7 Pros & Cons On Installing IP Cameras

CCTV camera is one of the most basic methods for monitoring any particular place or surrounding and people have been using it since a long time. But now a day’s people prefer to use an IP camera instead of traditional or old style analogue CCTV camera. People are giving more preference to IP camera because of so many reason and they may have some very strong reasons also for that. In case, you are also planning to install a surveillance system for your property and you are not sure about use of IP camera for this, then I can help you in that requirement. Here, I am sharing 7 Pros & Cons On IP Camera that can help you take your decision in a wise manner.

Pros on IP camera

Better image quality: The resolution of IP camera can be 20 times higher than its analogue counterpart. Also, if you want you can digitally enhance the recording at runtime or while watching the pictures or video. That means you will have better image quality and in case of some problem it will help you in a great way to identify the mischief maker.

You can use existing network: If you already have a land cable network in your office and you want to install and IP camera in that place, then you can easily do that. For this, you just need to connect the camera with your switch or hub. So, you can use existing network for its installation and you will not need to create a separate network for it.

Easy to access from anyplace: If you want to access the recording of live feed of an IP camera, then you can easily access that from anyplace in the world. That means if you are travelling to a new location or if you are planning to monitor your maid from your home, it can help you do the monitoring easily.

You can store recording on server: The biggest problem of analogue surveillance system is that you get a limited number of space for recording and after that you need to get it on a CD or DVD. Also, if your recording box goes offline you will lose all the recording. But using IP camera, you can store the recording on server and you can access it from anywhere at any time.

Easy to install: Installing and configuration of an IP camera is very easy and you can install and configure it in very easy steps. Most of the time you get easy instruction for that and if you can follow it properly then you can easily install it. That is one of the biggest benefits of this kind of surveillance system.

Easy to expand: If you want to add some more cameras in your system, then you don’t have to redesign the complete network. Instead of that you can expand your existing LAN network and o you can add IP camera in it. In other words we can say it is easy to expand the system this this type of camera.

Cost effective: People may have opinion that they need to pay more money for this system. But that is not true because people need less number IP camera for more coverage area. Also it can work with existing network so people don’t have to invest money in that and they and install it by themselves also. So, it is more cost effective compared to analogue cameras.

Cons of IP camera

More bandwidth: You need to understand that IP camera consumes a lot of bandwidth and it can slow down your existing LAN network. So, if you are planning to have so many IP cameras in a 100mbps network, then it will be not a good idea.

Added trouble to IT team: In any organization, IT team remain under a lot of pressure and this can add one more extra work load to them. IT people would not like it and we can consider that as a con for this kind of camera system.

Vulnerable to hacks: I am not claiming that IP camera recording is not safe at all and any one can access it easily. But just like any other thing connected to internet or server, IP camera recording also remain vulnerable to hacks. So, you might lose your important date or secured recording if someone get access to that information and we can consider that as a con for same.

Not available in bundle: The biggest drawback of an IP camera is that you do not get it in bundled manner. That means you might need to buy and IP camera, its recording unit and other things in separate manner. That makes it hard to find or buy for installation.

Can go down with IT network: An analogue CCTV camera system is not connected with your LAN network and it can keep on working as long as it get power. But this is not the case with IP camera and if you get some problem in your network, then you might lose the recording capability as well. Although, this happen very rarely in a corporate environment, but that is possible and we can call it a drawback of this system.

Hard to identify the problem: If you get a problem in your network or IP camera system, then it will be hard to identify the problem easily. Sometime you can identify the problem in easy manner and you can get a solution quickly. But this is not always same and sometime you might need to spend several hours to find the problem and its solution.

Limited range: The biggest drawback of IP camera is that a LAN network work properly only up to 100 meters. If you want to install and IP camera at a distant place then you need to use various repeaters or other tools else it will not allow you to do the recording. So, we can call it another drawback that is related to this kind of security monitoring system or CCTV surveillance system.