Arlo ultra activity zones do not work

[Seth809]

One of my cameras is set up at the front gate of my property looking toward the road.  Its a county road so probably only one car per every few minutes.  The road is 60ft from my gate so i need to utilize the activity zone to capture only gate movement and movement on my land.  I have tried different size zones down to about a 2ft by 2ft box 100ft away from the road.  I have also adjusted the sensitivity down to 5%.  With both of these settings its still going off with cars driving by. 

I read on the Arlo website you have to either have a Smart Subscription or the camera must be wired to power for activity zones to work.  Since this camera system is only 1mo old, I show to still have the free Smart 12mo Subscription.  I meet one of the requriements for Activity Zones to work yet they dont.

[Shaun1234]

Just so your aware we are having the same issues in the pro3 forums...
These really are junk, I've got a security systems that records whatever it feels like!
Should've just spend £1000 on pocket money to get the kids to constantly look out the window.
At least they would notify me!

[ShayneS]

Hello,

If you are still experiencing activity zone issue, please find the following article that will help with troubleshooting How do I troubleshoot problems with Arlo activity zones?

[wezo]

Firmware 1.125.14.0_34_1189 HW version 3.

Activity zones not working with smart subscription premier - 2 x single cameras enabled.  Video is recording all motion from people and cars walking on the street that are outside of the activity zones.  Note that I do not have AC power plugged in as I was advised that activity zones work with either a smart subscription or AC power.  Is anyone else having the same issue?

[Smclause1]

I have had my cameras for one year. The activity zones feature (gimmick?) did not work from the get go. I had just subscribed to the top tier for 4K video and the mode STILL has not worked even once. Firmware is UTD. This feature needs serious work. Has anyone had success with this feature?

[sia_later]

I'm also experiencing the same issues on my 3 Ultras (still within the 1 year trial) and 1 Pro 3 Floodlight (on the 3 month trial).

Activity zones are completely ignored and get 'Motion detected' alerts.

Smarthub: 1.16.2.5_633_62dfaa0

App: 2.18.1_28070

[Shaun1234]

Just out of curiosity are you plugged into main power or just running on battery?
My pro3 cameras now work on activity zones perfectly, I deleted all zones, am on mains power, I also pressed save after adding each individual zone.
I can now set a zone in an area and walk all around the outside of that zone without triggering the cameras

[sia_later]

All my cameras are running on batteries. I've actually just reset the activity zones on my floodlight just before my previous post. I'll need to give that a test.

But as far as my ultras are concerned, definitely not working even after creating new zones.

[Shaun1234]

Have you tried creating just a very very small zone somewhere there is no trees,grass , shadows etc then walking in the opposite area to see if it still picks you up, just to see if the zones are even activating at all?

[Shaun1234]

I maybe wrong but from what I've read activity zones work very differently when cameras on power/Vs battery.
If on a/c power the zones are just running on the camera all the time and the camera will completely ignore everything outside of the zone.
If on battery because the camera has to be triggered to turn on, it will always get activated regardless of where the motion is, the recording will then get sent to the Arlo cloud to then decide if the movement was in the zone, the problem with this is, if once sent to Arlo some pixels are moving in your zone for any of that recording, be it wind, grass, shadow etc it will send you the recording.
I'm no expert and could be talking out if my backside but it's just what I've observed.
Only way to prove would be to get one camera on power, maybe indoors? Make sure it's fully charged til battery icon turns black, then restart that camera and creat new zone.
Worth a go just to prove if it's Arlo servers that have the issue or your set.

[Onegr8dane]

Nothing in that article is of use.  The sugestions do not work and are contrary to the purpose for which most of us got the cameras.

Example: One of my arlo ultra cameras is mounted under the beams in my carport looking slightly down and facing a fence with an opening to the street. The camera is on AC adapter power. The activity zone is limited to the gravel and not above the bottom of the fence and not including any of the street. Sensitivity is 80%, zoom and tracking off.

Yet, every time a city bus, or large truck drives by the camera is triggered. That is completely outside the activity zone. 
I have a suspicion that the firmware in the camera is not recognizing that AC adapter power is attached, even though the lightning symbol is shown on the battery icon in the app.

[srandall25]

People are definitely not understanding how activity zones are suppose to work. The activity zone only effects what notifications a person gets, not whether or not the camera is triggered to record. The camera will record based on what the motion sensor picks up. You can adjust the motion sensor sensitivity via the app. The activity zone has no effect on this. If the sensor picks up motion, the camera will record, regardless of what is defined in the activity zone. The activity zone is setup so that once a recording has occurred, the recording gets sent to Arlo. Arlo uses your activity zone to determine if an animal or person (as an example) is within your activity zone, and will then send you a notification according to your notification settings. If Arlo doesn't find an animal or person (as an example) in your activity zone, you will still have the recordings in your library... you just may or may not get the notifications for the recording depending on how your notifications are setup.

[Shaun1234]

No need for such a crappy response, I don't work for Arlo I'm just unfortunate enough to own one of their cameras like you!


To response of your "people definitely don't understand how activity zones work".
Again maybe you are the expert?
Maybe I'm too polite but the way people respond sometimes definitely comes across as arrogant,
The only reason I assumed that was how it worked was although,I agree with the fact of the smart notifications working in that way it didn't explain why when activity zones are activated my end was that the flood light part only activates instantly when I'm in that zone, didn't think Arlo servers could react that fast, anyway you both obviously know more than me and clearly don't find comments helpful even though thats why you are here on a forum rather than contacting Arlo direct.

[dcfox1]

The smart notification and activity zones are two two separate functions. With smart notifications you will get recording for all, just not notifications for those turned off such as other motion. For activity zones the camera records and sends to server to check if it is in or out of zone. If out of zone you will get no notification or recording. If in zone you will per smart notifications function. It works fine for me now. 

[srandall25]

I'm definitely not an expert, but it looks like you're now figuring it out. Your flood light motion sensors apparently happen to reach to the limits of your activity zone since the activity zone has no effect on how and when the flood lights come on.

[Shaun1234]

@srandall25
Well I have a pro3 camera set, maybe they work differently they are newer than the older ultra's? it's night here, I've just removed all my activity zones on all my cameras and changed them to a tiny square on the edge of all my cameras, and I can walk all around my garden, drive and path without activating the light until I walk into the sqaures which are at the further view points of my cameras.

[srandall25]

It appears your system is special. I would definitely hang on to that one!

[Shaun1234]

If there are any other members on here that have a paid for subscription, or still in the free trial period and also on plug in permanent power, would you be so kind as to try deleting all the zones on one of your cameras and creating a small zone somewhere to the side of your view.
Then assuming you have it activated see if your camera light only comes on when you enter your new zone.
I'm just curious to see if this is only a pro3 feature as my father's act the same as mine.
Many thanks in advance 🙂

[Shaun1234]

No worries someone in pro3 forum confirmed that theirs work the same as mine

[Lorrain]

I've had this camera for a month. I've done a lot of tweaking and realize that it will take some time to correctly configure the camera position, recording duration, video optimization, etc. 

However, after re-defining Activity Zones many times, the camera is recording traffic on a distant highway way outside of the zones. At the same time, it's not recording things that happen within the Activity Zones. I can see a car arrive and park in front of the house, but it didn't record the car arriving. 

I believe I'm on the 1-year free trial as a new customer. It's my understanding that the Activity Zones are included in this trial? 

The description of this camera prior to purchase claimed a 3- to 6-month battery life. Mine lasts 1 week MAX. And I've optimized video settings. If it wouldn't record everything outside of the defined activity zones, I'm guessing it would last longer?

Please advise. 

[michaelkenward]

You've been through all this?

What are activity zones and how do I create them?

How do I troubleshoot problems with Arlo activity zones?

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@Lorrain wrote:

The description of this camera prior to purchase claimed a 3- to 6-month battery life. Mine lasts 1 week MAX.

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That's for a quoted use of five minutes a day for recordings. What are you catching?

[Lorrain]

Oh. Well, there's a lot more than 5 minutes/day being recorded. I'm on a very busy city street. Way too many cars pass, this is why I really need the activity zones to work. 

[Lorrain]

Interesting. If this is the case, then it makes sense, but what I read is that activity zones define where you want motion to be detected. 

[Slow]

Hi, I experienced the same problem. By adjusting and lowering the motion sensitivty in the mode setting, it stopped detecting the cars driving by and only detect movement in my property. The detection zone adjustment do not work the way it should.

[hleighb]

Well whatever you did to fix this issue, its not working.  Camera keeps going off with activity well outside the activity zone.  Why have the zone if it doesn't work?

[Sevakesmailian]

Hi ,

They will be releasing a firmware soon that will fix all these problems. I am on beta firmwares and they have fixed all issues. Should be out soon. I will keep u guys updated.