Geofencing

[ronjill29]

I'm using geofencing with my wife and my iPhones.  When I leave home the system recognises that I have left and that my wife is still home.  However, the system will still alarm and send texts and emails to say that there has been movement.  Is there anyway that I can stop it alarming if one of us is at home??  Thanks

[clex2]

So there is an option to "Grant Access" to another user. Using this method, you can have two people signed in simultaneously. However, I and others have found that using the grant access method is unreliable at best. What I have resorted to is having only one user with multiple devices associated with the one main account. Yes, in this scenario, only one person or device can log in at once, but it seems to make the functionality of the geofencing work reliably and correctly.

[wsscott]

I don't know if I've solved the problem, but got it working.  Here's what I did.  I already had iPhone 1 and iPhone 2 added as devices in the Geofencing editing screen.  They were both at home and the system was disarmed and on "Schedule".  I signed into my account using a web browser on my computer.  Then I Granted Access to my wife by following the setup instructions.  She accepted the email, and then we setup a separate account for her with her email account, and logged into it.  Everything connected fine, and she is accessing the Arlo device.  So we then decided to test it by leaving the home, and leaving her phone at home.  With the Arlo App running on iPhone 1 and iPhone 2 and signed into their respective accounts, we left iPhone 2 at home, and took a ride with iPhone 1.  After about 1/2 mile from home, I got a notification that iPhone 1 was Away and the system Disarmed.   Was gone about an hour, and when we came back and parked, I got a notification that iPhone 1 was back at Home.  So the next time I go out, I'll take iPhone 2 and leave iPhone 1 at home and see if it works.  Then finally I'll test it by taking both iPhones away.  So I'll keep you posted.

[wsscott]

Ok, so I left iPhone 1 at home and took iPhone2 out for a ride.  It seemed to work fine.  It showed that it was Away and that the system remainded Disarmed, ie. that's the way it should have been since iPhone 1 remained at home.  So looks like the only remaining test is for me to take both iPhone 1 & 2 for a ride.  If its working I should see that they are both Away and that the system is Armed.  Will let you know my results. 

[TotalPlayer]

Question here is how consistent that it would work. No doubt, you will see that it works, but the problem remains that it would work sometimes and at times it wouldn't. That's the mystery.
FYI, I have already tried the previous tips from other posts.

[quigger11]

I have four users with four iphones.  Was able to get the system working by granting admin access to all users and rebooting the unit a couple of times.  Problem is that is does not run stable.  Should be last out (armed) and first in (disarmed).  All I can offer is hope that multiple accounts and geofencing should work!  Can work!  Just not all the time.

[clex2]

Yup, unreliable basically means it's useless using the grant access method. Try one user login for all 4 phones. It should work reliably his way.

[wsscott]

It worked when both phones were Away.  I don't know how you can use just 1 login on all 4 phones if only 1 phone can be logged in at a time, and you need to have all 4 phones logged into the App with it running on all 4 phones for geofencing to work.  Please help me with this. Thanks.

[clex2]

The "app needs to be running" is dubious. All I can say is that the single user login has been working without a hitch for a few weeks now. Basically, one user having multiple devices. If your grant access method fails, try the single user login. There are no issues with needing the app running and logged in. Just login with each device one at a time and the Arlo app will recognize each device as a separately and they will show up in the devices list.

[quigger11]

Having multi-users share one login does not work for me.  A motion alert is issued and then we call try to look and the program logs out the multiple users (only allows one at a time).  This is just as frustrating as motion alterts on family members.

Here is the solution.

We all agree to call arlo everyday asking when they will fix the product they mass produced!  If enough of us join the project, they will hire a student programmer to fix it...

[clex2]

Yes, the one caveat is only one login at a time when using the app. However, the geofencing functionality should work consistently. You will still have the recorded video to look at later.

[wsscott]

OK, so today I tested Arlo by shutting down the Arlo App on both iPhones.  I checked the Settings for Location Services on each phone, and they were running for Arlo on each phone.  I left Home with both phones, and after about 1 mile I got Notification on each of the Phones that they were Away and the house was armed.  So it looks like its working even with the Arlo App off.  This seems the way it should be.  You just should need to have the Location Services set to running "Always" for Arlo.  You would also need to have the Arlo App set to use Cell data, otherwise your Arlo device wouldn't know your Location for geofencing.  We'll see now if it works consistently or fails.

[cyin2000]

I have 5 Arlo Qs and configured 4 with Geofencing and so far geofencing has worked nearly flawlessly.

I have configured my iPhone to use my id and my wife to use her id.  Arlo uses first-in and last-out to trigger geofencing.  

What I found most helpful tip is to first grant all shared user administrative mode.  The second help tip is to check Enabled Devices within Geofencing to see if the phone registered is In Zone or Out-of-Zone.

Initially, there were 2 camera that didn't work with Geofencing.  I had to deassociate the camera and re-register the camera.  If geofencing still doesn't work, I used my wife's iPhone with admin mode enabled to verify and configure the seetings exactly as my iPhone.  When geofencing is working correctly, then I disabled the admin mode on my wife's iPhone to regular non-admin user.

[wsscott]

Well I've been running Geofencing now for over a week and its been working flawlessly.  So it looks like I got it setup properly and seems to be doing its job.

[Punisher44]

Did anyone figure out how to reliably set the geofencing on 2 phones? I have been struggling with this now for a couple of days followed all the steps for activation etc...in fact sometimes it says that I am at home when i am not. Anyone else experiencing this?

Thanks for any help.  

[wsscott]

Yes, its been working fine for me on my and my wife's iPhones for about 10 days now.  No problems.  I setup my account with Arlo, then went to the web browser Arlo to open up my account and granted my wife Guest access with full privileges.  She received my invitation for Guest and she setup her account on Arlo.  Be sure the iPhones have Location Services turned on for the Arlo App.  The App does not have to be open and running for Geofencing to function. Then whenever 1 of us leaves the house, Arlo is disarmed but if both leave it is armed.  When it is in the Disarmed mode it reverts to the Schedule we setup. 

[quigger11]

I have made progress (no thanks to Arlo).  I did a couple of things including individual accounts with admin access for all users.  The trouble seemed to come with data on our system.  Two of the four iphones only access data via wifi.  So, entering and leaving the property was problematic.  Ensure you have access to the internet on the phone and you are sharing your location with the app.

Clearly, the product is buggy and they need to focus attention on this issue.  It does not seem they are so we either return gear to Costco or wait.

[Johnic]

Clearly the geofencing isn't resolved. I too setup my wife's phone and made sure location services were on etc. It would work for a day or so then stop. My wife would leave the house and my mode shows her phone is still in zone or if she left send came back it would show out of zone. 

I wish I can get this to work consistently, I have an active family who comes and goes a lot and really want the system to kick on and off correctly. 

I have smartthings and wanted to connect it to that system but I heard that too is buggy. 

[wsscott]

Mine is still working fine.  No problems and I think its been over 2 weeks now.

[Johnic]

I notice on my wife's phone in order to correct its current in zone or out of zone I need to click on arlo app and it's auto sign her in then it update the status correctly.
I thought the app runs in background all the time. I have it checked that way on her iPhone
Did you create a separate account for your wife's phone ?

[wsscott]

Yes, when I added my wife under the "Grant Access" tab (note this is different that "Guest" access) you find when you go to arlo.netgear.com, I then had to setup an account for her with Arlo.  She accepted my invitation and I setup her account and logged her in.  After that, I have kept Arlo App closed, but Location Services always on for her and me.  If you don't setup an account for the other phone, and I think give it full privileges, I don't think Geofencing will work. 

[Johnic]

What's funny. Just got off phone with netgear arlo support and she said geofencing mode is still not working correctly, and techs are aware of it......crazy

we need geofencing to work correctly. 

I did what you explained and I still have issues. I gave her a sep account. Weird 

[wsscott]

Both of my phones are iPhone 5 models.  One is running IOS 8 and is Jailbroken (that's mine) and the other is not Jailbroken and is running IOS 10.  Maybe this model works better for some reason.

[Johnic]

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wsscott wrote:

Both of my phones are iPhone 5 models.  One is running IOS 8 and is Jailbroken (that's mine) and the other is not Jailbroken and is running IOS 10.  Maybe this model works better for some reason.

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Very well could be. She said it works for some. But we really need this to work consistently to be effective. I have Smartthings but I'm nervous to link it to it due to those issues some experience there. 

[cyin2000]

I have 4 Arlo Q setup geofencing and they're working properly.  

Here are a checklist to get it working:

* Goto every iPad and iPhone device that is registered to the same user ids that you plan to work with Arlo.  Under Privacy > Location Services > Share My Location: From {This Device}.  Make sure this device is set.  For simplicity sake, I switched Location Services to off for all of my iPads.

* Make sure your Arlo Q app on iPhone is running in the background.  On iPhone General > Background App Refresh > Arlo is enabled.

When configuring and testing, you should go to Arlo app's Mode > Geofencing > Enabled Devices > verify if iPhone device is correctly in zone or out of zone.

[Johnic]

Gotcha. I made sure all this was correct.
Sometimes her phone reports correctly - In Zone or Out of zone. It seems like it only works when she starts the arlo app before she goes out or comes home. Like the app is sleeping and. Not sending proper location