DO NOT BUY ARLO RUN AWAY FAST

[DDDD23]

Wanted to share that Arlo systems really suck in general. The AI REALLY REALLY REALLY sucks and is wrong 80% of the time. If you are considering getting ARLO - RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. The battery life SUCKS. The base stations broadcast ARLO so your neighbors know how crappy your system is and that is doesn't detect motion half of the time. The base stations go offline frequently. The cameras lose connection constantly. Images are crappy to pur garbage. The system SUCKS and is unsafe. It can't detect people unless they are three feet from a camera IF you're camera battery isn't low AGAIN. It detects vehicles about 50% of the time. It take so long to connect remotely that we can't catch any before they have come and gone. If you want this system to feel safe and secure SHOP ELSEWHERE. It is extremely unreliable garbage.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

The system does have its shortcomings (very frustrating ones), but my experience is different from yours. In fact, one of the things it does is it identifies people, cars and animals from 20 yards away, so clearly there's something wrong with your setup. If you elaborate, the regulars on here will try to help.

[Station-36]

The issues raised in the original customer issue sound far too common and too consistent among a great many Arlo customers to be down to an individuals personal setup. I too have had the same issues consistently with 6x Arlo Ultra 2 cameras and 2x base stations. All devices suffer the same issues. However I recently purchased 2x Eufy S340’s and a HomeBase 3 and I was blown away by how well they perform. Clear signal. Great battery. Fast connection, Great AI. Just a whole other level. Arlo is clearly a sub-standard system (while also being very pricy).

[ak1977]

I 100% agree with you this system sucks.  And we can't get any support back from Arlo I wanted My money back but not possible.

I have the exact same issue as you the camera does not detect motion in the areas we select it detects as it pleases.  I've all different camera positions center, too high, too low, and always the same issue, it starts a detection but it stops after few seconds as if nothing was there but I tries jumping, moving around etc nothing happens.

It detects motion at the very top and very bottom of the camera the middle sucks so it is pointless.

Not to mention. That one of the cameras on My 3 camera pack stopped working just a couple of weeks after I bought it, it does not charge anymore it is a paper weight now.

[Nick12345678]

Yes I agree, Arlo cameras are crap!! Terrible battery life, very very hard to connect to wifi and generally crap instructions. Don't buy them

[MGaytan]

I totally agree! What a waste of money!! Been trying to figure out the double notifications and the only threads I see are from 2021 and 3 years later they can’t get that fixed. It’s so freaking frustrating. 

[JCTN]

i hope I can save someone money by leaving this input. I wish I had read in depth reviews before I purchased. First, the batteries are bad. You spend so much time charging batteries. I finally bought the hard wire power cables, which helped. The main problem is these cameras just do not work well at all with the app. The app is complete junk. It doesn't work most of the time. When you are trying to look at something real time, either it won't connect at all or the time delay is so bad an even is long gone before you can even look at it. Delays, pixel blocks, green streaks, complete white outs, etc. On top of that, you have to pay for a service just to video capture the doorbell, which is the MOST IMPORTANT CAMERA!

Motion detection only works maybe 5% of the time at best. 

Either go with another brand or get hard wired cameras and NVR. Stay clear away from ARLO!

[ddahl35]

I agree. I have had mine for 3 years and gave up on them for a while. The door bell one only connected for about a week and would never connect again. Phone calls and trouble shooting… nothing worked. Now I try and hook some back up and they will not pair. I paid a lot of money for this. What are you going to do to fix this Arlo!?!? 

[alex_loo]

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@Station-36 wrote:

However I recently purchased 2x Eufy S340’s and a HomeBase 3 and I was blown away by how well they perform. Clear signal. Great battery. Fast connection, Great AI. Just a whole other level. Arlo is clearly a sub-standard system (while also being very pricy).

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agree ARLO is ridiculously buggy and messy.

But a single fact that EUFY is a Chinese brand is a show stopper to me.  Despite the fact that many Chinese brand security systems are functionally very appealing.

But for a SECURITY system?  Nah.

Alex

[Soulguard]

100% agree with you!!! 

[Ezzyha]

After a year, when the warranty expires, the battery stops charging and now I’ve a lot of paperweights.   Don’t buy!  Even when it was working the camera has a lag time to capture motion so it’s not useful at all.

[Wildstreak]

It’s a painfully inadequate product in every aspect except looks. I’m became tied into its subscription service and still review process is no better.  Continual rebooting of unstable connections (strong signal) is another reason to run. 

[ak1977]

I bought a 3 camera package, one of them stopped working within less than a month, then the ones that still works is useless because the motion sensor sucks, no matter the adjustments i make the camera does not detect motion where it needs, it mainly picks up motion at the very top or very bottom but very spotty,  and even when it picks up motion, it only records for a few seconds and it stops, even though there is motion and the person is within the camera view.

Customer Service sucks, they are useless and dont care, they always read their script, always the same story every time we contact them and never solve the problem like give my money back.   i wasted my money cause now it is like a piece of decoration hanging on the top of my garage.

[ak1977]

they dont do squat about it.  i bought a 3 camera pack, one stopped working within a month and the other two still work but they suck.   Arlo wont do anything about it, everytime we contact them they read the same script and never solve the issue, or give my money back.

[ralfyguy1]

Since the new app came out it never identifies cars or animals anymore. Only people. The new app and web page is ATROCIOUS to be honest. 

[RichardNH]

Totally agree. 

I have been using Arlo cameras for many years (model H7) with the VMB3010 base station. Two of the cameras were in continuous night vision, which gave them a red tint. We were going on a vacation, and I had received the promotion for two of these newer Essential Indoor Outdoor cameras.

One FREE NO CHARGE feature I really liked about Arlo is that you receive a notification, along with the recording. In addition, the previous seven days of recordings would be saved. So I purchased the cameras. I have a several problems with them.

First, you need a subscription, or they are basically useless. Reading the product’s Frequently Asked Questions it stated that, “No subscription is required for your camera to work. Without a subscription, you will continue to receive notifications when motion is detected, and be able to view live feed.”

Literally, that is all they let you do! You don’t see the recording that triggered the notification, so it is basically useless. If you want to be sent the recording, or review saved recordings…you guessed it, buy a subscription at minimum $19.99 a month!

Second, they don’t integrate well with the base station, even though they state they are compatible. I don’t know if it is because I still have two of the older cameras, but there are disconnects in several areas.

Third, Arlo claims you can get up to two months of battery life before recharging. Both of these were discharged after four weeks with little activity.

Fourth, if you aren’t in the US you won’t be able to chat with USA online support if there is an issue with your cameras at home in the USA. They redirected us to the support of the country we were in, and were told by them they couldn’t help and redirected us back to the US chat.

They have an 800 number for USA only support, but we were unsuccessful when we tried to use it. The simplest solution would be to have EMAIL SUPPORT, BUT…you guessed it, they don’t offer email support.

I’m done with Arlo, and I am replacing them with another brand.

[RichardNH]

Why doesn't Arlo have an email address to contact support? Very frustrating.

[StephenB]

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@RichardNH wrote:

They have an 800 number for USA only support, 

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They used to have that, but today phone support is gotten using the support center in the app.  It requires a subscription.

Googling for a phone number generally leads to a scam support site.

[RichardNH]

I had the subscription, but was in Europe. They don't offer support if you contact them form Europe. I believe that a support email would have helped, but for all the reasons I outlined I'm done with Arlo.

[NoneOfYourBiZ]

Everyone needs to read this comment. Wish I had before buying 4 of these, gouging up my house to install them. 1. Everything from tip to tail is wrong with these. You will see comments on the internet, "I get 6 months on a charge". That is the one perfection case pointed in a closet, inside the home, 2 feet from the router and connected to a power supply.  I get 3 days and that is without checking live feed which can lower battery life. Oh yes. Do not actually LOOK at your cameras or it kills the battery. So they are useless.  2. DDDD23 was kind in saying 80%. More like 95%. A Coyote passed 2 feet from the Camera.. said "Motion". Then caught JUST the tail end. 1 1000th of a glimpse of something right there. I know because I was standing in the window watching it walk by.  It does the same thing for people. I have zones set from my door to the street. Encompassing the entire driveway. It hasnt captured a single vehicle. and worst off it captures people as they knock on the door. Zero warning of people coming, at all. I have 4 of these. None of them do as advertised.  3. Battery life. 3 of the 4 cameras struggle so much to stay connected, they eat up the battery. So badly and so often I charge and lose 40% in a day. Unless you want these 2 feet from the router and inside your home, I see zero point in owning these. Had I not already opened them and installed.. I would return them all.  I have one camera, their cheapest one... in the garage as a motion detector. It works 50% of the time. It gets me leaving for work, but never coming back. Same square footage coming and going. Just a bad product. They should included multiple batteries and be honest as to the limitations. 4.  I have 3 pro cameras and 1 essential camera ( the basic one).  I bought the pro after buying the essential because I didnt know I had to unscrew it every 3 days, then spend 20 minutes getting is pointed just right again. Well guess what? Do not fall for the Pro5 S being ANY better. The deceptive website ( their website spins and spins and takes 30 mins to buy anything BTW, worst website ever, always slow). shows that you can slip the battery out of the housing making charging easier. Makes it look like you can pop the battery out, charge and never have to aim them again once installed. NOT TRUE AT ALL.  You have to unscrew from the mount magnetic cable charge them. ( wait til i tell you about the mount). You have to unscrew entire camera from the mount, bring it inside the house, use their proprietary magnetic charging cable and it takes 5 to 6 hours to do this. So many nights you have no cameras because you are charging them on your counter. The ONLY way the camera works like in the pictures of the guy easily slipping it out to replace the battery is to BUY MORE EQUIPMENT! You have to buy extra batteries and a charger for it and keep extras on hand. This isnt mentioned anywhere on the site. You find this out after you install them. Feel duped having bought these. 4. The mount it for a powered camera that doesnt require a battery. In order to mount the cameras the way you want.. you cant! Why? Because the battery is simply too heavy for their mount no matter how hard you crank down to tighten it. So you cannot for example angle the cameras away from the road and still capture what you want to. The mount isnt right for their product. Always have to trick the mount and screw it in a fixed manor as the weight of the camera will drop it to the floor any other way. So ex. mine are pointing straight down the side of my house. I want to angle them as they point now more towards my neighbors due to the wide angle. I keep getting him coming out of his side door 25 times a day. BTW is says "motion" not "person despite the settings being correct. So I have cameras I cannot keep charged, cannot point where I want them. Great purchase! 5. They tell you that you do not need a plan to use these. Now I get a pop up I will lose activity zones ( which never worked anyway) all recording AND notifications.  Well  then the only thing that will work is live view unless I pay them $25 a month. Nowhere does it say this. It only tells you the more advanced features will not work without a plan. Notifications is advanced? Why else would anyone buy a camera unless its to notify them!? 

Purely a bad product, misleading product descriptions done intentionally and bad design. Sadly they are the "leader" in battery cameras.  Doesnt mean Ring is better BTW. Had those as well. Fishbowl look, it too missed most people.  Get a professional to install some hardwired cameras or simply place a dog bowl near the door where people can see it. Will do as good as Arlo has done for me. Perhaps results may vary, but in my personal experience, my personal opinion, they should be no more than $25 a camera and have better app, better mounts, better , everything. Its not even average. I am asking for them to go from mediocre... to ok.  I had a $300 POE ( power over ethernet) camera system that came with 6 cameras that did a much better job and was reliable. Only reason it is gone, everything got cut installing new soffit and fascia. Thought never again, lets get ARLO cameras this time. Well what a waste of my time and money. Sorry I didnt see this review earlier. 

[NoneOfYourBiZ]

"Mentor". Weird how this guys cameras, mine and 1000's of others online ALL have something wrong with their setup. They arent half as good as advertised. Period.

[Dgmi]

also, to consider…..

see my annual Arlo Secure plan price increases below:

2025         $ 215.88

2024          $ 149.99

2023           $ 119.88

if you’re not fully vested into this product, proceed with caution.

who knows how much they’ll increase it next year ?!

[NoneOfYourBiZ]

As someone who has had these now 3 weeks. I can make up my mind. They are in my opinion, a bad product all around. Every aspect.  It says you do not need a plan to use them.  Which to them means, have them mounted to your wall for live view only is considered "using them".  I am already calling a pro to come install hardwired cameras for 3 times the cost. Why? Because I am done settling for bad products. Ring was even worse. These battery products are simply, unreliable, now matter what you do they blame you for their inability to work as advertised. And as you pointed out... where does it end. Just month after month paying them, for what? Their product website doesnt even work in an efficient manor. 

[Edinburgh_lad1]

I'd like to retract my comments made in March 2024 - see above. I no longer have a subscription and I refuse to buy one, as this system is sub-par. The app is buggy, events are now missed or recorded incomplete, and the quality of footage is mediocre. I'd like to know if Arlo deliberately lowers the performance of its cameras - in terms of detection, too, because we already know that it does so in terms of footage quality - when one doesn't have a subscription.