Arlo Pro Homebase feature questions: Ethernet Port speed, USB port type, & Wireless band Fre

[AlmightyJon]

So unless my Nighthawk X8 R8500 is tripping, it only detects the Arlo Pro homebase as a 10/100 Ethernet port when plugged in with the included cat 5 cable.

I'm not sure how you could possibly stream more than 4 cameras at a supposed "1080" resolution and NOT be bottlenecked by a miniscule 100 Mbps of throughput.

Also, are those USB 2.0 ports on the Homebase? They are not blue like most are when USB 3.0 - and with USB 3.1 already out, this is an expensive setup that is lacking more current technology.

Lastly, what type of wireless radio frequency is used to relay between the home base and cameras? (AC/N/G)?

I want to love this setup, but after a few hours on my 1st night using it, I think I  am developing an increasing amount of buyers remorse.

[hokeysmoke]

The wireless cameras are 720p, with a bit rate of no more than 750 kbps each.  The base station can stream up to 5 cameras at a time, for a total of 3.5Mbps.  I don't know about the pro model, but according to the FCC filing, the original Arlo wireless cameras are 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz only, with separate TX/RX antennas.

[AlmightyJon]

Thanks for the reply/info...where did you discover that the bitrate is only 750kbps? If thats the case, there is no way thats True 720p feed/recording. 

If you pay more for than the basic I think you can add more than 5 cameras (Premier allows 10, Elite 15), but you'd only be able to stream 5 max at any given time based on your info? That cannot be accurate for an extra 10/15$ a month.

[hokeysmoke · Accepted solution]

While you can connect more, only 5 cameras can stream simultaneously per base station.  It is stated in the FAQs here:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/How-many-Arlo-cameras-can-I-view-at-the-same-ti...

The bit rate is stated in the user guide in the troubleshooting section, under "manage bandwidth".  You can do 720p at any bit rate, but I agree that it is not very high for it, as there will be lots of artifacts when things move.  I think Netgear wanted to make sure that typical internet upload speeds would not cause streaming problems.

[jguerdat]

Don't forget the compression used, which is rather strong.

The USB ports are only USB2.0, which is all that's needed for the same reasons as the network speeds.

[TomMac]

Thanks for the reply/info...where did you discover that the bitrate is only 750kbps? If thats the case, there is no way thats True 720p feed/recording. 

They use compression in the base before transmitting... if you watch close, you can catch the key frames pulse.