2 issues with Arlo Doorbell

[sacornel]

I’m using the Arlo doorbell as a motion trigger for my Pro 2 camera at the front door of my house.  Problem #1.  The motion sensitivity needs to have an adjustment similar to the cameras. The Arlo doorbell is 30 feet from the street and it will trigger when large vehicles, like a bus, drives by my house. The second issue is the Pro 2 camera records for 5 minutes for every trigger it receives from the doorbell.  I do have it set to record until motion has stopped, but for some reason it won’t stop recording even when the subject matter has walked away.  I change it to record for 30 seconds per trigger as to save my camera’s battery life. 

I wanted to toss these issues out there in case anyone else is experiencing the same thing. 

[davidrayers]

I recently purchased an Arlo video surveillance system with a motion activated door bell like the ring. This system relies on a separate camera instead of one installed in the doorbell like the ring system. The following is a post I made on the Arlo site for reference.
Having trouble with false alarms on the Arlo door bell.
Sorry to post a me too reply, but me TOO. 2, 3, 4 AM I get alert tones on my phone for motion on the door bell. I reviewed all the videos and I can see the circle light up on the door bell with NOTHING in the vicinity. No animals, bugs, cars or people walking by. So I've been told to turn off motion on the doorbell and just use the camera. So why should I own the doorbell if doesn't work the way it's advertised to ? We all know this is not the cheapest system on the market. I think most of us chose it for dependability and reliability over cost. Please fix the problem or reimburse us so we can purchase a system that is going to work as advertised. Also 5 minute record times....   

[davidrayers]

I see this is an ongoing problem. Very strange your cusotmers can't send customer service an email as well ?????  Please fix our problems or issue a recall on the faulty equipment. Having our lives constantly interupted for security issues is no fun..  All we ask is that the product works as advertised..  Thank you.   David A 

[SteveArnold]

Can someone from Arlo Support please respond to this and tell if and WHEN this will be resolved?    I’ve had a ticket opened for months and I’ve provided Arlo Level 2 support with documentation on my testing and have not received any updates on how this issue will be resolved.    One of my tests even involved placing the doorbell in a cardboard box on my kitchen floor and I still received false alarms.     

I think we all want an update on this issue.   Can someone please respond?

[Dbensette]

Did anyone ever solve the 5 minute recording issue with the doorbell? I am still experiencing this problem even 8 months after having a support case opened with Arlo...

[ShayneS]

Hi @Dbensette

What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?

[Dbensette]

Everything from restarting the base to removing all devices and re adding them.

All steps customer support had me do in January. They acknowledged the problem and told me I would be notified when it’s fixed.

Still no reply from them and same issue going on since January...

[ShayneS]

@Dbensette

Have you contacted Customer Support or requested for an update regarding your case?

[Dbensette]

Sure have

[Dbensette]

I see this thread goes as far back as last November with 5 minute recording problems when the setting is set to “record until motion stops”.

I have never had this problem resolved with my arlo pro 2 camera paired to the doorbell. now the same issue is happening with the arlo ultra camera paired to the doorbell.

Is anyone still having this issue? Or did people just turn off the motion activated recording from the doorbell?

[Terminal3]

Funny you mention this, as I have had this problem since I installed mine.  I turned it off quite a whiel back, but this week I decided to see if it was fixed.  There has been a number of updates so I figured surely it was fixed.  Nope same thing.  So I just turned it back off again.

Getting 5 minute recordings kill your batteries in a hurry.

[Dbensette]

Yup, it’s amazing that it’s been almost a year since it was originally reported and being “looked into” by arlo. I wonder how many updates there has been this past year with nothing addressing this “known” issue.

[Reallyconfused]

So the latest issue with one of my cameras is that it records way to long. The actual motion can be 5, 12, 32.5 seconds but the recording goes on for exactly 5.05 minutes. Five minutes and five seconds. No motion after the first few seconds but the recording goes on and on, just killing my battery.
I deleted it once and re synced it and it was good for a week or so but now it’s doing it again.
Anyone ever come across this?

[StephenB]

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@Reallyconfused wrote:
So the latest issue with one of my cameras is that it records way too long. The actual motion can be 5, 12, 32.5 seconds but the recording goes on for exactly 5.05 minutes. 

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How long is the rule configured to record?

[Reallyconfused]

I have selected the “up to 300 seconds or until motion stops” setting. Of course, this is where the five minutes comes into play.

The question is WHY does it run out to the five minute maximum when there is no motion.
After re sync it worked properly until today again

[StephenB]

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@Reallyconfused wrote:

I have selected the “up to 300 seconds or until motion stops” setting. Of course, this is where the five minutes comes into play.

The question is WHY does it run out to the five minute maximum when there is no motion.
After re sync it worked properly until today again

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It is a puzzle.  The "until motion stops" is figured out by the camera itself, and obviously it doesn't think the motion has stopped.  I don't know if it is using the PIR sensor to determine that motion stopped, or if it is using some pixel based processing.

One option (obviously a workaround) is to switch to a fixed length recording.

You could also run the motion detection test on the camera, and make sure motion detection is working ok.  Contact support if it is: https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[Reallyconfused]

So I reduced the motion detection and sensitivity. It does seem to be working correctly at the moment. I will monitor it and see what happens

[Reallyconfused]

@StephenB No. It still went to 5.05. Disappointing product.

[Reallyconfused]

So I get the email to see reply and select one as a solution???
It is not solved yet and there is no selection for “not solved yet”
I was given a case number and someone tried to phone me several time’s during the day. I’m at work during the day so, as requested in his message, I send him the best time that I can be contacted at home including my time zone. I am yet to hear back from him. This was a few days ago.
I will try to contact him, his name is Ford, on the weekend. And yes, the camera is still recording for 5 minutes and 5 seconds.

[Reallyconfused]

And why ask for “the best time to contact you including your time zone”.....and then never call??
Strange!

[Reallyconfused]

I may have found what’s happening here. As the issue has always been with my porch camera only, I deleted it along with my driveway unit. I re synced them but in the reverse location. The camera which always had the issue is now over the driveway and the “good” unit from the driveway is in the porch location. Guess what? The problem shows up on the trouble free camera, which is now on the porch, right away.

The Arlo doorbell !!
I have the Arlo doorbell set to activate my porch camera. As soon as I deleted the “new” porch camera from the doorbell setting the problem vanished. So far I have activated both cameras many times and the recording times now correspond with the duration of motion. 
This has now been escalated to level 2 with screen shots of my settings and a sample 5 minute video. I am really curious to see what they come up with. Is the doorbell faulty?

Is there a glitch in how the software was written for the doorbell and camera to communicate? We shall see. 

[Reallyconfused]

Wow! So others have this same problem with 5.05 long recordings  when I camera is paired to the doorbell?  I have been seeing this for a while now and just came to the same conclusion yesterday, that the doorbell is the root cause for 5 minute recordings. Un pare and the problem is gone. I have a case ongoing so let’s see what happens

[Reallyconfused]

So after several days of not having the porch camera linked to the doorbell, my recorded videos are all the correct length in duration.

What I AM seeing is a constant barrage of motion activations from the DOORbell now. Many times a day with no one in sight of the device. And as I see from this thread it has been going on for over a year?

Clearly this means Arlo is ignoring the issue, does not have a clue how to correct the issue, or both.

I will wait for a few weeks only, for a solution. Then I will print out this thread and head back to Best Buy with the doorbell and argue for a full refund.

[DrClaw]

@Arlo Is there still no patch for this issue? This has been a known bug for close to 2 years? I have experienced this since I added the doorbell to my existing system 4 months ago. The Doorbell is not picking up additional motion after the trigger, it is just recording nothing for 5 minutes when initially triggered. This is annoying and unacceptable...  

[ShayneS]

@DrClaw

Are you still experiencing you camera recording for 5 minutes after triggered motion from the doorbell?

[DrClaw]

@ShayneS
Yes, every time the doorbell motion sensor is triggered.