Geofencing

[hardingr2000]

I now have geofencing on my app. I turned it on yesterday and my battery consumption for Arlo went through the roof. I do not have it turned on today and Arlo is still the big consummer of the battery. Yesterday Arlo did not report very many recordings (maybe 10 at the very most).I am home today and have it disarmed. What can I do?

[oillogger]

24 Hour Test Results.  Conditions - Moto G phone with great battery life, Arlo app continously open in Geo-fencing mode, Phone location services in battery saving mode of location detection via cellular/WiFi only, two short phone calls, and about 30 minutes of operating the phone in various manners.  Battery level started at 78% and 24 hours later it now has 53% left.  I need to run the same test with the GPS also being used for location services since the Arlo will disarm in a more timely and acdceptable manner.

[Navalvet]

I have Arlo on my phone and my wife also has it on her phone. If we both set the mode to Geo-fencing, will the cameras activate when just one of leaves the house or when both phones are outside of of the set area?

[hardingr2000]

Navalvet, I would suspect that both phones have to be outside the geofence area for a change to occur.

After reading back through the postings I have a question about what is meant by Arko being on. I have found that when I am logged onto Arlo and my wife decides to login, I am logged out. Is geofencing still capable of determining my location if I am not logged on?

[oillogger]

hardingr2000, not being able to have two devices location detected at the same time is a concern.  Did you enable both devices in Geo-fencing settings?  From the testing I have done it appears you must have theArlo app running for your location to be reported.  This is where it would be nice for Netgear support to answer a few questions.

[oillogger]

This may be an issue since I also have a problem not being able to have Arlo apps on two different phones opened at once.

[JamesC]

Navalvet, oillogger

Geofencing will operate on a first in last out basis. That is, if you have two devices enabled, both devices must leave the radius before your Away mode will trigger. As soon as one device enters the radius, the Home mode will trigger.

JamesC

[Navalvet]

Thanks JamesC that is what I thought. Just wanted to verify.

Gregg

[oillogger]

James C, Thanks!  I understand but because of the results of some testing I did I have a couple more questions.  I just tested opening the Arlo app while my phone Arlo app was logged in most of the day.  My phone was immediately logged off the Arlo website. Assuming that both the tablet and phone are enabled in the Geo-fencing settings.  Will both the tablet and the phone location be detected and both be alerted even if not logged into the Arlo cloud website if there is a detection?   I also tested with only my phone selected in the Geo-fencing mode.  The Arlo app was turned off and I left the house.  3 miles latter my Arlo system was not armed so I opened the Arlo app and immediately my Arlo system was armed.  Does the Arlo app have to be opened on all devices regardless if logged into the Arlo website?

[NED_K1978]

i have 2 enabled devices and it seems that i both need to be home 'in zone' for it to be disarmed.

even though it recognises (when i look at the mode) that my wife is 'in zone' it still wont disarm until my device is also in zone

[oillogger]

NED_1978, earlier up in the recent posts a Netgear person stated the Arlo system in Geo-fencing will arm/disarm via last out for arming and first in for disarming.  Your provided information states otherwise in that it only would disarm when all Geo-fenced devices were back in your Arlo system disarm zone.  That is a big issue if true.  Did your Arlo system arm correctly once your last Geo-fence enabled device left your Arlo system disarm zone?  The good news is the Geo-fencing mode is labeled a Beta feature so Netgear should be actively looking for any necessary tweaks before signing off as a completed feature.  Hopefully Netgear will read your post and address it with an explanation or solution.  If the Arlo system Geo-fencing mode does have the problem you experience then the Geo-fencing mode will be useless for families with needs of more than one device in the Geo-fencing mode.

oillogger

[oillogger]

2nd 24 Hour Test Results.  Conditions - Moto G phone with great battery life, Arlo app continuously open in Geo-fencing mode, Phone location services in mode of highest battery usage and highest accuracy location detection via GPS/cellular/WiFi, two short phone calls, and about 30 minutes of operating the phone in various manners.  Battery level started at 53% and 24 hours later it now has 39% left.  Did notice when I looked at my phone the Arlo app was still up but required auto logging into the Arlo website again.  This could have prevented my location from being continuously reported which is not good and could also account for the low battery drain on my phone.

[jguerdat]

Be sure to check the battery section in the phone settings.  The highest usage services/apps are listed there.

As for needing to log back in, using another device or browser will force this as does a normal time-out of 30 minutes (I think).  Whether this affects geofencing, I don't know.  I'd hope not but...

[Hippychic]

How do you turn off geofencing?

[jguerdat]

Use the app and select schedule or another mode in the Mode tab.

[oillogger]

Geo-fencing is like the Schedule mode.  Once either Geo-fencing or Schedule mode is selected it will follow the parameters set in the settings for how or when it will arm/disarm as well the parameters of the armed mode you have selected Geo-fencing or Schedule mode to use.  To turn off Geo-fencing or the Schedule mode simply select the Disarmed mode in the mode selection for the camera.

Note: You can create additional armed modes and which ones necessary for the different days in the Schedule mode.

[WingRider62]

My Geofencing seems to be, working correctly most of the time. My question is: is there a way to have it automatically switch to "armed" at specified time each evening and then "unarmed" in the morning?

[oillogger]

WingRider62,

The Schedule mode will allow you to have your Arlo system automatically switch to "armed" at specified time each evening and then "unarmed" in the morning.  Be aware you cannot have more than one mode at once such as Geo-fencing and Schedule modes simultaneously.

oillogger

[oillogger]

If anyone has been using the Arlo app Geo-fencing mode with multiple multiple devices enabled to arm and disarm their Arlo system I would like to know about their experience.  Pros, cons, and the settings you chose.

[Broilerman]

I've tried several times and can't seem to get my wife's phone to work with geofence. The app won't update her location. Going to try again tomorrow.

[oillogger]

Broilerman,  I hope you are successful!

[Broilerman]

Didn't work. Wife left this am and left zone but still thought she was home. I give up on trying to make this work. The app creators have some work to do.

[oillogger]

Broilerman, I suggest contacting netgear support so they can attempt to resolve your issue directly.

[Broilerman]

Well the geofence is in beta testing. There are many issues with this app. Hopefully they get them resolved. I suggest they use your home WiFi in lue of gps to determine if your home or not. This would remove the gps problem from the equation.

[Broilerman]

I'm done with this geofence. Its not reliable enough to use as a method to arm my security system. Sometimes it works and sometimes it dont. Net gear has some work to do on this. I recommend they use WiFi instead of gps.

[oillogger]

Broilerman, It works for me when I use my phone.  I'm sure Netgear wants the Geo-fencing feature to work so as to sell as many Arlos as possible.  I fully expect Netgear is actively looking for solutions for all of the issues.