Arlo Pro 3 Questions before I purchase

[babeskawn]

I've been looking at buying a 2 camera outdoor system for my home but my questions are:

1. How far away will it detect motion and activate recording?

2. I have two buildings on my property, one has very thick stone walls, can I have one camera on each building or does the Smart Hub living in just one building stop this being an option - is there a solution if so?

3. If I wanted to purchase additional 1st or 2nd generation Arlo cameras, for areas that are less important, will they be compatible with the Arlo 3 system?

Thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to reply.

[StephenB]

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@babeskawn wrote:   How far away will it detect motion and activate recording?

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This depends on the camera model and whether it is AC powered or not.

When operating on batteries, the detection uses a passive infrared (PIR) sensor. The spec'd range for motion detection is 20-25 feet.  It can detect vehicles from farther away, but not as reliably.  

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@babeskawn wrote: I have two buildings on my property, one has very thick stone walls, can I have one camera on each building or does the Smart Hub living in just one building stop this being an option - is there a solution if so?

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If you are planning to put the smarthub near the router, then try running speedtest (the free ookla app) on your phone at the camera locations.  Turn off mobile data, so you are certain you are testing your wifi speed at that location.  Upload speed matters more than download

The upload speed needed depends on the cameras. 

• 1080p cameras need at least one 1 mbps
• 2K cameras need at least 2 mbps
• 4K cameras need at least 3 mbps

If you can't get the needed wifi speeds, then you might consider the Go 2 camera.  It can use mobile data for the connection.  You would need a  data plan for the camera in addition to the Arlo Secure subscription.

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@babeskawn wrote:   If I wanted to purchase additional 1st or 2nd generation Arlo cameras, for areas that are less important, will they be compatible with the Arlo 3 system?

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All cameras (including legacy ones) can be paired with the smarthubs.  You could also use the Essential cameras.