Arlo Geofence Setting for Home and away

[Marslo]

One of the key features of a camera, for me, is the geofence which allows one to turn notifications and other settings on and off depending presence.  I have used many camera types including Nest, Ring and Lorex.  The Nest/Google App is wonky, the Ring app is annoying and the Lorex app simply can't do Home and Away automatically.

I had used Arlo cameras when they first came out but the battery only solution didn't work well in the cold climate where I live. I recently had another look at them and decided to try one to ensure that it does what I want.  I can have them poeered all the time which is great and both the app and the Pro 5S 2K camera are great.  The problem is that I cannot, for the life of me get the geofence to work home and away!

I've corresponded with support and get the "Delete app and re-install app" which has not worked.  I've rebooted my phone and done anything else that I can think of to make it work.  I'm about to give up and make the camera into a paperweight.  

I currently run 10 Nest cameras and 3 ring cameras at my very old Mother-in-laws house so my wife can keep an eye on her and I have 5 Ring cameras at our home.

Is it me or the app?  Can anyone out there help me out? 

Thanks in advance to those who respond.

[StephenB]

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@Marslo wrote:

I can have them poeered all the time which is great and both the app and the Pro 5S 2K camera are great.  The problem is that I cannot, for the life of me get the geofence to work home and away!

I've corresponded with support and get the "Delete app and re-install app" which has not worked.  I've rebooted my phone and done anything else that I can think of to make it work.  I'm about to give up and make the camera into a paperweight.  

Is it me or the app?  Can anyone out there help me out? 

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There are bugs with geofencing that Arlo is still working on.  So they might be getting in the way.

Can you post screenshots of your automations?  Mask out the map on the geofencing ones (at least the location name).

Are you just using one phone for the geofencing?  Or is there more than one?

Are you also using scheduling?  Or just geofencing?

[Marslo]

Screenshots attached.

Only using one phone for geofencing until I can figure this out.  Only one camera as well.

No scheduling, just geofence

[StephenB]

Right now Arriving is disabled in Arm Away mode, but enabled in Standby (and maybe Arm Home - can't tell since you didn't post that one).  That is exactly backwards from what you want.   The system should be in "Arm Away" when no one is home, so you want "Arriving" to be enabled in "Arm Away".  Normally I recommend disabling it in both "Standby" and "Arm Home".  But if you are only using one phone for geofencing, it is ok to enable it in "Standby".  (Even if you are using multiple phones for geofencing, if you never want to arm the cameras when someone is home, then it is also ok to enable it in "Standby").

Similarly, "Leaving" should trigger "Arm Home" and "Standby", and you have it disabled in "Standby" (and maybe "Arm Home").  It is simplest (and safe) to have "Leaving" enabled in all three modes (even if you are using multiple phones for geofencing).

You've modified "Standby" to include the "Test" camera - which appears to be your only camera right now.  So when your "Arrive" automation triggers, your "Test" camera will remain armed, since it is armed in both "Arm Away" and "Standby".  With that setup, you'll see when the system switches between "Arm Away" and "Standby" by looking at the feed - convenient for troubleshooting, but the camera will always be recording.

I recommend that you 

• arm all cameras in "Arm Away"
• arm all outdoor cameras in "Arm Home"
• disarm all cameras in "Standby"

 Then you can manually arm the outdoor cameras when you are home if you every want to do that.  

[Marslo]

Thanks for the help.  It appears to go to Stanby when I arrive Home but does not go into Away mode when I leave.  The pics show you how I have it set up now.

[StephenB]

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@Marslo wrote:

Thanks for the help.  It appears to go to Stanby when I arrive Home but does not go into Away mode when I leave.  .

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The next thing to check is the available geofencing devices (since "leave" only triggers when all the devices leave the geofence radius).

You can manage that by

• pressing the profile icon in the upper left
• pressing "Privacy Center"
• pressing "Available Geofence Devices"

Delete any tablets or "ghost" devices from the list.

Note the phone you are using is tagged "your device".  Best to make sure that has a unique name - I add my first name to mine.

If you have other phones you are using for geofencing, it's useful to log into them and also ensure their names are unique.  Then go back and delete and "ghosts".

[Marslo]

No "Ghost Devices" and my device's name is unique.

This is certainly not an intuitive way for the app to operate.

Did my settings look correct?

[StephenB]

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@Marslo wrote:

Did my settings look correct?

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Yes.

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@Marslo wrote:

This is certainly not an intuitive way for the app to operate.

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Agreed.

Try enabling "Leaving" in "Arm Away". amd see if that makes any difference in the behavior.

[Marslo]

No.  That changed nothing. 

It arms correctly when I’m away but does not change to Home or Standby when I arrive.

Does the app have to be open for this to work?  I know Lorex is like that.  I do have location services on “Always” and everything else that I have that uses geofence works (Smarthings, Life360, etc.)

Any further thoughts?

[StephenB]

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@Marslo wrote:

Does the app have to be open for this to work?

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It does have to be running in the background.  So check the phone settings to make sure that is happening.

[Marslo]

It does have Background app refresh on but I was wondering about having to have the app open all the time.  I have to do this with the Lorex app and it's a pain.

[StephenB]

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@Marslo wrote:

It does have Background app refresh on but I was wondering about having to have the app open all the time. 

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It's not needed on my iPhone, but you could test it in your situation and see if it makes any difference.