Arlo Pro - bandwidth usage

[AdamBastin]

Hello

I'm contemplating buying the Arlo Pro system. One question which I have is over bandwidth; I have BT Infinity but live in the sticks a long way from the exchange so speeds aren't brilliant, plus my house has a big footprint and thick walls which also makes things more difficult. My upload speed is comfortably over the 1 Mbps minimum needed however I'd be interested if there were any views on how much bandwidth these cameras chew up. Presumably they only use bandwidth when they're recording rather than constantly 'speaking' to the base station even when there is nothing to record? And limited amount when actually recording?

Thanks

Adam

[Streak2]

See here

https://kb.arlo.com/3201/How-much-bandwidth-does-an-Arlo-camera-use-when-it-is-capturing-video

Yes you only need to be concerned when the cameras are recording or if you are live viewing.

If you have thick walls then placement o the base would be important so that it's as equidistant as possible to all cameras. Another solution would be to buy two smaller base camera kits and have two bases in different places of the house linked to the closest cameras.

[AdamBastin]

Streak2,

Thanks for the helpful reply. Regarding the suggestion of having two base stations, I'm right in thinking that they need to be connected to the router via an ethernet cable aren't I? Or can the base station connect to my router via wifi? My current thinking, assuming one base station, is to put it right next to my router so that I can hide the cable and dont have to run cables around the house (indeed, being wireless is one of the attractions of the Arlo system generally).

Thanks

Adam

[Streak2]

Hi Adam,

Yes, each base needs an Ethernet connection.

You could look at using a wifi extender to get your signal to another part of the house where you want to place the second base.

I use the Netgear Orbi for this purpose there is also the Nighthawk X6S Range Extender and others.

You could start with a smaller system like a base and 3cameras to see if it gives you the coverage you need and then expand from there.