Arlo ACTUALLY only stores what it deems are significant events and motion, not constant video

[BrianSK]

I bought the Arlo system because it was wireless, easy to install, and had a sufficient online cloud for my purposes.

Today I was robbed in broad day light, with thieves backing in to my driveway (which I had a camera pointed at) and stealing a refrigerator, washer, dryer, and other items (which I had a 2nd camera pointed right at).

The Arlo cameras, which are installed properly, registered properly, online, and synced, chose not to save any videos of the robbery to my "library." Thus, what should have been a ridiculous amount of proof, evidence, and video to find the thieves, turned in to absolutely nothing because Arlo ACTUALLY only stores what it deems are significant events and motion, not constant video.

In calling Arlo, they offered absolutely no help.  The could only see what was in my library, and had no way to access other video. They clearly stated there is no online dvr or cloud that the 24/7 video they claim is recorded is stored, just the significant events. They also made a bunch of excuses, including that Arlo cameras can't accurately record when there are windows in the picture, which is stated nowhere during the installation or setup or product guide.  Hey A**holes, when you sell expensive cameras and only include magnetic wall mounts, of course people will put them in doors so they can't be stolen too!

Thank you, Arlo, for letting people steal from me, and Best Buy for selling a product with bold face lies in their description.

[Mikem99]

Not to mention that all of us former VueZone users got screwed when they stopped support and brought out Arlo- I’m replacing my system with something that works.

[brh]

Before you purchased your cameras how much research did you do on the pros and cons of the Arlo system?

Brian

[brh]

@BrianSK

I am not trying to be insensitive to your burglary and if this is the first time this has happened to you then you, like me thought that the odds that this wouldn't happen to you were in your favor. Like me, you probably were counting on your neighbors to see something bad happening at your house and call the police.

I do feel for you as my home was burglarized while I was gone for a short time to the grocery store. They got from me ten times more than what you are saying they got from you. My homeowner's insurance covered most of my loss, but I or my wife could have walked in on them and heaven knows what might have happened. Insurance will not bring back someone from being killed.

I know you are in shock. I still am after two years. so...

Firstly, study and research the best professionally monitored security system that is cellular so that cutting your internet cable or power will not affect the alarm system.

Secondly, look for ways to cover the gaps in your security that the professional service doesn't cover. I have a back-up system. Research and I really mean research the solutions that work for you.

Thirdly, your home security starts at the edge of your property which you thought you had covered. But, if you had done your research, you would have known that these cameras don't do well looking through glass. You also would have known that the motion zone of almost all motion detectors is weakest looking at the movement straight on.

Again, I feel for you but let this be a lesson - spend some money and have as many weaknesses in your home security covered to the best that you can.

Brian

[DaveWoj]

Can I assume that you tested both cameras multiple times and that they were actually recording motion in the driveway areas before this event?

I have 2 Arlo Q's looking out windows (night vision function disabled) that work perfectly and 2 outdoor pro's that work perfectly.

I just find it extremely hard to believe that absolutely nothing was recorded during this event.

It had to take them more than 10 minutes to back up, break in clear out refrigerator, unhook dryer and washer and load all of those appliances.

I'm not saying you are to blame but my first guess would be some type of user error if neither sensed any motion.

I'm sure you're leaving out some information that would help in figuring this problem out.

By the way, the Arlo cameras should have been one of the first things on the list to steal since they're probably worth more than some of your appliances and easier to carry out the door.

[BrianSK]

Dave -

This is the first time in the month that I've had the cameras that I've needed to review video over a 8 hour period of time while I was at work to find a specific event.

I have 4 cameras.  One is outside, 3 are inside, pointing outside.

In reviewing video now of one camera point through a window at my front porch, it hardly records anything. I walk in and out of that door, across the camera's line of site, multiple times a day. It maybe saves 1-2 videos a day, and often of nothing.

The camera pointed at the alley, where all the items were stolen from, doesn't have anything stored for a week.  The night before this was stolen, I brought a 10' shuffleboard table through it's line of site.

A third camera was in my kitchen for several weeks, and has virtually nothing in the library.

The videos stream fine online. Arlo reviewed my settings and all of them are as they should be.

They quite literally told me that the system chooses what it deems signficant events (IE not a car passing by) so it doesn't deplete memory.  This is not what they tell you when you buy them. It is not cloud storage of video, like a DVR, as it is sold. It is cloud storage of select events which you have zero control over.

And again, nowhere in the set up process does it say anything about peering through windows with the cameras. Nowhere.  Yet they had the cajones to blame me for setting them up through windows, saying they're "incompatible with windows" in trying to explain away how it didn't deam someone parking in my driveway and 2 guys hauling mutliple major appliances past 2 cameras "significant."

[BrianSK]

Plenty.

NO where does it say "don't set up looking through a window."

Nowhere does it say only stores events it deems significant. It says cloud dvr storage.

Where it says anything, it lies.

[DaveWoj]

I'm sure some of the "Guru's" can elaborate on this post but although it doesn't state anything in the manual about not placing the camera in a window it does state this

Turn Night Vision On and Off

When night vision is enabled, the camera automatically turns on infrared (IR) LEDs

to record in low light conditions. We recommend that you turn off night vision if the

Arlo Pro camera is facing reflective surfaces, such as windows.

The Arlo Q doesn't use IR for detection so as long as night vision is turned off, that would have been a better camera if you wanted to place them in the windows.

There is plenty of information on this forum that explains the functions and limitations of all the cameras.

If you weren't getting recordings from motion when you walked by them in the past it probably should have told you something was not right.

I needed to set mine up and text for a couple of weeks (trial and error) before it was to my liking so you can't blame Netgear 100% for the problem.

[brh]

@BrianSK

You are kind of missing my point here. You were trying to protect your valuables and for that I commend you, but when I say research the items you are about to purchase, especially for security purposes, don't rely on what a slesman tells you or what a manufacturer's marketing says but actually look for information from people that actually purchased them and are happy with them or find that the items did not meet their needs and returned them. 

I usually start with Amazon because every question that you can imagine will be asked there, often more than once and answered by verified purchasers. Sometimes there are hundreds of questions/answers and hundreds of reviews.

Next I go to the manufacturer's website and look to see if they have a forum like this one and try to determine what problems, failure rates and uses their customers or potential customers have.

Next I Google the item and read reviews like CNET and other blogs.

I don't quit searching until I know exactly what the pros, cons and weaknesses of the item are.

Again I am not blaming you, per se, nor am I defending the manufacturer here, I am simply suggesting that in the future do a lot of research and testing of the product after you purchased it to be sure that it does everything you expect it to and works in the situations that you expect to use it.

Brian

[DaveWoj]

Well $800 is an awful lot of money (at least to me) to spend on something that I haven't done research on.

That's more than my Washer and dryer combined.

I definitely would have opted to steal the cameras and base station vs 2 or 3 huge appliances. Ne need for a huge moving truck.

[brh]

@BrianSK

Here is the Amazon link for the model camera system that it is showing you purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/Arlo-NETGEAR-Add-Security-Camera/dp/B01MDIYVI9

You will please notice that there are currently 996 questions with answers. There are often several answers for each question.

Also, please notice that there are currently 11,516 reviews for this model.

I am sure that after reading a few of these you would have known what you were purchasing.

Brian

[steve_t]

There's no way for the cameras to only store what they deem important (unless you somehow have Arlo Smart which does some object identification). The motion sensors are PIR sensors. PIR sensors don't work through windows at all. Sorry to hear about your stuff getting stolen.