Arlo Wireless Physical Installation Suggestion Request

[GeminiToo]

Would appreciate some input and suggestions on a new Arlo setup from those who have had more real-world experience with this product.  I have already purchased a set of three Arlo outdoor cameras + base, but am willing to invest in a Arlo Q if really necessary.  Apologies in advance for a long winded explanation...

I live in a townhome community. I want to monitor my front door as I have had some packages stolen. Already verified that my HOA bylaws will not allow me to mount a camera outside my front door or on the outside of the structure at all.  I am allowed to mount cameras on the horizontal surface (floor) of the second-floor deck pointing down towards the front door, and of course anywhere inside, including pointing out the window.

My front door (mostly a glass panel) sits on the face of about a 5' section of the building that juts out 90 degrees to the main structure.  There's about a 10' section of walkway that extends out from the front door parallel to the main structure, and that then turns left towards the main walkway. There's a second floor deck which sits on the main structure starting about 10.5' immediately above and parallel to the part of the walkway that runs from the front door.  Under that deck, offset to the left (further away from and perpendicular to the front door) is a large ground floor slider.

My initial thoughts are to mount one Arlo wireless on the outer corner of the deck closest to the  corner just above the front door area, where there's a gap between the structure wall and the start of the deck railing.  With the Arlo screw-in adjustable mount, this would allow me to point that camera directly down at the front door area only, hopefully limiting false positives from the landscaping that sits off to the right of the front door and to the left of the immediate walkway section. I believe I've read that the wireless camera has a much narrower field of view than the Q.

However, because of that positioning from above, I would not get a clear/close view of the face of anyone who enters into the field of motion detection for that camera.  Therefore, I was planning on mounting another wireless camera inside my foyer with a clear head-on view of the front door (reminder: single big glass panel).

My plan was to turn off the motion detection and Night Mode on that foyer camera since those are useless through glass, and instead set up trigger recording to that camera when the outside one on the upper deck senses motion/starts recording. 

Alternatively, I could purchase a Q camera which I understand can motion sense through glass, and only just use the Q at the front door for both motion detection & recording.  However, it seems that works best only with very close mounting to the glass, and my front door/framing arrangement doesn't really allow that without the Q being in the way visually and physically.

I also thought I could purchase the Q for inside use to then point outside at the front door area through the slider that sits back and perpendicular to the front door, but that again would just act as the motion trigger to another required foyer camera to capture faces. 

One more note:  we have fairly bright walkway lighting that stays on all night, but if necessary, I can certainly keep my front door outside light on overnight.  Haven't yet tested how the wireless camera handles just the walkway lighting in terms of both image quality and motion sensing from up on the deck edge. Well, I'd guess I'd have to keep my outside light on for the face recording from the foyer camera at night, unless I set up a trigger via IFTTT to turn on the outside light when the motion sensing camera activates--assuming that camera itself to start can sense with just the walkway light.

Appreciate any thoughts on these possibilities, and if I am overthinking things and missing a much simpler solution here, which is always a possibility with me!  I think my problem starts with the inability to mount a camera outside by the front door--that complicates what should be a simple need here.

Thanks!

[TomMac]

Yes... maybe... a picture of the scene would help a lot in assisting you.

Couple of things... ( from the quick read )

I could purchase the Q for inside use to then point outside at the front door area through the slider that sits back and perpendicular to the front door, but that again would just act as the motion trigger to another required foyer camera to capture faces. 

The Q will work just fine thru glass ( with IR off ), but at this time , not to trigger another camera to record ( like the nested rules with the Arlo cams )

( unless you go outside the box and use IFTTT ( not used by me and requires additional equip ))

allow me to point that camera directly down at the front door area only, hopefully limiting false positives from the landscaping that sits off to the right of the front door and to the left of the immediate walkway section. I believe I've read that the wireless camera has a much narrower field of view than the Q.

The FOV of both cames are different, but overall , not that much ( 110 to 130 IIRR ?) .  I use my Arlo camerato aimed towards the door with a longer record time... this allows the entrance of subject to trigger off the camera( there is a delay to record ) and get a face when they turn around to leave.

My plan was to turn off the motion detection and Night Mode on that foyer camera since those are useless through glass, and instead set up trigger recording to that camera when the outside one on the upper deck senses motion/starts recording. 

This is do-able if there is normal lighting so the Arlo camera that records doesn't require the IR illumionation

I set up a trigger via IFTTT to turn on the outside light when the motion sensing camera activates--assuming that camera itself to start can sense with just the walkway light.

use a regular pir sensed floodlight/lighting to light up the area when motion is detected... it should come on quicker than the slight recording delay from the camera trigger event

[GeminiToo]

TomMac, thank you for taking the time to respond.  Attached are a few photos to assist in the layout understanding, and perhaps this might result in some additional suggested solutions/system layouts:




 

In case it helps increase potential solutions, I own a SmartThings v2 hub and have various devices already attached to it around the house (including the front door outside light), and also am using some IFTTT automations.

Good point about the delay in relay recording to the foyer camera--now that I think about it, someone could easily come up and grab something on my doorstep before the camera inside even starts recording.  I also didn't realize that the Q cannot trigger record natively in the Arlo app.

I also briefly considered including a separate motion-sensing IR light module in any proposed setup, perhaps on the balcony as well, but again was just concerned about a potentially unnecessarily complicated setup.  With that scenario, which camera and placed where were you thinking of to then not have to use relay/trigger recording?

[TomMac]

---

---

Yes... the HOA ruling kinda screws things up.... in the above, I'd put one above the door and use a trigger camera above the slider ( cause the pir's are more sensitive on the edges and across the FOV. ( do a double ; if A , record B and If B record A  )

But, since you can mount it on your balcony, I get a normal camera mount that does a 90d angle... mounted on your decking it could extend out and down and maybe you could set up something like that in a dual or "Y" mount... ( not the best as to angle down, but maybe better than nothing )

Or use the balcony deck cam to trigger a camera inside the slider at the door... it will take some trial and error.

it will be interesting to see what you do and how it works out.

[GeminiToo]

Thank you again, TomMac, for your helpful suggestions.

Yes, the inability to just mount the Arlo wireless somewhere outside with a good view of the front door is frustrating, as that would be the most efficient and simpliest solution. 

After speaking to a neighbor this afternoon, she pointed out that several other owners in my development have installed video doorbells (after walking around, the original Ring product seems to be particular popular here).  That offers live video monitoring, but also optionally 6 week (I think) recording for a fee (not terrible--$30/year). Given the number of video doorbells present (I would say a good 10-12 units out of 50+), it appears that those are acceptable to the HOA.  So, I'm looking into the newest Ring Pro product, which is smaller in size than the original model and has other advantages as well. 

I have other uses for the Arlo cameras around my home, so, those definitely won't go to waste if I end up not using them for the front door monitoring.

[TomMac]

Hope it works out for you... sometimes you have to pick the right product to fit your needs