CCTV & Wi-Fi Cabling Costs in Portsmouth (2026)
Updated: Oct 4
Most CCTV quotes we see in Portsmouth are for the camera hardware and not much else. The cameras are the easy bit. What moves the price is the cabling: how many walls it goes through, whether the loft is accessible, and whether the house is a 1900s Southsea terrace or a 1930s Cosham semi. Here's what the work really costs in 2026, and why.
What a CCTV system costs in Portsmouth
For a typical home we'd fit a wired IP system with a network recorder, because it's reliable and doesn't depend on battery swaps or the Wi-Fi in the back bedroom. A 4-camera system with recorder, cabling and fitting comes in at roughly £720 to £1,440. Labour per camera, covering mounting, cable termination, set-up and testing, runs at about £72 to £144 depending on how awkward the run is.
A few other figures we quote regularly:
Video doorbell camera: £180 to £420 fitted, cheaper if it's joining a system we've already installed.
Extra camera on an existing recorder: the camera plus the £72 to £144 labour, so a second visit costs far less than a new system.
Recorder size matters: a 4K recorder for 8 or more cameras costs noticeably more than a basic 4-channel box, so we size it to what you'll actually fit.
Those figures assume a normal two-storey house with loft access. Flats, listed buildings and anything with a lot of rendering to drill through sit at the top of the range.
Why Portsmouth houses make cabling harder
Portsea Island is dense. Terraces in Southsea, Fratton and Landport are often solid brick with little or no cavity, and many have been extended at the back with a flat roof that has nothing to run cable through. We've had jobs around Milton where the only sensible route was through the soffit and down behind the downpipe, which takes planning rather than speed.
Salt air is the other local factor. Within a few streets of the seafront, cheap fittings corrode quickly, so we use stainless fixings and sealed cable glands on exposed runs. It adds a small amount to the materials bill and saves you a callout in two winters' time.
Wired data points and Wi-Fi that works
If your Wi-Fi drops out upstairs, a bigger router rarely fixes it. Running Cat6 cable to ceiling-mounted access points does. A single data point supplied and installed is typically £72 to £180, and a small home network with a few points plus a patch panel lands at £360 to £1,080. If you're having rewiring or a kitchen refit done anyway, we'll lay the data cable at the same time, which is the cheapest moment to do it. Our smart home, CCTV and electrical work covers all of this under one visit.
Rules worth knowing before cameras go up
Cameras that cover only your own property are simple. If one looks onto a neighbour's garden or the public pavement, data protection rules can apply, and you'll be expected to put up a sign and keep footage secure. We angle cameras and set privacy masks at install so you aren't creating a neighbour dispute, which on a tight Portsmouth street is a real risk.
How we quote it
We survey before we quote: we walk the house, check loft and cable routes, and look at where the sun hits so you don't get white-out footage at 4pm. You get one fixed price covering the recorder, cameras, cabling and testing. If we find something that changes the cost, such as a blocked duct, you hear about it before we carry on.
Related reading
Get a fixed price for your Portsmouth home
If you're thinking about cameras, a video doorbell or proper wired Wi-Fi, book a survey with Complete Builds and tell us the property type and how many cameras you have in mind. We'll visit, check the cable routes and send you a fixed price.
Comments