Arlo Pro 2 not recording from multiple cameras

[Jan37]

Hi,

I have two Arlo Pro 2 cameras. Both are armed and the trigger rules are independent, i.e.

- If camera 1 detects motion then camera 1records

- If camera 2 detects motion then camera 2 records

It seems that camera 2 does not detect movement and record if camera 1 is recording and vice versa.

Question: should this work or can only one rule be active at any given time?

I have search and found many threads on this, but no clear answer on the basic question.

Most threads end up in suggesting rules like "if camera 1 detects motion then camera 1 and camera 2 records" - while I know that this will work, that is not at all what I'm after.

I want the cameras to independently start recording whenever motion is detected for that specific camera.

So: should this work with the simple rules listed above? If it should, what could possibly be the problem? If it shouldn't, do I need to get one base station per camera for it to work this way?

[jguerdat]

Based on what you've told us, it should work fine. Upload speed may be an issue - use speedtest.net and tell us the results. Also, use the Armed mode - does that work properly? Compare Armed with your custom mode to see if there's a problem.

[Jan37]

Thanks!

I'm actually using the standard Armed mode with the two rules listed. When triggered independently they work as expected, but when something is moving between the areas so that that one of the cameras is still recording I don't get a reconding from the other one. 

So it should work with independent recording, which sounds promising. I will measure the speed later today; normally I have a very good throughput (both for WLAN and wired). 

[Jan37]

OK, the measurements indicate that there may be an upload speed issue for one of the cameras.

I ran speedtest on the mobile and for one camera position all is well (upload speed and download speed > 60 Mbps) but for the position of the other camera the upload speed was bad (20 Mbps download but only 0.2 Mbps upload).

Wifi analyzer indicate that the signal strength at the 2nd position is around -65 dBm at the second position (both for the router WLAN and the Arlo base station)

So it would seem that I should move the second camera (not sure if an extender would work for the Arlo base station?)

Thanks for your support.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Of course, testing your home WiFi isn't the same as what the camera sees but, if the base and router are next to each other, it should be a good approximation.

A WiFi extender won't help unless you use it to reposition your base. If the camera has the view you need, moving the base may be the best solution.