Pre sales advice

[adgilcan]

So, I am in the market for some CCTV cameras for my boat.  The Arlos look good but I have no experience with them or, IFTTT work (although I have programmed in other languages and understand the concept).

My question is, apart from some vague talk of increasing battery life, what does the Smarthub do that means I should get one?  I want to set up 3 or 4 Pro 5S cameras and have the movement detection trigger actions such as turning on the radio, switching on a light, or setting Alexa Guard to bark.  Can all of this be done without a Smarthub?

Secondly, I run an Unraid Media Server at home and there are some docker apps which run CCTV recording and push notifications.  Would I be able to use these with, or without, an Arlo subscription sefvice?

Many thanks

D

[StephenB]

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@adgilcan wrote:

So, I am in the market for some CCTV cameras for my boat. 

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How good is the internet service?  Arlo recommends 2 mbps upload speed per camera.

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@adgilcan wrote:

My question is, apart from some vague talk of increasing battery life, what does the Smarthub do that means I should get one?

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The main benefit with the Pro 5s is that a VMB4540 or VMB5000 would give you local storage if you added a USB stick (VMB4540) or a microSD card (VMB5000).  Some use this feature as a backup to cloud storage, some others use it instead of a subscription.

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@adgilcan wrote:

Secondly, I run an Unraid Media Server at home and there are some docker apps which run CCTV recording and push notifications.  Would I be able to use these with, or without, an Arlo subscription sefvice?

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No.  The cameras only stream to the Arlo Cloud (or to local storage in the base).

[adgilcan]

Thank you Stephen

I feel sure that internet quality will vary depending on where the boat is moored but I will have a 4G sim data card in a dedicated Router with external aerials, so it 'should' be better than a phone signal.

So I may buy a VMB5000 as a local backup because I have some 64Gb micro SD cards lying around as well as a 200Gb one (but I imagine this is too large?). I can always do this at a later date but I will need to fiddle with the account settings to do that.  Am I right?

Thanks again

D

Thanks for the input

[StephenB]

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@adgilcan wrote:

So I may buy a VMB5000 as a local backup because I have some 64Gb micro SD cards lying around as well as a 200Gb one (but I imagine this is too large?). I can always do this at a later date but I will need to fiddle with the account settings to do that.  Am I right?

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200 GB is ok.  I use a 128GB card myself (which has more than enough retention for me), but I have seen a lot of folks here using 256 GB.   You do have to set up local storage in the app.  Also, I think remote access to the recordings won't be possible with your setup - you'd need to be on the local network.  Remote access requires the ability to make inbound connections from the phone (either port forwarding or a VPN), and generally you can't do that with a broadband router.

Arlo claims 2 TB, but I've never seen any posts from someone who got 1 TB or larger to work.  Though I've also never seen a legit 2 TB card for sale, most appear to be scams.  

If the boat (and nearby boats) are moving some at the dock, you might have some challenges getting the motion detection settings right for your situation.  This is something you can set, but of course if you lower it too much you won't get the detections you want.

Activity zones (which are a subscription feature) will help, but they are processed in the Arlo cloud - so they won't improve battery life.

If battery life were to become a problem, you could 

1. get the XL upgrade kit for the Ultra - it should also fit the Pro 5s.
2. add solar panels
3. provide AC power to the cameras (using the outdoor charger).

[adgilcan]

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If the boat (and nearby boats) are moving some at the dock, you might have some challenges getting the motion detection settings right for your situation.  This is something you can set, but of course if you lower it too much you won't get the detections you want.

That should not be a problem as the boat will have full canopy with only rear windows.  I suspect (though I don't know) that the somewhat distorted effect of the plastic windows will interfere with the movement detection accuracy.  I am more interested in when someone physically opens the canvas entrance and steps inside.  At that point they will be around 6ft away and even a dialled down sensitivity should pick them up?

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200 GB is ok.  I use a 128GB card myself (which has more than enough retention for me), but I have seen a lot of folks here using 256 GB.   You do have to set up local storage in the app.  Also, I think remote access to the recordings won't be possible with your setup - you'd need to be on the local network.  Remote access requires the ability to make inbound connections from the phone (either port forwarding or a VPN), and generally you can't do that with a broadband router.

I currently use OpenVPN to dal back into my home network from abroad.  I think I could do the same to access the boat network, depending on the router settings, which I have yet to explore.

Thanks again

D