Arlo video latency is not normal

[RobDec]

I have 3 arlo 3 cameras. I recently bought the doorbell. I had it installed by professional electricians. While installing I noticed the latency. I looked into and moved my base station downstairs and it improved from 8s to 4s. Then I realized it happens on the cameras too. Then I started reading the forums and apparently this is solved by Arlo saying this is normal. It has to go to the cloud first. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I can talk on Messenger, FaceTime etc to people in other states through the cloud and have no latency. I can talk to people at work all day on Teams and have no latency. I can watch movies on multiple devices and no latency. But I have "security" cameras and a dumbbell that can't even close the circuit to ring my bell.
What this is is false advertising. This is not a security camera. It's not a doorbell because by the time it notifies you someone is at the door they left. So stop the BS with the "this is normal". Fix it or stop ripping people off by selling a product that does not work as adversative. At least put on the advertising

"SIGNIFICANT LATANCY IS NORMAL WITH OUR PRODUCTS. DO NOT USE FOR SECURITY. DOORBELL AND CAMERAS NOT ABLE TO BE USED FOR COMMUNICATION AT ANY TIME."

[JamesC]

A slight delay (3-4 seconds) is normal behavior. When initiating a live stream, the camera must connect to the Arlo cloud, the delay seen is due to the time it takes to maintain that connection.

JamesC

[ArloIThinkNot]

Just to add to the already obvious -  I bought the Arlo video doorbell couple of years ago and, like with the others, it has never provided real time information and any communication through it was absolutely impossible due to delay. Unfortunately, it was too late to return it...  I just saw a ton of advertising for Arlo products and strong reviews from several websites and thought - they must have fixed the issue.  Reached to their Customer Support (which is the only thing that has the worse lag than the Arlo Video Doorbell), and was essentially told that every step of communication takes time and that ongoing 4-10+seconds delay is normal due to the signals needing to go through "Arlo cloud". As others mentioned, we all can have full blown video conferences at high resolution through our wifi networks with no lag, but Arlo cannot do it. Below is the transcript from the chat. 

But I must say, the chat was helpful - it clearly told me - do not buy Arlo!  It makes you wonder - how did all the reviews miss this? Likely because most are just reading Arlo specs and promotional literature but not really testing what matters.  

AGENT (Arlo Support): Dear XXXX, Welcome!

USER: OK, this is the 4th time I have been connected, without any help

AGENT (Arlo Support): Hi! Thank you for choosing Arlo. My name is Nicks. Kindly give me a few minutes to review the conversation that you had with the bot.

USER: ok
USER: The conversation with the bot is uninformative, unless we count customer building frustration resiliency..

AGENT (Arlo Support): For security and verification purposes, may I have your phone number?

USER: XXXXXXXX

AGENT (Arlo Support): Got it. May I ask when did the issue start?

USER: when I bought the doorbell. I attempted to address with Arlo to no avail. It has been over 2 years.
USER: And I see that many others have the same issue. The question is - do you consider it normal that Arlo doorbell has a continuous lag of 4-10 seconds?

AGENT (Arlo Support): I see. May I ask how long does the lag or the delay on the video doorbell?

USER: As per above.
USER: This is the case whether using arlo base station or directly connecting to my wifi. My wifi is well over 500mbs continuous and no lag with any other modes of communication using the wifi
USER: The basic question is - what is the typical lag of an Arlo video doorbell

AGENT (Arlo Support): I understand and I am really sorry for that. Just to make sure, the delay happen when you are first initiating the live streaming, is that correct?

USER: No, it is ongoing. If someone show up at the door and the doorbell notices them - the signal is delayed. If someone shows up and rings the bell -the notification is delayed. Once the ring is answered, there is a lag with each step - the person may say something, I will hear it in 4-10 seconds, I respond, they will hear it in another 4-10 seconds. Unacceptable and useless

AGENT (Arlo Support): I see. I am really sorry for the inconvenience. For your concern, the delay on the doorbell is normal must connect to the Arlo cloud, the delay seen is due to the time it takes to maintain that connection.

USER: Are you stating that it is normal for the Arlo Video Doorbell to have a lag of 4-10 seconds (if not longer) on an ongoing basis, not only when initiating the connection with a person at the door?

AGENT (Arlo Support): Yes. Because it takes for the doorbell to deliver the information to the Arlo Cloud that it way it has a delay for about 5 to 10 seconds.

USER: Wow! So it is the Arlo cloud? That is incredible. I can text, instant message, whatsapp, hold a phone conversation, have a full video conference through my wifi and no lag, but Arlo can't do this?

AGENT (Arlo Support): am really sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused, and I know how frustrating this could. I really apologize for this one.

USER: I appreciate that but the apology won't help here. The product is essentially useless. I was actually considering giving Arlo another try, hoping there were some improvement since i bought it, but it looks like I better spend my money elsewhere. But your honesty is appreciated - it will save me headaches.

AGENT (Arlo Support): I totally understand that. Once again, I am really sorry for the inconvenience. Aside from this, would there be anything else that I can further assist you with?

USER: NO thank you

[Pierreb77]

He is absolutely right - is performs exactly how he says it performs - terribly - I got Arlo everything so I wouldn’t have so many platforms in house , but with the Arlo wireless doorbell I regret spending the money on it. And guess what, my wife thinks so also. If she can comment on how bad the doorbell is then you know we’ve got a problem … update or whatever Arlo - fix it 

[Pierreb77]

Mate , trust me youngish need a major update man!! The doorbell is worthless like this 

[Lu_Po]

Same for me. 15 seconds delay 

[SOIFR]

Hi,

3~4 second during communication here, making communication with delivery guys just impossible...

[Anyrugik]

I have tested others, ring and Logitech, arlo is the problem and they have not fix it for years

[bmccle]

That doesn’t surprise me.  Arlo products are very expensive.  It’s sad they are unwilling (or unable) to fix the issue.  I really didn’t want to give my money to Amazon but that’s what I had to do 

[SOIFR]

Absolutely zero latency with my Netatmo security camera and even with my cheap low cost Imou Ranger camera...

[Lu_Po]

Delay is even worse now... I'm returning it.

[JKHouse]

I've had this doorbell for well over a year. When someone rings the doorbell, the video call comes so late that the person will often walk away before we can answer. We have rebooted, reset, and reinstalled multiple times...always the same. When you try to talk with someone on the doorstep, the audio and video lag is so significant, that it's not possible to have a normal conversation. We have also tried the Nest and Logitech doorbells, each of which had its own problems. I just think these video doorbells aren't great and aren't ready for primetime. We're going back to a $2 doorbell with a security camera overhead.

[Cnemelka]

Agreed. Camera is a waste of money

[CaveDweller]

I'm experiencing this latency too.  It's acceptable with the security cameras, but useless for the doorbells.   I understand that the cloud takes time for archival, but why can't a live feed be sent to the app so you can actually converse with the door while it uploads the cloud archival at a lower priority or even after the video call?  

[kxkqw]

I bought the Arlo doorbell because Wirecutter recommended it. We previously had a ring that worked great, but I was concerned with Amazon's privacy issues (releasing video to police without a warrant).

My wife was annoyed that I was changing up a product that was working perfectly, and she was right. This is an awful doorbell. The saved video is absolutely fine, but it never loads in time to talk to guests, which is one of the most useful functions of these doorbells.

I would return the product if I still could, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[mrbiz]

I have managed to arrange a refund with Amazon and replaced with Reolink. It works great! Bye Bye Arlo!

[Maximilian88]

Almost a year later .. same thing got 4 cameras … notifications were a bit slow but it’s doable. Recently bought the doorbell on wire … all calls are too late… people front the door already left before i get a notification.. the base is just 1 meter behind it. It’s really bad… are you guys planning to improve this or should i refund the doorbell?

[SOIFR]

Switched to Nest Doorbell, way better 😉 

[Ra999]

Has anyone switched to a different brand doorbell and have success? Im ready to smash my arlo as it never connects at the times you actually need it!! 

[Anyrugik]

I have switched to Eufy, i dropped all Arlo gear after the stupid, ridiculous and unjustified price increase of their subscription service plus the lack of support on ongoing issues. i will say is not perfect but is better is refreshing things work… there is normal latency but way less that arlo so in overall i will not look back… good riddance arlo

[Ra999]

Thankyou so much. That is a huge help. Good riddance for sure!!

[Robb618]

Sorry JamesC, I know you're towing the line, but that's not really an acceptable canned answer... a 1/2 second is slight... not 3-4.  I have 2GB fiber and my wifi6 mesh connection consistently gets +400Mbps up/down.

What is the point of offering a “live” video and audio communication with somebody at the front door if you're on a 3-4 second delay.   Truthfully, this is the only issue i have with your service.... and its a biggie.  Enough to where i am considering cancelling and conceding the purchase.  It's practically impossible to have a conversation with somebody… even a short one.  To be fair, I'm OK with the "slight" delay to initiate the connection, but once that happens the communication should be basically seamless.

[StephenB]

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@Robb618 wrote:

Sorry JamesC, I know you're towing the line, but that's not really an acceptable canned answer... a 1/2 second is slight... not 3-4. 

---

I believe @JamesC was talking about the time it takes to establish the connection - not the latency you get after the connection is made.  (FWIW, latency is not the best term to use for the connection establishment time).

3-4 second connection establishment time isn't ideal, but is acceptable.  I agree that 3-4 seconds latency is much too long for 2-way talk.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Mine slightly improved after connecting it to WiFi, rather than SmartHub, but I think there's room for improvement still.

Also, there's a 2 sec delay with all of my cameras when accessing the local storage before the video starts opening. 

[Robb618]

I think I'm moving to your camp.  I like the local storage system of Eufy, and in hindsight, I'd be willing to pay a little more for a device knowing there is no monthly fee, and a slightly better (but not yet perfect) latency experience.  I'm not willing to bend the knee to Google or Amazon ecosystem just yet. 

[CaveDweller]

Just checking back to see if anything has been done about this, and seems like it hasn't. 

It really does not seem like rocket science to have a live video feed like zoom and to archive/upload footage with the usual delay, or even more.  Just think about how many more they could sell if they worked like that. 

Really.

My Arlo video doorbell is now just a high latency security camera and an analog doorbell.  I only use it to ring the mechanical chime and let me know if a package was left on the doorstep.