Electrical · Fire · Security
CCTV Installationin Abergavenny, Monmouthand across Monmouthshire
Hikvision systems with a 3-year product warranty, positioned to produce footage that identifies people, not grainy shapes at the end of a driveway.
16+ years’ experience · Free survey · Written quote within 7 days · Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
16+ years
hands-on electrical and solar experience
24/7, 365
available every day of the year
Free survey
written quote back within 7 days
Fully insured
owner-led work, tested and certificated
Reviewed locally
rated by customers across Monmouthshire
CCTV that produces usable evidence
Most CCTV disappoints for the same reason: cameras are mounted where they are easy to fix rather than where they capture faces and number plates. Resolution does not rescue a bad angle. A 4K camera looking down at the top of someone's hood produces the same useless footage as a cheap one.
Pro-Detect installs Hikvision systems, which carry a 3-year product warranty, and designs coverage around the routes people have to take through your property: gates, driveways, doors, side access, yard entrances. The aim is identification at the pinch points and general awareness everywhere else.
Remote viewing is configured and tested before we leave, so you can see your property from your phone on day one rather than working through an app manual afterwards.
Who it is for
- Homeowners wanting deterrence, delivery evidence and awareness while away.
- Rural properties, farms and smallholdings with outbuildings, yards and machinery.
- Small businesses, workshops and units protecting stock, tools and vehicles.
- Anyone with an old analogue system producing footage the police cannot use.
When it is needed
- Thefts, damage or antisocial behaviour at or near the property.
- An existing system that has stopped recording or was never set up remotely.
- Insurance or an incident that made you realise there is no evidence.
- New buildings, outbuildings or a yard extension outside existing coverage.
Why most CCTV fails when it is needed
The moment CCTV matters is the moment you discover whether it was installed properly. The common failures are predictable: nothing was recording because the drive filled, cameras were angled to cover scenery rather than access points, night footage is a white bloom of infrared reflected off a wall, and nobody knows the login.
Poor installation causes its own problems. Unsupported cable, unsealed terminations and cameras mounted where a ladder reaches rather than where they are protected all mean water ingress, corrosion and cameras that stop working through the first bad winter.
There is also the recording horizon. A system keeping seven days of footage is useless for an incident noticed a fortnight later, and holiday-season absences are exactly when incidents go unnoticed. Storage should be sized against how long you might realistically take to look.
Mistakes we see most often
- Mounting cameras high and wide so faces are never identifiable.
- Skipping the recording-duration conversation and sizing storage by default.
- Relying on cheap wireless cameras across a property with poor coverage.
- Never checking playback until footage is actually needed.
- Leaving default passwords on an internet-connected recorder.
How the work runs, step by step
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next and who is doing it.
Free site survey
We walk the property, identify access routes and pinch points, and agree which views need identification-grade detail.
Design and written quote
Camera count, types, positions, recorder, storage duration and cable routes, quoted in writing within 7 days.
Installation
Cameras mounted where they capture faces and plates, cabling run in suitable containment, terminations sealed against weather.
Configuration and testing
Recording schedules, motion zones and notifications configured; day and night views checked and adjusted on site.
Handover
Remote viewing proven on your phone, playback and export demonstrated, passwords set and handed over securely.
What you get out of it
Footage that identifies
Camera placement designed for recognisable faces and readable plates at the points people must pass.
3-year product warranty
Hikvision equipment as standard, carrying a 3-year product warranty.
Remote viewing on day one
App access set up, tested and demonstrated before we leave site.
Recording that lasts
Storage sized around how long you might realistically need to look back.
Reliable at night
Infrared and low-light performance checked and adjusted in the dark, not assumed from a spec sheet.
Weatherproof installation
Sealed terminations, supported cable runs and protected camera positions built for Welsh winters.
CCTV Systems in detail
Camera types and where each belongs
Turret and dome cameras suit doorways, driveways and covered areas: compact, vandal resistant and less prone to infrared bounce than bullet cameras mounted under a soffit. Bullet cameras give greater reach along a drive or fence line and make the deterrent visible.
Varifocal cameras allow the field of view to be tuned on site, which matters at a gate or entrance where you want a tight, identification-grade view rather than a wide scene. Wide-angle fixed cameras cover yards and forecourts for general awareness.
A well-designed system mixes them: a small number of tight identification views at pinch points, supported by wider overview cameras that show what happened and where the person went.
Resolution, storage and retention
Higher resolution consumes more storage, so resolution, frame rate, compression and retention period are one decision, not four. Modern compression makes long retention affordable, but it still has to be calculated rather than guessed.
We set retention against realistic discovery time. For a home used year-round that may be a few weeks; for a property left empty for periods, longer. Motion-triggered recording with continuous fallback keeps footage available without filling the drive with an empty driveway.
Night performance and lighting
Night is when most incidents happen and when most systems disappoint. Infrared illumination reflects off nearby walls, gutters and foliage, washing out the image. Correct camera positioning and clearing the near field of the lens does more for night footage than any specification change.
Where colour footage at night is worth having (for clothing and vehicle colour), cameras with white-light illumination or good low-light sensors are specified. We check and adjust every camera after dark rather than leaving night views to chance.
Networks, remote access and security
Wired cameras over structured cabling with power over the same run are the reliable default: no batteries, no dropouts, no reliance on Wi-Fi that was never designed to reach a gate post. Wireless is used where cable genuinely cannot be run.
Remote access is configured with unique credentials, strong passwords and up-to-date firmware. Internet-facing recorders left on default logins are a known risk, and we hand over the credentials to you rather than keeping them.
Home and business installations
Domestic systems typically run four to eight cameras covering front, rear, side access and any outbuilding, recording locally with app access. The priority is deterrence plus usable evidence at the doors and drive.
Commercial sites add stock areas, tills, loading bays, yards and staff access points, and often need to integrate with intruder detection so an activation is tied to footage of the same moment. Larger camera counts change network and storage design.
Where CCTV covers areas beyond your boundary or records people at work, there are data protection responsibilities. We will point them out at survey so you can position cameras with that in mind.
CCTV Systems: your questions answered
How much does CCTV installation cost?
It depends on camera count, camera types, storage duration and cable routes. The survey is free and the written quote arrives within 7 days, itemised.
How many cameras do I need?
Usually fewer than people expect, but placed better. Coverage of access routes and pinch points beats a large number of wide, unhelpful views.
What warranty comes with the equipment?
We install Hikvision systems, which carry a 3-year product warranty.
Can I view the cameras on my phone?
Yes. Remote viewing is configured and proven with you at handover, including live view and playback.
How long is footage kept?
That is a storage decision made at design stage. We size it around how long you might realistically take to notice an incident.
Will it work at night?
Yes, and we check every camera after dark to adjust for infrared reflection and low-light performance rather than assuming the spec sheet.
Can you upgrade my existing CCTV?
Often yes: existing cable can sometimes be reused. We survey what is there before recommending replacement.
How long does installation take?
A typical domestic system is installed, configured and handed over in a day. Larger commercial systems take longer.
Can CCTV be installed with an intruder alarm?
Yes, and it is usually cheaper together: one visit, one cable plan, and footage tied to alarm activations.
Which areas do you cover?
Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk, Chepstow, Caldicot, Rogiet, Magor with Undy, Devauden and Catbrook, Newport and Bristol.
Related services
Where we cover this work
Also covering Rogiet, Magor with Undy, Devauden & Catbrook, Usk and Bristol: see all service areas, read customer reviews or go back to the homepage.
Get cctv systems priced properly: survey free, quote in 7 days
Llewys Saunders surveys the property, designs the work and installs it. One person accountable from the first call to the final test.
1 Ifton Avenue, Rogiet, NP26 3ST · Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year