Will CCTV Work Without Internet?

CCTV or closed-circuit television is a TV system in which the signal isn’t publicly broadcast, but is watched and monitored, usually for surveillance and security purposes. You likely won’t make it far on a drive from one city to another without being monitored by at least one CCTV. Law enforcement uses cameras on city streets to deter crime and on highway signs to watch for traffic violators. Chances are, you’ve also been captured on dozens of CCTV systems while conducting transactions at your local bank or browsing at your local department store.

According to Wikipedia, the first CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at a Test Stand VII in Nazi Germany in 1942 for observing rocket launches. In the US, it was more popularly, and pleasantly, used for professional boxing telecasts distributed to select movie venues for fights with the greats like Joe Louis and Muhammed Ali.

CCTV worked in 1942 without internet and so will today’s CCTV systems, regardless of whether you have wired or wireless equipment. However, without internet, you cannot get remote viewing on a mobile phone, tablet or computer unless you are willing to consider using cellular data, so it is essential to find how you to want to access and use CCTV, so you can choose the type of system that is best for you.

What does a CCTV system contain?

Let’s start with the basics. There are three main elements to a CCTV system: the camera(s), the recording device and the monitor.

There are tons of options in each of these categories. Cameras, for example, can be analog or IP. They can have night vision or pan, tilt and zoom features. Some cameras are for indoor use; others are for outdoor use. Some can record audio; others cannot.

Same thing when it comes to recording your surveillance footage. You could rely only on the footage saved to the SD card inside the camera, but you’ll have to retrieve the SD card from the camera to watch it. Alternatively, you can connect your camera to a recording device such as a digital video recorder (DVR) or network video recorder (NVR).

Finally, monitors are the screens on which you can see the recorded images or videos.
You’ll also then need accessories like cables, connectors and junction boxes, batteries, and battery back-ups. This is where it starts to get complicated as you choose between wired or wireless components and installation for the type of monitoring you desire.

We aren’t going to dive into all the component options available in this article today, but merely focus on what can and cannot be done if you don’t have internet or don’t want to use the internet because of how much data it uses. 

What can a CCTV system do without internet?

Quick answer: it can do everything a CCTV system with the internet can do, you go about setting it up differently.

Surveillance and monitoring can be done with wireless or wired security cameras and recording equipment, but you won’t be able to have alerts sent to your phone or access remote viewing. If you have someone monitoring the system from a fixed location or want the recorded footage, then you are in good shape.

Want remote viewing but don’t have internet? It’s still possible if you choose a security product that has a cellular data plan that goes with the product. You need to make sure your security camera has a sim card for a mobile CCTV system to work.  In fact, some customers prefer cellular monitoring to internet monitoring because they live in a location where they can’t get a reliable internet signal, or they are concerned about a burglar potentially disabling their internet and thus disabling their security system.

Bottom line: There are many options for you to choose from. An effective, reliable security system can be designed for almost any commercial or residential location. The professional designers at FSS Technologies will work with you to provide the perfect system on the right platform that is easy to use, affordable, and will meet your security needs now and into the future.