4 MP PTZ IP Camera, 25× Optical, 4G Cellular, 150 m IR - DS-2DE5425IWG-4G

Who this is for

For the installer. This is the one to reach for when there is power at the position but no practical way to get data back — a remote gate, a far corner of a yard, a building on the other side of a car park. 12 VDC at 20 W local, a data SIM, and that is the install. Commission over the Wi-Fi AP on the bench: channel 11, AP mode only, short range, for setup rather than for connectivity. Check signal at the exact mounting height and orientation before you fix it, and remember that 4G upload is the constraint on stream quality, so set the sub-stream sensibly rather than pushing 4 MP continuously over the air.

For the end user. Same camera head as the wired 150 m model — 4 MP, 25× zoom, 150 m of infrared — but it reaches you over the mobile network instead of a cable. That removes the single most expensive part of most CCTV jobs, which is getting a cable from the camera to the recorder. Footage is written to the camera's own card and internal memory, so a dropped signal costs you live viewing, not the recording. If there is no mains at the position either, the K/4G version of this camera brings its own battery and solar array.

Buying this in the UK

You supply the data SIM, and coverage should be checked at the position rather than assumed from a postcode map — a yard behind a steel building can be markedly worse than the street. Watch the data allowance too: continuous high-bitrate streaming over 4G runs through a consumer tariff quickly, which is why most installs stream a low sub-stream continuously and pull the high-quality recording off the card only when something has happened. WME has supplied the security trade from Birmingham since 1975.

Common questions

Does it need a SIM card? Yes — a data SIM. It supports LTE FDD bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 and 28, LTE TDD, and 3G and 2G fallback.

How much data will it use? It depends entirely on what you stream. Most sites run a low sub-stream for live viewing and keep the full-resolution recording on the camera, which keeps monthly usage manageable.

What happens when the signal drops? Recording continues on the camera — up to 256 GB on microSD plus 256 GB of built-in eMMC.

How is this different from the K/4G? The K/4G adds a solar array and a 360 WH battery pack so it needs no mains at all, at 29.9 kg against 3.5 kg for this one. This model needs a 12 V supply.

Can it be powered over Ethernet? No — this is a 12 VDC camera at up to 20 W. There is no PoE input on this model.