Technically yes, but most people underestimate what is involved. Sticking a wireless camera on a shelf is easy. Installing a proper wired CCTV system that records 24/7 in full quality is a different job entirely. It involves drilling through external walls, routing Ethernet cable through lofts and cavity walls, terminating cables, configuring the NVR, and commissioning cameras at night to check IR performance.
The cabling is the hard part. Each camera needs a Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable run from the camera position back to the NVR. That means drilling exit holes through masonry, feeding cable through loft spaces, down cavity walls or through conduit on the exterior. The cable needs to be clipped, secured, and kept away from mains wiring. If any run is over 100 metres, it will not work without additional equipment.
Every cable needs to be terminated with an RJ45 connector or keystone jack at both ends. This requires a crimping tool, cable tester, and the knowledge to wire the pairs in the correct order. A bad termination will cause intermittent dropouts or complete failure, and the camera will show as offline with no obvious reason.
Camera positioning matters more than most people realise. The angle, height, and field of view determine whether you get a usable facial image or a vague silhouette. Too high and you get the top of heads. Too wide and faces are too small to identify. Too narrow and you miss the approach route. Getting this right requires experience and a site survey, not guesswork from a product listing.
Night vision needs to be checked after dark. IR LEDs can cause glare off nearby walls, reflections off windows, or hot spots that wash out part of the image. Doberman returns after dark on every install to verify each camera's night-time image and adjust angles or IR intensity if needed. This step is regularly skipped in DIY setups.
Then there is the NVR configuration - setting recording schedules, motion zones, detection sensitivity, retention periods, and remote access. The UniFi Protect system Doberman uses is straightforward, but it still needs to be set up correctly to avoid missed events or storage filling up too quickly.
If you are comfortable with all of that, you can do it yourself. If you would rather have it done properly in a day with everything working when you go to bed that night, that is what Doberman does. We handle the survey, cabling, mounting, configuration, app setup, and night-time commissioning as a single job.