So i just purchased the Arlo Q as a garage cam but am looking into the arlo pro 2 for my exterior. What exactly does the hub do that Smart things cannot? Also does anyone have any real life experience with battery life. I have read everywhere from 30 days to 6 months.
The Arlo Hub provides the interface for SmartThings to communicate with the Arlo Pro 2 camera. Without the Arlo Hub the camera doesn’t work. As for battery life, depends on how you use it, how often it triggers, how long you record, etc. Mine average about 4 months between charging (a little less in cold weather, but a little more in warm) - my daughter gets closer to the 6 month time window on hers.
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That’s not to bad of a life, I assume the Chicago winter will kill the battery but even 3 months would be pretty decent. Thanks for the feedback
There’s a solar panel available for the pros if you’re doing an exterior installation. They’re not cheap. But it’s been nice not having to crawl up a ladder to change batteries…
I saw that. I was only planning on putting mine about 8 feet or so up so shouldn’t be the end of the world to change, but we will see after the first change how i am feeling.
Mine - one is hung on the overhang over my garage (8’) and another in the back yard, same kind of install. (10’)
I was done with it after the first time getting out the ladder, mounting the ladder, unscrewing the camera from the mounting bracket, pulling and replacing the battery, remounting the camera and pulling down the ladder… Twice.
I ordered the panels that evening.
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Sounds like I need to invest into a solar panel as well
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Already fairly disappointed with this camera. Takes a very long time to get into the app. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Detection is meh and it rarely works in smart things. My nest doorbell shows me a feed in a matter of seconds. Already about to give up on it. And the arlo app is hot trash
Dumped the camera. Absolute garbage.