Help With Arlo Wireless Video Doorbell Setup

[JGU69]

OK so doorbell all setup and working fine BUT having problems fine tuning the settings. We live in the middle of town and our front door faces the street.

So, we want our wireless video doorbell to record video and alert us when someone actually presses the doorbell. NOT when motion is detected, as it must have recorded 100 clips and made my phone vibrate 100 times since setting it up today due to people simply walking past the house.

How can I get it to record video and alert me ONLY when someone pushes the doorbell, and not simply when someone walks past?

[StephenB]

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@JGU69 wrote:

How can I get it to record video and alert me ONLY when someone pushes the doorbell, and not simply when someone walks past?

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Unfortunately there is no way to do that.

You can set up activity zones to at least partially eliminate the folks walking past.  Reducing motion sensitivity is another approach you can try.

[JGU69]

Oh wow! No way to do that...

I've set up an activity zone for right in front of the door but as the door faces the street, people still pass it within a foot or two so it doesn't make any difference. I've also reduced sensitivity to 1% (the minimum) but it still gets triggered.

I can't turn off 'motion sensor' for the doorbell in settings because when I untick the box it just comes back again (iOS Apple phone, latest OS and Arlo app versions). I also can't turn off 'push notifications' so at the moment my workaround for this issue is to mute all notifications for 24 hours - but obviously I'll have to do this every 24 hours. Not helpful. 

Yesterday when I first mounted my doorbell battery was at 100% but today - 24 hours later - because of this issue it's now at 85%.

Is it simply the case that if you live in a location such as mine the Arlo doorbell is not suitable for your home? Or is there a way to resolve this?

[StephenB]

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@JGU69 wrote:

I've set up an activity zone for right in front of the door but as the door faces the street, people still pass it within a foot or two so it doesn't make any difference.

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Just want to make sure I'm reading this correctly - you are saying that people walking down the street are within 1-2 feet of the doorbell?

[JGU69]

Yes. My front door opens immediately onto the pavement (sidewalk for US citizens). So people will pass the front door and doorbell anything from about a foot to six feet away (the width of the pavement).

This is why I’d like to turn the motion sensor off and just have the doorbell activate when someone actually presses the button. Is this possible, or not?

If not is there a workaround? If not then unfortunately the doorbell isn’t going to work for me.

[StephenB]

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@JGU69 wrote:

This is why I’d like to turn the motion sensor off and just have the doorbell activate when someone actually presses the button. Is this possible, or not?

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Unfortunately it is not possible to have the doorbell make a recording when someone presses the button.

It is possible to turn off the motion sensor, and still get video calls when the button is pressed.

[JGU69]

Thanks StephenB. How do I turn the motion sensor off so it doesn't keep reacting (which is rinsing the battery)?

I've tried creating a Zone, which is tiny and pointing in the sky where there should be no movement. I've also tried changing the 'motion detection' sensitivity right down to 1 (the lowest it will go).

What you suggest: "It is possible to turn off the motion sensor, and still get video calls when the button is pressed." is what I'd like to achieve. How do I do this? Thanks.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@JGU69 wrote:

What you suggest: "It is possible to turn off the motion sensor, and still get video calls when the button is pressed." is what I'd like to achieve. How do I do this? Thanks.

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First, try disarming the camera in the app, and see if you still get the video call.  That would be simplest (though I'm not 100% sure it will work).

A second option is to edit the mode for the camera - either telling the system not to send you a notification (but still provide recordings), or telling the system to also not store any recordings when motion is detected.  Turning off both will give you the best battery life.  https://kb.arlo.com/42/What-are-modes-and-rules-and-how-does-Arlo-use-them

[JGU69]

StephenB good news and bad news!

Editing the mode for the doorbell doesn't work, I tried to create a bespoke mode but the only option for a trigger is 'when motion is detected'. There's also no option to turn push notifications off via the app.

However! By disarming the doorbell I still get a call to my phone when the doorbell button is pressed, and if I answer the call (rather than going directly to answer the door) then the camera still records. This looks like the ideal solution, so thank you very much for helping me to work through this.

My one query now is do I still require a subscription (currently on the 3 month trial) for this limited service? 

[StephenB]

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@JGU69 wrote:

My one query now is do I still require a subscription (currently on the 3 month trial) for this limited service? 

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Likely not.  The three main benefits of the subscription are cloud recording,activity zones, and smart notifications.

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@JGU69 wrote:

Editing the mode for the doorbell doesn't work, I tried to create a bespoke mode but the only option for a trigger is 'when motion is detected'. There's also no option to turn push notifications off via the app.

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Since disarming works, this isn't critical.

But I want to clarify that the second idea is to

• leave motion detection as the trigger
• then tell the system to "do nothing" instead of record
• and disable both push notifications and email notifications in the rule

Not sure what mobile device you are using (I use an iPhone).  But you might also look at my.arlo.com in a PC browser, and see what settings are there.  It should be possible to deselect both push and email notifications in the rule.  If you can't do that, then there might be a bug in the app.

[JGU69]

So, just to clarify. The solution is to simply disarm the doorbell. By disarming it push notifications are no longer sent and motion no longer triggers it. Email notifications are turned off. Also, by turning off the ‘Breathe LED’ response when motion is detected this preserves the battery. I fully charged the battery with the settings above and it’s still at 99% a week later.

What the settings above do, which is what I needed, are they allow for someone to press the doorbell, which rings my phone. If I answer them through my phone then the interaction is recorded and I can see it in my library. I can also talk to them through the doorbell speaker etc. So, for anyone living on a busy street where constant motion is an issue then disarming the doorbell, and editing other alerts to preference, could well be the solution.