topic Re: Speakers in Arlo Ultra 2

Siren seems too low

dwinkle23 — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 23:55:59 GMT

Hey everyone I need some help, I have searched and watched a countless amount of videos and I still can’t figure out what is going on. I have turned the volume on my speakers all the way up, and the siren is still almost obsolete. You can’t hear it even if you are right next to it. I restarted, reconnected, and reset every camera and they are all still so extremely quiet. Is this normal?

Re: Speakers

jguerdat — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 15:13:59 GMT

They're not truly loud but you should be able to hear it with no problem. Make sure the plastic cover on the camera face is fully removed, especially over the small opening for the speaker.

Re: Speakers

Flava_Dave — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 15:46:15 GMT

On our system, it seems like the alarm only sounds from the base station, but I never saw (or looked for) a screen protector on the camera that could be blocking a speaker. I will say that I'm not at all impressed with the level of detail or clarity of this camera, at night or when zooming in, and I've got it set to 4K, have it plugged in to an outdoor charger, have the base station, and have a 128GB thumb drive plugged into the base station. Reached out to customer support, but because I haven't activated my free sample support plan, or paid for a support plan, zero help.

Re: Speakers

dcfox1 — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 18:32:18 GMT

@Flava_Dave wrote:
On our system, it seems like the alarm only sounds from the base station, but I never saw (or looked for) a screen protector on the camera that could be blocking a speaker.

On the VMB5000 Smart Hub you listed there is not siren in the Hub/Base, only on the Ultra's cameras. You may be hearing them at a distance but still check for the film. Some of the older Bases did have a siren.

Re: Speakers

Flava_Dave — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 22:05:14 GMT

Not sure I listed the right base station, as I already had an older base station that I believe I just synced the new camera to. All I know is that it's really loud inside and I hear nothing coming out of the camera.

Re: Speakers

StephenB — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 01:46:30 GMT

@Flava_Dave wrote:

Not sure I listed the right base station, as I already had an older base station that I believe I just synced the new camera to. All I know is that it's really loud inside and I hear nothing coming out of the camera.

Then you likely have Pro (or Pro 2) cameras with a VMB4000 or VMB4500 base.

Re: Speakers

Flava_Dave — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 02:07:06 GMT

I bought the new Ultra 2 cameras, but paired them with my older base station from a Pro set.

Re: Speakers

StephenB — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 11:46:52 GMT

@Flava_Dave wrote:
I bought the new Ultra 2 cameras, but paired them with my older base station from a Pro set.

Is the current behavior a problem for you?

Honestly, many folks here stick with the VMB4000 base because they want the much louder indoor siren. The one built into the camera disappoints.

Re: Speakers

Flava_Dave — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 13:55:21 GMT

I would think the point of a siren would be to scare an unwanted person away, before they break into your house. And you want people on the outside to hear the siren and take notice, not have anyone indoors become deaf, while no one on the outside has any clue that someone has broken into your home.

Re: Speakers

StephenB — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 14:29:44 GMT

@Flava_Dave wrote:

And you want people on the outside to hear the siren and take notice

Obviously different people will have different views. Personally I don't enable the siren at all.

In your case there are two sirens - the one in the camera and the one in the base. Arlo is preferring the one in the base. I don't know of any way to override that.

One thing that will work is to replace the base with a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000). They don't have a siren, so the system will use the Ulra siren. Cost for the VMB4540 is about $99 USD - but they are hard to find due to supply chain issues.