Arlo Pro 4 - router or base station?

[jimslawson]

Would I be better off buying a high end router or buy an Arlo base station for better connectivity to my Arlo Pro 4 system? I'm wanting better connectivity as far as distance goes. Base station or high end router??

Thank You

Jim

[jguerdat]

I believe Arlo suggests a base or hub but I would think that any good router would provide similar results. I prefer using a hub so I also get local recordings which isn't possible with cameras connected via WiFi.

[canuckian]

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@jguerdat wrote:

I believe Arlo suggests a base or hub but I would think that any good router would provide similar results. I prefer using a hub so I also get local recordings which isn't possible with cameras connected via WiFi.

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..and you can't get the 2K Live Streaming without the hub.

[Jim006]

Turns out there's a lot of secret rules on these cameras.  I've tried both WiFi and a VMB4000 Base Station so I can definitely see the following differences:

Connected to Base Station

• Will enable "Foresight" feature on motion triggered video if cameras have an adequate power connection.
• Will show "Live 2K streaming" mode in the Camera Options.
• Can store video locally (although you cannot get to the video remotely for anything pre-dating a VMB4540).
• Can connect with Google Home (although I've seen no perceivable benefit to doing this).
• Can NOT enable/disable individual cameras easily - need to make "custom" arm modes with all the different camera combinations you want.  Every time you add a camera, you double the combinations so this is a really bad design.
• Can NOT store "continuous video recording" locally - you have to pay for the CVR subscription.

Connected to WiFi

• Can arm/disarm individual cameras (does not require custom arm modes)
• Live streaming is round trip to Arlo cloud and is in 1080p resolution (not 2K)
• The "Foresight" feature is disabled.

[canuckian]

That's not all, Jim.

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@Jim006 wrote:

Turns out there's a lot of secret rules on these cameras.  I've tried both WiFi and a VMB4000 Base Station so I can definitely see the following differences:

Connected to Base Station

• Will enable "Foresight" feature on motion triggered video if cameras have an adequate power connection.

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Plugging in the Arlo Solar Panel Charger does not enable the Foresight feature on your Arlo camera. You will need a very long outdoor charging cable 😃

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@Jim006 wrote:

Turns out there's a lot of secret rules on these cameras.  I've tried both WiFi and a VMB4000 Base Station so I can definitely see the following differences:

Connected to Base Station

• Will show "Live 2K streaming" mode in the Camera Options.

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Someone brought up a good point: you need to be connected to the same network as the hub to stream 2K. I mean if you can't stream 2K away from home, what's the point of having 2K cameras, you can just look out the window  lol

[canuckian]

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@Jim006 wrote:

Turns out there's a lot of secret rules on these cameras.  I've tried both WiFi and a VMB4000 Base Station so I can definitely see the following differences:

Connected to WiFi

• Can arm/disarm individual cameras (does not require custom arm modes)

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Someone here also wrote he needed to re-sync all the cameras when he lost internet connection, internet down during power outage I assume. His cameras did not automatically reconnect to the router after the internet connection resumed.

Base Station will reconnect automatically to your wi-fi network after a power outage.

[Jim006]

A long power cable has problems too because of the resistance of the copper. I have at least one camera that keeps dropping below 100%, at which point the Foresight turns off. Then it will charge back up to 100 and foresight will turn back on repeating the entire cycle over the span of two hours.

I'm quite frustrated with the difficulty these $500 cameras are causing me. I may return them if I can't get them working to my satisfaction. I could have bought cheap Wyze cams if I wanted 1080p.

[StephenB]

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@Jim006 wrote:
A long power cable has problems too because of the resistance of the copper. I have at least one camera that keeps dropping below 100%, at which point the Foresight turns off. Then it will charge back up to 100 and foresight will turn back on repeating the entire cycle over the span of two hours.

The Arlo outdoor charger has an integrated (not detachable) power adapter, and runs at a higher voltage - to compensate for the resistive loss in the cable.  So you shouldn't be seeing this with the Arlo outdoor charger.

[Jim006]

@StephenB sorry this doesn't make much sense.  First, the higher voltage for the outdoor charger is not documented.  Second this is not an indoor vs. outdoor limitation, it's a cable run length limitation.  In fact, my camera experiencing this issue is used indoors with a 25ft run because I have it setup in my basement where outlets are scarce.

I believe the outdoor charger has the integrated supply because that supply is designed to survive the weather, not due to a different charging voltage.  However, if someone can link the input/output specification from the charger unit itself, that would be appreciated (the specs should be printed on the charging unit).

[StephenB]

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@Jim006 wrote:

First, the higher voltage for the outdoor charger is not documented.

My outdoor charger is 9 volts / 1.1 amps, the indoor charger is 5 volts / 2 amps.

So both deliver the about same total power, but at different voltages.

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@Jim006 wrote:

Second this is not an indoor vs. outdoor limitation, it's a cable run length limitation. 

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Voltage drop in the cable is the product of the current running through the cable times the cable resistance (V-drop =IR).

When you charge at 9 volts, the current delivered to the cable is approximately half (5/9) what it would be at 5 volts.  So the voltage drop in the cable is also reduced by 5/9.  That increases the useful cable length.

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@Jim006 wrote:

I believe the outdoor charger has the integrated supply because that supply is designed to survive the weather, not due to a different charging voltage.  

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I didn't say that the charger was integrated in order to provide a different charging voltage.  I said the outdoor charger was integrated and used a higher charging voltage to compensate for the cable loss. 

Weather proofing is undoubtedly a reason for integrating, but it also ensures that the cable loss can be taken into account in the charger design (since the cable characteristics are known). 

I don't know how (or even if) the voltage is negotiated - it might be normal USB stuff,  but it might be not be (since it's not a standard USB cable).  If you have a USB power brick that supports quick charge,  you could try it with your indoor cable and see if it helps.

[Jim006]

@StephenB Thanks for the info!

I read in these forums that some version of the Pro cameras support QC 2.0 charging.  I bought some QC 2.0 capable USB-A power supplies along with a USB tester.  When connected to the cameras, the D+ and D- lines are at 2.6V DC which doesn't change the supply voltage above 5V.  The steady state current is 0.4A (when at 100% battery with "foresight" active). 

The battery charging profile may be such that 9V is only requested when the battery is heavily depleted (as opposed to battery topped off at 100%) -- or the cameras are not QC 2.0 compliant.  I'd have to drain the batteries way down to see if the voltage jumps up.

I haven't found any 9V USB-A power supplies -- mostly because that would violate the USB standard and possibly fry some devices not expecting the non-compliant voltage.  I may wire my own, not sure yet.  It would be good to know the allowable DC voltage supply range for the cameras.  An old forum post states these are 12V cameras, but I think that's some previous model and not the Pro 3 or 4 cameras.  I'm not willing to connect a voltage above 9V as a "test".

[StephenB]

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@Jim006 wrote:

The battery charging profile may be such that 9V is only requested when the battery is heavily depleted (as opposed to battery topped off at 100%) -- or the cameras are not QC 2.0 compliant. 

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My guess is that they aren't QC 2.0 compliant. 

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@Jim006 wrote:

I'm not willing to connect a voltage above 9V as a "test".

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Yeah, I wouldn't be either.

FWIW, my only outdoor charger failed a few months back.  Disassembling it is on my to-do list (though I suspect it would give me much info).  But I haven't gotten around to it yet.