Practical, field-tested guidance from installations across Long Island and NYC — where to put cameras, how to troubleshoot them, and the common mistakes that cost building owners money down the road.
Every dollar of camera budget should go to the exterior doors, loading docks, and lobby before you start covering interior aisles. An intruder has to enter somewhere — capture that face and license plate before anything else.
For commercial buildings on Long Island, aim a camera at every public-facing door and any vehicle approach. Then work inward.
Mount cameras at 9–10 feet when you need to identify faces and license plates. Higher than that and you're capturing the tops of heads.
Reserve 12-foot-plus mounting for wide-area coverage where identification isn't the priority — parking lots, loading zones, large warehouse floors.
Outdoor cameras in Nassau and Suffolk County see real weather: salt air from the South Shore, ice in winter, summer humidity. IP66 is the minimum weatherproof rating you should accept. IP67 is better.
Match it with PoE (Power over Ethernet) so you don't run a separate 120V circuit to every camera, and confirm the camera includes IR for night vision — most do, but cheaper imports skip it.
The most common indoor mistake: aiming a camera directly into a window or doorway during daylight. The camera exposes for the bright background and the person in the foreground becomes a silhouette.
Cameras with WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) handle this much better than budget models. If your lobby has glass walls, spec WDR.
A 24-port PoE switch with a 250W budget can't actually power 24 IP cameras at full draw. Each PoE+ camera can pull 25–30W under load (IR on at night, heater running in winter).
Plan for 50–60% of the switch's stated PoE budget as your usable ceiling. Need more cameras? Add another switch or step up to PoE++.
Cloud-managed (Verkada, Eagle Eye, Rhombus): no on-site server, remote viewing anywhere, automatic updates. Best for multi-site businesses and anyone without IT staff.
On-site NVR: lower monthly cost, faster local recording, no internet dependency. Best for single sites with reliable IT and bandwidth-constrained locations.
1. Is the PoE switch port active? Most offline cameras are a dead PoE port, not a dead camera.
2. Is the cable seated at both ends? Re-seat both connectors.
3. Can you ping the camera's IP from the NVR or switch?
4. Is the firmware up to date? Sometimes a forced reboot after an update fixes it.
5. Last resort: swap the cable, then swap the camera.
Every camera should have a unique name in the NVR or cloud platform that matches a label on the cable at the switch. "Lobby East," not "Camera 03."
Save your floor plan with camera positions marked, hand it to your installer at handoff, and update it every time a camera moves. Five years from now when something breaks, this saves hours of troubleshooting.
Change every camera's default password during installation. Set a calendar reminder to update firmware quarterly — most cloud-managed platforms do this automatically; on-site NVRs need a human.
Cameras with default credentials are how IoT botnets get built. Don't be the building that ends up on a news story.
New York privacy law is consistent: you can record your own property, including the area immediately outside your entrances. You cannot intentionally point a camera at a neighbor's window, yard, or a public sidewalk far from your building.
For hotels, healthcare, and shared commercial properties, the rules tighten further — bathrooms, changing areas, and patient rooms are completely off-limits. When in doubt, ask your installer.
LDV Systems installs commercial security camera systems across Long Island and NYC. Licensed low voltage contractor. Verkada-certified.