The Best CCTV Cage For Protecting Your Security Cameras

Having CCTV is an absolute blessing. Whether you’re monitoring your home, private land or a business, having reliable security cameras makes our lives considerably easier. Unfortunately, there are a number of criminals who actively target security cameras when looking to break into properties, which is where a CCTV cage comes in handy. These contraptions are pretty self explanatory – cages to protect your surveillance system against vandalism and damage.

With widespread theft in the UK for decades, home security has become an utmost concern for most, and for good reason. It’s a sad reality that people are actually willing to damage CCTV cameras to enable them to break into properties more easily, but that’s the world we live in. With that out the way, lets take a look at the easy and relatively inexpensive steps you can take to properly protect your security cameras.

What Is a CCTV Cage?

A CCTV cage, or security camera vandalism stopper, is a rigid metal container which surrounds your security camera, making it hugely more difficult to interfere with. Normally these cages are a 5 sided cube, with the open side being mounted to a wall. Assuming these cages are mounted securely, only the most determined criminal armed with a ladder and tools could do any serious damage, saving you considerable time and money.

What Is The Best CCTV Cage I Can Buy?

I have two recommendations when it comes to getting a reliable, well built security camera guard that won’t let you down, and they are both made by the same company. As I’ll go into in more detail below, getting a guard with a black finish, which isn’t made of too thick of a metal is absolutely essential. These two options meet this criteria perfectly.

TC223 – Best CCTV Cage For Smaller Cameras

If you have a smaller security camera, such as many of these wireless outdoor security cameras, I would go with the TC223 Galvanized Security Camera Cage. Catchy, right? These metal cages cost around £50 at the time of writing and have a good weight and strength to them. They are basically a 23cm metal cube.

What To Look For When Buying a CCTV Cage

One important factor to consider when purchasing any kind of CCTV enclosure is that the metal frame is going to somewhat worsen the view the camera has of its surroundings. Many more expensive cages opt for a thicker metal, however in my opinion this renders the camera a lot less usable. On the other hand the TC223 has a metal construction with enough structural integrity to take a real beating, without hindering the camera’s view more than necessary.

The second very, very important factor to note when investing in a security camera guard is how the finish of the metal can affect the cameras in unusual ways. Many cages are actually shiny and metallic, with a raw metal finish. In my opinion, do not buy any of these!

Many brands of security cameras are simply not equipped to properly work with a shiny metal surface in front of them, which can, and I quote, “render them completely useless”. This is usually to do with how the shiny surface messes with the IR, stopping the camera from working correctly. To avoid this from being a problem, either paint your cage black, or buy one which is already black, like this.

As with most security camera cages, this one is intended to mount on a wall, completely surrounding the camera within. You can decide how best to mount it securely, but generally a long masonry screw specifically for brickwork is the best way to go.

TC226 – Best CCTV Cage For Larger Cameras

If you’ve got a larger security camera installed, such as a traditional style CCTV camera, you will probably want to instead opt for the TC226. It’s the bigger cousin of the 223, with a shape better suited to larger cameras.

The TC226 is almost triangular in shape, and fits a majority of longer cameras, such as the one above. In the middle of the cage, this one has a depth of 26cm. Thanks to its 39cm width, this is also a perfect fit for many outdoor security lights as well.

Although both the TC223 and 226 are not the cheapest options on the market, it’s definitely worth the few extra quid to get a cage which is there for more than just show, whilst additionally being pre-painted in black so that you don’t need to worry about the infra red issues that plague many other cages on the market. Buy nice or buy twice is what I always say, and in the case of needing to protect your expensive security cameras, this statement has never been more true.

So there you have it, two of the best options on the market for protecting your precious security cameras against vandalism and theft.

And with my two favourite picks out of the way, lets get into some common questions around the topic of security camera cages.

Do CCTV Cages Work?

Yes, they do work. The main things they protect against is vandalism and theft. Typically security cameras are damaged through criminals throwing objects like stones at them to break the lenses, which is where having a protecting metal cage can come in handy. Additionally, securing a camera within a cage makes removing them a lot more difficult and time intensive, which acts as a good deterrent against thieves.

Can My CCTV Camera Still Be Damaged In a Cage?

Unfortunately, yes. It’s near impossible to fully protect a security camera without spending huge amounts of money. the two main methods that thieves can still use to damage security cameras protected by cages is to either point a strong laser pointer at it, to damage the camera’s components, or simply cover the lens in spray paint.

There isn’t really anything you can do about this, as even if the camera was in a bulletproof glass it’s still possible to damage the camera with a laser pointer.

How Can I Stop My Security Camera Being Vandalised?

On top of securing it in a cage there are some other effective options to prevent damage. Your best bet is to attempt to conceal it. Place them in locations which aren’t easy to spot or reach, such as in high places and hidden in bushes. One common tactic for prime targets of crime, such as large, valuable homes or businesses, is to have a very obviously placed dummy camera, and then have the real cameras hidden away in very hard to spot locations.

If you want to see a good example of how to perfectly execute this, give this video a watch. This video features recordings of a thief spray-painting some outdoor security cameras, but he got caught red handed thanks to an additional hidden camera which was in a concealed location, high up in a tree.

Conclusion – CCTV Cages Are Good For Protecting Against Vandalism And Theft.

If you need to prevent criminals from damaging your cameras, there is no better strategy to take than combining a good quality cage with clever camera placement. By keeping the cameras in hard to see or access areas, as well as encasing them in a good quality cage, you have done just about everything you can to protect your security cameras.

Speaking of security cameras, if you are looking to make the change to wireless, but don’t want to pay for a subscription, then you should definitely check out our article on the best outdoor solar powered ones here.