Arlo Pro. I do not have 1Mbs upload required.

[Beebrain]

I do not have the required 1Mbs upload speed.  But, it says you can use a USB drive for local storage.  But, it also says you can't use that alone, you have to use the wifi too.   But it also says, if your wifi is down it will save to the USB drive.  That tells me, I can use my cameras with only the USB storage.  Is that correct?

[TomMac]

I'll give the answer that it should work....

If set up for local record and internet connectin fails, the system defaults to the previous setup in local storage.... that's the way it should work.

But my question is , if you know you don't have what's required as a min for the system, why are you buying it hoping it will work?

[Beebrain]

That's why I'm asking the question. If it won't work with only the USB device won't buy it. We live in a rural area and only have ATT's worthless DSL.

[TomMac]

I honestly don't know if someone has tested it yet.... so can't give you more than a SHOULD WORK.

Remember that the PRO version is fairly new and there are only so many out there at this point.

Right now, I know Jeff is running the PRO base with the PRO and Arlo cams... I'm testing the Arlo Base with the PRO and Arlo cams....Maybe Jeff could give you a bit more info as to this...  @Jguerdat  Jeff ??

And, no, not a bad question at all !

[Arlo-Man]

I'll test this tomorrow afternnon and post back.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

While I have the minimum upload speed from Time Warner, it's ONLY 1Mbs and that works with multiple cameras potentially recording at the same time.  The system is supposed to detect when speeds are low for any reason and should drop resolution/quality automatically if detected.  You could also use the lowest resolution/quality (416x240) if you didn't need the quality.  My first question would be, what's your upload speed as measured by speedtest.net?

As for recording with no Internet, I haven't tried it.  It's supposed to work where once the system is set up and configured using Internet access, loss of connectivity will be only on the previously configured USB device.  The bad thing is that you have to unmount the USB drive and use a computer to see the videos - it doesn't act like a NAS.  You'd also not get any kind of notifications since those require the base to have Internet access.

There's also the issue of firmware updates - recent reports here indicate that you won't get updates if your connection is too slow.  One fellow took his system to a relative's house to get it set up and updated.  Not useful long-term.

So, while it may be doable, it would depend on your threshold of pain.  It may actually be better to investigate a 4G hotspot for your network, if you can afford the data plan.  If you do that, you'd either need a hotspot router with an Ethernet port or a WiFi extender with such a port that would connect to your WiFi, providing access.

[Beebrain]

Thanks for the reply. Very helpful. I think you're right, its not REALLY going to be worth it.

I live in an area where only ATT's DSL is available for internet. On a good day download speed is 5.0 Mbs and upload is 0.65 Mbs. And, we have no cell service.

[TomMac]

As a PS....

Just announced is the new PRO camera/celluar based... If you have ATT celluar service in the area, that may work for you.

Data wouldn't be any more than a hotspot....

When it comes out, it might solve some problems.