Alro Pro - What is Smart Siren? How's it work?

[KTang]

Queistion about the new product -  Arlo Pro,

What is Smart Siren? How's it work? 

Will siren go off when intruder enter the house etc?  

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

KTang,

The Smart Siren is a 100+ decibel siren that can be controlled remotely, or triggered by motion or audio.

For more information on the Arlo Pro, see here: Arlo Pro The world’s first and only 100% wire-free, weatherproof, rechargeable HD smart security cam...

JamesC

[KTang]

I've been in that page and could not find the information I am looking for. I know people can remotely control the smart siren per description on that page.  What I am looking for is how the motion and audio trigger the smart siren? If a thief break in to the house, how does the siren get triggered? How Arlo Pro knows it's the owner (or the kids) come home and not to trigger the siren? Just need to details about how it works. 

I have two Arlo Q at home and interested in this Arlo Pro. But want to know more about certain functions before making a buying decision. 

[JtArlo]

Also interested if we can trigger the siren via IFTTT??

[JamesC]

The Siren can be manually triggered (through pressing a button within the Arlo interface). The Siren can also be added within modes/rules for your camera to trigger upon motion detection events with four duration options and three loudness options.

JamesC

[lodenian]

Is the siren inside the camera unit or just on the new base unit?

[JamesC]

lodenian,

The siren is inside the Arlo Pro Base Station and can be triggered manually or via motion detection by cameras synced to the base.

JamesC

[IamBobbert]

My router is on a different floor than some of my cameras. Should not the siren be located in the triggered camera instead of in a router on another which is away from the action? 

[jguerdat]

No guarantee that the camera batteries would be in a condition to allow the siren to work properly.  ALso, don't forget that the base can be moved - it doesn't have to be next to the router.  Use a long Ethernet cable or a WiFi extender to do this.

[hdiarte]

I like what I have read so far, but I need to add an extra siren to be outdoors to alert the neigbours that we are being mugged/broken-into. We live in an rea with large plots where neigbours are far apart and no-one will hear an alarm inside the house. Can this be added to the system?

Best Regards 

[jguerdat]

Not directly but I suppose could be added via IFTTT and/or SmartThings.

[JennyPenny]

It would be really helpful if they would advertise that you need the PRO Base for the alarm feature. I bought the Arlo Q Plus for the alarm feature and had read the Arlo Q plus was comparable with the regular Arlo base, sure it's compatible but NOT all Features work! 

Ugg... =(

[jguerdat]

I'm not sure why you would have bought a Q for the siren when it never had one.  The Q specs never mention it - only the Pro system does.

[ArloQUser]

That person bought an Arlo Q Plus not an Arlo Q... and your sales literature states it has an integrated siren in it! I have two Arlo Q's under trst mode right now, and love everything about them EXCEPT... you have no deterrent for a thief?! Several of my neighbors have opted for one of your competitors that also sell a Wifi siren that plugs into 110vac and can be set to go off by his other camera sensors on sound or motion. Does Netgear have plans to sell an added beacon that will work with the Arlo Q's (not the plus) so I can tell a siren to go off when I have a camera go off?! THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE THAT CONSUMERS WANT, and we want to be able to plug this siren in ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE OR OUTSIDE to warn off intruders. With your robust App, I would think there would be a simple way to link a Wifi siren to the camera? Please let me know before I send back my Arlo Q's!! Thanks.

[ArloQUser]

Trst=test mode!!

[jguerdat]

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ArloQUser wrote:
That person bought an Arlo Q Plus not an Arlo Q... and your sales literature states it has an integrated siren in it! I have two Arlo Q's under trst mode right now, and love everything about them EXCEPT... you have no deterrent for a thief?! Several of my neighbors have opted for one of your competitors that also sell a Wifi siren that plugs into 110vac and can be set to go off by his other camera sensors on sound or motion. Does Netgear have plans to sell an added beacon that will work with the Arlo Q's (not the plus) so I can tell a siren to go off when I have a camera go off?! THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE THAT CONSUMERS WANT, and we want to be able to plug this siren in ANYWHERE IN THE HOUSE OR OUTSIDE to warn off intruders. With your robust App, I would think there would be a simple way to link a Wifi siren to the camera? Please let me know before I send back my Arlo Q's!! Thanks.

---

Neither Q has a siren nor is it listed in the literature.  The only siren is in the Pro wireless base.

If you want  deterrent, maybe a dog would be better.  A siren isn't really going to do much more than a mic/speaker where you can talk/shout at the person.

[ArloQUser]

Sorry, but yes the literature for the Arlo Q plus DOES have the selling feature of a 100 decibal siren in it... that's why I made the comment.  I'm guessing from your lack of knowledge of the sales literature you're another user and not a Netgear employee commenting on this (which is what I'm wanting here).  And yes...if I was an intruder...and about to come in your front door, hearing a 100dB siren go off will most likely cause me to turn around and walk away because they are usually mounted up high out of reach and they don't typically stick around to steal stuff while everyone around is wondering why a siren is going off.  The 'dog security plan' might have worked in the 50's but I want something a bit more up to date... and isn't as needy!  Go out to Netgear's site and you'll see their sales literature with the siren listed as a selling feature.  With this much dialogue around this topic...my guess now is someone at Netgear has listed this and its a mistake and now fostering this discussion?   Their competitor (D-Link) has a wifi siren for their system that you can add as another device...and it integrates into their app to go off depending how you tell it to activate.  Can be mounted outdoors or indoors, but does require AC power.

Okay Netgear...do you have plans to add this feature, is it on the drawing board, or should I start sending people to the D-link system!?  An outdoor weatherproof enclosure would also be a nice add to the Arlo Q too!   I see they've added a 'rechargable battery' to their Arlo Pro...but still not a viable option for people that travel away for a month, or spend time away in the winter...I like the AC powered stuff for that reason....AND WANT A 100 beacon that I can place either indoors or outdoors.  I have friends that can hack Arlo's app and could add the D-link device to my existing system, but not really wanting to do this as then i can't 'update' the app without loosing the features of the app upgrades!   

[jguerdat]

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ArloQUser wrote:

Sorry, but yes the literature for the Arlo Q plus DOES have the selling feature of a 100 decibal siren in it

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Got a link?

[DaveWoj]

I'm not sure what he means by "literature" since I have never seen anything on the site showing an alarm on the Q.

There are many posts on here criticizing the system, yet there is a lack of knowledge. That knowledge comes from simply reading the specs, instructions and this forum.

Many of the answers can be found by just taking a few minutes to engage yourself in the software and trying it for more than 5 minutes before asking a question that is common sense.

Sure there may be problems and I have experienced some myself, but to criticize the system for something that it isn't or because people don't take the time to set it up properly (it does take time) is unfair to Netgear and their support.

There are many helpful contributors on here and they are very knowledgeable. But asking common sense questions that have been answered a dozen times (just do a search) is just redundant.

No question is stupid unless it's been asked a dozen times and answered two dozen times. (LOL)

[JamesC]

ArloQUser,

Adding to the discussion... There is no literature (to my knowledge) that (incorrectly) indicates that the Arlo Q Plus includes a 100 db siren. The siren feature is exclusive to the Arlo Pro base station. Please provide a link to the literature you are referring to and I will escalate for correction if necessary.

JamesC

[ArloQUser]

James,
I was not being critical of your system at all... forgive me if thats how I came across. I own two Arlo Q's and researched the differences between the Q and the Q Plus extensively prior to making my purchase. I determined the Q is what I would start with cause I didn't see the need of the extra cost of the Plus wasn't worth it... BUT ALMOST DID JUST BECAUSE of the siren feature!! Sounds like this is a typo and now I'm happy I didn't invest in the Plus as I would of unboxed it and been upset once I realized there was no siren feature. You also never commented on my question... IS NETGEAR GOING TO COME OUT with a separate siren that I can integrate into my app (which I love!) and allow the siren to link to one or more of my cameras?? I would pay for this added feature and know others would as well!!!

I returned my Nest camera to try out two of the Arlo Q's and I like your app MUCH better!! The only thing I liked better about the Nest was the black camera color (more stealth) and the fact Nest's night vision mode did NOT have any visible IR lights alerting anyone it was there. Would be nice to have these two things added to a future Q.

If I know Netgear is planning to offer up a siren I will keep my Q's and patiently wait. Let us know the plans!

As far as the literature... its on the Netgear site. Just search for Arlo Q and towards the bottom of the first few pages shows all the little green icons for selling features. The lower right icon talks about the siren. Looks like maybe your graphics designer copied over stuff from the wireless Arlo camera page maybe?

Thanks.

[migman_2001]

Maybe this is what your seeing:

Smart Alerts
Wide angle 130° lens makes sure you will see and get alerted whenever something moves or makes a sound.

While not very clear verbiage, they are referring to the push notifications which will come through via the app. I cannot find any mention of an alarm like the Pro system has.

[ArloQUser]

---

migman_2001 wrote:
Maybe this is what your seeing:

Smart Alerts
Wide angle 130° lens makes sure you will see and get alerted whenever something moves or makes a sound.

While not very clear verbiage, they are referring to the push notifications which will come through via the app. I cannot find any mention of an alarm like the Pro system has.

---

No I'm not seeing that?  It says nothing about the siren?   Right on Netgear's website you can look at the Arlo Q Plus page and read this....

"Optional 24/7 Recording - Stop crime before it happens with 100+ decibel siren that can be controlled remotely, or when motion or sound is detected."

Since everyone is having such a hard time seeing or reading this you can find it here.....

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/products/arlo-q-plus/default.aspx

Since D-link (competitor) is able to make a $50 dollar siren that interfaces with their sensors and camera's and can be placed anywhere in your house...i would assume Netgear's engineers could do the same thing.  With this added feature, the Arlo Q now jumps out ahead of the pack!!!   D-Link's system is only 720p instead of 1080p so that is their challenge.

Let's wait for an update from the moderator to see what Christmas magic he can bring for all of us Arlo Q believers this year!!!!  (the sound of Christmas music is playing the background now!).

[jguerdat]

Wow! I totally missed that! Thanks for pointing it out. If you had done that earlier, we could have been past this a long time ago. The verbiage is in the section forn24/7 recording so why would we look there? However it happened, you're right and we were all wrong.

@JamesC, as you can see, the product page is in error and needs to be updated.

No siren accessory has been announced as yet but who knows?

[JamesC]

ArloQUser,

Thanks for pointing out the incorrect information. I will escalate this for correction immediately.

As to the siren being implemented in the future, I do not have any information. Consider making a suggestion for this feature to be added in the Arlo Idea Exchange. The Arlo development team routinely reviews these posts for ideas on how to improve and introduce new features to the Arlo system.

Thank you for your contribution,

JamesC