Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

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paintguy
Star
Star
Is anyone else having a problem with the delay in long it takes motion to detect and the start of recording? I have found that outside the delay is too much to see anyone who is approaching my house. I have looked at videos and the recording shows the very end of someone in my family opening my door if at all. I have played around with the sensitivity also to get it to record earlier. This and the battery issue are the biggest problems so far. Does anyone have ideas how they got theirs to not have so much of a delay?

Thanks
218 REPLIES 218
jguerdat
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Guru

It would also be worthwhile posting screenshots of the view since there may be specific advice to be had.

WernerS
Star
Star

I agree 100% with your assessment. I'm an engineer myself and I do understand the technical restrictions, but they there is no mentioning in any of the sales material, or is there? No surprise really. For me I can say I certainly wouldn't purchased this system if I had been aware of this limitation.

Hula_Rock
Prodigy Prodigy
Prodigy

WernerS wrote:

I agree 100% with your assessment. I'm an engineer myself and I do understand the technical restrictions, but they there is no mentioning in any of the sales material, or is there? No surprise really. For me I can say I certainly wouldn't purchased this system if I had been aware of this limitation.




It is adervertised s Plug and Play, Place it anywhere.   After the honeymoon is over and you find the flaws in this system with "DELAY" you want a DIVOERCE IMMEDIATELY !

 

Before I get to worked up,  I digress................

jesse03
Aspirant
Aspirant

Who do you remarry after the divorce?  I'm a dropcam/nestcam user for my indoor cameras and they have their own issues and offer no outdoor camera.   I still think Arlo fits the total wireless camera need, but it isn't perfect.  I have two outdoor arlo cameras in my front yard and I'm at the point where i have them at 99-100% sensitvity to try to catch all the real activity.  Also have a red camera picture on one of them that I'm having replaced.  But it's totally wireless, I'm able to stream, it catches a lot of activity (not all) and I didn't have to drill into any wall to install--I used outdoor rated double sided sticky tape--it works on brick too.   So it's a love/hate relationship I have with arlo, just like I have with dropcam and simplisafe and samsung smartthings...the list goes on and on.. 🙂

Hula_Rock
Prodigy Prodigy
Prodigy

jesse03 wrote:

Who do you remarry after the divorce?  I'm a dropcam/nestcam user for my indoor cameras and they have their own issues and offer no outdoor camera.   I still think Arlo fits the total wireless camera need, but it isn't perfect.  I have two outdoor arlo cameras in my front yard and I'm at the point where i have them at 99-100% sensitvity to try to catch all the real activity.  Also have a red camera picture on one of them that I'm having replaced.  But it's totally wireless, I'm able to stream, it catches a lot of activity (not all) and I didn't have to drill into any wall to install--I used outdoor rated double sided sticky tape--it works on brick too.   So it's a love/hate relationship I have with arlo, just like I have with dropcam and simplisafe and samsung smartthings...the list goes on and on.. 🙂


I went with 2 Foscam wired cameras.  Wired both cameras in one day.  Both cameras are connected to my media closet so I can watch live feeds on any TV, phone or tabet in the house.   I Also like the fact that I have 2 Terabytes of local starage.  I installed my Arlo cameras, in my shed, indoor garage and over the trash cans.  

DRGinLBC
Guide
Guide

Signed in just to voice my displeasure.  I have this mounted near my front entrance.  I usually get video of the person leaving after already knocking on the front door.  Sometimes I don't get video at all.  I never would have purchased this unit knowing it didn't catch all movement.

 

 

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

Have you read and tried the positioning suggestions that have been posted over and over? Not every situation is solvable but many can with proper positioning and angle so motion is across the FOV with motion starting near an edge.

WernerS
Star
Star

I don't want to discourage anyone of trying the posted positioning suggestion, but they did certainly not work for me. I feel I followed all of the suggestions and accomplished a nearly perfect camera installation, but the impact is very marginal. This is a serious flaw which obviously repeats itself with many users. This flaw makes the system simply useless in my opinion, if it does not catch the initial motion. I still very much regret having purchased this system. I just hope the manufacturer accepts the fact that there is problem and offers a solution at some point down the road.

Schorschi
Prodigy
Prodigy

An intruder will typically spend some time getting through doors or windows if they are locked. Even with the infamous 2-second delay of the Arlo system, it should capture enough footage of an actual break-in.

 

If, however, your intention is to capture anecdotal footage of the unwelcome solicitor's face, whose intention is not to take your property (just your money), then I agree, Arlo is not for you.

RobertRosal
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Even though I have mine set up where it does capture what I want, had to use an additional camera, I do believe these cameras can do better.

 

I wish like many on this forum, that I had found this place and read all the problems before purchasing.  Well I am doing that now and found that the up and coming competitors to Arlo, there are a few of them and they don't have as much complaints as our Arlo's.

 

I am now looking into their products and it seems to be very promising.

 

Again I will not make the same mistake and it does look like there are others who make or will start making a similar product and with the good feedback that I am reading at their forums, I can say we do now have other options!

-Robert
DRGinLBC
Guide
Guide

Feel free to share some of those other products you have mentioned.  There were two things about the Arlo that caught my attention.  The outdoor and wireless combo.  

 

Really wish I would have just stuck with a wired system now that actually records usable footage.

DRGinLBC
Guide
Guide

I got some really good footage of a woman at my door yesterday as she walked away.  

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

Here's one of my wife walking down our front walk (the tree obscures detection further out).  Not the best location for many folks but illustrates what can be had:

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4960473/Driveway_2016-01-24_064726.mp4

RobertRosal
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Out of respect for Netgear, I won't post up the competitors.  

 

I know there are postings within this forum that others have posted.  You should be able to find what you are looking for.

-Robert
DRGinLBC
Guide
Guide

I hope you didn't just post that video as a positive for Arlo.  She was halfway down the walkway before it even started recording.  This, IMO, would be a great example of the issue we are all talking about.

Hula_Rock
Prodigy Prodigy
Prodigy

so it did not detect the Car driving into the driveway ?

RobertRosal
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

The only recommendation that would work for you, though you have to waste a camera, an additional one should work.  Have one trigger another until Netgear gives us the ability to purchase a low cost motion sensor to trigger any camera we want.

-Robert
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

As noted, the tree hides the subject walking up the sidewalk and detects about 20-25 feet away so, yeah, that IS a sort of plug for Arlo since folks are complaining about not detecting motion. The camera position is more for the driveway than for the sidewalk/front door but provides plenty of time for identification if needed. I'm not trying to capture faces - if I was, it would be in a whole different place for close-ups. As for the car, that would have been a separate video - I figured I wouldn't need to post a whole sequence.

jiehl
Aspirant
Aspirant

I am having this trouble as well.  I am in the process of trying to get rid of NestCams but these arlos are taking way to long to start recording.  I am lucky if i get hte back of someone walking off my porch.  I may need to stick with Dropcam if this can not be fixed and i really do not wnat to do that but so far this is not great to secruity unless teh person is really takes there time.

WernerS
Star
Star

It's not even consistent. I have 4 wireless's cams in my home and missing gaps up to several seconds. Often I receive an alarm and video is missing the all important first couple of seconds. What is a 120 second video worth if the most important part is missing? I am really frustrated with this system. 

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

Have you read up on the suggestions for best positioning of the cameras to get best detection? Many people don't read what's been posted time and again about getting motion to be across the  FOV, starting at an edge. There's also the possibility of using one camera to trigger another using appropriate rules. Lots of information here that's been told many times.

DRGinLBC
Guide
Guide

My wife went on the front porch to leave a bag of clothes out for a friend.  This is where our camera is.  I received mobile messages showing the bag magically appear on the my porch (without capturing my wife walking on the porch to leave it).  I also have an alert with the bag missing (not a single second of the person coming onto my porch to pick it up).

 

This system is terrible.  Even my wife who is a non-techie finds is to be horrible.

 

I've tried all angles, sensitivity levels, positioning, pan/zoom, rebooted.  Still have the same results.  I get all video recorded about 3-5 seconds after the movement happens.

 

Tons of 30 second videos showing the back of peoples heads or nothing since the subject has already vanished.

 

.....................

 

To jguerdat:

 

No offense, but not everyone wants to purchase a separate camera for $140 just to "trigger" the camera that I'd like to record.  My one camera setup was expensive (for me).  I'd like it to work as advertised.  There should be a disclaimer that says the camera will not record right away with motion.  But, I see why they don't say that...

Paul_FCCL
Prodigy
Prodigy

jguerdat wrote:

Have you read up on the suggestions for best positioning of the cameras to get best detection? Many people don't read what's been posted time and again about getting motion to be across the  FOV, starting at an edge. There's also the possibility of using one camera to trigger another using appropriate rules. Lots of information here that's been told many times.


That's it.....it has to be that, all these people reporting same problems with these cameras, over and over again. We must all be a bunch of idiots who don't read the instructions and therefore problems are not really there.

That may help explain why Netgear never does anything about these issues, it's all of us stupid users who don't read or understand the instructions.

Why is this always assumed? Let's face it, there may be some users who neglect reading the instructions, however can't possibly be that many. Give us a break, we're not all that stupid! Or maybe we are so....for buying this product.

Sorry but it had to be said, there's a lot of frustration amongst us all. We need help in getting these issues resolved, not the usual denial.

 

Regards.

Paul FCCL

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

I don't disagree with your comments but it's pretty danged obvious from many posts that folks haven't done any homework on what's already been suggested. Many posters never return with explanations, good or bad. Like most/all Internet forums, they're replete with complaints because you rarely post if everything is great. So, you need to know the numbers of systems sold and compare those with (dis)satisfied customers. We'll never know.

 

As for lag and false detections, how many screenshots have we ever seen to help determine if better positioning may help? I can probably count them on two hands. Internet troubleshooting is always problematic since we can't see what's actually going on. Not every situation is the same as another and not every situation is solvable.

 

I'm not a nether employee nor apologist and neither are many others here whontry to hell. All we can do is rely on our  experience, deduction, and definitely a helping of SWAGs. We're actually trying to help and in response get trashed. That helps no one. 

scjessey
Guide
Guide

Regardless of camera positioning, one thing is absolutely clear. The lag between motion detection and recording is the main reason for all the complaints. The cameras take a long time to come out of sleep mode, negotiate with the Netgear server and then begin recording. I would say the shortest time is around 2 seconds, which in many cases results in key motion being missed.

 

It is true that, assuming a location is available, using the motion sensor on a second camera to trigger recording on the desired camera can help a great deal; however, this is a terribly expensive and wasteful solution.

 

I have previously stated I wish Netgear would make available low-cost "sensor only" units available for purchase that could be used to help with these sorts of dual-unit scenarios. If that happens, I would hope they would not count toward a customer's camera quota. Another possibility is for Netgear to offer cameras with no sleep mode for quicker response. Such units would presumably need higher-capacity battery compartments.

 

But to pretend there isn't a problem here is ridiculous.