Frequently asked questions

No, that’s exactly what we’re built for. Over half our customers have no mains power at the spot they want covered. The Solar 360 runs on its own solar panel and battery, so there’s nothing to wire in and no trench to dig.

Yes. Our 4G cameras use the mobile network rather than your broadband, the same way your phone does. The camera works whether or not WiFi reaches the field, the shed or the far gate, and it keeps working if the broadband at the house goes down.

In practice it’s very rarely an issue. Our SIMs are made for rural use rather than being tied to a single network, so they pick up coverage almost everywhere, including plenty of places where an ordinary phone struggles.

We also check 4G coverage at your postcode before your camera ships. If it won’t work at your spot, we’ll tell you and refund you in full before it ships.

• Solar 360 — from £159.99. No power and no WiFi at the location. Fields, far gates, remote land.
• Defender 360 — from £299.99. Our most capable camera: 36x zoom, 120m night vision and a full 360° turn. Choose 4G if there’s no internet where it’s going, WiFi if there is.
• Defender 360 Elite. The Defender in 4K, with vehicle detection as well as people. Best where you need to make out faces or number plates.
• Stealth 360 — from £191.99. For when you’d rather it wasn’t obvious there’s a camera there.
• 5MP Bullet — from £99.99. A fixed view rather than a moving one. Simple and reliable.

Not sure? Ring or WhatsApp us. Most people are on the phone five minutes and know exactly what they need.

Everything you need to get going: the camera, mounting hardware and the cabling required for that model. Security signs are included with some cameras. On 4G cameras, your SIM is fitted and activated here before it ships, so it arrives ready to go.

Memory cards are optional on every camera. Choose a card size when you order, or fit your own.

No, we’re a self-install company, and that’s deliberate: it keeps the price down, and most people have theirs up within the hour. You’ll need something to fix it to and a drill.

What we do provide is help. Power it up, scan the QR code and you’re live. If you’d like guidance, we’ll walk you through it by phone, WhatsApp or video call, and we’re here afterwards too.

Just about anywhere: barn walls, gateposts, telegraph poles, shipping containers, fence posts in the middle of nowhere.

If there’s nothing to fix to, a timber or steel post concreted into the ground is the usual answer and costs very little. A solid post beats a tree, because branches move in the wind and set off alerts. And with a solar camera, keep the panel clear of anything that shades it.

Yes. These are weatherproof cameras built for outdoor use in the UK. They live on posts, barn walls and gateposts across the country all year round.

It depends on the camera, because higher resolution uses more space. As a rough guide with continuous recording:

• Solar 360: around 3 weeks on 64GB, around 6 weeks on 128GB
• 5MP cameras (Defender 360, Stealth 360, Bullet): around 5 days on 64GB, 10 days on 128GB and 20 days on 256GB
• Defender 360 Elite: less again, because it records in 4K

These vary with how much movement the camera sees. Once the card is full, it records over the oldest footage automatically, so you always have the most recent period.

We set cameras up to record continuously, and we’d recommend keeping them that way. Everything is on the card whether or not it triggered an alert, so if something happened at 3am and you weren’t notified, the footage is still there.

The Solar 360 takes cards up to 128GB. All the other cameras take up to 256GB. Cards are optional at checkout on every model.

No. Your footage records to the card in the camera. That’s your storage, and it’s how the vast majority of our customers use theirs. Cloud storage is an optional paid extra in the app, and most people never switch it on.

A 4G camera needs a mobile data connection, the same way your phone does. That’s what gives you live view, alerts and footage where there’s no WiFi. We set the SIM up before the camera ships, so it arrives working.

Essential suits most of our customers: alerts and regular check-ins. Plus is for watching live more often. Premium is for long live sessions. Current prices and allowances are on our data plans page.

If you’re not sure, start on Essential. You can move up or down at any time.

Nothing dramatic. Get in touch and we’ll either top your data up or move you to a bigger plan, whichever suits.

Yes, and it costs less than paying monthly: you save up to two months’ worth over the year. Choose yearly when you pick your plan, or ask us to switch you over.

Get in touch and we’ll sort you out. We already look after plenty of customers running several cameras on one site.

Yes, and plenty of people do. It’s common to pause over the summer after lambing and start again in the new year. Just let us know.

You can, but we’d suggest not. Ours is set up before the camera leaves us, so there are no settings to enter in a cold shed. We also support it: if the connection plays up, we can look from our end rather than sending you to a mobile network call centre.

Yes. Everything records to the card inside the camera, not over the signal. If the connection drops, you lose live view and alerts for that time, but the footage is recorded and will be there when it reconnects.

CamHi Pro, free on the App Store and Google Play. Power the camera on, scan the QR code with the app, and it connects.

Most customers are up and running in minutes. Mounting the camera usually takes longer than setting it up.

This is the most common thing we’re asked, and it’s a settings fix rather than a fault. In CamHi Pro:

1. Tap the cog icon to open settings
2. Go to update time, then sync to phone time
3. Set DST to Europe/Dublin
4. Save. The camera will reboot, and the time will hold

Europe/Dublin is the right option for UK time in this app. It matters more than it sounds: if the clock is wrong, the playback timeline won’t line up with when things happened, which makes footage very hard to find.

If it still won’t hold, ring or WhatsApp us. It takes a couple of minutes to sort together.

50Hz in the UK. That matches our mains frequency and stops flicker or banding when the camera picks up artificial light. 60Hz is the US setting.

Yes. Format it in the camera before you rely on it. That’s what sets it up to record properly. If playback looks like separate still frames rather than smooth video, an unformatted or badly seated card is usually why.

Yes. You can share access with as many people as you like, so family or staff can watch on their own phones.

Recordings are on the card in the camera, and you reach them through the app. In CamHi Pro, open the camera and tap Playback. Choose a date and you’ll get a timeline for that day. Drag along it to jump to a time.

Because we set cameras to record continuously, there’s footage on the card even for events that didn’t alert you. If playback looks like separate frames rather than smooth video, the card needs formatting in the camera.

Yes. While a recording is playing back there’s a download option, which saves the clip to your phone, handy for sending to the police, your insurer or a neighbour.

Usually it’s the motion sensitivity combined with where the camera is pointed. Turning the sensitivity down stops branches, rain and shadows setting it off, and adjusting the angle so hedges and trees are out of frame makes a big difference.

If it’s still not behaving, give us a ring and we’ll go through the settings with you. It’s a five-minute job, and it transforms how useful the camera feels.

Roughly 10 to 14 days on a full charge with no input from the panel at all, depending on how much it’s used and viewed. In practice, the panel keeps it topped up.

Face the panel south with a clear view of the sky, with no branches or buildings shading it. That’s the single biggest factor in how well it performs. In the darkest winter weeks, any solar setup can run low, ours included, and that’s when a USB-C top-up helps.

Yes. It charges over USB-C, so you can top it up from a cable or a power bank whenever you need to.

Signal jammers exist, but they’re illegal and rare. In practice, a camera is far more likely to be sprayed or pulled off a post. Either way, footage records to the card inside the camera rather than over the signal, so the approach is already recorded before anyone reaches it. It’s also the argument for covering more than one point: whoever deals with one camera is picked up by the next.

Same day on orders placed before 2:30pm Monday to Friday, or before 9:45am on Saturday, sent Royal Mail Tracked 24. Your SIM is set up here before it leaves, so the camera arrives ready to go. Full delivery details.

Anywhere in the UK and Ireland, and further afield on request.

You’ve got 30 days. Get in touch and we’ll arrange a refund or an exchange, whichever you’d prefer. If you’re returning a working camera, the cost of the return label is deducted from your refund. If the camera is faulty or arrived damaged, we cover the postage in full. Full returns details.

18 months on every RuralGuard camera.

If something goes wrong, email or WhatsApp us with what it’s doing. We’ll usually start with a few checks, because a good share of “faults” turn out to be signal, power or settings, and we can often have you working again the same day. If it does need to come back to us, we cover the postage.

Ring or WhatsApp us 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. We usually reply within two hours. Message any time, and if it’s out of hours we’ll pick it up first thing.

Yes. If you’re fitting cameras for clients, reselling, or buying several at a time, take a look at our trade accounts or get in touch.