Wifi and Solar Panel questions before purchase

[Scoobz]

HOW will the Arlo Battery recharge in by Solar power panel in autumn and winter ? or do you expect the charge from during spring and Summer would be enough ?

IF you get a message saying power IS LOW , then how would you recharge UNLESS you spend money on 3 battery replacements as back up ?

WI FI sounds great BUT what if the power goes down, OR the wires get cut beforehand ? is there a back up way of connecting it to some wifi hotspot ?

I ALSO see the Solar Panel feeds for Pro 3 are oos, will they come back in stock ???

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Scoobz wrote:

HOW will the Arlo Battery recharge in by Solar power panel in autumn and winter ? or do you expect the charge from during spring and Summer would be enough ?

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In general, the battery drain depends on how much activity is triggering the camera.  It also will increase if the camera isn't able to make a solid connection with the base.  Arlo says 3-6 months, but with my own cameras its more like 2-3 months (with no solar panel).  So mileage here definitely varies.

As far as the solar panel goes, the cameras won't charge when the temperature goes below freezing.  That's a battery safety thing.   And if there is a lot of activity, the panel might not be able to keep up (no matter what time of year).   Even with the panel, I do need to charge up my Ultra from time to time - more often in the winter than other seasons.  But the panel does help a lot.

So you do need to make sure the camera is accessible (even in the winter).  

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@Scoobz wrote:

how would you recharge UNLESS you spend money on 3 battery replacements as back up ?

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You bring them indoors, charge them up, and then put them back.

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@Scoobz wrote:

WI FI sounds great BUT what if the power goes down, OR the wires get cut beforehand ? is there a back up way of connecting it to some wifi hotspot ?

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The base station connects to wired ethernet.  You can put a UPS on the base station, which would protect against power outage, and you can similarly protect your router and any other ISP provided kit that you need to connect to the internet. 

That won't help if someone cuts your internet cable.   But you can of course position a camera to cover the place where the internet cable enters your home.  And if you add storage to your base station, recordings would be saved in the base when the internet connection goes down.

If that is an unacceptable risk, then you might consider the Arlo Go, which connects to the cellular network.  It does need a cellular data plan though.