Arlo Pro 30 second delay after a recording, before another recording begins

[GT500]

Has anyone noticed with the Arlo Pro that after a motion detected recording (I have mine set for a 1 min. recording) has completed, the camera will not start another recording until about 30 seconds goes by even if there is still motion?

[steve_t]

It does take a while to reset itself. 30s is probably a bit longer than most people are experiencing. Is this camera particularly far away from the base?

[GT500]

This happens with all 3 of my cameras. The closest camera is just on the other side of my office door where the router, base and wireless modem live.

[jguerdat]

The other possibility is the upload speed since I believe the system doesn't reset until the video is uploaded. Have you checked using speedtest.net?

I've seen lengthy (~30 second) reset times myself but recently had a Pro camera reset in about 5 seconds with a 45 second recording on best video on a 2Mbs upload speed. However, I don't know if there's a difference between cameras. 

[GT500]

My upload speed is 5-7mbps...

[TomMac]

I just checked some vids i made this morrning... On a Pro, 15 sec clips, the reset was aprox 12-14 secs. on all the clips, pretty stable.

Prev tests on the Arlo cameras , I seen 10-20 , no reason as why a variation in time tho

[GT500]

It would be nice if there was no delay. Maybe I'll try and reset the base and see if that makes a difference.

[GT500]

Unfortunately, resetting the base did not fix the 30 second delay. Any idea what if any the delay should be? Pretty annoying possibly missing 30 seconds of movement, as a lot can happen in 30 seconds.

[jguerdat]

About all you can do, if it makes sense to do so, is to increase the duration of recording so the reset doesn't interfere with what you're trying to capture.

[myrr]

I have this exact same problem after trying two different sets of the Arlo pro four pack… I'm ready to return this product for good what a huge disappointment.  There is almost exactly a 35 second delay between the first motion detected video and the second motion detected video with constant motion the whole time.  

Setting the Arlo to record longer isn't a solution in my opinion because the nature of motion capture is not to capture dead space after motion but to capture videos when motion appears.  And 35 seconds is a long time for the camera to be unresponsive.  Not to mention that longer pointless recording games equals less space overall for recording's in the cloud and also increased battery usage. 

Some points:

This happened on my network connected to Orbi in various configurations. 

Exactly the same results connected directly to Comcast via the Arris surfboard modem cutting out my LAN. 

Firmware out of the box tested. 

Newest firmware on base station and cameras ( how to change my DNS settings that I saw on another thread to 8.8.8 .8 to get the firmware update to register).  Tested with those DNS settings as well before going back to auto. 

Same results with all eight cameras tested and both base stations. 

Same results regardless of clip length, quality, motion sensitivity, and type of motion presented to the camera.  

Comcast Cable here 118 Mbps / 6 Mbps and reliable. 

Bottom line = 35 seconds delay regardless of setup. I wasn't able to change it for better or worse. 

[bibik]

I was curious, so I just did some tests myself. I even tried cameras located different distances from the base station. I also tried video + audio vs. video only (no audio) to see if that mattered, but there was no change in the detection interval.

Here are my results with Frontier FiOS 50/50:

1.
Location: same room as base station/router
Distance: approx. 10 ft.
Record time: 20 sec.
Detection: audio and video
Quality: Medium
Time between detection: 35 sec.

2.
Location: same room as base station/router
Distance: approx. 1 ft. (shelf right above base)
Record time: 20 sec.
Detection: audio and video
Quality: Medium
Time between detection events: 35 sec.

3. Location: Behind 4 walls (two rooms and a hallway) away from base station
Distance: approx. 30 ft.
Record time: 20 sec.
Detection: audio and video
Quality: Medium
Time between detection events: 1 min

So in my case, having the camera right next to the camera vs. a short distance away (but in the same room) didn't make a difference, but having it several rooms away nearly doubled the interval.

What's interesting is that I was hitting that same 35 second mark, as well.

Anyone know how event-based recording competitors (Blink, Canary, etc.) fare in interval time between detection events?

[myrr]

Ah thank God I'm not alone. So torn on what to do. I like the product a lot otherwise, but I have so many clips that end in the middle of action and then never restart.  If motion kept clips going this wouldn't be an issue I wonder if that's on the horizon. 

[myrr]

Gave up tonight. Randomly one camera disconnected for no reason and then came back at 65% battery. 36 hours after setup. I didn't pay 600 dollars to be a beta tester 🙂 hopefully Netgear can get this issue and others sorted out!

[bibik]

It would be nice if the detection interval wasn't so long.  Even if I were set the recording to the max 3 min., you could miss a lot of important details if there are 30 seconds (or longer) of down time in between recordings, unless you do have cameras covering each other. 

It doesn't seem to be an issue of the camera being busy uploading the video, since you can do live view while the camera is recording, so I wonder if it's just the software.

I know what you mean; I'm still in the trial stage myself, and have been tempted to return the system several times. Overall, I like the Arlo system as a whole compared to the other brands, and I know every camera has bugs that need to be worked out.

I would personally prefer a more discreet camera than the Arlo, since I have low ceilings around my entire one-story house, so I worry about camera theft, probably more so than someone actually breaking in. (these cameras aren't cheap).

I've been meaning to try out the others (Blink, Canary), but I read that they have issues of their own. Plus other systems are often made by crowdfunded startups, which brings to question the long-term reliability and support of the product. Netgear is a large and well established company, and so far has had decent CS as well as a large community, so that gives Arlo an edge over the competition.

[silverado44]

A lot has to do with your cell signal, if you have a weak signal the alerts come slower than normal. If iam on wifi and strong cell signal the alerts are 2-3 seconds. My wifi is 35 up and 35 down. If my cell signal is weak it takes 20 seconds or so.

[steve_t]

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silverado44 wrote:
A lot has to do with your cell signal, if you have a weak signal the alerts come slower than normal. If iam on wifi and strong cell signal the alerts are 2-3 seconds. My wifi is 35 up and 35 down. If my cell signal is weak it takes 20 seconds or so.

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What cell signal?

[bagnew]

Hello all.  I think I am reporting the same issue.  I have 5 cameras (one Arlo pro and 4 standard Arlos), and once any of them starts recording no others will record unitl the first one is done plus about 20-30 seconds.  if you walk around my house (I have the cameras covering all sides) they will start the first recording but I can walk all the way around and no othe camera will activate and record.  However if I wait then the next camera I walk by will record.

Has Netgear confirmed that only one camera can record at a time?  I can not find that confirmation anywhere?

      Thank you all.

[jguerdat]

I get multiple cameras recording at the same time, a mixture of both wireless camera as well as a Q. Try power cycling the base.

[steve_t]

I'll test when I get home but I have 2 cameras covering my driveway from different angles and both are set to record on motion and trigger the other camera to record as well. Both obviously record at the same time so it's definitely possible

[jguerdat]

I wonder if it's the nested rules you're using that causes this.  I don't use them so can't comment.  Try using the Armed mode to see if everything works as advertised.

[MSwill]

Is there a potential solution to this problem, or is this just a limitation of the product?

I am experiencing the same issue..  it isn't always 30 seconds.. but I've seen it that high.

[jguerdat]

30 seconds is a bit high but can be due to various issues, such as the length of the recording, upload speed, etc. I think I've seen 10 to 15 seconds.

[steve_t]

Same here. About 10 seconds. The cameras that are further away or through a few walls also seem to take a little longer to reset back to being ready to detect motion again. I have very fast upload speeds though. I also noticed my furthest away camera likes to record 28-29 seconds instead of the preset 30 seconds. I figured that's due to signal as well