Motion detection sensitivity seems to be changing, why?

[Draygen]

So I've had my system for a few months now, and up until now the motion sensitivity has been mostly consistent (about 95% of the time it captures), and the distance it captures hasnt changed.  The issue I'm having now is two of the cameras seem to have lost or changed their sensitivity. Both were detecting people walking 15 - 20 feet away no problem. Now they're only catching people about 30% of the time. I've tried the detection settings, signal is 3 bars and the other max, I've reset both the base and the cameras, and both have full batteries. I havent changed location or adjusted them other than that and this seems to have just started recently (maybe the past week or so). Has there been a new update or anything that i've missed or is it an issue with the cameras? Thanks!

[Figure8]

I have mines mounted on eaves of house pointing over the driveway. It starts recording for wind blowing the hedges or a car down the street but my wife and I can pull into the garage in a large SUV and it doesn't go off?! Any ideas?

[Hula_Rock]

You mean like this ....  You see anything wrong with the screen shot?.........

There are 2 cameras pointed at the driveway.  Picture on the left shows my wife leaving in the morning,  the picture on the right shows the last trigger 19 hours ago.  The SUV passd right under the camera and did not trigger !  not to mention that a RULE ALSO failed. (When driveway camera detects motion, tree cam should record)

[Paul_FCCL]

H_R:

yes exactly like that.....about 3 times out of 5 that's what you (and everyone else using Arlo) is experiencing!

Paul

[Lcfire731]

My cameras are having the same issue. Since they are under 1 year old, should I try to fight for a warranty replacement?

[hokeysmoke]

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Hula_Rock wrote:

You mean like this ....  You see anything wrong with the screen shot?.........

There are 2 cameras pointed at the driveway.  Picture on the left shows my wife leaving in the morning,  the picture on the right shows the last trigger 19 hours ago.  The SUV passd right under the camera and did not trigger !  not to mention that a RULE ALSO failed. (When driveway camera detects motion, tree cam should record)

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It looks to be acting exactly as I would expect given the conditions you report (other than the stacked rule not working, which I think is a known issue from other threads).  I have a street-side license plate camera that operates on the same principle as Arlo, that being that it uses Passive IR detection to determine motion.  In the morning, it rarely trips when cars pass by if it can only see the back of the car.  This is because the back of a car is not a good IR source until the exhaust has heated up.  You need to imagine what the camera view looks like in IR before pronouncing judgement on whether or not the motion detection is working. 

I believe that to fully "fix" the motion detection issue, Netgear will need to switch motion technology to one better suited for this application.  Doppler radar sensors could be employed instead of Pyroelectric IR detection at very similar power levels and cost, but would be able to detect any motion, not just relative heat motions as Arlo currently does.  These sensors are beginning to show up in many security systems today.

[Lcfire731]

Then why does one of my cameras, at times, trigger with a flag or bushes moving which have no heat signatures?

Also, if it is truly IR then on a 99 degree day what recourse do I have with a camera viewing the door area of a brick front house with a concrete porch that faces the afternoon sun? The viewed area is obviously at or above 98.6 degrees on a hot day.

I can't pick up temp changes with a 98.6 degree person walking in front of a 98.6 degree porch. So are my cameras useless in the summer? Sometimes they work sometimes not.

[hokeysmoke]

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Lcfire731 wrote:

Then why does one of my cameras, at times, trigger with a flag or bushes moving which have no heat signatures?

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They are reflecting sunlight, which has a great deal of IR.  You may notice that if it's windy at night you don't get any motion detected from the same bushes.

[Bri_Wess]

Base:

FW Version /  HW Version

1.7.5_6178 /  VMB3010r2

Cameras:

Hardware H7

Firmware1.2.4941

Yeah, SAME problem here... These devices worked good when 1st purchased and installed.. Would wake and record on small movements, even had to reduce the motion sensitivity, had good crisp bright Night vision.  About 3 months ago, everything changed… Cameras were NEVER moved or adjusted.. Base is in the SAME place it’s always been.. I don’t get ANY night recordings anymore.. The night video is WEAK and barely see anything, Day recording have dropped to about 50% what it used to record. I’ve cleaned, changed batteries, reset everything.. It HAS to be a software/Update issue..  WAY to go NetGear.. ;(   Guess I'll be looking to SPEND more $ for another system.. And be sure to WARN everyone before wasting $$. 

[hokeysmoke]

On warm nights you should expect motion detection to be much less sensitive than it is on cold nights.  Since the PIR sensor keys off of temperature differences, the closer the background temperature is to skin temperature, the less motion will be detected.  It's still summer, so you may simply be seeing the drift of the weather, rather than the hardware.

[Bri_Wess]

Yeah, that cound be for the NIGHT problems, but what about the 50% drop in daytime? Also, why is the nightg vision so DARK and grainy now.. before clear and scrisp.. I make our faces, smiles, talking... Now just Blurry dark faces and ONLY when I've got turned to LIVE so I can walk past it and see myself.. Bexasue sure doen't even come on at night anymore.. It's a really big waste in my opinion.. Doing oposite of how it proformed months ago.. 

[hokeysmoke]

A drop in daytime sensitivity would be caused by the same issue as nighttime, just less so, since sun reflections would still have a large signal.  Can you determine if the LEDs are working in night vision mode?  Can you walk in front of the camera at night and look to see if they are all lighted up?  They should look like the below image with 12 LEDs lit up.

[jguerdat]

And it could be faulty hardware.  Use the Support link above if hokeysmoke's suggestions aren't working for you.

[Bri_Wess]

Yeah, everything seems to be working, the LED's do light if something LARGE like one of my cars is pulling in or out of the garage at night, but people walking right past its view at night doesn't set it off, but the 1st few months they did. If it is the TEMP issue then that SUX becasue I live in Dallas, TX.. So my Arlo is useless half the year??? Yikes..! I guess I'll find out if I ever get a cooler night.. If I can wait that long.. My wife wants security so might have to pull it all down and go with a better product..