Activity zones

[bigjoe495]

I thought that you are not able to set up activity zones on battery powered camera ?  Also Im confused , as why I would need activity zones?  Doesn't the cameras detect motion with out setting up an activity zone ?

[StephenB]

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@bigjoe495 wrote:

I thought that you are not able to set up activity zones on battery powered camera ?  Also Im confused , as why I would need activity zones?  Doesn't the cameras detect motion with out setting up an activity zone ?

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Activity zones let you limit the area where motion is detected to a specific section of the field of view.  The camera detects motion with using a separate PIR (passive infrared) sensor - it isn't using the video itself.  The activity zone is checked using the video after the motion is detected.  If the motion is in the zone, then a notification is sent, and the video recording is saved.  If it's not in the zone, then the motion detection is ignored.

There are two ways to get activity zones.  Local activity zones are processed in the camera itself, and they do require AC power.  Cloud activity zones are processed by the Arlo Cloud - they don't require AC power, but they do require a subscription.

Activity zones are just an optional tool to reduce the number of notifications you get - the camera will detect motion w/o them.  Note they won't help battery life (as the camera is doing the same of amount of streaming with them as it does w/o them).

[n1976jmk]

Hi Joe.

Some people do not want to receive motion notifications from the entire field of view of their cameras.

In that case they set up ‘activity zones’. Then the Arlo app will only send them motion notifications from within those defined activity zones.

You can read more about it here.

Thanks!

https://kb.arlo.com/1001908/What-are-activity-zones-and-how-do-I-create-them

https://kb.arlo.com/000056589/How-do-I-set-up-the-Arlo-Smart-cloud-activity-zones

https://kb.arlo.com/000056582/What-is-the-Arlo-Smart-cloud-activity-zone-feature

https://kb.arlo.com/000062123/How-do-I-create-activity-zones-with-my-Arlo-Ultra-camera

[Mvandale]

Using activity zones should reduce unnecessary recordings as well which should save your battery as well. Unfortunately Arlo says you have to plug in an external camera to get this feature which is dumb considering the devices are wireless and that’s why many people buy them, or you can pay for a plan and then they let this feature work!  This is bs, sorry,  BLINK offers this feature for FREE and has a better system for narrowing down your activity area.

We’ll be returning and getting a BLINK system.

[Whops]

I tried to reply to JamesC post in "Arlo ultra motion detection"  But looks like maybe they have closed that thread at least I did not have a reply icon to reply to that post.    Here are my observations since that update.

Appeared like all was fixed,   was able to set activity zone,  and only gave alerts and recorded video that was in the activity zone.   That is until today Christmas Day!   Christmas Eve,  came home from a party at my Son's house.  And the camera worked fine,  alerted me as I pulled in the driveway,  recorded video of us pulling in,  and walking up to the front door,  where Ring Door Bell picked us up.    About 3:30 am a motion controlled security light came on in my back yard.   I got up,  took a look out did not see anything,  checked cameras nothing recorded.   Went back to bed.  (Probably a Racoon) This morning Christmas Day.   I got up went out back to feed the cat,  (Camera did not alert me or record video, usually does)   Then when I went out to the front of my house to get the newspaper and feed the squirrels, (Camera did not alert me or record video,  usually does)   Last alert and recording was 1:38 am when we came home.

I have twice recycled the smart base (pulled the power cord out,  waited 15 sec.  then powered back up) Still the cameras do not send any alerts or recordings.   Live view works great,  Signals are great to cameras,  video bandwidth is strong.   But nothing happens,  no motion detection?  or is Arlo servers having issues?   So hear we go again just when I was thinking that finally the Arlo was stepping up the Arlo Ultra was working as promised.  Then Christmas Day  System is Dead.  

So I am posting hear once again  to see if it is only me,  or did they do something again to take down the system.   Please let me know.

[StephenB]

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@Whops wrote:

So I am posting hear once again  to see if it is only me,  or did they do something again to take down the system.   Please let me know.

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My Ultras are working normally.