Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
× Arlo End of Life Policy Notice
To view Arlo’s new End of Life Policy, click here.
Arlo Community

Reply
Discussion stats
  • 1 Reply
  • ‎2019-12-04 04:20 AM
  • 1300 Views
  • 1 Like
  • 2 In Conversation
AreLow
Aspirant
Aspirant
‎2019-12-04 04:20 AM

Hi guys,

 

I'm looking into Arlo products like Arlo Pro 3 and Arlo Ultra for my indoor and outdoor CCTV system.

I saw a lot of great reviews on Arlo and I was wondering if Arlo would be suitable for my situation instead of the conventional wired CCTV system which is costlier.

My home details is as follows:
- 3 storey bungalow with land area and build-up area of 8000 sqft.

- 21 cameras (indoor and outdoor)

 

I have a few questions that I hope you guys can shed some light on.

1. Which product would you recommend for this setup?

2. What kind of setup would you recommend? Multiple base stations? Each floor has a different one etc?

3. Will 21 cameras take all my WIFI bandwidth or severely slow down my household's internet capability?

4. Would there be a centralized local system where i can view all the cameras at once on my PC? I saw online that we have to manually take out the individual SD card to view the recordings?

5. I plan to get all the 21 cameras pulled into a power socket at all times. Is there any other maintenance that i need to do? It would be a huge headache if i need to do some maintenance to all the 21 cameras every now and then.

6. Roughly how long's the lifespan for the cameras and the base station?

 

Thank you so much for helping me out

Labels:
0 Likes
Reply
Message 1 of 2
1,300
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru
‎2019-12-04 06:53 AM
@AreLow wrote:

1. Which product would you recommend for this setup?

Either the Ultra or Pro 3 would work fine. Whether you need/want 4k vs. 2k would be your decision.

 

2. What kind of setup would you recommend? Multiple base stations? Each floor has a different one etc?

Depends on your house construction as well as distance between the hub and the various cameras. You may well want 2 hubs (1st floor and 3rd) but some experimentation would be needed. Start with one and see what happens. If needed, add a second hub, remove cameras with weak signal from the first hub and add them to the second. Each scenario is different so you'll just have to work through it.

 

3. Will 21 cameras take all my WIFI bandwidth or severely slow down my household's internet capability?

The cameras talk only to the hub(s) so your WiFi won't be affected as long as there's no interference between the hubs/cameras and your router. Sometimes adding distance between the hub and router can make a big difference. Again, you'll just have to see. The total bandwidth taken by the use of the cameras streaming is an issue if you have limited upload speed. Plugging them in will cause all to stream at the same time so upload speed could be an issue.

 

4. Would there be a centralized local system where i can view all the cameras at once on my PC? I saw online that we have to manually take out the individual SD card to view the recordings?

Use of the app or a browser allows you to view all cameras at once although you'd have to scroll the screen since they won't all fit at once. The SD card currently has to be pulled to see the local recordings so you'd need to generally use the app or browser to see the cloud recordings. An app update has been promised to allow direct viewing of local recordings soon but no idea on release date.

 

6. Roughly how long's the lifespan for the cameras and the base station?

Electronics cn fail - that's what the warranty is for. I have cameras and bases/hubs that have run for years without issue - others have experienced both infant mortality as well as failure after the warranty runs out. YMMV.

 

BTW, 21 cameras would require either a business account or multiple consumer accounts. The Elite subscription only allows for 20 cameras so at least 1 would need to be on a second account. You could split the cameras up according to your multiple accounts and then use Settings, Grant Access from the additional accounts to the first one so all will be seen with one login. The granted access isn't quite the same as logging in as the account holder but generally will be sufficient for 90% of your needs. When that isn't enough, just log in as the primary account owner.

View solution in original post

Reply
Message 2 of 2
1,292
1 REPLY 1
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru
‎2019-12-04 06:53 AM
@AreLow wrote:

1. Which product would you recommend for this setup?

Either the Ultra or Pro 3 would work fine. Whether you need/want 4k vs. 2k would be your decision.

 

2. What kind of setup would you recommend? Multiple base stations? Each floor has a different one etc?

Depends on your house construction as well as distance between the hub and the various cameras. You may well want 2 hubs (1st floor and 3rd) but some experimentation would be needed. Start with one and see what happens. If needed, add a second hub, remove cameras with weak signal from the first hub and add them to the second. Each scenario is different so you'll just have to work through it.

 

3. Will 21 cameras take all my WIFI bandwidth or severely slow down my household's internet capability?

The cameras talk only to the hub(s) so your WiFi won't be affected as long as there's no interference between the hubs/cameras and your router. Sometimes adding distance between the hub and router can make a big difference. Again, you'll just have to see. The total bandwidth taken by the use of the cameras streaming is an issue if you have limited upload speed. Plugging them in will cause all to stream at the same time so upload speed could be an issue.

 

4. Would there be a centralized local system where i can view all the cameras at once on my PC? I saw online that we have to manually take out the individual SD card to view the recordings?

Use of the app or a browser allows you to view all cameras at once although you'd have to scroll the screen since they won't all fit at once. The SD card currently has to be pulled to see the local recordings so you'd need to generally use the app or browser to see the cloud recordings. An app update has been promised to allow direct viewing of local recordings soon but no idea on release date.

 

6. Roughly how long's the lifespan for the cameras and the base station?

Electronics cn fail - that's what the warranty is for. I have cameras and bases/hubs that have run for years without issue - others have experienced both infant mortality as well as failure after the warranty runs out. YMMV.

 

BTW, 21 cameras would require either a business account or multiple consumer accounts. The Elite subscription only allows for 20 cameras so at least 1 would need to be on a second account. You could split the cameras up according to your multiple accounts and then use Settings, Grant Access from the additional accounts to the first one so all will be seen with one login. The granted access isn't quite the same as logging in as the account holder but generally will be sufficient for 90% of your needs. When that isn't enough, just log in as the primary account owner.

Reply
Message 2 of 2
1,293
Discussion stats
  • 1 Reply
  • ‎2019-12-04 04:20 AM
  • 1301 Views
  • 1 Like
  • 2 In Conversation

Arlo
Support

Visit our support page for answers from simple setup to security optimization. Search for something specific or select a product or category for helpful articles and videos.

Visit Arlo Support

Arlo App
for Support

For personalized support specific to the Arlo products you own, access Support from within the Arlo iOS or Android App. Simply login to your Arlo App, go to Settings, Support, then select the Arlo product you would like support for.