Arlo Just Doesn't Work As Expected

[BradleyPGA]

I really thought Arlo would solve my issue of a neighbor who is systematically killing all my decorative trees by breaking all the branches off when I'm not home. Where do I begin? None of it is good.

Motion: I bought a 3 cam package. One mounted outside on garage; one on the side of the house; one sitting in a window indoors. The outdoor cams detect motion fine. However, the 10 second record time simply is not enough. Who commits a crime in 10 seconds? Where's 30 seconds? 1 min? 2 min? 5 min? My neighbor's car is 20 feet from the unit. It picks up the heat of his car engine. It will not pick him up walking next to the car. And a 25 foot max range for motion? That is absurd.

Batteries: The units have been installed outdoors for 3 days. One is down to 33%. The other to 25%. The third? It is indoors looking out a window. It is still 99% because the ONLY way it will work is as a monitor that I take a snapshot or hit record on. So, my batteries will go dead in 5 days. Oh, and I am on the lower battery usage, poorer video quality setting. So, I will be replacing batteries 72 times per year. At the very lowest cost I can find, that is $7 per change of 4. So, I will be spending $1504 per year on batteries. Of course, you say NOT to use rechargeables. Does Arlo have a deal with Duracell to say that?

data I have a 2 GB Data Plan with my wireless carrier. I might use 5-10% of that per month. ARLO HAS USED 2.6 GIGS IN 3 DAYS!! That will be 26.4 GB's per month! And I'm only popping on and off Arlo a few times a day. This will now cost me an additional $225 per month, or $2700/yr. just for the additional data load. Add this to the battery cost and ARLO now costs me $4204 per year at a minimum just to operate.

Now why is this happening? When I'm home, I'm on WiFi. When I'm at work, I'm on Wifi. But when I'm in my car driving or out of router reach at my facility, it flips to my cell carrier for data. And why the data load? BECAUSE I HAVE TO BABYSIT MY ARLOS! I MUST CLICK LIVE TO WAIT FOR A CRIME TO OCCUR! I cannot trust the cameras to record when there is motion. 10 seconds isn't even close to enough time to record a crime in progress. I have to stare at my phone on the ready to hit the record button as soon as something happens. This isn't peace of mind security. This is h^ll. At $4200 per year to own my Arlos, it is far cheaper to get robbed or just suffer destruction of my property.

[TomMac]

BradleyPGA wrote:,

the 10 second record time simply is not enough. Who commits a crime in 10 seconds? Where's 30 seconds? 1 min? 2 min? 5 min?

You can set the Arlo cams to record up to 2 mins per trigger event...

Go into Mode, Arlo, pick camera and click the edit pencil, then drop down to 'record' and edit pencil again for time slider lenght. Save upon exit

And a 25 foot max range for motion? That is absurd.

It will pick up cars ( they put out a lots of IR ) but with people, the PIR device is really only good to about 20ft +

Batteries: The units have been installed outdoors for 3 days. One is down to 33%. The other to 25%.

With your data usage( mentioned 2.6 gb in 3 days ), yes I can see the batteries running down fast.

A 10 sec clip is about 1 mb so you using a lot of recordings.

These were not meant to be 24/7 record cameras as they do run on batteries... Spec use is 4 mins per day for the listed life of batteries. My run 4 - 7 months base on normal and less than normal use

In this case , you may be better suited using a Q camera thru the window as 1) it's ac powered, 2) the trigger is via pixel change ( not PIR) so it will detect movement thru the glass.

I cannot trust the cameras to record when there is motion. 10 seconds isn't even close to enough time to record a crime in progress.

Setup is critial  for location and time ( time handled above ) and does take some time to produce reliable result... maybe if you post a drawing or snapshot of what your trying to see will get you some better locations from users for camera placement.

In all, the Arlo camera do produce and capture quite a bit... are they perfect for all situations, no. It may be that at the range your looking to get activity and the amount of recording, 24/7, there may be a better product on the market.