Poor Night video - Get a load of this

[djdannis]

Netgear,

I'm running 12 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and have some input that I'll send to your support directly as well but want to share here in case you're reading... The Arlo Pro was a great system and I was hoping the Arlo Pro 2 would be even better, but I'm noticing some shortcomings...

Please remove the not plugged in warning for every camera in the Arlo app. Comes up every time I launch the app and I have to click "Ok, I got it" on every camera, just annoying when you want to see the thumbnail preview. Put the info message elsewhere like when a user tries to enable the CVR or video zones.

Nightvision - On battery, the nightvision on the Arlo Pro 2 vs. the Arlo Pro is not good... Haven't tried on power, but don't plan to use power. I'm really disappointed in the quality of the nightvision overall. There are a lot of dark black areas and the picture just isn't lit up as crisp with the Pro 2 vs. the Pro. Also, when motion is detected, some cameras record pitch black for a second or so and then as the IRs illuminate the picture the nightvision starts to show up. Never had this with the Pro version, worked like a champ. I hope this can be resolved in a firmware release so that I don't have to buy all new cameras...

Thanks

[Lawenforcer]

I was able to resolve 2’of my cameras by simply cutting of the hoods/flaps of the skin which defeats the purpose of the skin, regardless I also found they work a lot better plugged in... not sure if it helps nigh vision but the skins do not help. Arlo owes me new skins since I had to cut mine up. Still issues with 2 other cameras so half way there.

[Sugarboss]

I don't have skins so I do not believe that is the problem.

[Paul_FCCL]

---

ChillyMost wrote:

I was able to resolve my night vision issue by removing the Arlo skin.

---

How can that affect night vision (unless not properly installed)? Can you post pics of before and after?

[Lawenforcer]

Because the IR reflects off the inside of the hoods and cast a white wash. Try cupping your hand around your cameras at night and you will see. Skins not designed for these new cams.... even thiugh they are sold as compatible.....

[Paul_FCCL]

---

Lawenforcer wrote:
Because the IR reflects off the inside of the hoods and cast a white wash. Try cupping your hand around your cameras at night and you will see. Skins not designed for these new cams.... even thiugh they are sold as compatible.....

---

Doesn’t explain why same problem affecting users who aren’t using skins, pretty strange. Can you post the before and after pics, please. Many would be very interested with comparison.

[JamesC]

I am working with the engineering team to collect information on this issue. They have requested we try a couple different things to see if you experience any different behavior:

-Try another pro 2 camera in the same location.
-Try the pro 2 camera in a different location without any adjacent walls/ceiling near the camera.

-If you have a skin on the camera, try with and without the skin.

Thank you,

JamesC  

[JamesC]

I am working with the engineering team to collect information on this issue. They have requested we try a couple different things to see if you experience any different behavior:

-Try another pro 2 camera in the same location.
-Try the pro 2 camera in a different location without any adjacent walls/ceiling near the camera.

-If you have a skin on the camera, try with and without the skin.

Please let us know the results and if possible provide screenshots.

Thank you,

JamesC  

[sillyboi215]

Hi JamesC,

-Tried a different Arlo Pro 2 camera, did not help

-Tried it at a different location inside and outside the house, did not help

- do not have a skin on it

Also, Arlo Pro 1 did not have these night vision issues where they were mounted at the same exact location. Djdannis have posted the results before and the clear quality difference in the two cameras when they are at the same exact location. I dont understand why the  engineering team can't just have the Arlo Pro 1 and the Arlo Pro 2 cameras side by side of each other to run tests and come up with a solution to fix it as I am sure they will notice the difference too. It does get tiring to run these tests as the cameras are mounted high up. I have 5 days left to return these 4 Arlo Pro cameras to BestBuy and I may just have to do so if there are no hints of where the problem is, whether it's the actual hardware or a software fix.

I appreciate your help here JamesC and DJdannis, it just seems like we are going around in a circle doing the same repeated tests to come back to the intital problem.  I get that it can possbily produce other results but when you have a group of people saying their cameras are doing the same exact thing, the location or changing out the arlo pro 2 camera to another one  will not be the issue here.

Thanks.

[MrTonyToca]

I dont think any of the requested things to "TRY" are going to do anything, as Im pretty sure those were all the 1st things those with the problems have already done. I purchased a Arlo Pro 2( 2 pack ) and within 1 day my driveway camera went offline and drained close to 40% of the battery. A battery pull got it back up and working and within another 24 hrs that same camera was offline. I returned the 2 pack and purchased another Arlo Pro 2 pack, and lo and behold the driveway camera within a day was offline (a completely different camera, base, etc). So 2 strikes, putting a different camera there did nothing. Now the 2nd request seems pretty hard to not have a wall near the camera when the camera is to be mounted on a wall majority of the time, we cant simply remove a wall for a defect in the camera. I placed these new Arlo Pro 2's in the same exact place, mount position, etc where my Arlo Pro 1 cameras were for several months with NO problems, and expect for them to work at least similar or as good at least! The ONLY improvement seen is daytime camera quality which does me no good if i have to change a battery every 5 days climing a ladder and having 5 minute long videos that I have to pan through constantly for 11 seconds of motion. And I do not use any skins on any of the 5 cameras that I currently have or have had. I really hope the engineer team has some better leads on fixes to these problems other than these questions asked, cuz all of those involved something the CONSUMER needs to do and not something Netgear needs to change within its hardware or software. I have already posted blurry grainy night time screenshots, I dont think those will provide any help to you, and a screenshot of an "offline" camera I do not think will help you either, cuz it surely isnt helping me.....Also my affected cameras are both outside so no adjacents walls or ceilings are present, and signal is also not the problem as I have 3 Netgear Orbis with gigabit speed internet and always have all signal bars available.

[Marquise23]

Totally agree. The "Try" has already been done already. I know mostly all of us have done what is necessary to troubleshoot the product.

I have the Arlo Pro 1 skin/hood and had to adjust them (pull them more towards the rear) of the camera so that it doesn't reflect off the hood and cause major washout. Night vision was better but is still washed out. My Arlo Pro 1s performed way better than these Pro 2s

My cam also went offline and it was at 92% before the cutoff. When I reconnected to the base it was at 42% and all my cams were in the same locations as the Arlo Pro 1s.

We need a resolution from the engineering team ASAP. We have done all the simple trouble shooting, now it's time for Netgear/Arlo engineering to step in!!!

[djdannis]

---

sillyboi215 wrote:

Hi JamesC,

-Tried a different Arlo Pro 2 camera, did not help

-Tried it at a different location inside and outside the house, did not help

- do not have a skin on it

Also, Arlo Pro 1 did not have these night vision issues where they were mounted at the same exact location. Djdannis have posted the results before and the clear quality difference in the two cameras when they are at the same exact location. I dont understand why the  engineering team can't just have the Arlo Pro 1 and the Arlo Pro 2 cameras side by side of each other to run tests and come up with a solution to fix it as I am sure they will notice the difference too. It does get tiring to run these tests as the cameras are mounted high up. I have 5 days left to return these 4 Arlo Pro cameras to BestBuy and I may just have to do so if there are no hints of where the problem is, whether it's the actual hardware or a software fix.

I appreciate your help here JamesC and DJdannis, it just seems like we are going around in a circle doing the same repeated tests to come back to the intital problem.  I get that it can possbily produce other results but when you have a group of people saying their cameras are doing the same exact thing, the location or changing out the arlo pro 2 camera to another one  will not be the issue here.

Thanks.

---

@JamesC Agree, we have tried several different configurations here... Can't Engineering take both the Pro and Pro 2s out of the lab and use them at their own homes for real world testing in the environment most of your consumers are operating the cams in? I would assume that's being done as part of the QA process, but have to ask. The issues are pretty consistent in the Pro 2 and the side by side comparison between the Pro and Pro 2 will be evident in a real world test. I'll be happy to host Netgear Engineering at my home to see these differences.

Thanks

[ChillyMost]

[ChillyMost]

With the skinWithout the skin

[meier3283]

So far, I am seeing a big difference between having the skin, and not having it.

https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/7940E3154ECAD04D_201710
https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/2C023371F9712A6B_201710

No Wasserstein Skin (with hood)With Wasserstein Sking (with hood)

[Lawenforcer]

Yea I agree. I also
Have much better performance with some
Being plugged in...
Very odd

[Lawenforcer]

Cut the “hoods” off The skin, it’s a way to salvage what you have and at least keep
Your equipment protected until they redesign a new skin..

[Toy4RickS]

It's not just a hood problem, I have no hoods and still have the terrible night quality

Rick

[meier3283]

For some, it is the skins/hoods. Mine seem to be ok after removing them. Still doesn’t look like 1080P to me though.

[mattsrs]

Even though night vision was bad on my Arlo pro 2 (i.e. worse than pro and competition), it didn't have the extremely washed out gray night vision issue that some other folks reported here. But since last night suddenly image became like that, almost all gray barely can see anything. I am not using any skin or other accessories. It's just the camera installed on my wall! I also had random camera offline issues.

Anyhow, I filed an RMA and will ship this piece of junk tomorrow.

[MrTonyToca]

Take a look at my view last night through the camera.... This is what Netgear considers "NIGHT VISION", it was raining last night but that isnt an excuse as my driveway arlo pro 2 did not look this bad last night, and through hail sleet and snow my Arlo Pro 1 never looked like this.... its sad...My night vision view last night

[mattsrs]

And here's my socalled night view shot. It wasn't like this until last night

[djdannis]

---

djdannis wrote:

James,

Here's another example of the nightvision difference between Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2. The brighter top image is the Arlo Pro and the bottom darker image is the Arlo Pro 2. Please advise on these issues and let me know how I can help. I and a few others really hope there is a simple solution. Thanks.

---

cooltraveler wrote:

JamesC,

Attached are the pictures you requested. Arlo720P is the Pro and Arlo1080P is the Arlo2. As you can see the difference... one is brighter and one is not. 

cooltraveler wrote:

JamesC

Here are the pics in the 2nd locaton. You can see pro1 is brighter than the pro2. Unfortunately with the Pro shot it was raining at the time which has caused the clarity to be worst than normal. But the lighting is the key, the night vision on the Pro is better than the Pro2.

ProPro2

I've pulled some images from other threads. While people are resolving their issues of grainy nightvision video by removing their skins, the other issue to still note is what's shown above. The Pro 2 nightvision overall is darker than the Pro nightvision.

[sillyboi215]

I have been playing around with one camera and it seems that if you place it in an area where there is absolute darkness  or does not have any object/wall around for any reflection from the IR night vision, the video quality does seem to be working fine. Again, this does not apply to a real world scenario  which makes it useless if you can't get it to work like the original Arlo Pro where these are factor in.

I did a return and rebuy to extend my option to return this product from best buy. This will be my last 14 days of owning this product if there are no updates.

-JamesC, can you please update us on this issue and where you guys are with a solution or at least in identifying where the problem is? It has been a couple of weeks now and it would be great to know how its coming along even if its just the begining stages of determining the issue.

Thanks. 

[Pgsullivan]

James C by asking if the cameras have a skin and the one with the visor are you now acknowledging there is a problem with night vision quality when using them and get a washed out image? .. with original skins as well

[Toy4RickS]

Might be part of the problem, I had the same washed out issues yet did not use any skins

Returned everything last weekend before my return policy expired

Still watching the threads since I really want to like the product

Rick