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ThirdEyeInSky
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As you know, Arlo does provide free recordings for up to one week. From what I understand Amazon Web Services's cloud servers are used for storing the data. The issue is that AWS uses servers (and replication) throughtout many time zones and the data could get wiped out depending on what time zone the cloud servers are physically located in (or more precisely, what is the system time on these cloud servers). 

 

My research shows that Arlo uses AWS cloud servers in Iceland, which is 4 hours ahead of US Eastern Time at the time of writing this post. I have noticed that right after 8 PM US ET, all data related to the earliest day in the 7 day timeframe, all Day-1 data is wiped out. Of course this is not the same problem if  one has paid monitoring subscription, where data is stored for longer durations.

 

I opened a ticket with support about fixing the issue by storing the data based on where the cameras and base stations are located, rather than where the cloud servers are physically located or what system time they operate by. So far, there is no response or action from Arlo on this.

 

Why does this matter? It could matter in certain events where something happened between 8 PM-12 Midnight in a specific location installed in US Eastern Time Zone, but the data and evidence related to the event would be lost unless it is backed up on an external flash drive attached to the base station, or unless if the user subscribes to paid service. 

 

I think Arlo should fix this issue, because the consequences could be pretty serious over losing data prior to the 7 day clock running out.

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jguerdat
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AFAIK, Arlo uses AWS servers in Ireland. I've used numerous traceroutes to observe traffic and they all end up there. It doesn't really matter whether it's Iceland or Ireland, the fact of the matter is that the servers are not based geographically. I believe this is due to the ability of systems to be bought and/or set up in certain countries and then moved to another. By using a lowest common denominator of privacy laws, with the EU being more restrictive, Arlo is covering their butts by using these servers to minimize the possibility of privacy lawsuits.

 

I would prefer that the servers be geographically located, perhaps based on IP address of where the packets originate from (the WAN side, not internal) however I suppose VPNs could be an issue then. Having a server closer to your installation would help minimize latency (I see triple digit response times when crossing the Atlantic). In general, Arlo response times are ok, not great, but could be better. That part is up to the lawyers if my supposition is correct.

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