{"id":4108,"date":"2015-08-12T10:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2015-08-12T16:47:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T06:47:03","slug":"review-netgear-arlo-security-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/reviews\/review-netgear-arlo-security-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Netgear Arlo Security System"},"content":{"rendered":"

Netgear’s Arlo security system is the company’s first foray into a rapidly growing DIY home security market. Comprised of the usual feature set we’ve come to expect of such systems like\u00a0night vision and motion detection Arlo takes things a step further by introducing wireless HD cameras. Each camera streams a\u00a0720p image and has a 110 degree field of view. They’re also completely weather proof\u00a0and can operate solidly up to 25m from the Arlo base station.<\/p>\n

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\nWireless you say? Feature rich you say? I can\u2019t wait for the part you talk about how bad the battery life is\u2026? Well let’s get it\u00a0out of the way. It\u2019s good. In fact it\u2019s better than good, it\u2019s four to six months good! Actual battery life will depend on the way you use the cameras in your setup though. Night vision means powering LEDs, continually recording or streaming means a large draw and the constant monitoring of motion will contribute too but after a month of what I\u2019d consider \u201cnormal home security usage\u201d both of my cameras are still at full power.<\/p>\n

Each camera takes four CR123 batteries, which Netgear kindly include. They\u2019re stubby short little buggers that if I\u2019m being honest I\u2019d never seen the before. Apparently they\u2019re common in flashlights, so when it comes to buying replacements they shouldn\u2019t be too hard to find. Rechargeable versions apparently work too according to forum posts I came across but they\u2019re not mentioned anywhere in the documentation and will,\u00a0due to the nature of rechargeables,\u00a0result in a slightly shorter\u00a0life than regulars.<\/p>\n

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The great thing about the Arlo system is just how easy they\u2019ve made it to get it\u00a0up and running. The brain of the system, a closed 802.11n wifi base station is connected to your internet\u2019s router\/modem via ethernet. Once it\u2019s established a link back to the Arlo servers you\u2019re ready to start connecting your cameras. This is done by pressing a \u201csync\u201d button on both the camera and base station simultaneously for a short period of time until lights flash on both devices. It really couldn\u2019t be any easier and I\u2019m glad this physical approach is effectively handling the setup of the remembered wireless network connection happening behind the scenes further simplifying the installation process.<\/p>\n

As the cameras are wireless you can position them anywhere within range of the base station. Indoors or out, low or high the options are limitless and honestly is what sells the system. To further extend the positioning options beyond simply sitting the camera on a surface each has a strong magnet in its rear. This coupled with an included mounting disc that can be placed on a wall or ceiling allows you to magnetically position the camera and move it to whatever angel you require.<\/p>\n

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The system is controlled via the Arlo app which is available for both iOS & Android. After going through the normal account creation motions you arrive at the main interface for controlling your Arlo setup. It\u2019s here you\u2019ll see a recent view from each of your connected cameras along with their current connection, battery life and motion sensor status.<\/p>\n

The general operation and configuration options of the cameras are on par with Arlo\u2019s competitors. For a product that\u2019s pushing boundaries with its hardware the lack of innovation software wise is rather uninspiring and feels to be a let down in some ways. You\u2019ll find options to control the scheduling of motion detection, \u201crules\u201d that are really nothing more than who to email\/notify when motion is detected and the ability to limit motion detection to a portion of the image instead of its entirety, as well as a few other but nothing particularly unexpected.<\/p>\n

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General use involves having the cameras setup to record once motion is detected for 10 seconds. The footage is then immediately uploaded to the cloud and if selected an email sent to notify you of the recording. This follows the current trend in similar products, utilising cloud storage to effectively provide offsite storage for you.<\/p>\n

Cloud storage is all well and good providing your internet connection is operating at the time someone is robbing your home but the continual lack of local storage as an option in addition to cloud for all of these new wave of security products is slightly concerning. The privacy conscious are likely to not consider\u00a0Arlo and many of its counterparts if only because it is a cloud reliant product.\u00a0The hope, with the Arlo system at least, is that local storage is an option\u00a0is to come. The included base station has two USB ports on it making it a real possibility down the track but Netgear are yet to confirm anything, including why those ports are there at all.<\/p>\n

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Another downside of a cloud only solution is the cost. Luckily a\u00a0free tier will suit almost everyone\u2019s needs supporting up to 5 cameras with 1GB of storage for recordings captured over the last 7 days. A \u201cpremier\u201d & \u201celite\u201d tier (A$13 & A$19 per month respectively) extended your storage capacity (10GB, 100GB) and archive days (30, 60) whilst allowing up to 15 cameras at the top level.<\/p>\n

Recordings as well as streaming of the cameras\u2019 current view can by done via the Arlo app or the web. The web interface mimics the app in most ways and configuration options can be tailored here too. In fact I actually found the web interface to be more responsive and easier to use than the app but really once you\u2019ve got things where you want them it\u2019s kind of set and forget.<\/p>\n

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Absent from the Arlo system is an audio interface. Unlike its main competitor Nest Cam (formerly Dropcam) the Arlo cameras have no microphone or speaker meaning you\u2019re unable to communicate through them. You might think you have no need to do this but for those using it to say monitor their pets whilst at work, yelling at them may just stop them from ripping that new cushion to shreds. The Arlo won\u2019t help you here.<\/p>\n

Also missing – and a feature that I and seemingly everyone else on the Netgear forums is screaming for – is IFTTT integration. Arlo, along with Nest Cam, have no API or 3rd party integration of any kind at this stage. Nest currently have their smoke detector and thermostat working with\u00a0IFTTT so it\u2019s likely only a matter of time but for Arlo there\u2019s no mention anywhere that it’s going to come. Without it things like geofencing your home to automatically toggle the cameras\u2019 motion detection function are impossible. Making the a Philips Hue or LIFX bulb turn on as the recording begins, again, not to be.<\/p>\n

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As far as DIY security systems go the Arlo is by far the most convenient on the market today. Its wireless cameras allow for an almost infinite array of positioning options and the setup of the system is almost instantaneous. The trade off for such convenience: a lack of audio support and a slightly lower image quality than some of its competitors who offer 1080p. Is that enough to sway the majority of people away? I seriously doubt it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netgear\u2019s Arlo security system is the company\u2019s first foray into a rapidly growing DIY home security market. Comprised of the usual feature set we\u2019ve come to expect of such systems like night vision and motion detection Arlo takes things a step further by introducing wireless HD cameras. Each camera streams a 720p image and has a 110 degree field of view. They\u2019re also completely weather proof and can operate solidly up to 25m from the Arlo base station.\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[11,2],"tags":[1176,1175,134,129,1177],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"reckoner_social_message":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}