Arlo Pro 2 recording when there’s no motion and customer support issues

[Stephanie393]

There is a complete lack of customer/technical support.

I have been trying to contact them for months. Now that I am out of the ONE YEAR warranty it specifies that I ONLY have access to the self service tools. This is absolutely crazy for a company to make you pay for a subscription just to be able to speak to a human being. I am disgusted with arlo and will not recommend at all to anyone. I wish I took the advice and went with another company. These cameras are always having issues.

I have done everything recommended and my issue is the camera going off 3 times every minute recording 10-12 second videos. I have to turn my cameras off all day long which is when I need them not being home. I’ve reset disarmed rearmed brought motion detection to 1, reset cameras. I am barely over a year and I pretty much threw my money away as I cannot get support for the issue whatsoever.

So anyone know how to get support after spending all the money to not be allowed to contact support unless you have a subscription?

[Dannybear]

Do the false detections occur all the time or just certain times of the day?

[JamesC]

Stephanie393,

If you temporarily move the camera to an isolated location (empty room facing a wall with no motion), is the camera still detecting and recording?

JamesC

[Stephanie393]

Always during the middle of the day. Only when it’s clear out. When it is pouring rain and hurricaning out there it will NOT sense a thing. So it’s going off non stop while I’m at work if it’s nice out. It’s like having it near any light is setting it off which it should not. At night it’s fine but during the day it’s constant even with motion detection on 1 with audio sensing off.

[Stephanie393]

I said it happens during the day when I go to work in the original post. It is only when there is sun outside with nothing moving. We had major winds all day yesterday and hail and not a single motion detection happened which is fine as I don’t want it going off with rain but it shouldn’t be sensing things that aren’t there light or dark. 0 shadows moving, 0 tree movement, 0 movement in my yard, 0 movement on the street, 0 movement anywhere within the cameras range.

Honestly right now I just turn them off and it sucks having spent so much to have my cameras off when I’m not home.

[Dannybear]

Do you have a recording of the scene you can share in your post.

From the library, tap the “more” icon and choose share then choose copy link and paste into your post.

Do you use geofencing or schedule mode for operation?

[StephenB]

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@Stephanie393 wrote:
Always during the middle of the day. Only when it’s clear out. When it is pouring rain and hurricaning out there it will NOT sense a thing. So it’s going off non stop while I’m at work if it’s nice out. It’s like having it near any light is setting it off which it should not. At night it’s fine but during the day it’s constant even with motion detection on 1 with audio sensing off.

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I suggest trying @JamesC's suggestion for troubleshooting (bringing the camera inside, and aiming it at a blank wall in an empty, so there is nothing for the camera to detect).  The outcome would be helpful in figuring out whether this is a camera hardware failure or not. 

[Stephanie393]

As I stated before, it ONLY happens in sunlight which should NOT be setting a camera off especially set on motion detection of ONE. It does NOT happen during the nighttime as I have specified before.

So obviously inside my house in a corner since there is 0 sunlight, obviously it will not go off so night vision is fine sensing the deer and the bear when I need it to.

If it is outside with audio sensing off and 1 for motion sensing it should not be going off since there is sunlight. I mean ok the sun moves but should that be setting it off? Nope.

There is literally nothing for my camera to detect during the hours of 10-3. Then after 3 I get a notice when the bus comes through, when the neighbors drive past and every second in between as it is still going off like crazy until the sun goes down.

I have tested other motion detection cameras facing the exact same way in the exact same location with zero issues. But since I already spent all the money on these I can’t really go buying those types. I debated the video doorbell but I cannot have that going off non stop so since that’s an issue then I will be passing on that and my video doorbell will be a different manufacturer than these.

https://my.arlo.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/EFA6AE11507975EE_202205

https://my.arlo.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/8734E5EC25B99A6E_202205

https://my.arlo.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/ECD2E98B593BA32C_202205

I’ll get more today and tomorrow and the rest of this week. I have hundred to share. I get over 200 notifications during the DAYLIGHT. During our huge storm the other night with huge hail and downpours my camera went off ZERO times. So how does inch size hail and hurricane winds and trees swaying hugely yet 0 notifications during that but yet same exact settings sunny day this thing goes off non stop.

I have done zone settings I have set my own parameters that my cameras are running under I have set the zone on just my lawn with the grass and it constantly goes off which should not be happening at all whatsoever.

The fact I am not allowed or permitted to speak to an actual support person from Arlo is absolutely terrible as this should be allowable to contact a company over.

I have a 31 year old product that I called the company and got support on when it’s been out of warranty for 30 years yet 1 year and 3 months and I cannot get tech support on cameras

I’ll share more as those have audio on because I gave up front after 6 months of doing everything listed in articles on this issue. At this point I’m about to give these away to someone who lives where there’s zero sun as apparently cameras cannot record when is sunny outside. Dark stormy loud Thunder lightning anything and no issues. Sunlight all issues. How does that make sense whatsoever. I’m an engineer and I have researched and dug and nothing is working on the cameras.

[StephenB]

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@Stephanie393 wrote:

So obviously inside my house in a corner since there is 0 sunlight, obviously it will not go off so night vision is fine sensing the deer and the bear when I need it to.

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NightVision doesn't sense any motion.  The motion is detected using the passive infrared (PIR) sensors in the camera - not using the camera imager. That detection is exactly the same at night as it is during the day.

FWIW, I fully understand your expectation here.  But nothing is adding up at the moment, so getting some more data seems useful to me, even if it seems redundant.

[Stephanie393]

Yep and I’ve posted videos. I am literally stating that the sunlight is setting off my camera.

During the day yes it still goes off when there is ACTUAL motion but it is also going off constantly all day long. Outdoor cameras should be able to handle sunlight and this one is not

[StephenB]

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@Stephanie393 wrote:
 I am literally stating that the sunlight is setting off my camera.

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One possibility is that the PIR sensor(s) have failed.  Though if this is happening with multiple cameras, then that is unlikely. 

FWIW, I had a similar problem some years ago (I think with a Pro 3, though it might have been an Ultra).  In that case, doing a factory reset cured it, and it hasn't happened again.  Though it sounds like you have already tried removing at least one of the cameras and re-adding it to your account. 

Are the cameras shaded?  Or are they in direct sun when this occurs?  Any idea on what the ambient temperature is when the problem happens?

[Dannybear]

Just to revisit to clarify.
How many arlo cameras you have and the models?

Have you set the motion sensitivity in the operating mode camera’s rule?

Are there any reflective surfaces near the camera like windows where the sun can reflect from?

If you set the motion sensitivity to 40 does it get worse or better?