Discussion
I have Arlo Pro with the rechargeable block batteries.
The battery charge life will depend on how much activity there is, typically 5-6 instances of 30 second activity a day will see a charge lasting 3-4 weeks. Then it's time to retrieve the camera from the wall and swap a battery or plug into the mains charger for 2-3 hours to charge. They are VERY fickly about mains adapters which aren't Arlo specific, you can't just plug it into any old USB charger unfortunately.
There is a lag of about 3-4 seconds between the real world and the live feed so talking to someone over the intercom can be a bit cumbersome.
The battery charge life will depend on how much activity there is, typically 5-6 instances of 30 second activity a day will see a charge lasting 3-4 weeks. Then it's time to retrieve the camera from the wall and swap a battery or plug into the mains charger for 2-3 hours to charge. They are VERY fickly about mains adapters which aren't Arlo specific, you can't just plug it into any old USB charger unfortunately.
There is a lag of about 3-4 seconds between the real world and the live feed so talking to someone over the intercom can be a bit cumbersome.
Yeah i have been giving some thought into where best to place them for easy access to charge the batteries, the floodlight one is the one i am most interested in as surely a large light will absolutely drain a battery, i am guessing the motion sense are very sensitive and will trigger from foxes and cats?
Ive got 3x wired Netatmo cameras, I looked at the battery options and Arlo really looked good but decided a wired solution combined with the subscription-free apporach of Netatmo a better combo.
For reference the Netatmo Presence cameras have floodlights built in that are very bright!
For reference the Netatmo Presence cameras have floodlights built in that are very bright!
Worth looking at the Amazon Blink XT2.
I put a couple up for my parents a few months ago, they have worked fine and easy to set up.
The new Blink looks like it needs a subscription or extra local storage, the XT2 had some free storage on the Amazon cloud, I've set it to just overwrite the oldest files. With two cameras I think I'm getting at least a month of back-ups.
Separate solar/ battery light would mean you don't flatten the camera batteries, the XT2 will work without light.
I've used a number of these battery lights,
https://www.rolsontools.com/product/cob-motion-sen...
Normally get them in TKMax for about £10
I put a couple up for my parents a few months ago, they have worked fine and easy to set up.
The new Blink looks like it needs a subscription or extra local storage, the XT2 had some free storage on the Amazon cloud, I've set it to just overwrite the oldest files. With two cameras I think I'm getting at least a month of back-ups.
Separate solar/ battery light would mean you don't flatten the camera batteries, the XT2 will work without light.
I've used a number of these battery lights,
https://www.rolsontools.com/product/cob-motion-sen...
Normally get them in TKMax for about £10
So this is being driven by my partner, as I am getting a new car in January and it is a high performance SUV and we live 25ish miles away from Birmingham, she also works in Birmingham so hears a lot about car's being stolen and people getting broken in for keys and on top of that is all over the local facebook group informing her of every attempt car theft and dodgy people trying car door handles and a like. She is stead fast in her mind that CCTV will put people off but i am not sure if they are really preventative or just able to document said theft to give to the police for them probably never watching it and getting lost in a pile with all the other cctv footage?
Anyone intent on stealing your car isn't going to give a toss about CCTV (they'll be wearing masks anyway!).
They're useful for keeping an eye out for delivery drivers or for people having a general nose around your property. However, Arlos are also fairly expensive cameras so be aware in case someone decides to nick them!
We've had a few instances of people trying every car door handle through the village over the past year, most of the time everyone's CCTV just gives us a looking down view of the perps and does nothing other than confirm that they went and tried pretty much every house. The footage from Ring doorbells have been more useful when some have stolen pot plants off doorsteps as these are at face level.
They do get set off by Foxes, birds, bees and I've got a resident spider who likes to crawl over one particular camera.
The solar chargers are not intended to charge a flat camera battery as such, they are there to keep a freshly charged battery topped up whenever there's a bit of sunshine.
The subscription service is if you want 24/7 rolling recording, smart object detection (so you pick up people and not bees) and for 30 days of cloud storage of clips. Without the subs, you get 7 days rolling cloud storage for free and I have a USB stick in the back of the base unit which stores much longer anyway.
They're useful for keeping an eye out for delivery drivers or for people having a general nose around your property. However, Arlos are also fairly expensive cameras so be aware in case someone decides to nick them!
We've had a few instances of people trying every car door handle through the village over the past year, most of the time everyone's CCTV just gives us a looking down view of the perps and does nothing other than confirm that they went and tried pretty much every house. The footage from Ring doorbells have been more useful when some have stolen pot plants off doorsteps as these are at face level.
They do get set off by Foxes, birds, bees and I've got a resident spider who likes to crawl over one particular camera.
The solar chargers are not intended to charge a flat camera battery as such, they are there to keep a freshly charged battery topped up whenever there's a bit of sunshine.
The subscription service is if you want 24/7 rolling recording, smart object detection (so you pick up people and not bees) and for 30 days of cloud storage of clips. Without the subs, you get 7 days rolling cloud storage for free and I have a USB stick in the back of the base unit which stores much longer anyway.
Edited by eltawater on Friday 16th October 13:51
Yeah i get what you are saying regarding theft of the actual camera I know a few ring doorbells got stolen near us, the other issue with the ring door bell is what stops someone walking up and sticking blue tac over the lense.
also along our road everyone has the camera's and now people are getting these metal posts that collapse into the floor, which makes her even more paranoid.
i will probably have to given in but £500-800 for a system that does not really do much is a abit of a gripe.
also along our road everyone has the camera's and now people are getting these metal posts that collapse into the floor, which makes her even more paranoid.
i will probably have to given in but £500-800 for a system that does not really do much is a abit of a gripe.
i've had a few arlo cameras, and whilst i like them, i've gone through a few because they just break and stop working. So yes, they're decent, but seem a little delicate to me.
well mounted and hidden they're decent, i have some set up down the side of my house where there is no activity, and they last several months. Obviously repeated triggering and they'll last much much less time.
well mounted and hidden they're decent, i have some set up down the side of my house where there is no activity, and they last several months. Obviously repeated triggering and they'll last much much less time.
I bought Arlo cameras x 3 when we moved into this property - but sent them back as their connection is very poor.
The house has decent wifi through a mesh system across the whole property - however the Arlo cameras won't hook onto the wifi, instead they have to talk to their own base station and the property is too large for them all to reach - the only way to make it work would be to buy several more base stations - i.e. effectively setting up a second mesh network - more hassle / more to go wrong / more things plugged in etc.
so they went back
The house has decent wifi through a mesh system across the whole property - however the Arlo cameras won't hook onto the wifi, instead they have to talk to their own base station and the property is too large for them all to reach - the only way to make it work would be to buy several more base stations - i.e. effectively setting up a second mesh network - more hassle / more to go wrong / more things plugged in etc.
so they went back
I have 3 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and they do the job but if i were looking at buying again i would be buying the Eufy products. They offer much better value & tech for the price, i feel arlo is overrated now and i never did get my geofenching via the app to work on them either.
Good:
Battery life
Free cloud storage
I have had an issue with wifi range at all so can't comment
Bad:
Delay of a second so can miss the first part of the recording
Expensive
Their door bell solution is laughable
The app ain't great
Its all that was available when i bought them 4 years ago but i would look elsewhere if i were doing it again.
Good:
Battery life
Free cloud storage
I have had an issue with wifi range at all so can't comment
Bad:
Delay of a second so can miss the first part of the recording
Expensive
Their door bell solution is laughable
The app ain't great
Its all that was available when i bought them 4 years ago but i would look elsewhere if i were doing it again.
My mother has Arlo - four of them. They seem to work well for her and the picture quality is reasonably good but this is my bugbear because I think the picture quality has to be brilliant or there's no point in them. Same as dashcams - if you can't identify an intruder/reg plate from the periphery of your boundary, what is the point?
I think the Arlo's are good but not good enough.
Supplier to my company showed me footage of his cameras on his phone - 60+ metres away he could read a reg plate of a car parked at an angle on the road in the dark (street lit). Those were Hikvision cameras and require wiring-in although there are WiFi versions so you'd only need to find a mains cable to power them
I think the Arlo's are good but not good enough.
Supplier to my company showed me footage of his cameras on his phone - 60+ metres away he could read a reg plate of a car parked at an angle on the road in the dark (street lit). Those were Hikvision cameras and require wiring-in although there are WiFi versions so you'd only need to find a mains cable to power them
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