Arlo Q or Q Plus for Outdoor Use

[Ninety-9]

I get that I'm opening up a tired discussion.

Please don't state the obvious: Arlo Wireless = Outdoor, Arlo Q(+) = Indoor.....I get it.

I'm looking for solutions, here.  Perhaps there's a water resistant case, perhaps I could make my own water resistant case, perhaps I could seal it with silicone, or, perhaps Netgear will finally get a clue that an outdoor-rated Arlo Q(+) is an essential for more professional users and they're sitting on top of a HUGE opportunity to make security cameras for more serious market

Just a qualifier, my house is already wired for PoE.  I have a Lorex outdoor PoE system on my home, the cameras are great, but the UI is from the stone age and forget about remote viewing.

Why I am choosing Netgear Arlo:

-Arlo is a modern, internet-connected, cloud-based smart-cam that I can access anywhere.
-Arlo seems to be better suited for the power user, with more flexibility.

-It's more customizable and more powerful than your average Nest/drop Cam.  

-It doesn't require a lifetime of servitude (paid subscription) just to use my own cameras.

-7-days of motion recording works for me.

Why the Arlo Wireless doesn't work for me:

-I don't want to change/buy batteries. I plan to permanently install my cameras out of reach.

-I will probably opt for PoE, but the wireless Arlo Q is an option.
-I want 24/7 Live Monitoring, no sleeping. I plan to use a tablet to show a live splitscreen.

-1080p + sound is a bonus.

Why the Q (Plus) aren't suitable, at the moment:
-Not rated for Outdoor use.

[jguerdat]

Not rated for outdoors doesn't mean you can't jump through the hoops to make it useful there.  My suspicion is that this is due primarily for sealing of the various openings.  Thus, your thoughts of providing a box to protect it would be spot on. Just protect the power supply, whether via wall wart or PoE.

[JamesC]

Ninety-9.

At this time, there is no official NETGEAR accessory that enables the use of the Arlo Q/Q Plus outdoors. As you already cited, Arlo Q/Q Plus is not rated for outdoor use and the warranty will be voided if it is used in this way.

Please do keep in mind that Arlo Q/Q Plus will detect motion through glass, unlike Arlo Wire-free. This allows for placement inside, behind a window, facing outward, and motion should still be detected.

JamesC

[TheTopAce]

What I don't see addressed is the ability to use the Q+ outdoors but under eves or locations where it could not get wet. My porch is large and deep. There's no concern about the elements. Is there a problem with temperature ratings with this use?

[TomMac]

Tho not rated for outdoors, I had a Q outside in a covered area for a while...( two or three rain storms ) ..out of weather placement.

It work fine tho I can see a possible problem with water infiltration in winter from blowing snow...as the Qs stay fairly warm while running I could see it melting snow

[leemi]

Ninety-9   great post. I am glad someone else has the same needs/concerns.  I've seen & used Lorex & samsung wired & wireless units, I agree their software is from the stone age & the bad guys can just break into my home & steal the dvr too.  

arlo's 7 days free is awesome & the 30 days for $99/year(up to 10 cams) is very reasonable!  Compare to other cloud-dvr such as samsung, nest, foscam & other cloud-dvr etc... who charges A WHOLE LOT more.

I also like the Q plus for these aditional benefits/wish list:

- I like the Poe because I heard that the bad guys could use a "wifi jammer" to mess with wireless wifi cams?  can someone verify is the poe on the arlo Q plus for power only or also video data?

- I wish that arlo would use heat detetion technology in future upgrades/models for the motions sensor.  I've used other brands with the pixel/brightness/contract motion dectection & it gives lots of faults alarms such as tree/ building shadows on ground, flying insects, head lights at night, etc...

Has any one use the Q plus in covered porches & under roof eves in hot & cold weather ?  I have with the samsung smartcams & they did not fail yet in utah weather so the arlo Q plus is look very good to me.

Thanks in advance.  any suggestions welcome !   🙂

[jguerdat]

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leemi wrote:

- I like the Poe because I heard that the bad guys could use a "wifi jammer" to mess with wireless wifi cams?  can someone verify is the poe on the arlo Q plus for power only or also video data?

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Power and video. I wouldn't worry much about WiFi jammers unless you have a reason for such concern. After all, it's actually easier to just cut your internet feed and/or power.

[kdow73]

The Arlo Q works fine looking out the window during the day. At night, all I see is the mirror image of the camera, reflected off the glass.

[jguerdat]

Turn off Night Vision. That prevents the IR illuminators from lighting up and reflecting off the glass. You may need to do some baffling around the camera if there is good lighting in the room to help with image quality and other reflections.

[Scottggregoire]

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Ninety-9 wrote:

I get that I'm opening up a tired discussion.

Please don't state the obvious: Arlo Wireless = Outdoor, Arlo Q(+) = Indoor.....I get it.

I'm looking for solutions, here.  Perhaps there's a water resistant case, perhaps I could make my own water resistant case, perhaps I could seal it with silicone, or, perhaps Netgear will finally get a clue that an outdoor-rated Arlo Q(+) is an essential for more professional users and they're sitting on top of a HUGE opportunity to make security cameras for more serious market

Just a qualifier, my house is already wired for PoE.  I have a Lorex outdoor PoE system on my home, the cameras are great, but the UI is from the stone age and forget about remote viewing.

Why I am choosing Netgear Arlo:

-Arlo is a modern, internet-connected, cloud-based smart-cam that I can access anywhere.
-Arlo seems to be better suited for the power user, with more flexibility.

-It's more customizable and more powerful than your average Nest/drop Cam.  

-It doesn't require a lifetime of servitude (paid subscription) just to use my own cameras.

-7-days of motion recording works for me.

Why the Arlo Wireless doesn't work for me:

-I don't want to change/buy batteries. I plan to permanently install my cameras out of reach.

-I will probably opt for PoE, but the wireless Arlo Q is an option.
-I want 24/7 Live Monitoring, no sleeping. I plan to use a tablet to show a live splitscreen.

-1080p + sound is a bonus.

Why the Q (Plus) aren't suitable, at the moment:
-Not rated for Outdoor use.

I currently have 3 outside under cover. Zero direct rain can hit them. They work fine.

[leemi]

Thanks for the post Ninety-9.   Im in the same boat,  always keeping an eye out for better value/technology for my Poe wired home. I would like to have 4 to 8 cams total some day if I could afford it   

I am currently on the fence btwn getting a NVR(network video recorder) with poe cams or Cloud video service such as arlo Q plus.  The $10/mo for up to 10 cameras is doable but the Q plus cams are very pricey).  I keep coming back to arlo & other cloud systems because I don't like the idea of the intruder stealing my NVR.  

Ninety-9   what is the highest & lowest temperatures your Q plus has encountered? & how long have them been in service?

Anyone & any suggestions will be appreciated !   We are all here to learn.  🙂   Thank You in advance.

[sgalloway]

hi all i gave an arlo w and the only issue at the moment is not being abke to turn on night vision if i have it mounted near a window looking outside !! is there anyway of making yhis work ? cause as you say the IR reflecting of the glass makes it unuseable !!

[sgalloway]

sorry about the spelling mistakes due to my phone trying to auto correct.. i have the arlo Q with the night vision issue !!

[jguerdat]

The IR will always reflect off the glass if looking ng through glass. Providing outdoor lighting is the solution, whether normal outdoor lighting or an IR floodlight of 850nm.

[berylium]

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Scottggregoire wrote:

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I currently have 3 outside under cover. Zero direct rain can hit them. They work fine.

---

Scottggregoire,

Do you live in a high humidity environment? Also, how long have they been functional and outside?

Humidity is my primary concern as all my cameras would be protected by eves but I live in a City with very high humidity year round. I was considering putting silicone in the microSD slot, around the Sync button, and around the power connection on the back. But I'm not sure if the microphone and speaker are also weak points. The Arlo Pro has both microphone and speaker but perhaps they're more robust to survive the elements.

[hionhifi]

Has anyone else installed the Arlo Q's outside under eves? 

Thomas

[berylium]

@hionhifi

For testing purposes, in early March I installed an Arlo Q Plus outside my house under an eave. I live in Houston where humidity is consistently high and it rains very requently. I put some silicone over the speaker grill and the micro SD slot. I left the microphone as is.

Over a month later and it's still working just fine. In fact, my only complaint is that shadows from trees swaying in the wind cause me to get hundreds of motion detection notifications during the day (even with motion sensitivity pushed to the far right of the scale). Arlo really needs to get "smarter" motion detection like the Logitech Circle that can recofnize people.

I'm not sure a month is a long enough period of time to say how well the Arlo Q will handle the outdoor environment but it's all I've got right now.

[hionhifi]

Thanks for that update Berylium. Seems like the camera is doing well outside. I'd be interested to see how they do after a year of going through all the seasons.

I myself ended up purchasing four Arlo Pro's and placed them around the outside of the house. The system is an experiment and substitute to the Arlo Q Plus's which is what I have indoors with a POE switch. I would actually prefer the Q Plus outside. With a little"hardening" or weatherizing for outdoor use. Of the four Arlo Pro's, two are out in the elements (though they could be mounted under eves themselves) two are under deep eves with no chance of direct moisture.

I certainly like the easy installation of the Arlo Pro's but the limited video quality (720p), inability to do CVR, inability to set an activity zones, and wireless battery life are concerning to me. I may just take the risk and move to an all Arlo Q Plus setup.

Some concerns I have moving the Arlo Q Plus outside are:
1. Moisture
2. Heat (I'm in Northern CA - Sacramento)

I could overcome those two issues by:
1. To overcome the moisture issue I could silicone the seams, sd card slot, speaker and microphone openings.
2. To overcome the heat issue I could place the cameras under eves out of direct sunlight.

Hopefully those two tactics would be sufficient to protect the cameras from the elements while allowing me even more functionality than the Arlo Pro's.

The heat issue is real since where I live summers can get up past 100 degrees.

[jguerdat]

Berylium, don't forget that the Q cameras have a different detection method and you can set zones to help prevent false triggers. Just be sure to use them in your modes.

[berylium]

@jguerdat, yes, I'm using multiple zones to eleminate false triggers as much as possible but this test camera is pointed at a a big area of driveway outside my garage so the shadows offer a high contrast on the mostly white concrete of the driveway. For example, in the last 7 days this camera has received 864 motion events. They's mostly during the day but god help you if a bug gets interested in the IR LEDs! The net result is that, unfortunately, I've had to disable notification alerts entirely which is a bit of a bummer.

Were I using the camera as intended, inside a home, I could probably more easily define zones that didn't include windows or other areas that sunlight and shadow wouldn't trigger false positives.

[hionhifi]

So I've returned my Arlo Pro system in favor of the Arlo Q Plus. I'll weatherize as previously discussed and see how they hold up. I'll be sure to report back the ongoing results. I have 1 already that I'll use as a sacrificial lamb so to speak. 

To weatherize the body and other parts of the camera and POE adapter I plan using PlastiDip (https://www.amazon.com/Performix-11203-Multi-Purpose-Coating-Aerosol/dp/B0006SU3QW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF...) due to its ease of use and adverted properties. This will allow the masking​ off of everything on the camera except the seams, microphone, speaker, SD card slot and power adapter input of the camera.  Those areas will get the PlastiDip. 

Does anyone have any better ideas for sealent? Such as marine grade silicone, or truck bed liner, maybe another brand of spray on rubber sealer? 

Another question is Do I insert an SD Card before sealing it up giving me the local storage option?.

[jguerdat]

Inserting the SD card before sealing would be needed but then you'd have no way to view what's on the card since it's not accessible directly from the camera. You have to unmount the card and use a computer to view. You'd have to be creative in making a removable seal for the card slot.

[hionhifi]

I see. So an SD Card will not be in the cards.

[jguerdat]

Could be useful as a backup just in case. Use a large card and reformat when it fills or just let it overwrite. That way you can always pull it out in an emergency.

[hionhifi]

I agree with ya Jguerdat. I've just gotta find a way to be able to seal and waterproof reseal the card slot each time I need to pull the sd card. That's the real issue.