second remote location

[house-camera]

We currently have 2 cameras set up on our primary house with the smart hub and a monthly plan. We just purchased a vacation home an hour away. Is it possible to add cameras at the secondary location and have them show up on my current plan or do we have to basically set up two locations? The second location does have Wi-Fi. Since we can't be there every weekend or month, is there a particular device we should be looking at over another? How long do the wireless doorbell batteries last?  All recommendations are welcome.

Also, is there a dealer or a phone line support to talk to someone in person to answer questions?

thanks

[StephenB]

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@house-camera wrote:

is there a dealer or a phone line support to talk to someone in person to answer questions?

thanks

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Arlo doesn't have anyone dedicated to pre-sales.  You could try BestBuy, CostCo, etc - but based on posts here, they often give incorrect info.

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@house-camera wrote:

Is it possible to add cameras at the secondary location and have them show up on my current plan or do we have to basically set up two locations? 

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If your app shows "Library", then you can just install the cameras and add them to your current subscription.

If your app shows "Feed" and "Dashboard", then you can either

1. add them to your current location 
2. create a second location for the new cameras.

While the first option avoids getting another subscription, it does have some disadvantages.   Geofencing won't work correctly, and scheduling/controlling the cameras would be a challenge with only three custom modes.

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@house-camera wrote:

Since we can't be there every weekend or month, is there a particular device we should be looking at over another? How long do the wireless doorbell batteries last?  All recommendations are welcome.

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If the second location has a traditional chime (and transformer), then you can hard-wire the wireless doorbell.  It will trickle-charge.  

Without that, it depends on how much activity there is at the location.  The doorbell essentially can't be aimed, which often makes it impossible to prevent it from triggering on vehicles and people walking on sidewalks.

As far as surveillance goes, you might be better off adding in a normal Arlo camera to cover the entrance.

The XL models have significantly longer battery life, so would be a good option for a second location.  I find the combination of XL and solar to work well for me - requiring only occasional recharging.

You might also consider using a smarthub to connect the cameras.  That allows you to add local storage.  Some also connect the hub to a smart switch, so they can power-cycle the hub remotely (sometimes useful).  If there are power outages at the remote location, you could protect the hub (and router) with a UPS, which would keep the system running during relatively short outages.

Essential models are less expensive, but unfortunately there is no way to just restart them (since you can't pull/reinsert the battery).  If they lose their connection, then you end up having to remove them from the account, do a factory reset, and then add them back.