Arlo Forsight

[Chrissholt]

In the 5S manual on the Arlo website it says, “Foresight
When plugged in using the indoor or outdoor magnetic charging cable, your camera records continuously, but discards the video after three seconds if no motion is detected. This is called Foresight and it means that your motion-triggered video recordings start before any motion happens; you don’t miss a thing.
To record and view video with foresight:
1. Plug in your camera.
2. Make sure the camera is using a motion-detection mode such as Armed.”

In the last 5 days I’ve been testing this camera to see if I want to keep it or return it, I’ve never seen this feature appear. Recording always begins at detection. The camera is plugged in and has been for the last 24 hours and says 100% for the battery charge but I never get a 3 second pre roll prior to detection.

is this not working?

[StephenB]

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@Chrissholt wrote:

In the last 5 days I’ve been testing this camera to see if I want to keep it or return it, I’ve never seen this feature appear. Recording always begins at detection. The camera is plugged in and has been for the last 24 hours and says 100% for the battery charge but I never get a 3 second pre roll prior to detection.

is this not working?

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Possibly.  This won't work with solar panels - you need an AC adapter that is providing power to the camera.

If you have another adapter to test with, then I would try that next.

[Chrissholt]

Brand new camera out of the box. No solar panel just the short plug they give you that supplies power via the magnet connection. I have no other adapter.

[Chrissholt]

Anyone else care to chime in? My Best Buy grace period is gonna run out.

[Chrissholt]

Bought the 9v outdoor wall charger at best buy. Still no Forsight after having it plugged in for the last 4 hours to charge an already 100% charged battery.

[StephenB]

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@Chrissholt wrote:

Bought the 9v outdoor wall charger at best buy. Still no Foresight after having it plugged in for the last 4 hours to charge an already 100% charged battery.

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FWIW, this also says the Pro 5s has the feature.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062053/How-does-the-Foresight-feature-work-on-my-Arlo-camera

You might try contacting support, to see if this is a known bug.  I'm tagging the mods again ( @JamesC and @ShayneS ), hopefully they will confirm that the camera should have the feature.

[Chrissholt]

Yeah, I have an open case 43278807 but honestly I’m pessimistic since they want to know how far away my camera is from the router and my speed test for my internet speed etc. not sure if they have access to equipment to test to see if any 5S works properly with Forsight.

[StephenB]

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@Chrissholt wrote:

Yeah, I have an open case 43278807 but honestly I’m pessimistic since they want to know how far away my camera is from the router and my speed test for my internet speed etc. not sure if they have access to equipment to test to see if any 5S works properly with Forsight.

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There are three questions here - 

• whether the 5S supports Foresight (as both the manual and the KB article say)

assuming the documentation is correct

• is there a known firmware bug that is causing your problem
• if not, why isn't your camera working as it should.

I have seen a couple of posts here from other users that say a base/smarthub was needed to get this to work with a Pro 4.  Though the documentation doesn't say that (for either the Pro 4 or the Pro 5), it could still be the case.  Hopefully the mods will chime in - and if a smarthub is required, they need to fix the documentation.

[Chrissholt]

I agree with all your points. Funny thing is those old posts saying u need a hub are old. And if that’s the case the docs are still not fixed.

[StephenB]

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@Chrissholt wrote:

I agree with all your points. Funny thing is those old posts saying u need a hub are old. And if that’s the case the docs are still not fixed.

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Agreed.  You might try sending a PM to @JamesC - you can do that using the envelope link in the upper right of the forum page.

[Chrissholt]

Tried but I only get other James in the list. No JamesC in the drop-down box.

[jguerdat]

Start typing James, pause, and others should show up, including JamesC.

[Chrissholt]

Idk, I type James and wait and get a list of 10 james users but no JamesC. Can’t create a message without picking from the combo box either.

I have a hub coming today. I’ll try to see if that resolves the issue.

[jguerdat]

You then have to type the C to complete JamesC. However, I'll tag him here so you can click on him and send him a PM.

@JamesC 

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

I've verified with the development team that the camera must be synced to a base station or SmartHub for the foresight feature to be enabled. I've received word that the documentation surrounding this will be updated to reflect this requirement.

JamesC

[Chrissholt]

Great. Appreciate you looking into it. Seems like maybe we have a definitive answer for people in the future. And correcting the docs finally as well. I think this will definitively make things easier for future Arlo customers and support as well as long as everyone is updated on this outcome. My hub arrived today the 5000. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to test it out. I’ll let you know either way once I find out. Again, Thanks

[Chrissholt]

Ok I got the hub up and running with my camera synced. Question, how do I add to HomeKit with out a code? I do t see one anywhere.

[JamesC]

Chrissholt,

While we plan to allow HomeKit support for Pro 5S 2K in the future, this is not yet available. Stay tuned for announcements on arlo.com and here on the community.

JamesC