topic Local Storage Confusion for current ARLO Q PLUS and future ARLO PRO in Arlo Pro

Local Storage Confusion for current ARLO Q PLUS and future ARLO PRO

BobEvans — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 19:32:17 GMT

Dear ARLO community members,

I have done a lot of research, went through the ARLO products page, read reviews, etc and have browsed these forums for the past couple of weeks and I still have not found the answer I am looking for. I was hoping a current ARLO Q PLUS owner or one of the moderators on here could answer my question. Apologies in advance if it has been answered 😛

I am potentially going to a be owner of the ARLO Q PLUS and the ARLO PRO (which I know is not out yet) but was wondering if anyone could give me how the local storage EXACTLY works.

Correct me if I am wrong but according to ARLO, local backup storage is currently available for both ARLO Q PLUS and the ARLO PRO on a USB/SD Card. The ARLO videos are ALWAYS recorded and backed up on the cloud but you can also have the option of also storing it locally at the same time. The only time that local storage ONLY (and not cloud storage) will be available to users is if you lose network/wifi connection and the local storage acts as a backup.

So my question is:

1. If wifi is down and things are recorded locally, how will I get notifications on the ARLO app on the phone/website? For example, if I lose wifi connection on the camera while I am out of town, will I get any notices/pop up of activity on the app? Or do I have to wait until I get home and stick that SD card in a computer to see if anything happened.

2. If local storage ONLY can only be used when Wifi is down, technically can't I bypass the cloud system by initially setting the ARLO cameras up w/ internet connection and then purposely disabling the Wifi on purpose so I can just use the ARLO videos as local storage only?

3. Can I use a 2TB external hard drive via USB port to to record locally or are only SD cards only available currently?

Thank you in advance,

Bob

Re: Local Storage Confusion for current ARLO Q PLUS and future ARLO PRO

TomMac — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 01:57:37 GMT

My understanding is that one the card is set up on the Q+ ( and similar on the new Pro base ) the video records to both the cloud and the card.

If internet is broken/down it will continue to the card in the way you prev set it up. ( FIFO or stop when full )

1) you won't get alerts if the internet is down, and then Yes... pull the card and view ( any thing recorded to the card while internet is down will NOT be back up to the cloud.)

2) It is a dual record so it is not only when the internet is down... and i gues you could disable the internet but why...if a break in occurs and they take your unit, you have nothing nor will you get alerts

3) The cards on Arlo Q+ and the usb back up on the Pro Base use formatting with FAT32... It could possibly support up to 2 TB under that system.

Obv you need a mem card only for the Q+..

As to USB, Don't know how large they tested and remember that the USB port has limited power so a drive may have to have an extenal power supply so as not to blow the port ( which is prob why mostly think a usb drive would be better...I have a 64gb usb drive and it can hold a lot of videos )

Re: Local Storage Confusion for current ARLO Q PLUS and future ARLO PRO

jguerdat — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 13:16:56 GMT

I had the idea that the Q+ only records locally IF the Internet is down. Wrong? The Pro is said to always dual record.

As for the Pro and a hard drive, the issue of size remains the same - theoretically up to 2TB but I think I saw someplace only 1 TB had been tested. And it would be cheaper to use a large hard drive than a similar size thumb drive.

Power is certainly a consideration but I don't think it would "blow" the port - it just wouldn't work since the drive couldn't power up completely. Certainly an SSD or maybe a 2.5" magnetic drive would work. You'd just have to test.

Re: Local Storage Confusion for current ARLO Q PLUS and future ARLO PRO

hokeysmoke — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 16:23:59 GMT

Being a Q Plus owner, I can confirm that the MicroSD card records whenever the camera is triggered. It has nothing to do with the presence or absence of an internet connection.

There is a problem, however, that has yet to be addressed by Netgear (their last mention that I can find is that they are working on a fix, but the Plus has never had a firmware update released). If the internet is down, the bit rate from the camera drops to a very low level (maybe as a result of the camera trying to connect at lower and lower rates until it gives up). This low bit rate causes the "ghosting" problem reported in a number of threads, likely due to the fact that there is not enough data rate available to update the video correctly. I do not know if the Pro addresses this specific issue.