Suggestions for improvement

[82SC]

Suggestions for improvement

1) allow users to designate what the flood light does in certain activity zones.
Example — floodlight turns on for STREET activity zone
Flood light and siren turn on for FRONT YARD activity zone
That way you can potential scare anyone away without waking the neighborhood. And can have a deterrent for people checking out parked cars without setting off alarm

2) Siren setting should allow for less than 60s. And also be linked to continued activity.

3) should be able to have in the setting that once the floodlight outdoor camera is triggered all indoor cameras in the house start recording

4) should have a way to secure the camera to the base. These things are so vulnerable to theft. Even if Arlo willing to replace them should have some sort of key or even a screw to deter people from just snapping them out of the housing

5) Should have a way to store extra wiring for the solar panel. It looks so sloppy and bush league. Even when all Velcro and zip tied. Wiring should be able to be stored in the housing.

6) Arlo app should have an option to be able to activate live pictures on say 2-3 cameras as soon as you log in. The delay is so annoying and always behind the speeds of some of the competitors.

[82SC]

Also a push notification that sirens are activating would a good way to remind owners to prevent accidental activation.

[JamesC]

82SC,

Many of these are great suggestions. I will pass this feedback along to the product team.

3) This is already possible. You can create a custom mode with rules to trigger other cameras on your account when motion/audio is detection on the floodlight. For more information on modes and rules, take a look here: What are modes and rules and how does Arlo use them?

JamesC

[82SC]

When I try what you suggested only the other floodlights come up as options. I have arlo q cameras as inside cameras.

Do all the cameras have to be on the arlo smart plan to be able to do what you suggested?  Because the arlo q has the built in recording plan I didn’t enroll them on the arlo smart plan as well. Seems unfair that arlo q has a recording plan built in and to have to pay extra to allow it to play well

With the newer models seems unfair.

[JamesC]

82sC,

I apologize for the lack of clarification in my original response. This feature isn't available for Arlo Q cameras, but does work for Arlo Wire-Free cameras (Original, Pro, Pro 2, Pro 3, Ultra). Arlo Q is a little different being a wired standalone product.

JamesC

[82SC]

I see.

Also to also clarify for the push notifications for the sirens I have my floodlights armed on a schedule so that the siren will activate if triggered from 2-5am. But as I’ve been known to stay up late and maybe make a couple trips to the garage for laundry etc it would be a cool feature for arlo to give a push notification when the sirens are now armed to just remind the user.

[82SC]

I'm just gonna keep adding as new ideas are coming the more I play with this.

An option to have a countdown warning of siren activation.

An option to record your own recording.

An option able that once the floodlight outdoor camera is triggered all indoor cameras in the house start recording AND activate indoor lighting as well

Also the solar panels work great in sunny california, but they are the exact shape and color of a iPhone/smartphone and looks goofy from the street.  I'd suggest changing the proportions of the shape a bit

[JamesC]

82SC,

For enhancements and new feature requests, consider posting in the Idea exchange so other users can support your ideas: Arlo Idea Exchange

JamesC

[greyd1]

I agree with you on the improvements.  I'd also Love to see either an improvement to the app that would allow for only activation inside the activity zone.  Mine is going off 100 times a day due to traffic passing by 25 feet past my driveway. 

an improvement in the mount as you said would be a huge improvement so the camera could be pointed further downward.   I've only owned it for 5 days but I may end up taking it down and sending it back because the battery is used up in 2 days from all of the activations from traffic.  Live chat has been no help.

The app should allow for limiting the field of view like it does in the app for the ring doorbell camera.

[82SC]

Yes I also had similar issues to you but not as bad of a drain.

I attached solar panels which do a good job trickling in a charge.

But what is bonkers and I learned from this forum is that you have to adjust motion sensitivity in the mode menu. Like the ARMED DISARMED GEOGENCING area. Adjusting the motion sensitivity in just the floodlight setting doesn’t work if your floodlight is in ARMED mode. There is a separate setting there. Such a weird cumbersome system.

[greyd1]

Thank you for that info.  It did improve things from going off 100 times on saturday to just 10 times on sunday.  I decreased the sensitivity in the armed mode down to about 10%.  It really makes zero sense that it has to be adjusted in this mode area as well.

[JamesC]

The reason sensitivity is adjusted in modes is to allow for different modes to have different sensitivity settings. This lets you build custom modes with different sensitivities if you want to schedule different sensitivity settings at different times each day.

The motion sensitivity adjustment within settings is there to allow you to test sensitivity before applying it to your mode.

JamesC

[82SC]

Got it. I saw the word TEST in setting and then figured that.

I think a small print note on the TEST page stating that this is for test purposes and that you need to set sensitivity in the mode page would help clear the confusion.

Setting activity zones is not a test and as these 2 options are together we just assume we are setting the sensitivity for the camera period.

Also it’s so misleading that the activity zone states that this is to set the zones that you want to be notified. But when I draw a very thin rectangle to represent my front lawn I will still get notified everytime a car passes Way outside the activity zone.