Arlo Pro

[fmacioce]

I am thinking of buying an Arlo Pro and have read that there is a three second lag before the motion detector causes the camera to engage. Can you comment on this?

[jguerdat]

There is a brief lag due to the need for the cam to wake up and connect to the servers. Camera positioning is key so the lag doesn't cause you to lose useful video. There are FAQs here that explain the process.

[fmacioce]

I don't see any FAQs on this point. Please provide more info.

[jguerdat]

On the home page here, in the middle of the page (scroll down) are selected FAQs. Scroll to the end of that section and click on See All.

[fmacioce]

I have read all of the FAQs for Arlo Pro. None contains an answer to my question. The owners manual says that it responds better to movement across the camera than to motion directly at it. That may be part of the answer, but I don't see anything answering my question directly. If you do, please copy it and paste it in a return email.

[ice_man]

I have been using the Arlo Pro (3cam) for the past week and I can confirm that there is a lag (about 3 to 5sec). I have been expecting the lag due to the fact that it needs to wake up the camera. The remedy to this problem (as what Netgear advised) is camera positioning. That is well and good. 

However, what I cannot accept is that even in "Live Viewing" mode the lag is still there. So, in addition to the OP, is there anything one can do to fix this issue? 

Both my base station and cameras are on the latest firmware. My download speed is 100mbps and upload speed is at 25mbps. So I know that it isn't my connection.

[jguerdat]

There is inherent lag in a cloud-based cameras like this.  You're not seeing the stream from the camera directly - you're seeing the stream after it goes from the camera to the server and then back to you. 

[fmacioce]

OK, so if I am seeing the stream after it goes from the camera to the server and then back to me and that takes, let's say 5 seconds, does that mean that the server has a record of activity for all 5 seconds or for only some portion of that time? If for a portion, how long?

[jguerdat]

If I under the question correctly, the lag has nothing to do with what's recorded or viewed. It's just the turnaround time between camera and the viewing interface.

[fmacioce]

So, then, are you saying that during the three to five seconds that nothing is being viewed, nothing is being recorded either? If that is the case, an intruder has three to five seconds to cover the camera or otherwise disable it that he would not have with a wired system. Is that correct?

[jguerdat]

If you're talking alout live view, nothing is being recorded in the first place.  Live view supercedes motion detection/recording so manual recording is needed.  If you're just talking about normal operation, the lag will cause those few seconds to not be recorded.  That's why positioning is important - get the motion detected as early as possible.  Sometimes, use of a second camera and nested rules helps:

Cam 1 detects, Cam 1 records

Cam 1 detects, Cam 2 records

Cam 2 detects, Cam 1 records

Cam 2 detects, Cam 2 records

or any variation needed.

[fmacioce]

So would you say that a wired system is superior with regard to capturing all activity since it has no lag?

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

More specifically one that only records locally would have little to no lag since nothing is hitting a server first.