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Which gives faster image response for the Arlo Pro live feed?

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Kakerby
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Aspirant

We just got our Arlo Pro wireless system, specifically to watch for auto traffic coming over the crest of a hill before we pull out of our driveway.  When we tested the system with the camera about 8' away from the base station, we had only a 2 second delay in live feed, which was fantastic.  But the camera's position outside along the road is apparently just at the edge of our base station's range (roughly 200' away).  When we have a signal at all, it's just the dot in the signal strength; not even a single bar's worth.  And now our response time has a delay of about 11 seconds.  That delay is a problem, because by the time we see a car on the road, it's already coming up really fast on our driveway, which makes the camera useless for its intended purpose.  So clearly we either need to move the base station closer via a longer ethernet cable, and/or we need to get a range extender.  Whatever we do to boost the signal strength, our primary concern is to cut that delay time down as much as possible. 

 

So my questions are:

1. Do either of those options (longer ethernet cable vs range extender) improve response time more than the other?

2. Would doing both (moving the base station about 100' closer, AND installing a range extender) give us faster response time than either solution alone?

3. When I looked at range extenders, I found several different types: wired vs wireless vs ethernet vs wi-fi.   What's the difference between wired and ethernet, and wireless vs wifi? 

4. Do some of those work with the Arlo Pro and some not?

5. Would any of them give significantly faster camera-to-display times, compared to the others?

 

Thanks all.  I was almost hit by an oncoming car while pulling out into the road about two weeks ago, so we're strongly motivated to get this camera setup optimized ASAP.

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Kakerby
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Well, here's an interesting update.  First, I downloaded the Netgear Wifi Analytics app, which BTW is a joy to work with, and started measuring the signal strength in various places around the house.  Next, in the process of getting ready to move the base station, I decided to experiment with locating both the base station and the router in different locations in the house.  That dramatically changed the signal strength.  By simply raising both from desk level to near ceiling level, I was able to significantly boost the signal strength going out to the camera (which is still 200' away)  That one tactic gave me another bar of signal strength at the camera, and reduced the delay from at least 10 seconds down to about 2 seconds, which is plenty for me to see traffic coming. 

 

So to anyone wishing to boost their Arlo range, try some different locations before spending a lot of money on range extenders or ethernet cable.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  On a side note, TomMac,I was intrigued by your sigline about Morse.  I've got my General license and I've been learning Morse.  I'm not on the air much but I'm K2AMZ just in case you've got a license too.  Thanks again.

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jguerdat
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Guru

The only way to improve the connection between the camera and base is to move the base closer.  This connection can't be extended by any means.

TomMac
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Guru

Not to be funny, but near me with a number of blind driveways, the owners go low tech ...mirrors mounted to see traffic on road so pulling out is safe

( yes covered wth hardware cloth to prvent breakage )

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Morse is faster than texting!
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Kakerby
Aspirant
Aspirant

Thanks for the suggesiton on the mirror: we already use one for the other direction.  In our situation though, the crest of the hill is too far away (about 100') and there's too much vegetation in the way to get a good line-of-sight for a mirror to see over the crest of the hill.  As for the reply that moving the base station is the only solution, that directly contradicts Netgear's own help video on boosting the range of the Arlo base station to outlying cameras.  In that video, they talk about three options: moving the base station, getting another base station, or using range extenders.  So my question remains, which of those three would be the most appropriate for our situation?  Since we have only the one camera I'm not going to get another base station; if having the base station closer is the best option I'll just relocate the one we have.  But the range extenders were listed as another good way to extend range.  I'm just trying to figure out which of those is best, and which range extender would be the most appropriate.

TomMac
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Guru

Kakerby wrote:

Since we have only the one camera I'm not going to get another base station; if having the base station closer is the best option I'll just relocate the one we have.  But the range extenders were listed as another good way to extend range.  I'm just trying to figure out which of those is best, and which range extender would be the most appropriate.


Since you only have ONE camera,  and will relocate the base, you have two options that may work.

( a second base is the only true way to expand coverage but it doesn't apply here as your moving the base )

1) long ethernet cable, you can run up to 300ft

2) a wifi extender that has an ethernet port you can plug the base into... you have to place the wifi extender closer to the camera and then hook up the base, so in effect the base is closer to the camera ( watch the range on the extender as they as prob only good to a max of 300ft in best conditions too)

--------------------------------------
Morse is faster than texting!
--------------------------------------
Kakerby
Aspirant
Aspirant

Well, here's an interesting update.  First, I downloaded the Netgear Wifi Analytics app, which BTW is a joy to work with, and started measuring the signal strength in various places around the house.  Next, in the process of getting ready to move the base station, I decided to experiment with locating both the base station and the router in different locations in the house.  That dramatically changed the signal strength.  By simply raising both from desk level to near ceiling level, I was able to significantly boost the signal strength going out to the camera (which is still 200' away)  That one tactic gave me another bar of signal strength at the camera, and reduced the delay from at least 10 seconds down to about 2 seconds, which is plenty for me to see traffic coming. 

 

So to anyone wishing to boost their Arlo range, try some different locations before spending a lot of money on range extenders or ethernet cable.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  On a side note, TomMac,I was intrigued by your sigline about Morse.  I've got my General license and I've been learning Morse.  I'm not on the air much but I'm K2AMZ just in case you've got a license too.  Thanks again.