Recommended Arlo changes to avoid fair usage warnings

[VeronikaTMoore]

I have received a fair usage warning via email but there is no information about this in the app.

The purpose of this post is to make suggestions and how it may be possible via software changes to reducing the cloud usage based on my review of the footage recorded during the past month.

For information I have 5 active cameras - including 3x Pro 3 floodlights and 2x Pro 2 units and 2x vmb4000s.

Also have a doorbell not working and a new doorbell not connected yet.

Findings / suggestions:

1. No option to save footage only to storage connected to the base stations - can this be added? Live views should make use of the cloud where needed. Base station / app update.

2. In the case that a connected storage device was previously formatted but reports it needs formatting again - there is no indication as it why this is mentioned.

3. Can app notifications except for doorbell be turned off without needing to turn this off every day.  App update - excessive notifications are a problem.

4. Can we have an option on the site and in the app to confirm the amount of cloud current usage so we can check how close to the fair use limit we have and can perform deletion rules against it. Selective removal of footage is a purely manual action at present.

5. It seems sometimes deleted footage isn't always deleted and sometimes the app shows clip screenshots on the devices page that are older than 1 month which should have been removed which cannot be seen in the library - this happens especially if live view is selected and then stopped.

6, We need a update either to camera or cloud to ensure that clips recorded based on motion when is no person, car or animal in view should be able to be identified and removed from cloud usage once determined - the issue here seems to be where there is too wind and recordings of moving objects such as grass and trees are being recorded. In short when a previous clip from a camera is too similar to the previous clip there should be an option which can archive or delete this. Defining zones does not help with this.

There should be a condition that can be set to omit recording clips that are produced too frequently from the same camera - within 1 minute for example.

Hope this will improve the service. PS - 15gb / month for the service regardless of the subscription seems quite small especially if there no option to pay for subscription with more space which is not CVR.

CVR is not useful for me as all devices are not mains powered.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

I'm guessing you haven't followed the various issues here much since many of your concerns have been addressed many times.

1) WIthout a subscription, local storage is the option. However, you would need to upgrade your bases to a VMB4540 or 5000 to make it useful. That way, you can use the app to check on recordings but with various limitations. One problem with this is that your Pro 2 cameras would still record to the cloud via the free 7 day plan but that can be worked around by making sure they're not in high traffic areas.

2) Formatting issues likely are due to some issue with the specific devices and/or possibly the base being used to format. You can format it on a computer but you have to force the FAT32 format which may require a separate utility to do so. Be sure that you're using devices of at least 16GB.

3) Notifications have always been set in your modes and rules. I don't have notifications set for any of my 20 cameras except my 2 doorbells. This isn't app-related.

4) Agreed that this would be a useful addition.

5) I have seen this, too. It has happened for a long time now for no apparent reason.

6) While this could be useful in specific cases, there could then be an issue of the removed "duplicate" actually holding useful information (a glimpse of an intruder or similar). Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

My overall suggestion, with no knowledge of your settings, needs or usage, would be to review those things. Repositioning cameras to eliminate false triggers/useless overall camera view and/or lowering motion sensitivity while still maintaining the coverage you need can make a huge difference.  I was unaware of a 15GB limit but since I not only use cloud recordings but also local recordings saved to a NAS monthly, I've never come close to maybe 75GB per month. While my setup/usage is obviously different from yours, that amount of recording from 5 cameras is extraordinary.