Keeps detecting my indoor cat as a person and doesn't detect a person right in front of the camera

[ArloProOwner]

Animal vs. Person detection.....Is there any way to reset and start over a particular camera's detections?  Back months ago before this newer smart detection, you could only detect a person, so I made it detect my cat as a person, since that was my only choice.  NOW every time my cat moves it alerts me there's a person in my house, many many times a day.  So I wish you could start over where it would detect the motion and ask you to determine whether it's a person or cat or other.  Also, yesterday for example, there was a person in my living room and it did not even record anything the entire 2 minutes the person was there.  Usually it does, and this camera is plugged in all the time. 

Also other cameras record the Sun's rays as a motion detection.  Drives me crazy.  Other times they constantly record the wind and then don't record a vehicle driving in front of the camera.  I have 10 cameras, and all these false alerts can drive you bonkers.  But more importantly, when it misses things or catches the last second of something  that was in motion much longer than that in front of the camera can  really be a safety issue.  

Sorry, I felt like venting, so I mentioned other things  while I was here.

11/30/2018

[brh]

@ArloProOwner

Wow! How interesting and I am sure frustrationg for you! It seems that the Arlo Smart does these identifications on a camera by camera basis for a location, in other words, if your cameras stay in one place, Arlo previously would ask you if the identification was correct until it memorized the screen shots for that particular camera location and when it was satisfied, it quit asking. I haven't seen the little yellow circles with the question mark inside for a very long time.

I wonder if you moved the camera to a different location in the room for a short time if it would act correctly. 

Secondly, if you deleted the camera then added it back to your system, if it would reset the Arlo Smart.

Just some random thoughts here.

Brian

[brh]

@ArloProOwner

One other thing here. I have been unable to change the image in the Smart Activity Zones when I would move the location of the camera. It was suggested that I should rotate the image by 180 degrees twice and that would reset it. Never worked for me. So if you do move the camera, your image might not update in the Smart Activities Zones. And whatever you do, do not move the camera to inactive in the Smart Notifications. I did and now it won't let me reactivate it.

I love my Arlo system, (also have 10 cameras), but sometimes I want to scream and pull my hair out, (what's left of it), at the incompetency of the Arlo programmers and no one at Arlo paying attention to the bugs.

So, venting is normal, expected and welcomed. LOL

Brian

[pc2k17]

With issues with some of the basic functions of the system still not being solved, you really didn't think an advanced feature like smart was going to work correctly did you? My guess is it will be some time before smart works the way the typical end users will except it to. If you're "tech geek", smart is probably fun to play around with, but the typical "non-geek" person would probably just get frustrated.

For now, it might be best to forget about smart and use custom modes/rules, sensitivity settings, and camera placement/aiming to eliminate the false triggers.

Plus not to mention that when Arlo went public, investors were counting on Arlo expanding it subscription services and not rely on hardware sales for it's main revenue. And arlo has just done that focusing on subscription services instead of fixing the firmware and backend issues. The only way to put pressure on Arlo is to not use the subscription services.

IMHO.....

[brh]

@pc2k17

Now that you mention it, I have been watching Arlo's performance on the stock market every day and they are taking a beating. In spite of the problems we are having with Arlo, I really do like their systems and even more so because they are the only official cameras that work with Smartthings which I rely on a lot. I really do hope the best for them because until they have more money, better and greater things will be slow in arriving. 

My biggest criticism of Arlo is that they need to listen to their customers more.

As far as the Arlo Smart, it has its good things and bad things, I am beginning to think that I would rather have very quick notifications and not know what triggered them rather than much slower notifications, but fairly accurate identification. I am debating that point in my mind.

Brian

[pc2k17]

Yes I have watched the stock tumble as well. I agree though, I like my system, and it does have the best SmartThings integration and that is the reason I stay with it right now. I have pretty much everything in my home integrated into SmartThings and the cameras are a big part of it. I hope they do well too so I don't have to switch to another camera system and possibly lose functionality. I'm an engineer so I don't mind fiddling around, tweaking, constantly fix and or changing things, but the typical person who this system gets sold to due to marketing justs want it to work right out of the box 24/7/365.

I also agree, Arlo has to listen to us "geeks". We'll point you in the right direction so you can accomodate the basic user as well as the iOT home automation geek users.

As far as smart goes, idk, maybe it's just me, but I don't get why anyone would want to "block out" areas where motion might be (zones) and only detect it in certian areas. I bought the camera to record everything, not sit idle for weeks or months at a time. If it captures too much..... that's why I bought them. It's easy to ignore non-important videos in the library quickly by the thumbnails. Also where I live there is little to no foot traffic, cars/roads are 100's of feet away, only thing I capture outside (or inside) is animals and my pets (maybe an occational visitor or package or propane deleivery guy, etc). If my cameras go off outside I know it's an animal, I don't need smart to tell me. And if an inside camera goes off, but smarthtings or my alarm system doesn't go off, then I know it's my pets, I don't need arlo to tell me it'a an animal. Maybe for city, suburd people it's usefull, but not so much for me living in the country.

[brh]

@pc2k17

I can't remember if you have joined in the beta testing or not, but if not I would encourage you to join. A tremendous number of bugs are fixed there before the products or apps go public. But I think that Arlo is under tremendous pressure to release things to the public that still don't quite have all the bugs worked out. After the release, it seems that the unresolved bugs that show up here are very slow to get corrected.

Check this out:

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/11/30/18119433/netgear-security-camera-arlo-ultra-4k-hd...

Brian

[pc2k17]

@brh

Ya I'm in the Arlo beta program. It seems disorganized and lacking important info. I'm still stuck on the last firmware due to the beta, but everything is working so I'm fine. I'm pretty sure that Arlo is run from Europe because they work just like the company I work at which is headquartered in Spain. They are terrible at IT and essentially there business model is get it out on time, whether it works or not, and fix it in production. A foolish way to do IT and very simliar to how Arlo seems to run it's business.

Now on to the link you posted. 4K camera, hmmmm....seems cool! Then I think about it a bit.....

$400 for one camera? Yikes, you can get an axis camera in that price range that will blow away the current Arlo's, and I'm guess this new one as well. Every review I have read has axis on top. Even though people think this current system is expensive, for quality cameras, it's really not. That was one good point, the bang for the buck factor put Arlo at the top of the heap, but not with a $400 camera it won't.

A light and 4k video. Can't imagine that battery would last more than 2 months with 5 minute a day use. Less with more use. Unless they put a bigger battery in. Wired or solar is probably the way to go with the ultra, which increases the price.

Smart out of the box? Hopefully people who don't want it can turn it off.

But here is the killer............. $120 a year just so you can actually have high quality videos that the camera you paid $200 extra dollars for is capable of doing. So pay more for the hardware, and then more again each year to use it? Unless I'm understanding wrong, IDK, that's a fail to me.

Boy I'd really like to be excited about the Ultra, but idk....

[brh]

@pc2k17

Actually, there is a ton of info out there today about the release. You have to read all the articles about what it does,what is included, etc. 

The $400 is not for simply one camera. That price comes with a new improved base unit, one year free Arlo Smart Premier subscription plan with lots of improvements including an interchangeable battery, meaning that one can purchase a super sized battery that will double the life of the included battery, etc. I don't think the individual cameras will be priced too much more than what the Pro 2 was. 

If you are in Spain, though, the Arlo Smart won't appeal to you much.

Brian

[pc2k17]

@brh

Thanks for the info. I'll check out some articles. It does look pretty cool. I still don't like the pay for higher quality feature, but I understand it. AWS is expensive, lol. If the ultra is about same price as the Pro 2 for a single add on camera, that would be good. I'll have to wait for peope to get it and post sample videos, because I have Pro's inside and a Pro 2 outside and I see virtually no difference in quality. Hopefully the 4k quality is very noticable.

I'm not in Spain, USA born and breed, the company I work for is an international company with offices in a dozen countries around the world. I occationally travel to Spain for business though.