones (longer, random word ones Including lower and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols that are harder to break) or using a password manager, not sharing them with different people, changing them regularly, not using the same password across multiple applications and never storing a list of passwords on a mobile note-taking app. Most mobile apps for security cameras will have password encryption built-in. For extra security, you should always sign out of the app when you’re not using it.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A DVR or NVR recording system connected to your home CCTV system: a DVR (digital video recorder) is the same as the device you use to record TV shows but processes and encodes the video at the recorder, while a network video recorder (NVR) encodes the video at each camera and sends to the NVR for storage. While DVRs use analog cameras and cables to connect to your cameras, they limit the types of cameras which can be used, are typically more expensive and produce lower-quality images and don’t offer cloud recording options with a DVR.NVR systems use IP (Internet Protocol) cameras and can be connected to the NVR storage system by cable or wirelessly and are the only type to allow viewing from a remote mobile device away from your home.
• Your home network IP Address: your IP (Internet Protocol) Address is required to connect your smartphone to the NVR camera system. It’s in your internet router setup. We can provide it for you to set up your mobile connection.
• The remote monitoring mobile app for your system: you need to instal and check this works before going away.
• A fast, reliable Internet connection: a high-speed, reliable internet connection is needed to use a CCTV system and connect to it wirelessly without buffering. If you’re away from home, either the secure wifi connection you’re on or the mobile network signal will have to be at least 4G and strong.
• Optional - security cameras with built-in mobile access: for mobile viewing of your system cameras while at home, a system with mobile access built into the cameras is an option. But be aware they’re not as encrypted as other systems.

For more information on our home CCTV systems service, click here: https://www.sgvelectrical.com.au/home-security-systems