Activity Zones using batteries?

[Brennan90]

Any idea on how to stop getting notifications which fall outside of the activity zone which is set. I get about 60-70 a day of stuff outside of zone. I have tried literally everything I can think of. Smart Notifications, just put it on people and I still get them of the last second of a vehicle driving past. I have deleted and added the zone again and again. One of the biggest headaches is that its draining the battery rapidly having all these notifications . I have another camera on a shared drive of which activates when the neighbours go on the drive but this doesn't seem to drain the battery anywhere near as fast as my front camera. I subscribed to the plan so I can get the zones to reduce the amount of notifications but they just keep coming. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Reallyconfused]

So StephanB. Read this from Arlo,
https://kb.arlo.com/000056589/How-do-I-set-up-the-Arlo-Smart-cloud-activity-zones
So it DOES kill your battery!!

[ScotCamera]

After 2020, a lot of web browser are going to stop supporting flash. I'm wondering if Arlo will be able to work around this or will Arlo video only be supported on andriod or ios devices?

HTML 5 is been around for awhile now, I would think Arlo would have a solution for this, but who knows.

[dcfox1]

They already did. 

[ScotCamera]

You're right! I didn't notice that until now. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

[mazulla9i39]

Yup. They don’t know when it will be fixed.

[StephenB]

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@Reallyconfused wrote:
So StephanB. Read this from Arlo,
https://kb.arlo.com/000056589/How-do-I-set-up-the-Arlo-Smart-cloud-activity-zones
So it DOES kill your battery!!

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You are misunderstanding that article.

Cloud activity zones don't affect your battery life at all.  They don't increase it, they don't decrease it.

But they do hide the amount of video recording that is happening, so if you just look at the amount of recording you won't have a good idea of how much the cameras are working.

[Reallyconfused]

Yup. I guess I didn’t read it carefully. I stand corrected.

[ptmullett]

I just started having the same issue as well.

[Rags13]

Oh my gosh! This may be the last nail! We have had our Pro system for just over 2 years now. I have been less than impressed with the cameras and company from day one but for some reason we have stuck it out... We have 5 cameras and the 2 facing my driveway are going through batteries in 2-3 days! That is ridiculous and unacceptable! We bought 2 new batteries and a dual charger ( not from Arlo, I will never give them more of my money ) and they last the same as the 2 year old original ones. I record in 45 second clips and have been getting a lot of recordings with most of my neighbors staying home right now. Also we are flying our flag which is in view of both cameras. I am assuming that the motion of the flag and the extra traffic are what is killing these batteries so quickly. I put the battery from one of these cameras in a camera that has less movement and if lasts for weeks. I need recommendations as to what I should do. I have made the " Activity " zone so small that nothing should set the camera of... yet I still get 50+ recordings of " Motion " per day. What is the point of the Activity Zone if the camera just ignores it!? This is super frustrating!

[StephenB]

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@Rags13 wrote:
What is the point of the Activity Zone if the camera just ignores it!? This is super frustrating!

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Cloud activity zones don't affect battery life at all - they neither improve it, nor hurt it.

What they can do (when working) is reduce the number of recordings and notifications that you get.

But the only way to improve the battery life is to re-aim the cameras so they aren't always being triggered by the flag.

[Rags13]

Unless I am doing something wrong... the Activity Zone makes absolutely no difference in the amount of recordings I get. I have a longer record time only because 10 secs does not get enough. I had 80 recordings today.

[Catqueen]

SO.....
Young female living alone- I purchased a Arlo pro 2 camera set for outdoor use for front and back door. Had them professionally mounted, I sit on the bannister to change the battery when I have to- bit sketchy but back door low activity battery lasts long. Front door high activity facing busy street and sidewalk (not within activity zones....) battery dies within a day or so because of this issue.....
Activity zones are not working, I contacted customer service MUTIPLE times. I called and spoke to someone with a rooster in the background( -_- ?) I deleted camera, re synced deleted activity zones and did on my chrome book through the website, and on my iPhone with most recent IOS and app....
I have adjusted motion detection doesn’t help either. I have communicated this to them but they keep sending the same request. Is anyone else experiencing this ? I truly like these cameras and knew people who had success with them but I paid far too much for them to not want to return them if they’re not going to work and my amazon return window is in 2 days ... I don’t want to give up hope but ....
So I’m hoping maybe someone has a solution or advice.
Thank you in advance.

[Reallyconfused]

Did you read this thread? It is a known fact that the Activity Zones are not working. I have been told this by 3 Arlo staff. And they do not have a timeline on when it MIGHT get fixed. I have had a case pending for over two months now. No results yet!

[Rags13]

Not sure what happened to my post.. it somehow got moved to this this thread? This is not where I posted it originally! I don't even have Pro2 I have the Pro. I shouldn't be surprised I guess. This forum is run by Arlo so it should work as well as their camera system does...

[Reallyconfused]

Yes, they do that and it has happened to me also.
I think they do it in a hope that we get confused and forget what we were complaining about.
It would not surprise me.

[marcos_salazar]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why my camera continues to record and send me notifications for motion OUTSIDE of the activity zones I set (on the app). I thought this feature would solve the problem I have with recording every single car that drives by, but unfortunately it continues to do so. I see little incentive to continue the Arlo Smart plan beyond the free trial if it’s not going to do what it’s supposed to. Has anyone been able to solve this problem or know of any planned updates to address this issue? Thank you.

[TomMac]

The fix is only thru software changes... we here have no control over when fixes come out.

[Themovyman11]

I too have the same problem with the Cloud Arlo Smart Premier Activity Zones - All motion (regardless of where the activity zones are - and I have tried squaring them off, making them as small as possible / away from a busy street) is reported.  Yesterday I got ~140 notifications (all but 10 outside of the Cloud Activity Zones).  This needs to be fixed ASAP.  I have an incident open as well - but they keep telling me to follow the positioning and activity zone set up instructions (which I have multiple times).  I will stay on top of it and continue to provide screenshots and information until this is fixed.  I travel for work constantly and need to "filter out" the traffic stuff.  Should noted my Ultra is hooked into a solar panel (which I know does not have any effect, but thought I would throw that out there).  Motion sensitivity has been dialed back to 65 (but does not seem to care about the cars).  My Video Doorbell has the same issue (which is wired obviously), so I know this is a cloud issue / Arlo Smart issue.

Small / Squared off Activity ZonesExcessive Alerts

[Reallyconfused]

I hope that all the people who have noticed this failure on Arlo’s part call in with persistence to complain about this.
Get a service claim started and follow up on them. Arlo won’t follow up with you, at first. I found that out with my claim for the very same issue.
It took ME several calls TO THEM before they admitted that my “data was not processed properly “. I had to resubmit videos for them to carry on, or perhaps that was a stall?
And I was also informed that the faulty activity zones are a known issue only after a few phone calls. So people, don’t let them waste your time with the whole “unpair/repair/delete/pair again” dance. They should be honest right up front that they have a big problem and they don’t know when, OR IF, it will get fixed.
OR...tell us it will never work on battery powered cameras and send us all FREE AC power adapters. It seems like on AC power the zones work well.
Having now seen reference to this going back a few years, I wonder if it ever worked like it’s designed to. If this is the case it’s false advertising on Arlo’s part. If it’s intermittent then they need to hire new, smarter, technicians who will be capable of fixing it once and for all.
Sorry to go on and on but I really feel ripped off with the whole situation. And being stuck with an expensive purchase really makes it worse.
If they are truly working on fixing this wide spread issue, and it looks to them like it will take some time (as Fitz, my contact guy told me) they should be updating their customers on some sort of regular bases. But instead they just leave us in the dark.
If it can’t be fixed, fine. Tell us and adjust the pricing of the Smart Plans accordingly.
Something. Arlo, do something!

[brianzx7]

I have been using Arlo for years now and I can say I am officially over their excuses and promises. Their features have worked spotty at best and usually not at all. The worst non-functional feature that is most important to me is the Activity Zones. I have tried multiple cameras all with Smart subscription and they all have issues or don't work at all. It's funy how there are tons of options yet none really work.

I hope this post stops one person from purchasing any or more of their faulty products to save them the frustration that I have endured.

Moving on to better products....NEXT!

[Jeeplover]

I have gone round and round with these people on several occasions with a variety of issues. One time I did get an actual resolution (was sent a replacement camera). That was my one and only success though and honestly, though I do appreciate everyone's help here, Arlo relying on the community of disgruntled customers to solve problems is a horrible way to run a business. Try to get a hold of someone there, probably NOT going to happen and if it does, will be no help at all. "support" was NOT great before they were sold but now that it is run (and I use the term "run" very loosely) by another party, forget it. Everytime I get an answer from Arlo they ask me all the same system questions which is valid and everytime the answer is, replace my router, uninstall the base station and all the camera's and re-install the entire system over again like it's new. Are you kidding me?? That is not troubleshooting, that's troublemaking if you ask me and a very sad excuse for support. It seems that "run" is what they hope their customers will do right to another service provider. Once a week, literally, once a week I have to do something with this system to troubleshoot an issue. I wish you luck with a new system, I am headed there very soon.

[ShayneS]

Hello Community,

Arlo deployed a cloud update enhancing Activity Zone accuracy. This should improve the experience for users reporting symptoms of motion detection alerts and recordings occurring outside of their defined Activity Zones. We are continuing to monitor Activity Zone behavior and will provide additional enhancements in the coming weeks.”

[shadowdiver]

I just checked again tonight.  Activity Zones still don't work.  I cancelled my subscription until this is fixed.  Cameras are nothing but boat anchors without being able to arm them.  BTW, support so far has no information for me.  I keep getting the run around. 

 Ref case 41693924

[shadowdiver]

On chat again and the support person just disappeared and now I get no agents are available. This is such BS!

[mazulla9i39]

I cancelled as well.  Returned to Costco.  I bought the Eufy 2.   Love it!  And no monthly fee!