Activity Zone and Schedule are not working

[linuxtech]

Hi all,

I decided to purchased Arlo Pro 3 b/c I've used Arlo Pro 2 in the past, and like it.

I just recently purchased the Aro Pro 3 (4 cameras) brand new, and the activity zone isn't working like it should.

I only want it to record/alert the motion within the defined area, but somehow it still record outside of the zone.

I've tried many different zones, but still not working. My smart hub firmware is up-to-date.

My second issue is the schedule not working as I defined it.

I created the schedule for living room, and added it to the 'Schedule' plan for it not to record video during specified night time. However, it still continue to record and alert like normal.

Overall, the video quality and audio are good, better than Ring Spotlight.

If the engineers/developers can fix these two issues, I'm sure myself and other users are  very happy.

Thanks.

[JamesC]

linuxtech,

The development team is investigating reports of inaccurate motion detection when using activity zones, I will provide an update on this issue when we have more information available.

After creating the schedule, do you also have it selected within your modes? 

JamesC

[linuxtech]

Hello James,

Yes, I did.

I can provide a screenshot later.

[JamesC]

linuxtech,

Thanks, I will send you a private message to gather more details about the activity zones issue you're experiencing.

JamesC

[Phoney49]

I have a Pro 3 on an Ultra hub. On battery, it works fine. If I plug the camera in, ie running on AC, it works fine for a day or 2, but then randomly starts recording. I have not figured it out what triggers it, so I just unplug it and wait hoping it will be fixed.
I had the same problem with an Ultra camera. The last firmware upgrade resolved it on the Ultra, and it has been plugged in and working well.
Hopefully a fix for the Pro 3 is in the works.

[Phoney49]

By the way, the issue only occurs at night.

[linuxtech]

Hello Phoney49,

Why you don't use Arlo Pro 3 base station with your cameras ?

[Phoney49]

Because I own it. It came with an Ultra camera that I bought.

[StephenB]

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@Phoney49 wrote:
 On battery, it works fine. If I plug the camera in, ie running on AC, it works fine for a day or 2, but then randomly starts recording.

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Do you have a microSD card in the base?  If you don't, you might consider adding one.  Then you could enable direct access to local storage, and take a look at the local recordings - sometimes they are a bit longer than the ones in the cloud.

Also, are you using activity zones on this particular camera? 

[Phoney49]

I have an SD card and access enabled, so I can have a collection of recordings with nothing happening locally.
I have an Activity Zone, and I have had no activity Zone. I have changed sensitivity all the way to zero. Nothing makes a difference.
Development should understand this problem. It is exactly the same as the problem with the Ultra that was fixed.

[StephenB]

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@Phoney49 wrote:

Development should understand this problem. It is exactly the same as the problem with the Ultra that was fixed.

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Well, it's the same symptoms.  Hard to say if it's the root cause.

Have you contacted support? https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

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@Phoney49 wrote:
I have an SD card and access enabled, so I can have a collection of recordings with nothing happening locally.
I have an Activity Zone, and I have had no activity Zone. I have changed sensitivity all the way to zero. Nothing makes a difference.

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 Are the notifications at night labeled as audio or motion?  For a while my Ultra was delivering audio notifications (even though it was turned off).  Seems unlikely that would only happen at night though.

[Phoney49]

I think I contacted support. I remember sending a sample video. I reported a lot of problems, spent hours doing triage on different issues.
I don't know of any way to check the status of problems I have reported. Also, I don't get any communication regarding the status of open issues. I know I could phone, but that can take time.
Arlo does not have a world class problem management system, since all communication requires phone or chat.

[Jcamp]

I wouldn’t take one of the Pro 3  cameras if you gave it to me. I have been having problems with 2 of them, which by the way have been re turned. Support is absolutely no help what so ever. They have been going to get back to me for the last month. James asked me to send him videos of my false alerts which I did. His reply was support is looking to it. That was 3 weeks ago. When you call support you get someone in the Philippines who can’t speak English very good so it becomes a problem. All they do is type into a computer and give you the answer that comes up on the screen, which is usually wrong. I feel sorry for anyone that has to call for support. I purchased a Arlo Ultra in place of the Pro 3 and it is working like a charm. A good addition for my 5 Pro 2 cameras. Good luck to all.

[Tony85254]

Same problem here. Just started to act up a few weeks ago.

[linuxtech]

Hello,

With the new app update deployed last week, I seen a detection and zone alert improvements.

However, the activity schedule is still not much better.

[bikeman147]

Please check you firewall settings.  After a lot of vm5000 hub resets, delete/rejoins and 180 inverts, we discovered it was not arlo’s fault.

you must permit

Arlostatic*.s3.amazonaws.com

arlochunks-z2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com

arlos3-prod-z2.amazonaws.com

arlos3-prod-log-s3.amazonaws.com

YMMV.  Check your firewall logs for similar items that may be getting filtered.  If you have a category based firewall they may get lumped into the computer and information group. 

In any case, once these sites were permitted both pro2 and ultra zones worked quickly and correctly.

[linuxtech]

Hi,

I'm using VMB4540, are the firewall rules necessary ?

[AceNJ]

Is there any update on this by chance? I have a 3 camera pack of Arlo 3. Activity zone is working properly on 2 out of 3. The one that isn’t working is draining battery rapidly because it keeps recording cars passing by. The others are working great with activity zones. So it seems to be a camera specific issue.

[StephenB]

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@AceNJ wrote:
 The one that isn’t working is draining battery rapidly because it keeps recording cars passing by.

Note that activity zones won't improve your battery life.  The camera will stream all motion (in and out of the zones) to the cloud.  The cloud then drops recordings and notifications that are out of the zones.  So the camera is doing same amount of work whether zones are set up or not (and therefore will use the same amount of power).

On the main problem - one thing you might want to try is deleting the zones and recreating them.

[AceNJ]

That is interesting information. I have two cameras point to the same street. Both brand new and after 1 month the one with the activity zone issue is down to 20%. The other working properly at a different street angle but capturing the same cars passing by is at 65%.

Yes I did try to delete and recreate the zones.

[Jcamp]

I wouldn’t own a Pro 3 if you gave it to me. I have gone through 3 of them so far. Arlo support sucks, they don’t have a clue what is going on. James their moderator is just as bad. No reply from them after months of problems with these cameras. James asked me to send him a video of what was happening and he said he would get back to me with a solution. As usual never got back to me and neither has support. Whenever you call them they look in a book or on a computer and tell you they will get back to you or it is being escalated to someone higher up. 
I finally bought a Ultra and it works just fine. I now have 5 pro 2s, 1 ultra and a doorbell camera. I pray I will never need technical help but if I do I will ask my dog.

[radehoover]

I just purchased the Pro 3 as well; 3 cameras.  I am having the same issues with motion detection in my driveway.  It's 200 feet long and I keep getting notifications when cars go by even though I have the zone set to the smallest area I feel I need to capture a car approaching my garage.  I'm disappointed; this is my first go with any sort of camera and I was hoping for better.

[StephenB]

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@AceNJ wrote:
That is interesting information. I have two cameras point to the same street. Both brand new and after 1 month the one with the activity zone issue is down to 20%. The other working properly at a different street angle but capturing the same cars passing by is at 65%.

Likely the 65% one isn't detecting all the cars.  Though another possibility is that the 20% camera isn't making a solid connection to the base.

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@AceNJ wrote:

Yes I did try to delete and recreate the zones.

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Can you re-aim the camera to keep the street out of the field of view?  That would be the best way to get better battery life while also reducing the unwanted recordings.

Of course the activity zones should be working on the camera.  You could try support, and which would at least ensure that there's a case opened for the problem (more likely, adding another case - which might increase the priority of the issue).

In the meantime, you could also try reducing the motion sensitivity, and see if you can reduce the vehicle recordings but still get good motion detection where you want it.  If the street is at the bottom of the view, then you could try inverting the camera - motion sensitivity should then be reduced.  

[AceNJ]

I'm considering returning the pro3 pack and trying the Ultra actually. Are the Ultra cameras not reporting such issues? The main reason I want the Ultra is I'm actually not impressed with the 2k resolution. Any attempt to zoom in on my iPhone and it becomes really difficult to see details. It would be a big win if everything else such as activity zones worked properly especially since the Ultra comes with 1 year subscription.

[AceNJ]

The street is at the top of the view for both cameras. Interestingly, the camera working properly with normal battery drain has an even wider and better view of cars passing by and is an extra 20 feet further away from the base. The problem with me trying to lower the view is then I start to capture the wall. I set it up so that I get the street rather than dead space on a wall. I know this is more of a mounting issue, and I'll likely address that at some point but I was hopeful I can get the product to function as expected. 

P.S. I did also try to change the motion sensitivity down all the way. It seems to have no effect at all or just ignores it.