Arming Motion

[mlkbathan]

I was wondering.......using the app, can you simply set up the cameras to capture video with motion detection "manually" as desired?  

Example....

When I leave home, one flick of a switch and all cameras are "armed" to record with any motion and send me a push notification.

When I arrive home, one flick of a swtich and all cameras are "disarmed" and will not record as I move all about the outside of my house.

When I go to bed, one flick of a switch and all cameras are "armed" to record with any motion and send me a push notification.

When I wake up, one flick of a switch and all cameras are "disarmed" and will not record as I move all about the outside of my house.

Does this make sense?  I don't want to burn battery, have the cameras record or get push notifications while I am awake at home.  I only want to use battery, have the cameras record with motion and get push notifications while I am away from home or asleep.

The times of the day will vary from day to day for coming, going and sleeping.

I don't want to set up "rules" on a set schedule.

Any help is appreciated.....

[Schorschi]

I'm really not sure what you're asking.

Since you said yourself you have different times when you are coming, going and sleeping: that flick of the switch to manually arm and disarm your system is what you'll have to do.

The flick of the switch looks as follows though:

1. Open the Arlo App.
2. Sign in to the Arlo App (if not alrady set to auto sign-in).
3. Go to the mode page.
4. Acticvate your desired mode (Armed or Disarmed).

You can't simplify it any more than that, if that's what you were asking. I hope that's what you were asking.

If you were on a set schedule, you could just program the times for when to disarm or arm your system based on the time of day and day of the week.

I actually created a custom mode that I called "In or Out" on which all cameras are set to record except the front door camera. That mode is active (via the scheduler) during a half-hour window during which I usually leave the house in the morning. So, when I leave the house in the morning during that half-hour window, I never set off a motion alert, because the front door camera is not active (I only have outdoor cameras). Once the window is over, I have the scheduler automatically activate the "Armed" mode again. I never have to log in to the app and lift a finger to "flip a switch".

[TomMac]

Yes, a bit hard understanding what you want to do...

But the schedule is for just that... a schedule. If your time frame is fluid, the schedule isn't really going to work. You'll have to manually ARM/DISARMED the cameras.

But if you want to turn off the pushes but still want recordings ( when sleeping ) , that is possible.

You just need to make a second MODE that copies the first BUT turn off the pushes...

Run the PUSH ARMED when out ,Run the NO PUSH ARMED when sleeping.

[mlkbathan]

Yes.  I am sorry.  I should have been more clear.  I do not own Arlo at this time.  Thus, I do not have the app or know how the rules/modes work.

Before I buy, I wanted to be sure "arming" and "disarming" was simple.  All the YouTube videos I have seen show a complicated schedule with modes, rules, etc.  I just simply want to arm and disarm manually.  No scheduling.  I wanted to make sure that was possible before I purchase.......

[mlkbathan]

Again, thank you TomMac & Schurschi for your reply.  I am debating on spending $700 for 5 Arlo cameras or $2,500 for traditional professional exterior cameras.  Arlo seems like a good DIY system, but I see a lot of negative posts related to the most recent frimware update and significant lag time in live view.  Also, battery life.  Can you tell me a little about your Arlo experience?  Battery life, lag time, the firmware update, etc.  Any feedback is appreciated.......

[jguerdat]

To answer that succinctly, here's the steps needed:

1. Open the app

2. Click on the Mode tab

3. Click on your system (it would be the only one)

4. Click on (Dis)Armed as appropriate

5. Close app

[mlkbathan]

Perfect jguerdat.  That is exactly what I was wondering....a simple "arm" and "disarm" manually with no scheduling.....  Thank you so much.

[Schorschi]

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mlkbathan wrote:

I am debating on spending $700 for 5 Arlo cameras or $2,500 for traditional professional exterior cameras. Arlo seems like a good DIY system, but I see a lot of negative posts related to the most recent frimware update and significant lag time in live view.  Also, battery life.  Can you tell me a little about your Arlo experience?  Battery life, lag time, the firmware update, etc.  Any feedback is appreciated.......

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First off, the current best price for five wireless Arlo cameras is $625 (plus tax) on Amazon (USA).

Whether Arlo or a traditional professional camera system is best for you depends mostly on how adamant you are regarding uptime and life expectancy of the system as a whole.

If you can stomach the occasional hiccup/outage, don't mind getting out the ladder every so many months to replace batteries and are ok with the notion that you are at the mercy of Netgear who can decide to abandon Arlo at any point in time in the future, then go with Arlo. Otherwise, get the professional system.

Here is my Pros and Cons list (this is for the wireless cameras only):

Cons

• Completely dependent on Internet. If the Internet is out, Arlo is out.
• As a result/side effect of the above: no local storage of video footage. You can always download footage once it's been uploaded to the cloud though.
• Completely dependent on Netgear's future decisions. If they decide to turn off Arlo, you are left with expensive paper weights.
• Noticeable delay between motion event and start of video recording.
• Battery operated. Battery exchange necessary every so many months (depending on usage).
• Limited vision range at night time of 15ft.

Pros

• Completely wireless cameras. Ridiculously easy, do-it-yourself installation. No cables to install, no holes to drill for them.
• App available, which allows for viewing live and recorded footage anywhere your Android or iOS smart device has Internet reception. Ability to change all configurations remotely.
• PIR motion sensor, which is mostly immune to moving brush during windy weather.

My experience with Arlo has been very positive. I bought a system of four cameras at the beginning of 2015, but returned it again after three weeks, because of the dependency on the Internet and Netgear. I prefer to buy things that last a long time and Arlo does not really fall into that category, because who knows what Netgear will do with the system in five years? If they abandon it, there is nothing you can do with the hardware, but throw it away or use as paperweights.

But other than that I loved (and still love) the system for its ease of installation, versatility in programmability, ease of access to video footage, and reliability for what it costs.

Then, in December I saw a special deal on Amazon for a five-camera system for $500 that I could not resist, ignoring my above mentioned principles.

Since December operation has been very steady for me. The recent increase of complaints in the forums, especially about the outage on Thursday night, was but a blip on my radar. The system didn't work for one night. So what? Noticed that night that motion events still came through as push notifications on the app, I just couldn't see any videos. The next morning everything was back to normal. I have survived without Arlo for decades, I think I can survive another night too.

The lag between motion event and promptness of recording mentioned in the cons could be of concern. Many users in the forums report that they often see the backside of a perpetrator leaving the frame unable to identify anything or anyone. That is certainly a valid and confirmed point. There are a few possible workarounds, like optimized placement and orientation of cameras, repositioning the base station to improve the signal strength to (remote) cameras (which has the potential to reduce lag), cross-recording with at least two cameras (an example of this I illustrated recently in the Caught In the Act Videos subforum).

But the core problem of the delayed recording can never really be remedied, because of the way Arlo works: it is a motion-triggered, wireless system that doesn't constantly record footage. There are bound to be lags. So, yeah, to get a good shot of the porch thief who snatches the dropped-off package by your front door is difficult to achieve with Arlo, though not impossible: it just may require two cameras for optimal results. But for an actual intruder who will probably spend more time than a fraction of a second in the view of my Arlo cameras breaking and entering my house, I think the system is quite adequate.

Battery life has been impressive. The official use-case scenario speaks of a battery life of 4-6 months with a daily 4-minute video clip per camera per day. I haven't really had Arlo long enough to confirm that first-hand, but reports from others in the forums and the fact that one of my own cameras' battery gauge recently lost only one out of three bars (after two months of frugal usage) certainly confirms that you can count on a few months between battery replacements, provided you don't grossly exceed a couple of recorded video clips per day per camera. I also invested in rechargeable batteries, and even though these don't have as high a capacity as one-use batteries and are more expensive, they still last one to two months and will amortize themselves in the long run.

So, all in all Arlo has been a very usable and relatively reliable system for me. In the end everyone has to decide for themselves whether Arlo works for them or not.

If the above mentioned cons aren't deal breakers for you, I'd suggest to at least buy a system and try it out. If you do that, one advice I have is to buy outside mounts ahead of time to maximize your testing time, as the included wall mounts don't allow for a full range of orientation of the cameras. 

[mlkbathan]

Thank you so much Schorschi.  Very comprehensive.  I will take all of this into consideration before making my decision.......

[mlkbathan]

I was also looking at "Blink," but that system is for indoors only and seems to be more of a home "monitoring" system instead of a home "security" system.

[Schorschi]

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mlkbathan wrote:

I was also looking at "Blink," but that system is for indoors only and seems to be more of a home "monitoring" system instead of a home "security" system.

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I think, currently, the newest product from Ring, the Stick Up Cam, comes closest to Arlo. Though, from what I can tell it doesn't have a scheduling capability (yet?) and does not provide live view, only records footage on a motion event. So, you have to manually switch between motion detection on and off if you don't want a camera to sense motion 24 hours a day.

It does have audio though, so you can initiate a two-way conversation with the potential burglar once the motion alarm has been tripped. Field of view angle is only 80 degrees. Cloud storage is not free at $3 per month or $30 per year. I don't know if that is per camera or per account. A rechargeable battery is also built-in.