Would you recommend Arlo as a good home security option?

[dvrman_68]

I have not made the plunge yet, but curious to get feedback from current owners before I do.  Price seems right, subdcription seems reasonable, but no paid subscription is better.  🙂

Is it worth it?  I was comparing this to the Piper solution.  Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[4vrnvr]

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dvrman_68 wrote:

I have not made the plunge yet, but curious to get feedback from current owners before I do.  Price seems right, subdcription seems reasonable, but no paid subscription is better.  🙂

Is it worth it?  I was comparing this to the Piper solution.  Thanks in advance for your feedback.

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I have tried several and had problems or issues with all of them. None are perfect as they all have positives and negatives. You just have to weigh your needs against the different products and decide which comes closest to meeting those needs.

I have been very impressed with the Arlo system. Between being totally wireless in a very small form factor along and producing very good quaility and options I couldn't be happier. It's great being able to pick up a camera and move it anywhere at anytime. Great flexibility.

[TomMac]

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dvrman_68 wrote:

I have not made the plunge yet, but curious to get feedback from current owners before I do.  Price seems right, subdcription seems reasonable, but no paid subscription is better.  🙂

Is it worth it?  I was comparing this to the Piper solution.  Thanks in advance for your feedback.

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Arlo does have a free basic plan if thats what your looking for;

see   https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/What-are-the-available-Arlo-subscription-plans-...

As mentioned, there are +/- for all systems.. I've tested a few and a number of years back went with Vuezone to suppliment my own security system. Since then I've changed over to Arlo.

Alro is a great system as long as you use it within the design it was made. Arlo isn't a 24/7 streaming video feed. Most complaints I've seen are persons trying to make Arlo do what it's not design to do and then being unhappy when it doesn't work.

But Arlo does shine in that it offers hi rez vids in a totally wireless camera ( also water proof ) that can be easily moved around as needed. So, read the faq's and ask questions if anything is unanswered.

faqs here; http://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/search.aspx?faq=all

Hope this helps

[TomMac]

This is a good read as to Modes/Rules;

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/What-are-Modes-amp-How-Do-I-Use-Them/ta-p/32

[R_Lowe]

Good question and answers.  I concur to what has been said above.  I've been running two Dropcams for a year.  The picture is spectacular and always on, and retrievable 24/7 (motion or not).  However, it is hampered by being indoor only (or at least will get damaged by rain), tethered to an electrical outlet, and will cost $100/yr. for one camera or $150/yr for two (i.e., 1/2 off archiving fees for each subsequent camera after the first). 

Conversely, to me, the Arlo is a STUPENDOUS breakthrough in that the cameras themselves are completely free of wires, and weather-resistant (so placement may be made virtually anwhere w/in a 150-300 foot range depending on your walls).  Accordingly, it fills in where my Dropcams cannot go and plugs my outside security holes.  Also, 7-day footage up to 1GB is completely FREE!!  On the downside however, while it can see 24/7, it does not record 24/7 (only motion it sees, or if you specfically invoke the recording mode) -- otherwise it would chew up the batteries quickly.  And that is a huge hiccup and it's only Achilles Heel in my estimation, it will use up batteries if you record too much.  But I've done the math there too:  Four-camera setups with the Dropcam system will cost you exactly $250 (for the archieving), and batteries for a 4-camera Arlo system will cost you from $100-$250 (depending on whether or not you buy bulk/cheap or single/expensive) for batteries. 

I've done a lot of research and believe -- other than the battery situation which I'm only a little annoyed about -- that the Arlo is a stellar product due to it's video quality, placement and scheduling flexibility, and relatively low or very competitive pricing.

[ambient]

I have five of these now, have been an owner for a few months.  I have to say, this is a product that works pretty well.  Is there room for improvement...sure.  But it fundamentally does what it sets out to do, and it does it reliably and well.  Only one problem I had was when I lost a camera during a firmware update.  I'm on vacation now for three weeks and keeping tabs on my house every day with it, no problems.

[WadeShuler]

It depends on what you are needing it for and what you expect out of it.

I would say, indoors for monitoring low traffic areas, or to record while you sleep or are away, yes. Since you can not set zones (boxes/fences to specify where the camera should monitor motion) you will get a lot of false alerts if it isn't a calm place. For me, indoors watching the backdoor from the laundry room while we are not home or sleeping, it's 100% perfect. No traffic, great indoor night vision.

Outside, depends on the area.. I have one of these cameras watching my front door and window from the outside. The door is about 30 feet from the camera (just outside of it's documented range) and a human has a hard time triggering it. You walk about 2 feet more towards the camera and you can catch the motion there. The front door opening, can trigger the motion, but a human walking up to the door does not. However, a car going down my alley about 60 - 80 feet away triggers the camera. If I can't walk to my door and set it off at 30 feet, how the heck does a car in the alley 60+ feet away set it off?

Also, outside, the change in light can trigger the motion. For example, the sun is out and brightly lights the ground. When the sun goes behind the clouds and the ground gets shaded, it triggers. Also, the other way, when the sun comes out from the clouds and lights the ground a lot more, it triggers it.

Outside, a car or person, not in the view of the camera, can trigger the camera if they are reflecting off of my car. The clouds moving across the top of my car also triggered it I think. I thought they said it works off heat? A reflection wouldn't have a heat signature.

If you were placing this outside, I would say you need (for now until they add zones) a spot that doesn't have traffic or movement in the background. If you have a big yard, no neighbors, no alley or road. So the backdrop needs to be a calm place. Cars, dogs, birds, shade/light, will set it off.

While I can deal with some false alerts, I am getting tons every day. Between the sun/shade changes and cars going down the alley, it has to be like about 10-20 false alerts a day. I get more false alerts during the day than at night. I have had it not go off at all over night a few times.

Hopefully support is listening, and will be adding a zones feature SOON! If you could create zones for motion, then you could crank the sensitivity up high and have a box around the spot you want to only monitor for movement. Even if there was an interstate in the background, as long as it isn't in the zone, it wouldn't go off. Unfortunately, there isn't a zones feature, so I tons of false alerts.

I have played with camera placement and sensitivity settings. For my house, I have the camera in the best spot I can put it. I wish I could put the camera a few feet closer towards my door but I have it tucked behind a gutter that goes down the side of the house so it's kind of hidden. Perfect spot, just need a few more feet or to be able to ahve the sensitivity up to 100% (with the help of zones). I also have the zoom/pan so the camera is only showing what I need, cutting out the alley way. Unfortunately, the zoom/pan feature is no help for that. Even if there is motion outside of the zoomed area, the camera will still go off. So a zones feature is absolutely a must for these cameras.

This would be a perfect camera if the dev team would roll out the needed updates. I am keeping mine, and crossing my fingers that it doesn't take years to get it done.

[R_Lowe]

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WadeShuler wrote:

So the backdrop needs to be a calm place. Cars, dogs, birds, shade/light, will set it off.

While I can deal with some false alerts, I am getting tons every day. Between the sun/shade changes and cars going down the alley, it has to be like about 10-20 false alerts a day. I get more false alerts during the day than at night. I have had it not go off at all over night a few times.

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You might want to set your sensitivity level down to the 50-60 range.  I do that and for the most part I only get alerts for motion for movement by people.

[WadeShuler]

Thanks for the tip.

I am working on getting it down that low. I started at 100%, and when I get false positives, I move it down 5%. I am down to I think 75% right now.

My concern was, if I lower it down that low, that it wouldn't pick up people. Just trying to find the sweet spot, or an acceptable spot, until they add a zones feature.

[TomMac]

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WadeShuler wrote:

SNIP

Outside, a car or person, not in the view of the camera, can trigger the camera if they are reflecting off of my car. The clouds moving across the top of my car also triggered it I think. I thought they said it works off heat? A reflection wouldn't have a heat signature.  Snip

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The detection DOES NOT work off heat..... It works off IR or the reflection of IR !   The sun or sunlight is a large source of IR ...That's why a reflection can set off and trigger motion.

One of the biggest problems I see with motion is that people don't follow the guidelines set by Arlo... re max detection distance and the angle down of camera so subject crosses path as much as possible.

Max detecting range is on the area of 15-25ft. The angle down prevents a lot of reflections and the movment across of FOV allows the detector the best chance of sensing motion.

Follow the simple set up video and it eliminates a lot of problems...then it is just fine tuning.