@cchilds1976
Firstly, all my outdoor cameras are the Pro models and I power them with Arlo Solar Panels. So, once set up, hopefully I can forget about batteries and ladders for a long, long time. As far as tons of false notifications placement is the only answer. My cameras are placed under the eaves of my house, positioned so that all of my entrance doors and windows are visible to the cameras. My purpose is not to see my yard or driveway, but to get some good videos of someone trying to break down my doors or climb in through a window. With cameras facing each other hopefully the potential crooks can’t disable or steal them without leaving me some good videos stored in the cloud. This placement does not give me false readings. If you wish to see your whole yard or driveway, there are better solutions.
Basically, you have to think like a burglar and decide which solution best fits your fears and circumstances. There is no “one shoe fits all” solution. You want to be able have early warning of someone entering your property and get videos of them. That might require some creative solutions, like placing cameras inside a fake birdhouse, driveway beams or outdoor sensors that trigger the cameras to record in conjunction with the camera’s built in motion sensors. I use Smartthings motion sensors mounted under the eaves of my house to trigger the cameras as soon as someone walks across my property. Your Ring doorbell, if it works like the Skybell that I own, can be used to let you know if someone has come up to your doorway and can be used to also trigger the camera to start recording. So what I am saying is that anywhere you can place a sensor that is Smartthings compatible, out of the weather and within range of your Smartthings hub you can use them to trigger recordings.
If you don’t want intrusion alerts for your outdoor cameras then remove them from the Security Smart app for SHM and use Custom Rules to notify or warn you of activity.
If you purchase cameras like the Arlo Q series cameras that can work through glass, you can turn off the motion detectors of the cameras and trigger them by using outdoor sensors.
@hbr Thanks, Phenomenal amount of information here. When you say you mounted samsung smartthings motion sensors to your eaves along with the cameras how are you mounting them? And are they set at a 45 degree angle down to the ground or flush against the eave facing the ground or against the siding facing out? I also have 5 Arlo Pro cameras (3 Pro & 2 Pro2) and am just now starting to tinkering with their integrating into smartthings and triggering some of my lighting. I would love to add a few additional sensors to triggering recording off of though to help with lag. And I totally agree, positioning in key in regards to false notifications. I have one camera I put on my back porch pointed to the back doors but after installing had the awful realization that the two porch ceiling fans can spin ever so slowly on slight gusts of wind, thus triggering useless footage for me to observe how the dynamics of air movement works …
@TRYN2BSMART
I’m not much of a handyman so I typically use cheap wooden door and window shims to set the angle I need. I glue the number I need together sand them a little bit then paint them. I secure the shims to the eaves with screws then use the ST mount that comes with the sensors with a couple of screws. Somewhere around 45 degrees works for me. They are pointed downwards at an angle so that someone walking under or near them will trip the sensor. You might be able to place some sensors where the wind doesn’t affect the motion sensors, (even at knee level), and use them to trigger the camera to record. I also use motion and door sensors inside my home to trigger the inside cameras.
@Brian I’m having the same problem as above. What I would like to do is have my camera’s come on when my SHM comes on, and off when I turn it off. My outside camera are not recording and when I check it has switched to do nothing and mismatched camera names… I was using smartthings mode but now I just started using GEO Fencing and by passing smartthings all together… I’m using the pro models any help would be greatly appreciated.
@GoldRiverKid
The problem with using SHM is that if your cameras are in the Disarmed state in Arlo, SHM will not activate them thus you get no recordings. Secondly, in the Smartthings Mode in Arlo, Smartthings is controlling everything and that is why all your settings in Arlo are changed.
If your cameras are under constant power either by being plugged in to an AC outlet or solar panel. you can just disregard the Smartthings Mode in Arlo completely, unless you have other sensors that will trigger the cameras.
What I do is use the Routines like on/off switches to arm/disarm the cameras as needed and set up SHM Custom rules to set each cameras settings and to determine when and for how long to record, plus use other sensors to start the recordings to overcome the two to three seconds of additional delays in recordings in the Arlo/Smartthings integration.
In the SHM security app, add the cameras that you want to record when there is an intrusion. Arm your System using Routines.
Alro pilot has some good integration you can use to change arlo modes and such based on certain criteria. It may be worth a look at. I currently use it with my ADT Smartthings panel and it works pretty nifty for adjusting settings.
I did have to fork the app though and make a small change so the SHM integration also works with the ADT Alarm status change.
I’m running into a very similar problem. A few months ago, I got around this by deleting the Smartthings mode, and creating a new custom mode. Arlo integration with Smartthings worked fine until I decided to add a new camera and a second base station yesterday. Once I did this, I hit this issue again.
When I went into my Arlo app, a “Smartthings” mode showed up again. I’ve tried configuring the Smartthings mode, going back and configuring the Arm mode, and also deleting Smarthings mode and creating a new Arm2 mode. Every time I set up my cameras, the change to different settings after a few minutes.
Here is an example:
In Arlo Base One, I have 5 cameras. I set all cameras up to record on motion (not audio) for 90 seconds. The cameras have names: Front, Entrance, Great Room, Office, and Hallway. The really weird thing is, 3 out of the 5 change to serial numbers and the other two keep their name (with respect to the Rules in the Mode in the Arlo app). The crazy thing is, of the 3 serial numbers, one is the serial number of “Office”. So basically, Front is now gone, and there are separate Rules for the SN of Office and the Name of Office.
Anyway, I’ve tried creating a bunch of Modes and nothing seems to stick. …this is all in the Arlo app, but Smartthings is controlling them. I think it’s the Arlo product that is screwy, not Smartthings, but this is the only forum that I can find info on. Any advice?
@reybraga
I have an assortment of various Arlo Cameras on 3 base stations. What I have done, once you did the Arlo Connect in Smartthings, is to ignore or delete the Smartthings Mode in Arlo, Set both base stations to the Armed Mode and control the active/disable through Smartthings Routines.
In Arlo, each base station must be Armed/Disarmed separately, whereas Smartthings doesn’t care, your routines will control the base stations and cameras. Mine are working perfectly this way.
Hi Brian,
Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I deleted the Smartthings mode from both bases. One base has two cameras on them, and they are set up on the Armed mode. So far, they haven’t reverted back.
The second base has five cameras on it. However, there is one camera that keeps reverting back to the S/N, and Audio keeps turning on. I don’t know why. One thing I guess I’ll try later is to completely remove it from being paired on that base, and then re-add it. Maybe that will help.
As a side note, I have my smartthings set up so that when my phone leaves the house, 5 out of the 7 cameras will turn on. When I arrive, they turn off. I don’t know if this is coincidence or not, but the one camera that has the issue reverting back to the S/N and having audio detection turned on is a camera that is ‘always’ on. i.e. it isn’t controlled by smartthings to turn off/on based on when I leave/arrive.
@reybraga
You can leave that camera on all the times with Smartthings. Have a routine turn it on and do not turn it off with any other routine. From my experience. you can’t have both Smartthings and Arlo control the cameras at one time, (other than audio and motion sensitivity).
I recently moved several cameras from the original base to a Pro base and those cameras would no longer activate/disarm through Smartthings. After a lot of head scratching I completely removed the cameras from Smartthings and added them back through the Smartthings add cameras in the marketplace. I then had to make sure each camera had a basic rule in the Arlo Armed Mode. That worked for me. I had already synced them to the new base.
When everything is working, you can either leave the Smartthings Mode in Arlo as is and don’t ever use it and just have all the other cameras in the Armed Mode.
