Does the Pro 3 Floodlight work when the wifi is out

[Retired_Member]

Does the Pro 3 Floodlight work when the wifi is out? That is, if it's set up properly and working but the power goes out, so the wifi is down. Does the motion detector and floodlight still work? Presumably the camera needs wifi to send the stream, but since the motion detector and floodlight are local to the device, do they still work?

I've been testing scenarios with the floodlight and this one is unexpected. Once the wifi network fails, the floodlight seems like a brick. Obviously you can't connect to it to get status and you can't see the video, totally expected. But the floodlight doesn't seem to be working either, which is unexpected.

[jguerdat]

The solution is to have a UPS for your modem, router and hub. That way loss of power still allows the network and Internet to keep working.  You don't have to spend a lot - $75-100 will get you one that will last hours.

[Retired_Member]

Thanks, but I'm trying to determine the root cause problem. Do you know if wifi is required for the floodlight to work?

The UPS solution was a good suggestion, but depending on the requirements for the floodlight, it might only be a partial solution. For example, if the power is on, but there's a router issue or the ISP is down or the internet is slow or not available for some other reason, then having a UPS won't help if access to the internet at a specified bandwidth is the actual requirement for the floodlight.

[jguerdat]

You asked about the WiFi being out which the UPS can solve. Nothing other than a router that supports a cell service backup connection will help with an ISP problem.

The floodlight will continue to work but if the hub is off, nothing useful will happen. If the Internet is down, local recordings will still happen but you will have to eject the drive to view on a computer since the system requires access to the servers.

[Retired_Member]

I think I'm not explaining my question properly. Apologies for the confusion. Let me attempt to restate it.

What are the requirements for the motion detector and floodlight features to work for the Arlo Pro 4 Floodlight?

To be clear, I'm not asking for solutions to a problem. I'm just trying to determine the requirements for the functionality.

[jguerdat]

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@Retired_Member wrote:

What are the requirements for the motion detector and floodlight features to work for the Arlo Pro 4 Floodlight?

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Power, whether battery or AC. That's it. Whether that's useful due to loss of power or Internet is the basis for previous comments.

[HVLaxRef]

Simply put, it will act as a standard motion sensor floodlight when wifi is out.  Correct?

It still provides some security in that situation.

[Retired_Member]

Unfortunately, the floodlight will not operate as a standard motion sensor floodlight when the wifi+internet is out.

I contacted Arlo support and they stated that it will not work without an internet connection.

I verified this by running tests on the one I (unfortunately) already purchased. Without a wifi+internet connection, the floodlight doesn't work.

It's an odd design decision. In a power outage, I'd expect that a battery powered floodlight would still function. Especially from a company that makes security products.

To be fair to Alro, the Tech Specs for the floodlight do indicate that a wifi and working broadband connection are required for their product. So the information was transparent.