Initial reaction to Arlo - a couple of challenges

[Dale_in_GA]

I love Arlo so far.  Couldn't imagine that a camera system would be so easy to install. 

A couple of things I am trying to solve and looking for best practices. 

1. Motion Sensitivity - I have tried changing the motion sensitivity based on the tutorials.  Currently, cameras are around 20%. When I "test" them by walking in front of them they work.  And anytime I intentionally or unintentionally walk in front of them they work.  However, the first time that someone came to my door.... nothing.  It was in the evening around 5 PM and the sun was still out. Does time of day impact how the sensitivity works? 
2. Notifications - I have to admit I like getting the notifications but they are annoying since they are constantly letting me know I just walked in front of a camera.  So they are working exactly as designed.  Curious, about how others are using the notifications.  I have 4 cameras around the outside of my house.  I want to be notified when someone is around my house.  Just not when I am around the house. 

Thanks for any suggestions! 

Dale 

[TomMac]

1) The best way to test them is actually use them.  The PIR has a max range of about 20 ft for people ( better < than 15 ) so try not to cover an area prob greater than the sense range..  Start at a setting of the default of 80% and slowly go up a point or two per day so you can see how it reacts. Since the PIR senses IR or reflection , yes time of day or sunlight can effect the settings ( some use two custom modes with differnt sense levels for am / pm )

( my outside cams us 86% )

2) When you turn on the notification, the cameras don't know if its you or someone else...nothing you can do there except disarm the sytstem when your out around the house and rearm when inside.

Or you can turn off the notifications on a temp basis using the app settings on the device

[GadgetGuy]

One idea to have the cameras recognize would be by incorporating geofencing. So if you have the phone with you, notifications would not be sent. And cameras would not record. Another item for the wish list. 

[Psaras]

there is a geo fencing beta, it seems to be gernal location based instead of network based (chciking if you are on same lan).

Unfomrtenly for me it is not good unless configurable by camera,  since half my cameras are outside and the ones to deal with our spike in package theft means I want outside triggered if I am home or not.

[Psaras]

there is a geo fencing beta, it seems to be general location based instead of network based (chciking if you are on same lan).

Unfomrtenly for me it is not good unless configurable by camera,  since half my cameras are outside and the ones to deal with our spike in package theft means I want outside triggered if I am home or not.

[jguerdat]

Arlo isn't alone. I also have an August SmartLock which sucks for geofencing autounlock. I'm involved in a bet test app that works differently but still sucks.

[migman_2001]

NETGEAR is supposed to be releasing software which will have some artificial intelligence AI to it. It's suppose to distinguish between different things. Sounds like a user will need an upgraded plan for this functionality since what I read about it says 30 day trial. I believe they said it will be released by year end.

[migman_2001]

https://www.netgear.com/about/press-releases/2016/NETGEAR-INTRODUCES-ARLO-PRO.aspx?cid=wmt_netgear_o...

Scroll down to see the mention of Smart Motion Recognition. 

[migman_2001]

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/What-is-Arlo-Smart-and-how-do-I-benefit-from-it...

[Dale_in_GA]

This is awesome!  Sounds like exactly what I am looking for.  

Thanks for posting this. 

Dale 

[Roberob]

It's so unfortunate that they place these features behind a pay wall. I can see paying for cloud storage but for additional features, that's not cool in my opinion. But oh well.

[throwaway-bye]

You can set two geofencing modes.

Geofencing when you are home. Record video on motion/audio when you are home and disable push notification/email.

Geofencing when you are away. Record video on motion/audio when your are away and send push notification/email.

[benrob3]

I would like to suggest playing with the geofencing. The main point of this DIY system is full customization. Geofencing has for two modes. One when home and one for away. But the user gets to dictate exactly which mode you would like to use. I have two main modes I use (and custom created). The home records video on my three outside cameras only, with the same sensitivity settings as my away mode but i removed alerts for home mode. Away mode records and sends an email and push nottification if the living room camera is activated (also siren will sound). It has two modes, true. But those modes are customizable to the millions of combos. Hope this helps.