FAQ
The questions every homeowner asks first.
25 straight answers, organized so you can find yours fast. Don't see it? We answer the phone — really.
Top three asked
If you only read three answers, read these.
~70% of inbound questions
How much does a typical install cost?
$999–$2,599 fully installed, depending on package.
Read full answer →Do I need to pay a monthly subscription?
No. The system is yours, recordings are local.
Read full answer →How long does the installation take?
4–6 hours for a 4-cam home, 6–8 hours for a 6-cam.
Read full answer → 0 answers
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Ask us your question → 01
Pricing & quotes
5 questions01 How much does a typical install cost?
Our 4-camera packages start at $999 fully installed and go up to $1,999 for the top tier. 6-camera systems run $1,499 to $2,599. The price on our packages page is the price you pay — cameras, cabling, NVR, hard drive, install labour, and walkthrough are all included. Commercial jobs are quoted on-site because every space is different.
02 Do I need to pay a monthly subscription?
No. The systems we install are owned by you, recorded locally on a hard drive in your home, and viewable on your phone for free with the manufacturer's app. We don't believe in monthly fees for cameras you already paid for. The only ongoing cost is the few dollars a year of electricity to power the NVR.
03 Are there any hidden fees?
No. Our quotes itemize every part — cameras, cable, mounts, NVR, hard drive, install labour, walkthrough — and the total at the bottom is the total. The only thing that can change after a quote is if you ask for more (extra camera, longer cable run, paint-matched faceplate). We tell you the cost before we do the work.
04 Do you take a deposit?
We ask for 50% to lock in your install date, balance due on completion. E-transfer, debit, or credit card all fine. Quote prices are held for 30 days from the day we email them.
05 Will my home insurance go down?
Sometimes — most major Canadian insurers offer a 5–15% discount on the homeowner's portion of your policy when you have a hardwired surveillance system. Worth a 5-minute call to your broker once we're done. We can email you a system spec sheet for them.
02
Installation
5 questions01 How long does the installation take?
Most 4-camera home installs are done in 4–6 hours on a single day. 6-camera installs typically run 6–8 hours. We always finish what we start in one visit unless we hit something unexpected like aluminum siding or a finished basement that needs fishing.
02 Will you damage my walls?
We try very hard not to. We hide cabling in soffits, attics, and basements wherever possible. Where we have to drill, the holes are small (3/8") and sealed weatherproof on the outside. We always show you the planned cabling route before we drill anything — if you don't like it, we re-route.
03 Do I need to be home during the install?
Yes for the start (so we can walk the plan) and the end (so we can do the walkthrough and pair your phones). The middle 3–4 hours you can come and go — most people work from the kitchen table or pop out to run errands.
04 What about cold weather installs?
We install year-round in Durham. Below about -15°C we'll pause exterior drilling because the silicone sealant won't cure properly, but we can still do interior work (NVR, network, cabling). We just rebook the outdoor part for the next mild day.
05 Can you wire through brick or stucco?
Brick: yes, cleanly — we use a long carbide bit and seal weatherproof. Stucco: yes but slightly more delicate; we drill from inside out to avoid cracking the surface. Aluminum siding is the trickiest because it can buzz; we'll show you what we're going to do before we do it.
03
Tech & gear
6 questions01 What if my internet goes out — does it stop recording?
No. The cameras record continuously to a network video recorder (NVR) inside your home, not to the cloud. Internet only matters for viewing remotely on your phone. The footage is safe locally on a 1–2 TB drive that holds 30–60 days of continuous footage at 4K.
02 How long is footage kept?
Depends on drive size and how much motion your cameras see. A 2 TB drive on a 4-camera home typically holds 30–45 days of continuous 4K footage. After that the NVR overwrites the oldest files first. You can flag any clip as "protected" in the app and it'll never be overwritten.
03 Is the footage encrypted? Could someone hack in?
All viewing traffic is end-to-end encrypted between the NVR and your phone. We change every default password during install (cameras, NVR, app account), disable the cloud peer-to-peer features that have caused issues with cheaper Wyze and Reolink systems, and put the NVR on its own network segment if you have a managed router.
04 Will it work with Alexa / Google Home / HomeKit?
Yes, with caveats. Our cameras speak the standards (RTSP and ONVIF), so Google Home and Alexa work out of the box for live view on smart displays. HomeKit needs a small bridge (a Raspberry Pi running Scrypted) which we can set up for you — ask during the quote and we'll price it case-by-case.
05 How good is the night vision really?
Genuinely excellent on the Premium tier — full-colour at night down to about 0.0005 lux (basically moonlight), which is what you actually want to identify a person or a vehicle. Black-and-white IR is a fallback for total darkness, e.g. inside a detached garage.
06 How much wifi / network does it use?
Almost nothing. Cameras are hardwired (PoE Cat6) so they don't touch your wifi at all. Live remote viewing uses about 4–8 Mbps per camera, but that's only when you're actively watching from the app. Day-to-day it's invisible on your network.
04
After install
5 questions01 What kind of warranty do you offer?
3 years on parts and labour. If a camera, the recorder, or anything related to our install fails inside that window, we come out, diagnose, and replace it at no charge. What's not covered: damage from things outside our control — a tree falling on a camera, lightning strikes, a contractor cutting a cable during another job, vandalism, or theft. After the warranty period we still come out — you pay for the replacement part at cost plus our service-call fee for the visit.
02 What if a camera stops working in 3 years?
Inside our 3-year warranty we come out, diagnose, and replace at no charge. Outside it, you pay for the replacement part at cost plus our service-call fee. We stock the most common camera models we install so we usually have a spare on the truck.
03 Can you upgrade or expand a system I already have?
Often, yes — if you have a recent NVR-based system already we can usually add cameras to it. Other brands (Lorex, Reolink, Swann) we can sometimes work with, but it depends on the model. Cheapest path is honestly a fresh install, but we'll always be straight with you.
04 I'm moving — can I take it with me?
Yes. We'll come uninstall, patch the holes (interior only), and re-install at the new property. Typical move-and-reinstall is half a day's labour, no new gear required if you're staying in the same kind of home. We quote that separately when the time comes.
05 Do you provide ongoing support?
Yes — and free. You get our cell number on install day. Text us with any question, anytime. Most issues we resolve over text in under an hour. If a service call is needed inside the 3-year warranty window it's free; outside it, you pay parts at cost plus our service-call fee.
05
Commercial & legal
4 questions01 Do you do commercial jobs?
Yes. Shops, restaurants, offices, warehouses, and rental properties across Durham. Commercial jobs are quoted on-site because every space is different — we look at access, network, ceilings, and what hours we can work without disrupting customers. Reach out and we'll come walk it with you.
02 Can I record audio?
Technically yes — most of our cameras have built-in mics. Legally in Ontario it's fine to record audio on your property if at least one party (you) consents, but we strongly recommend disabling audio at the NVR and posting visible signage. We default to video-only for residential and walk you through the rules for commercial.
03 Do I need to tell my neighbours?
Not legally — but it's the right thing to do, and a 5-minute conversation now avoids a complaint later. We'll help you angle cameras so they don't pick up neighbouring driveways or windows. Privacy zones (digital black-out areas) are built into the NVR and we configure them for you on walkthrough day.
04 Will footage hold up in a police investigation?
Yes — our NVRs export H.265 video with verified timestamps, which Durham Regional Police accept routinely. We can show you exactly how to clip and export evidence from the app. The export process is simple and we walk you through it during the install walkthrough.
No matches
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Plain-English glossary
The jargon, translated.
Every camera installer throws six acronyms at you in the first ten minutes. Here's what they mean before you even need to ask.
NVR
The little box that lives in your utility room and holds the hard drive. The actual recordings live here, not in the cloud.
PoE
One Cat6 cable that carries both power and video signal. Means no separate power adapter at each camera.
Full-colour night vision
Sensor + lens combo that records in full colour at night, down to near-moonlight. Better for IDs than black-and-white IR.
Cat6
Twisted-pair network cable rated for gigabit. Stronger and slightly thicker than the older Cat5e in most homes.
ONVIF
An industry standard that lets cameras from one brand talk to recorders or apps from another.
Bitrate
How much video data per second is being stored. Higher = sharper but bigger files. We tune this so 4K stays watchable on cellular.
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