Ask people why their outdoor camera is pointed at the wrong thing and the answer is almost always the same: that is where the power was. Power is the real constraint on outdoor camera placement, and it is worth solving deliberately rather than compromising around, because a camera watching the side of a shed is not doing the job you bought it for. Here are the four options, what each actually involves, and the mistakes that cause trouble later.
Option one: an AC adapter into an outdoor-rated outlet
If there is already an exterior outlet within reach, this is the cheapest and most reliable answer and you should take it. Three things make it work properly. Use the camera maker's own adapter — most outdoor cameras run on low-voltage DC from a brick that plugs into an outlet, and the voltage and amperage have to match; a generic supply with the wrong rating will either not start the camera or will cause intermittent dropouts that look like a Wi-Fi fault for months. Use a weatherproof outlet cover, the hinged "in-use" type that closes over the plug, not the flat flap designed for an empty socket. And secure the cable along its run with proper clips so it is not hanging in a loop someone can pull.
The thing not to do is run an indoor extension lead out of a window. It is the most common improvisation here and it fails three ways: indoor cords and connections are not rated for moisture, the window cannot close properly on the cable, and the whole arrangement is trivial to unplug from outside. If the camera needs power further away than the cable it came with, the answer is one of the next three options, not a longer indoor lead.
Option two: Power over Ethernet — the best answer most people have not considered
PoE sends power and video down a single network cable, and for an outdoor camera it is genuinely the strongest option available. The practical consequences are worth spelling out. One cable does everything, so there is one hole to drill rather than two. The run can be long — the Ethernet standard gives you about 100 meters, which covers a detached garage, the end of a driveway or an outbuilding that Wi-Fi never reached properly. It is low voltage, so in most jurisdictions it is not electrical work requiring an electrician, and the cable itself is cheap. And because the camera is wired, it records continuously rather than in motion clips, with the footage landing on a recorder inside the house where a thief cannot take it.
The trade-offs are real but narrow: you have to physically get a cable from the house to the camera, which means drilling an exterior wall and routing through an attic, a soffit or a conduit; and you need either a PoE switch or an injector at the house end, which is usually included in a kit. If you are putting up more than one camera, or putting any camera more than about twenty feet from an outlet, this is the option to price up first. See what is a PoE security camera for how the standard works, and best wired security camera systems for the kits.
Option three: battery, when nothing can reach the spot
Battery cameras exist precisely for the places cable cannot go, and they do that job honestly. What they cost you is continuous recording: a battery camera cannot film all the time or the battery would last days, so it sleeps and wakes on a motion sensor. That means motion clips rather than a continuous record, a short delay at the start of each clip while the camera wakes, and a battery life figure that depends entirely on how busy the view is — a camera watching a quiet side gate can last the claimed year or two, while the same camera watching a sidewalk may need recharging monthly.
The practical rule: battery is fine for a spot you can reach with a step ladder in two minutes, and a bad idea for anything high, awkward, or at the far end of a yard. Recharging a camera you need to fetch a ladder for is a chore you will start postponing, and a flat camera is the same as no camera. Best wireless security cameras ranks the field.
Option four: solar — battery without the recharging
Solar is a battery camera with a trickle charger attached, and it is the right answer for the awkward positions where battery alone would be a nuisance. A small panel — the cameras below include 2.2W and 3W panels in the box — generates enough across a day to replace what a moderately busy camera uses, so in practice you stop thinking about charging entirely.
Three things decide whether it works. Direct sun, not daylight: a panel in bright shade generates a fraction of its rating, so a north-facing wall or a shaded light well will not sustain the camera. Winter, not summer: the panel has to cover the camera's usage on the shortest, grayest days of the year, not the average day, which is why a camera on a busy frontage may still need a mid-winter top-up. And panel placement separate from camera placement: most of these panels are on their own cable, so the correct install often puts the camera in the shade at the right angle and the panel two feet away in the sun. The ranked field is in best solar security cameras.
What about the camera also being a light?
If the spot you want already has an exterior light fitting, you have a fifth option worth knowing about: a floodlight camera wires into the existing junction box and takes its power from the lighting circuit. That is line-voltage electrical work — it needs a neutral wire and, in most cases, an electrician — but if the wiring is already there the job is short, and you get a camera, a bright light and usually a siren from one fixture and one hole. See best floodlight cameras for that route.
The four mistakes that cause problems later
Using a generic power adapter.Match the maker's voltage and amperage exactly. An undersized supply produces random reboots and dropped streams that get blamed on Wi-Fi for months.
Leaving the connector exposed. The plug-and-socket joint between the camera lead and the extension or adapter is the part that fails, not the cable. Tape it, sleeve it, or tuck it inside a weatherproof junction box — and make sure it is not sitting in a position where water can pool on it.
Running the cable where it can be cut or pulled. A power lead dangling within reach of the ground is the single easiest way to disable a camera. Run it tight to the structure, through the wall as close to the camera as possible, and leave no slack loop.
Forgetting the camera still needs a network. Power solves one problem. A camera at the end of a yard with perfect power and two bars of Wi-Fi will still drop out — which is the real argument for PoE at distance, since it carries both. If a camera is already dropping off, why is my security camera offline covers the diagnosis.
Cold weather changes the arithmetic
One seasonal note, because it catches people out. Lithium batteries hold less charge and discharge faster in cold weather, so a battery camera that lasts three months in summer may need charging every few weeks in January — and that is exactly when solar output is at its lowest too. If you live somewhere with real winters and the camera matters, wired or PoE is the robust choice and wire-free is the convenient one. The detail is in do security cameras work in cold weather.
