Buy Now or Wait?

[HeatherABC]

I am "this close" to buying the 4 camera Arlo system. We currently have a Dropcam Pro, a Nest Cam, a Withings Home and a Dlink (non-hd) camera. The first three are all cloud based and the Dlink records to a SD card. I'd like to add some outdoor cameras so I've been considering the switch to Arlo. I love the complete wirelessness of the entire system and think I can deal with the short comings such as no continous recording and no sound. What concerns me is that there's no IFTTT integration and reported lag before recording starts. 

None of my current cameras have the IFTTT integration, though with Dropcam I was able to get around some of that by using Geofencing to turn the camera on and off. When I bought the Nest Cam I had no idea that Nest had downgraded the camera and removed that feature (as well as a few others I used). I'm ready to return the Nest Cam and go to another system. Arlo seems the closest and seems to have some good potential. That said, I am just not sure if I should make the investment now or hold off since Netgear doesn't seem to be very forthcoming in their future feature implementations. I'm a Smartthings user and Smartthings stated that Arlo support is not on this year's road map so I don't see much home automation usage with this system in my future.

All thoughts are appreciated. 

[TomMac]

I've been running Arlo since the beginning... currently with 6 cameras. Is it perfect ? , no....  Does it work for me, YES !

I run both rechargeable and OEM batteries. Some of the OEM batteries have been in two lightly used cameras since Feb 24 and are still running. Others that get heavier use I tend to put in rechargeables, so they get changed out more often at bout 40 days ( they run longer but do dropout quickly so I change early for a safety factor )

Tho many seem to have drop out problems, I haven't really had any problems re both base and cameras. But, then again, my system is on a ups ( which i had for my cable modem anyway ) and i have found it helps the cameras from disconnecting ( from base ) when the power goes out. So when power comes back everything is working fine.

IMO, they work well and fit my needs... yours needs may be different. Maybe when you buy do so from a store with a return policy .

PS.. with your listing of other cams, make sure your have enough data thru-put for the new system

[Hula_Rock]

If you buy, keep the reciept !!!!  As Tom stated it works for him and his environment.  For me on the other hand, The time it takes the camera to turn on an record is a MAJOR ISSUE.  Certain "Criteria" has to be met in order for this system to work correctly.

[Arlo_In_The_Biz]

I'd wait. At my business, we have implemented the four camera system and I'm extremely disappointed in the time delay. If you mount the camera and stand next to it while it activates recording, you can hear the click of the camera coming online and going into record mode. I think the time of detection to actual recording is around 5 secs.

Here's an example at my company -

Location: Rear door mounted camera

Distance between camera and rear door: 25 ft.

Viewable camera distance: 18 ft. (the reason for the 7 ft shortage is the camera is mounted high at 9 ft and won't record when you walk under its FOV)

Time it takes to walk out of the camera FOV: 4 sec

Time it takes the camera to activate record mode: 5 sec

This is a major flaw in the design of the system. The activation time to record should be in the 0.5 to 2.0 second range.

[JPC]

The Feedback here in the forum speaks for itself.. Check it out and read some of them and it should give you an idea.. Pretty much people who have owned the system have posted their side of the story on what's working and not... Yes, I too have the same issue of what Hula is describing and then some.. Although, It used to work before with less hiccup.. But everytime this New Update coming in..I kinda see the pattern.. My system just starts getting the hiccup more and more instead of being less.. This system relies on your ISP, Network setup, Battery, Netgear Server/Firmware/App/Browser.. If any of these have issues then you'll definitely experience downtime and end up not so happy bout' this system.. I've read some post here of some people stated how happy they are about this system at first and few days/weeks later the mood just suddenly change and turned into frustration coz' they're experiencing of what people are describing here in forum.. I don't wanna' be the one telling you I told you so.. but you're welcome to join with us and post your experiences here on the forum after you own one.. Like Hula said.. Just keep your receipt 

[RobertRosal]

I agree, read this forum and you'll arrive at your answer.  Not good for NetGear and hopefully they can get the message.  No need to sugar coat anything as all the problems are all here for everyone to read.

Very sad! 😞

[HeatherABC]

After doing all my reading, and listening to the comments here, I decided to go ahead and buy the system. I have 45 days to return it to Best Buy so I figure I'll give it a shot before returning my Nest Cam. I have purchased the 4 camera kit and have it all set up. I've only placed one camera and that was quite a chore. The image quality is really good and I love the wireless freedom of the system. Only time will tell if the other issues are too much for me to deal with. 

[dudenukem]

  I purchased an Arlo vmc3030 wireless HD camera with base to install in my home, The camera seemed to work fine for a few days and the motion feature was able to record the activity at a normal pace and gave a clear picture.

   After about 7 days, a relative of mine noticed the camera, and unknowingly removed the camera from the mount and proceeded to hide it. Once I noticed the camera was missing, I immediately checked the Arlo app for archived footage to see who removed it.  However, it DID NOT RECORD ANY motion of whoever took it.

    I find it very strange that for 7 days straight this camera performed flawless, and at the moment I needed it to record the most, I HAVE NOTHING !!!!

   I contacted NETGEAR SUPPORT and upon advising them the problem I had, they could only create a case number and offer to TROUBLESHOOT the camera...I advised that the camera was STOLEN!!!   How can you troubleshoot what you don't have !!!  

   I find it incredible....Company creates camera, Camera SUPPOSED TO RECORD MOTION, Someone stole camera with no motion evidence recorded or archived... Now I'm simply out of $180 and NETGEAR can't do anything for me....   BEWARE OF THIS !!!!