CCTV repair and fault diagnosis — fast attendance, honest quotes
When CCTV stops working — cameras offline, no image, NVR not recording, remote viewing broken — SEG Ltd provides rapid diagnostic attendance and repair across England. We work on any manufacturer's equipment: Axis, Dahua, Hikvision, Bosch, Hanwha, Avigilon, Samsung legacy, plus older analogue DVR systems. The first thing we'll do on the phone is try to narrow down the issue, because some faults are fixable remotely or by you in five minutes; the rest get a same-day or next-day site visit.
Common faults we repair include water ingress on external cameras, lens fogging or focus drift, IR illuminator failure, PoE port failures on the switch or NVR, cable damage from rodents or building work, NVR hard-drive failure, recording stopped after a power cut, no remote viewing after router changes, and cameras dropping offline at random. Most of these are repairable in a single visit; a few need parts ordered and a second visit.
We charge a diagnostic visit fee that covers attendance and fault identification. If the repair can be completed in the same visit you only pay for parts plus the additional time. If the fault is unfixable (camera write-off, NVR end-of-life), we quote a like-for-like replacement and credit the diagnostic fee against the replacement. No "while-you're-here" sales pressure.
Common CCTV faults we repair
Cameras offline
Diagnosis covers PoE port test, cable continuity, switch logs, IP conflicts, and camera power-up behaviour. We'll know if it's the camera, the cable, or the switch within twenty minutes of being on site.
No image / black screen
Often a software fault rather than hardware — lens auto-iris stuck, sensor stuck in night mode, or a stream codec mismatch with the NVR. Sometimes it's water ingress. We test and isolate.
Not recording
Hard-drive failure, full-disk overwrite issues, schedule misconfiguration, motion zones disabled, or a corrupted database. Fast to identify, usually fast to fix.
Remote viewing broken
Almost always router-related — IP changed, port forwards lost, P2P service expired, or a new ISP modem in default config. We re-establish access using the most resilient method available.
Night-vision failure
IR LEDs degrade with age and often go before the rest of the camera. Some cameras can have the IR ring board replaced; cheaper units are typically replaced whole. We'll quote both.
Cable damage
Rodent damage, contractor damage during refurbishment, and external weathering. We splice or re-run as needed and re-terminate to professional standards.
How a CCTV repair call works
1. Call us
Describe the symptoms — when it started, what's working, what isn't. We'll either talk you through a fix on the phone (free) or book a diagnostic visit, usually within one to two working days.
2. Diagnose on site
An engineer attends with a stocked van — replacement PoE switches, common camera models, cable tools, and an NVR to test against. Most faults are identified within the first hour.
3. Fix or quote
If it's repairable on the spot, we complete the work and charge time plus parts. If it needs ordered parts or a like-for-like camera replacement, you get a clear quote before anything is committed.
CCTV repair FAQs
Most non-emergency CCTV faults are attended within one to two working days. Emergency callouts (full system down on a high-risk site) can be next-day or same-day depending on engineer location. Tell us the urgency when you call.
Yes — the majority of our repair work is on third-party-installed systems. We work on Axis, Dahua, Hikvision, Bosch, Hanwha, Avigilon, and most legacy DVR systems. If you don't know what brand you have, send a photo of the recorder and we'll usually identify it.
We'll tell you honestly. End-of-life cameras and discontinued NVR models often cost more to repair than to replace. In those cases we quote like-for-like or upgraded replacements alongside the repair cost so you can make the choice.
Sometimes. If the drive is intact but the NVR has failed, we can usually recover footage by reading the drive on a workstation. If the drive itself has physically failed, footage recovery is specialist data-recovery work and not always successful — we'll be honest about the odds.
Need this urgently?
For same-day diagnostic response when something is genuinely broken right now, see our Emergency CCTV Repair service. Or call 0330 133 9801 and we'll triage on the phone immediately.