Arlo Secure Automation issues

[fractalchic]

Hi hive mind,

At the end of last week when I was away overseas and the Arlo Secure app updated was forced on my system (without warning) and all my cameras (which I have had running without issue on Custom Modes for day and night, as well as Geolocation, for years) were disabled for most of the night until I discovered what had happened some 12 hours later. Strike one Arlo.

Now I'm trying to recreate the previous operation/scheduling of my camera modes and I'm not having a great deal of luck given the significant UN-user-friendliness of the new app. Strike two Arlo.

I've come here with a few questions for the people who will more likely have the answers, not Arlo Support.

I have four Pro 2 cameras and I had previously set up custom daytime, nightime, home and away modes to keep from having heaps of recordings during the day (the motion sensitivity on some of the cameras was reduced during the day) and to have cameras active overnight and whilst I'm away that aren't active whilst I'm at home during the day.

The first question I have at the moment is about automations that are implemented on a schedule to Customise Device and change the sensitivity of, say, the motion detection of a camera. If I have an automation that reduces a cameras motion sensitivity to 50% at 0700, how long does that change stay in effect? What If I go to walk my dogs at 0715 and the geolocation changes the mode to Arm Away when I get far enough from my house, and then back to Arm Home when I return home - is the 0700 automation to reduce the motion sensitivity on some cameras still in effect? Or, because the mode has changed to Arm Away and back to Arm Home, does it revert to the motion sensitivity settings that are set in the Arm Home mode?

My next question is whether these automations actually work? I've set up an automation to reduce the motion sensitivity on some cameras at 0700, but it's still making heaps of recordings until I change the motion sensitivity level in the Arm Home mode itself. I've been making so many changes the last few days I might just leave it alone for 24 hours, see how it works and hopefully this should answer some of the questions I have.

The issue that I'm currently having is in trying to make daytime and nightime schedules for both the Arm Home and Arm Away modes. I've successfully created daytime and nightime schedules for the Arm Home mode, and a daytime schedule for the Arm Away mode, but when I try to create a nightime schedule for the Arm Away mode I get an error saying that there's an overlap with the nightime schedule for the Arm Home mode (when there's not). Has anyone else encountered something similar? If so, how did you get around it?

Also, does anyone know how long it's going to be until the Custom Modes feature is actually available to be used? I can see all my previously created custom modes, but they're not available to me when I go to create a new automation to change the mode.

Thanks!

[jguerdat]

First off, custom modes are coming but you'll have to wait until notified.

If you use the Customize Device setting in the camera rule, it stays in effect until the next mode change, regardless of how/why it changes. When you arrive back home and GF switches to Arm Home the settings in Arm Home are all active.

Some screenshots of your Automations may be useful. A question I have is whether you actually need all those schedules since it would seem that they are duplicating efforts. Try reading through this FAQ and embedded links to see if it helps:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062777/About-Arlo-Routines-Modes-Rules-and-Automations

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@fractalchic wrote:

The issue that I'm currently having is in trying to make daytime and nightime schedules for both the Arm Home and Arm Away modes.

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The schedule automations let you change modes, but you are still restricted to the three modes that are built-in.

So I suspect you simply don't have enough modes to create two schedules, unless you are arming 24x7 in Arm Away, or possibly switching both schedules to Standby during the day.

[fractalchic]

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@jguerdat wrote:

First off, custom modes are coming but you'll have to wait until notified.

If you use the Customize Device setting in the camera rule, it stays in effect until the next mode change, regardless of how/why it changes. When you arrive back home and GF switches to Arm Home the settings in Arm Home are all active.

Some screenshots of your Automations may be useful. A question I have is whether you actually need all those schedules since it would seem that they are duplicating efforts. Try reading through this FAQ and embedded links to see if it helps:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062777/About-Arlo-Routines-Modes-Rules-and-Automations

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Thanks for the link, but I'd already read through that FAQ and several of the embedded links and it doesn't provide the level of information I'm after and is almost solely mode change based, rather than giving examples with changing other system elements.

I guess I'll have to wait for the wheel (i.e. Custom Modes) to be reinvented.

[happy2cu]

I'm having the same problem - prior to update schedule was set to have cameras active from 1000pm to 0600am.  Never had problems with that schedule.  Update and now my original schedule is still visible on the mobile app (not the desktop) but no longer works.

Tried creating custom settings no luck.  Help please

[StephenB]

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@happy2cu wrote:

I'm having the same problem - prior to update schedule was set to have cameras active from 1000pm to 0600am.  ]

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Do you want 

1. all cameras armed from 10 pm to 6 am
2. all cameras disarmed from 6 am to 10 pm

Or something more complicated than that?

[happy2cu]

All ON at 10pm Sunday thru Saturday 

All OFF at 6am Sunday through Saturday 

very simple settings 

[StephenB]

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@happy2cu wrote:

All ON at 10pm Sunday thru Saturday 

All OFF at 6am Sunday through Saturday 

very simple settings 

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First create two schedule automations.  The first switches to Arm Home mode at 10 pm every day.  The second switches to Standby mode at 6 am every day.

Then go into each of the three modes settings (routines->mode) and scroll down to the schedule automation area.  Enable both automations in both Arm Home and Standby, and disable both in Arm Away.  

Set the mode manually to either Arm Home or Standby, and the schedule will kick in.  If you go away for an extended time (on holiday, etc), then manually switch to Arm Away and the cameras will remain armed 24x7 until you manuall switch to one of the other two modes.