Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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External Sensors w/o Cameras (External Motion Detection/"Tripwire")

Because of Arlo's excellent video quality and excellent field of view I am able to see most of a large room/outdoor area with one camera. Unfortunately this tends to minimize the effectiveness of the motion detection as the camera tends to be more centrally located and so it does not detect something/someone until it is halfway or more across the room/area if it detects it at all.  This leaves users with the undesirable options of either compromising their camera placement to accomodate motion detection or using an entire camera exclusively as a motion detector with little to no useful function as a camera. This latter scenario is a situation for which the camera is over-qualified and overpriced.  A separate motion sensor that would trigger the camera to start recording when someone enters the room/access point would alleviate this issue. It could also help with the issue that myself and others  are having with lag in recording start time. The sensor could be placed further out from the camera when necessary so that it could trigger the camera to start recording earlier, accounting for the lag time and recording what users actually wanted recorded.

 

An additional sensor would not be something that would be required of all cameras and placements, but it would be useful for specific scenarios and even having two sensors at opposite inds of a room/area triggering one camera could be a useful setup. As it is though, it is relatively cost prohibitive to expand your system to do this as the cameras are the only sensor option and cost too much to be wasted on being merely a sensor. Additinally these "wasted" cameras eat into your allotment under the current subscription you have and could create additional cost to the user for an upgraded subscription. As it is, I am hesitant to expand my system (currently at 4 cameras), even though I would like to have greater coverage, because of the up front cost of the cameras not being used to their full potential combined with the monthly cost of the upgraded subscription. I would be far more willing to expand my system and upgrade my subscription if there were external sensors that would allow me to use my system effeciently and effectively like I want to without the inflated up front cost.  

 

I could see how this could be achieved either through hardware development of sensors exclusively for Arlo or through software development of integration with already established systems which perform comlementary functions. With either one, if the price is right I'm in, if it stays as it is my expansion is stuck.

Comments
Peppercorn_1
Initiate

Standalone motion sensors would be awesome. So would ARLO smart outlets.   I can think of  2 use cases…

 

1) Standalone sensor triggers a ARLO smart outlet or smart switch that could be programmed to turn a lamp or room light .

 

2) Standalone sensor could trigger my outdoor string lights when i drive into the backyard.  The LED string lights could also be dimmed and controlled via my phone… so i could dim them when having a BBQ.

RudyA
Observer

I just set up my "six pack" of cameras today and within about 30 minutes of testing my installation locations, I immediately thought that external motion sensors would make this system so much better.  I had a feeling I wasn't the first person to think of this and lo and behold, here's a 13 page thread from 2015 asking for the same thing!

 

How much longer should we have to wait for such a no-brainer idea to be implemented?  This idea seems to have the most "kudos" of anything listed under "future consideration"...does anyone at Netgear actually care about pleasing customers and improving the functionality of their products?  What does "future consideration" even mean and why are we being encouraged to give kudos to something if it makes no apparent difference?  How many Arlo customers are wishing for the same thing but aren't active in this community?  

 

Maybe I'm oversimplifying things but my vision of this external motion sensor is quite simple and should not be difficult to design and produce.  Just take an existing camera and rip out anything that isn't needed to provide motion detection.  In other words, use the same sensor, logic, housing, battery, charging port, etc. as the current camera uses.  Don't try to re-invent everything, just give us the ability to install wireless motion sensors that communicate to the base station and can be set to trigger recording on other camera(s).  Clearly, they would be less expensive than the cameras and they shouldn't count towards any camera count limits in a user's subscription.  

 

Why has this not been done yet?  Sorry if I'm coming across as a bit annoyed but, to be honest, this is quite annoying!

 

PLEASE, Netgear, make this happen soon!!  

 

Thanks for your consideration...

brh
Master
Master

@RudyA@Peppercorn_1,

My suggestion is to take the time to go through these posts in the Idea exchange and kudo every time you find this suggestion.

At least it has moved up to future consideration due to the number of kudos it has received.

In May, Arlo is releasing outdoor motion sensors with lights but there is no indoor solution.

I believe in the past Arlo has not considered itself to be in this market, only as a supplier of cameras and has relied on their partnerships with other companies, such as Samsungs Smartthings, to be used as add ons for their products.

 

Brian

RudyA
Observer

Brian,

 

Thanks for the additional input.  I will kudo everything I can but I'm skeptical that it will make any difference.  This idea "moved up to future consideration" years ago and here we are...

 

Netgear needs to understand that the Arlo brand would be much more valuable (and most likely more profitable) if they added motion sensors to their lineup and not relied on 3rd-party integrations with Samsung Smartthings, etc.  The home automation space is very crowded (and getting more crowded) but there are many consumers who just want a simple, elegant solution to a problem without having to add multiple hubs from multiple vendors, use multiple apps, etc.  I'm guessing that the average Arlo customer (the one's who aren't posting here but are simply walking into a Best Buy and grabbing products off the shelf and/or ordering them online) would benefit from seeing these motion sensors as an option.  There needs to be a native solution to this inherent problem (or side effect) caused by the cameras using a low-power (passive infra-red?) motion detection system instead of monitoring changes in the pixels like I assume the Pro 2 cameras do (but only if they're connected to external power, which completely defeats the purpose of using an Arlo system in the first place).

 

If Netgear was only interested in being a "supplier of cameras", then why do they offer a solar charger?  Why are they releasing an outdoor motion sensor & light? (The Netgear website calls these new lights "a delightful addition to your Arlo family.")  It seems to me that these accessories solve a problem that makes the product line (and the Arlo brand/family) much more useful.  Wouldn't dedicated motion sensors with built-in IR illuminators (since I don't want the exterior of my house flashing lights every time a car goes by, etc.) be another "delightful additon to the Arlo family" and make the product line more useful too? 

 

Now that I think of it, why not just take the new security light and offer a model that is EXACTLY THE SAME except instead of it using a white light, give it an IR light?

 

Also, if they were only interested in integrating with 3rd-party solutions, then why even have this idea remain under "future consideration"?  After this much time has elapsed, an idea being considered for the future needs to either be promoted to something like "implementing soon" or demoted to "not gonna happen" so the customer can either wait a bit longer for the product to be released or move on to another solution. 

 

To me, keeping customers hanging for all this time is indicative of Netgear either trying to milk us by selling additional cameras (which, in turn, sells higher-level subscriptions) or they're keeping ideas like this hanging out there so we maintain hope and don't bail out for another solution.  Either way, it's not good business and will alienate people from buying Netgear products in the future. 

 

I have a friend who is considering Arlo for his home and, although I told him how wonderful the concept is, I had to warn him about how the built-in motion detection works and why it can be a major problem.  He may not be willing to overspend on extra cameras just so he can place them in postions that trigger the motion detection properly so he may decide that investing in the "Arlo family" isn't worth it.  Me?  As a new member of the "family" I'm still on the fence about what to do...


 

RoelW
Fledgling

Yes, And also I am still waiting for this solution. Back in 2015 I put out this post as I really felt this would be a great improvement to the Arlo setup and usability. After 3 years of getting so much feedback of folks looking for the same, I also expected this was picked up by Netgear. It is exactly as mentioned in one of the last posts, a stripped (and thus low priced) camera house with sensor is all we need. 

 

Come me on Netgear, do us a favour. 

RudyA
Observer

Not only would they be doing us a favor, they'd be doing themselves a favor since they'd be improving the product family immensely!

 

Just in case they've started listening to this request again -- and I hope they are -- I respectfully ask that in addition to ripping the camera out of the housing and keeping the motion sensor, they should keep the IR illuminator too!  Not everyone wants the exterior of their house flashing on and off throughout the night when motion sensors are tripped... 

carvermon
Tutor

Just now set out to "kudo" some of these recent comments, and find that option is no longer available. Have others here found no kudo button as well, or is it perhaps a browser issue for me?

RudyA
Observer

I couldn't find it either...I think it's only available for the original post. Smiley Mad

chrisgualt
Novice

Would be nice to have an extermal motion sensor. in my case i live in an apartment so i have the camera behind the glass above my front door, but the motion sensor doesnt work though glass. So if i could put a sensor outside just to trip the camera that would be great. yes i could put it in the hallways but because its just magnetic its easy enough to move or take down. The outdoor mount isnt any harder to mess with so i want to keep it behind the glass but unless the intruder kicks my door or makes some good noise the audio alert wont go off until he's in the house and at that point what good is the camera? i want to be able to see him coming in advance and use the mic to deter them from even trying, but If i only know there in the house when the inside motion sensors on the other cameras go off theres no detering him, hes in my stuff gone. please make an external sensor it cant be that hard or expensive for you to make. other security systems have this feature even behind glass so i might have to look at something different until you guys catch up.

Bavenite
Guide

Arlo has a lot of positive features, but one of the key negatives is the high cost of additional cameras and accessories. Also a lot of users report problems with motion detection. The fundamental problem of a camer with pir motion detection built in is that movement towards the camera is not detected well. One solution is to use two cameras with a rule to cross trigger recording, but this is very expensive and cameras still have to be positioned where they are not prone to theft. An ideal solution would be to have a separate lower cost motion detection only unit. This could be smaller and positioned optimally for motion detection. It would also be less prone to theft v a camera. As not running the camera, it may be possibe to run this on cheaper standard rechargeable batteries. With this added to the Arlo set-up it would give the system unbeatable performance.