Wireless doorbell motion detector not detecting animals

[YudiA]

My new Arlo wireless doorbell was just installed a couple of weeks ago. The motion detection has stopped working as it was when initially installed. It would detect people and animals day and night without problems. Now, the motion detection is spotty with detecting animals during the day, and it does not detect animals at all at night. How do I fix this problem?

[StephenB]

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@YudiA wrote:

My new Arlo wireless doorbell was just installed a couple of weeks ago. The motion detection has stopped working as it was when initially installed. It would detect people and animals day and night without problems. Now, the motion detection is spotty with detecting animals during the day, and it does not detect animals at all at night. How do I fix this problem?

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The maximum motion detection range of the passive infrared (PIR) sensor is spec'd at only 13-16 feet (depending on the doorbell model)

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062617/How-far-away-can-Arlo-Cameras-and-Arlo-Video-Doorbells-detect-motion

Arlo doesn't say exactly what this spec means - I've always assumed it applies to people, and that the range for small animals is less.  My own doorbell often triggers on vehicles that are much farther away, but it doesn't do that reliably.

Also, the detection performance does depend somewhat on outdoor temperatures, so it can vary seasonally.

So the doorbell might actually be working as designed (within the specifications).

It might be useful to walk through the process.

1. The first step is for the doorbell to detect motion (of any kind) using the passive infrared (PIR) sensor on the doorbell.
2. Then the doorbell streams video to the Arlo Cloud.  If you have an activity zone set, then the cloud will look for motion is inside the zone (or not).  If it is outside the zone, there will be no notification and no recording.
3. The Cloud also analyzes the video with their AI engine.  It will then apply whatever smart notification filter settings you have set fo the camera (blocking notification types you said you didn't want). However, if the motion is inside the zone (or if you don't use activity zones), then the video will always be recorded in the Arlo Cloud, no matter what the motion classification is.

So start by removing any activity zones, and turn off the smart notifications.  Then see what recordings you get (all will be categorized as "motion".  If the animals aren't being recorded, then you should try increasing the motion sensitivity setting in the camera rule in the mode(s) you are using.  You might also try cleaning the front of the doorbell, just in case some dirt is over the PIR sensor.  That's all you can do to increase the sensitivity.

Then re-apply the activity zones if you use them, and re-enable the smart notifications.

[YudiA]

The area to detect motion is fixed directly on my porch where cats, opossums, and raccoons have been detected drinking the water & cat food I put out. The bowls are near the doorbell well within the minimum specified range. There is no driveway or cars in view. The camera had no issue detecting the animals when initially installed, until recently all of a sudden it stopped when there has been no changes to the original settings it came with. It has been pretty sunny and dry here. The wireless camera doorbell is new and has only been up for 2 weeks. I have not explored the capabilities of the doorbell, but I will go and check it out and see what I can do.

[BrookeN]

Are you still seeing this same behavior?

[YudiA]

I am still seeing the same behavior with no activity zones enabled & only Other Motion smart notification as it requires at least one to be checked. I have recharged the battery, cleaned the lense, and restarted. I changed the recording from stopping when activity stops to a fixed length. Still having spotty motion detection with animals.

[jguerdat]

Animals present a moving target since the premise around these cameras is to detect people. Smaller objects can certainly be detected (I get cats, raccoons, etc. all the time) but the IR output from smaller subjects can be an issue, especially relative to ambient temps (the warmer it is, the harder it is to detect small changes).

[YudiA]

Understandable. But, nothing has changed as far as temp & activity from when it initially was installed and working great at detecting all animal activity. Mostly, the cats come on the porch and eat, sit, sleep, hangout, etc. I have toggled the smart notification for animals off & on to test. It is still spotty, and I frequently am having to restart just to get the spotty detection which eventually stops working. Wondering since this is a new device, if it may be faulty and a replacement needed?

[jguerdat]

Could be faulty but you'd have to work through official support to see what they can do. Use the app to go to Settings, Support, choose the doorbell and scroll down to Contacts to start the process.