Essential Spotlight recording is short and delayed

[VTLINC]

Had this camera for about a year and it was working fine until a few months ago. I think I get the alert for the activity zone right away, but then 2 problems: a big delay in the feed, and the recording is just a small portion of the activity zone. So when a man came to my door tonight, I got the alert, could not see fast enough who it was, and when I could finally see the feed, it was when he was very close to my door - it didn't record him from the beginning of the sidewalk, as it used to. When he walked away, it didn't start recording him at my doorstep, but recorded him when he was halfway down the walk. It's like there's a delay to start the recording and a delay to produce the feed for me.

I changed from multiple activity zones to one last week, but that didn't make any difference.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[StephenB]

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@VTLINC wrote:

...a big delay in the feed.

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How long is your "big delay"?

If you are using "until motion stops" and the delay is seconds, then try switching to a fixed duration recording.

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@VTLINC wrote:

I could finally see the feed, it was when he was very close to my door - it didn't record him from the beginning of the sidewalk, as it used to.

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Have you checked the motion sensitivity?  You might try raising the threshold.

Walk in the area of interest while running the motion detection test.  Then you can find a threshold that detects you more reliably.

How far is the camera from the sidewalk?

[VTLINC]

Thanks for your reply. The sidewalk is about 75 feet. The camera is attached the overhang at my front door, so the range I see in the camera is from the end of the sidewalk to my front door steps (I don't see the porch area itself). Lately when I get an alert, I look at my camera and go to the feed (as I used to) - but now it won't have the new recording. So I wait several seconds (10-12?) and then go back to the feed and now it shows. If I go right to the Live view, it spins for a few seconds before displaying, so at that point whoever came to my door may be already walking away. (Maybe that's the app; I'll reinstall).

Thanks for your suggestions, I'm going to try them.

[StephenB]

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@VTLINC wrote:

The sidewalk is about 75 feet.

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Motion detection uses a passive infrared (PIR) sensor, and is much less than 75 feet.  Arlo says the max detection distance is about 20-25 feet.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062617/How-far-away-can-Arlo-Cameras-and-Arlo-Video-Doorbells-detect-motion

My cameras will pick up motion from further away, but not reliably.   And the more distant detections are usually vehicles, and not people.

Also, the sensor is more sensitive to side-to-side motion than motion directly towards the camera.  It is also more sensitive at the bottom of the field of view than the top.