Arlo Pro batteries dying, delayed responses, etc.

[kduffey]

This probably goes against forum policy being that this is an Arlo forum, but I am selling my Arlo stuff, and decided to spend a little less money and install a better solution. I spent about $1000 on 3 Pro, 2 Pro 2, and 3 solar panels. Sadly, despite having really good wifi coverage, I am plagued with never ending delayed responses, and in some cases despite swapping batteries, batteries dying. In my home since I work from home I bought the Ubiquiti Unifi network stuff. Part of the cost was for my home business, but the setup for their new Unifi Protect and what it does is impressive. The main feature for me is it records all video on site, none of it goes to the cloud, so I own it, and there is no chance anyone else is seeing my video, and there is 0 cost for remote access to all of my cameras, including history of footage which based on my current 3 camera setup is about 3 months worth of history. If I expand the HD, it could last almost a year. The system also records 24/7, so once they add in the motion activated bit, I will have years of history. (It is a new/in progress system, but they have a previous version that is used in small to medium sized businesses with 50 camera setups, so they are not new to the video camera game). All in all it was $200 for their recorder device, and about $150 per camera, though they do offer a new 4K (in beta) for $450, so that is not super cheap.  The only drawback to this system, which is not a huge deal to me, is all cameras are wired.. e.g. you have to run network cable to each camera. I bought a $200 network switch that powers the cameras too, but you can power them with AC if you have AC near the locations of the cameras. That it can handle about 20 cameras (currently 24/7 recording indicates about 8 HD or 1 4K and 3 HD, but that will change once the motion activated recording is available). 

Arlo/Netgear, if they are smart, will find a way to offer a wired camera option. The 5 to 10 second delays it takes for me to see a live video feed, and the often missed recording on motion is a real problem. I realize Wifi is the culprit. At the very least every camera should have a microSD slot so it can "record ahead" so that you dont miss any video when motion is detected. I often get motion alerts, then see someone leaving.. it completely misses the actual person coming up near camera area because it took too long to connect.

Some of you may have better experiences, but in my case, after 2 years, it is just not worth the misery. As I know how to run my own wires, it was worth it in the end to have every camera wired and instantly come on, plus the camera quality is better (most likely due to not being over wifi). 

[JamesC]

kduffey,

I will reach out to you in a private message to gather more information on the issues you're describing.

JamesC