Arlo Pro 2 motion zone issues

[RickDizzle]

I set up my new motion zones per the mew updated now that motion zones are supported without having to have AC power. I am finding that the camera is still picking up motion well outside of an assigned zone. Why is it picking this up when I have 1 zone assigned and it should only be hitting motion in this zone. Lastly I just got a notification saying my motion zone has been disabled due to not having AC power input. I thought the whole update was to allow us to have motion on battery power not having to have AC power. What am I missing here?

[BandT]

My Arlo Pro 2 cameras are directly plugged into a wall outlet yet the Activity Zones I create are ignored. Frustrating! Our flag, which is outside of the purple activity zone, continually triggers notifications and recording after recording in the wind. When will Arlo come to a resolution for this issue?!?!?!

[J151219]

Hi,

Same issue. Activity zone does not work.
Tried to contact support by email, result: "Something went wrong. Please contact support team."
But how? Call not allowed, chat not available, email can't be sent...
Help!
Juergen

[jguerdat]

Call not allowed? Why?

[shegs]

I have this same issue still as well, flag triggers, traffic on the street trigger, everything that is outside my zones triggers saved videos and notifications.

[Dannybear]

Activity zones on battery only cameras has a paid subscription requirement.

[RickDizzle]

Gotcha...that's pretty dumb as it keeps giving me this lil yellow exclamation mark to add my motion zones...sigh

[RickDizzle]

Why would the app keep advising me to add motion zones if its a paid feature? Is there any work arounds?

[GlennYoko]

Recently, after Arlo updated my Android app, I am being asked to set activity zones for all my camera.  This does not happen on my laptop.  Has something changed with it becoming free with my Arlo Pro cameras?  I have five cameras and use the free 7 day cloud service.

[shoustonnz]

Asked the question on the smart thread. Got no answer. They make no difference as far as I can see. Just like the paid version really.

[GlennYoko]

thanks!

[RickDizzle]

Just seeking clarification...so the motion zones should work without paid subscription? Why are mine not working correct...lol?

[Dannybear]

I suspect that the task of basic activity zones has been moved out of the base station to the server and so you now have smart plan but no smart plan per say.
This was added with the latest base firmware update.

[jguerdat]

Zones can be activated 2 ways: 1) use AC power for free zones and notifications and 2) subscribe to Samert which works on battery-operated cameras. The notification is just that and doesn't require you do anything. No, the notification can't be removed.

[ShouldBeEasy]

I too have been frustrated with the failure of the detection zones to work properly.  Tried various tricks up to and including deleting the cameras from my base and from the application and completely re-adding them.  Removing power (and battery) to get the camera to reboot, many other things.

Sometimes the tricks work and sometimes not. 

If Arlo is going to sell cameras and state that they have detection zone capabilities, then they should have detection zone capabilities that really work.  I've read various threads going back over 4 years complaining about the detection zone problem and I honestly wish I had found those threads before buying the cameras.  My product selection would have been different.

Arlo, please fix this problem or withdraw the capability from your apps and stop advertising the capability.

An enhancement to the software that would increase the value of the product would be to have both notification and non-notification selection within the same day for the 'schedule mode'.  It would be nice to have the cameras watching and making motion triggered recordings 24x7 while limiting the notification period to my normal waking hours.  As it stands now, the cameras are useless during non-waking hours as the schedule doesn't allow both active-notify and active-silent.  Only active-notify or inactive.

Bottom line, I'm now searching for a product with functional detection zones and better configurability for activity and notification combinations.

[bvech]

Hello,

Current setup is battery only (no subscription plan). I was able to set up 3 activity zones on a camera. When I go to Video Settings, I do see a message that says, "To enable Activity Zones, please connect your device to AC power. You can still edit, add or remove at any time.".

However, when I look at the status of zones 2 and 3, there is  a green dot next to them. Does that mean zones 2 and 3 are active? (Zone 1 does not have a green dot next to it...I'm assuming it is inactive?)

I was assuming none of the zones would be active since I am not connected to AC power.

[jguerdat]

While you can set up activity zones, you can't use them without either plugging the camera into wall power or subscribing to Arlo Smart. The former works in the camera, the latter requires that the video to be sent to the servers for post-processing.

[ShouldBeEasy]

Several responses have stated that the cameras need to be plugged in or have a paid subscription.  My cameras are plugged in.  The motion detection zones do not work on my plugged in cameras.  I can define the zones, but they don't function properly.  

I have to turn my cameras off every day around 3 PM because every car driving down the street (and even bicyclists) trigger an event/recording and the street is well outside of the defined detection zones on my plugged in cameras.

[jguerdat]

I would remove the cameras from Srttings, My Devices and resync. Recreate any rules in custom modes you may have. Recreate your zones and test again.

[ShouldBeEasy]

Did that, no luck.

(deleted camera from base unit, added the camera, configured the detection zones, and still triggering on movement far outside of the zone.)

Just the fact that many people would have to try that and try other things to get the detection zones to works says that there are some flaws/bugs/problems that the Arlo designers and builders need to properly address.

[jguerdat]

How many zones? Some folks have said that 3 zones is a problem but 2 work fine.

[ShouldBeEasy]

Changed to 2 zones about 5 minutes ago and have already had 3 false alarms from cars driving by well outside the defined zones.

[Becsta]

@jguerdat I have the same problem my cameras are plugged into power and keeps triggering outside of the activity zones.

[ShayneS]

@Becsta

Have you tried to reboot the base station or camera? You can also remove the zones & recreate them to see if that helps. 

[RickDizzle]

Shayne,
Are you saying if we just use the battery we should be able to use motion zones? If so ill reboot all my system and see.