Using a trail camera for home security

Where do all trails lead?

That’s right, every trail you take eventually leads you back to home sweet home. For that reason, today we're looking at why a trail camera could be a great option in helping you protect your home and property.

But what about the already well-established home security camera systems designed precisely for this purpose? We’ll weigh up the benefits of both kinds of camera system, by comparing cellular trail cameras with wireless security cameras, and discover the top 4 reasons why trail cameras could be the better option for your situation.

If you have any more questions after reading please feel free to contact us via email or visit our WingHome Facebook Page. If you’d like to take a look at a cellular trail camera before reading, you can find our WingHome 350CG trail camera here.


To begin with then, let’s take a look at 4 pros of security cameras…

Security camera vs trail camera 

1. Battery Life
As we saw before, shooting constant video eats up power at a tremendous rate. Therefore, until batteries have much greater power capabilities, it’s very difficult to recommend battery-powered wireless security cameras.

This is where trail cameras come into their own. Since they only take photos or video when necessary, i.e. when there is movement of a person or large animal, they are superb energy-saving devices, whilst still capturing all the vital action. Using standard alkaline batteries taking 15 photos and 15 10-sec videos per day, day and night (via night vision), you can expect to swap out the batteries about every two months.

2. Concealment

You don’t get to be a burglar without a certain degree of cunning. No wonder then that most of them do a recce of the property hours, even days, before they plan to burgle it. This is when they check for any security cameras they need to avoid and, if necessary, disable. Since security cameras are mostly colored white, they do the burglars are a great favor in being easily detectable.

Trail cameras, on the other hand, have a camouflaged design to evade detection by animals with far keener eyesight than humans. Mount them on a tree or bush and they will blend in to the background, with the burglar none the wiser, right up until the cops arrive.

3. Operating Temperature

Ever left your phone out on a bitterly cold day? If so, you know that they can easily die if exposed to very low temperatures. The same is true for many types of security camera, which are mass-made and therefore designed for use in average-temperature climates.

The trail camera, however, is a much more rugged device, primarily intended for use in deep forests and mountainous areas. Therefore, you can feel secure in knowing that your trail camera will continue to operate at temperatures down to as low as -30ºF and as high as 149ºF.

4. Range

This is where the difference between the terms ‘wireless’ and ‘cellular’ matters. Both cellular trail cameras and wireless security cameras are ‘wireless' in the sense of having no wires.

However, in the case of security cameras, ‘wireless’ also means relying on your home's wireless internet to transmit and store captured video. This is perfectly fine if you’re planning to hook up your security camera within 100m of your WiFi box, any further than that though and you’ll be lucky to get a signal.

Cellular trail cameras, on the other hand, use the same cellular technology as your cell phone. So, just as you can use your cell phone anywhere there is a phone signal, so you can use your trail camera the same way, allowing for a huge range of possible locations to mount the device.

Sum up

So, those were the differences between using cellular trail cameras and wireless security cameras in defending your home and property.

Obviously, it depends upon your specific circumstances as to which you should go for. But I hope we’ve convinced you that trail cameras, with their unbeatable battery life, camouflaged design, all-around ruggedness and cellular range could be the better option for you.

As always, if you have any questions, or would like more information about trail cameras and cellular trail cameras, please contact us via email or visit our WingHome Facebook Page.

Thanks and happy trails from the WingHome team!