SHM issues with Arlo, no status updates, and history issues

shm
smarthomemonitor
(Eric) #1

I setup arlo integration with Smartthings Smart home monitor. It is work the with some issues:
-The dashboard always shows ok. for 5 minutes it showed a clickable link with a number of alerts. now it is always ok
-to see these alerts i have to click history tab on dashboard. I swear it used to show a feed including video thumbnails. Now it just says alert Arlo pro 1. I have to click into every single alert to see the thumbnail :expressionless:
-The time stamp on the history tab is 4 hours off. Time zones are correct in Arlo and Smartthings. as a matter of fact if i go to menu/notifications the same notification for the said event has the correct time. Just the history tab is off by 4 hours.

Anyone see any or all off these issues? Is there a fix?

(Eric) #2

Wow no adviceā€¦ This seems to be a common thing with my issuesā€¦ nobody ever has any ideaā€¦
TO update, the two most important issues are
-Timestamp is wrong for anything in the SHM history tab. Even if its not arlo related.
-Arlo support says smarthings needs to fix their software because its not properly managing the modes. So regardless of which mode my SHM is in, arlo is recording constantly on motion regardless. Iā€™m getting a few days of battery life on days where someone is home all day. :frowning:

(Greg) #3

To me this sounds like the difference between using SHM Security Vs SHM Custom. If you set up arlo to be the camera of choice for Armed/Away or Armed/Stay you will have an incident you have to dismiss. If you are using custom SHM then you do have to go in to history and click the incident you want to see the video.

ST Support should be able to help you.

I actually prefer this behavior. My suggestion for you would be to set Arlo to Disarmed mode. Then manage capturing the incidents you want via SHM custom and restricting it to the ST modes desired. Arlo will record the 30s/1m/3m video in SHM even if Arlo is in Disarmed mode in itā€™s own app.

HTH

(Eric) #4

Greg, thank you for your feedback. You are correct. Thigns i put into the default do trigger the events. That is why i did not include it again in my follow-up. I may put my primary camera in the default, then just a secondary camera in cusom to get this functionality. But you confirmed what i was seeing, and understanding it is half the battle.

I am still working with ST, so far they seem to be blaming Arlo. I explained to them twice its all events not just arlo events in history showing the wrong time. The time stamps are correct in the menu/notifications which is strange.

You make a good point about prefer the behavior. If my battery was not dying so fast I may agree. Maybe i will leave it now that its not a holiday weekend and my contractors are done working in my house everyday. This will only leave my dogs to trigger the cameras. I did not realize i could put arlo in disarmed mode. I will try that too. Thank you! I thought the smartthings ā€œmodeā€ was a part of the integration and required for SHM to work correctly.

Thanks for all the useful information.

(Greg) #5

I assumed that too, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to record in ST no matter what the Arlo mode was.

anytime

(Eric) #6

So i tried this, it does not seem to trigger. Then i noticed that if arlo is in disarmed, it says ā€œmotion detection disabledā€ So there will be nothing to trigger Smarthigns to request a capture? I am trying to use the actual arlo cameras to detect motion. I am guessing to do what you are saying I would need a external motion detector?

(Greg) #7

You are right. For my use cases Iā€™m not relying on the motion, sorry about that. I just ran a few tests and I think the following will work for you.

Leave Arlo in Smartthings mode and use Custom SHM rules restricted to certain ST modes to grab only the videos you want. With this method you wonā€™t get any of the 10 second arlo cloud videos or notifications. Just ST 30s/1m/3m videos that you have to access in SHM history.

If it helps you - here is my use case.
Generally Iā€™m leaving Arlo in Armed mode. But I have the cameras aimed where the motion is only detected if you are actually at my doors. This gives me the Arlo notification and the 10 second Arlo video, which so far doesnā€™t appear to be draining my batteries. I then use custom SHM rules to record 1min ST video if the screen door opens or someone rings my doorbell while Iā€™m away or sleeping. Lastly I have arlo added in SHM security to record a 3 min vid for an actual SHM away or stay intrusion. So I feel pretty covered:

10 sec Arlo video for deliveries or random people dropping by 24/7
1 min Arlo video for non intrusion events while away/sleeping
3 min Arlo video for intrusions

Lastly I also have a virtual switch where I can disarm Arlo through IFTTT to prevent unnecessary recording/notifications if Iā€™m expecting a lot of activity. I have regularly scheduled routines that happen that will re arm Arlo if I forget.

(Eric) #8

OK i got ya. That makes sense. I think the problem i have is my dog paces from front to back of the house all day long (anxiety) I have hundreds of recordings during a day the dog is out. Im rethinkikng how I trigger this based on your ideas. Maybe ill use core and try and trigger off door contacts AND motion or something.

That said ST just acknowledge the bug and Dev is working on a fix.

I also think i fixed my timezone thing by dragging my pushpin to another time zone, save,. Then back.
Ill see if im right next time there is an event.

(Greg) #9

Which part exactly is the bug? Do you know what the planned fix is?

(Eric) #10

Their wording was:
And, so far as we can tell, the settings for Arloā€™s SmartThings mode within the Arlo app are reverting to default - itā€™s a that known issue with the integration I mentioned previously. Weā€™re working on a fix for that.

(Brian Harding) #11

@ecszone
Here is how I have my Arlo cameras setup for a couple of reasons. The cameras outside looking at my Front and Back doors are in high traffic areas and I donā€™t want constant alerts and secondly, I have several of the original cameras inside so I canā€™t leave them in the Armed mode as they would drain the batteries in a couple of days and the CR123 batteries, (4 for each camera), arenā€™t cheap. I am also retired so I am home most of the time anyway.
So,
I use the Good Morning or Iā€™m Back Routines to disable all the cameras. I use the Good Night Routine to arm the outside cameras and the Goodbye Routine to arm all the cameras. I also have a Custom Routine called ā€œWaiting for Deliveryā€ to arm only the front camera. So the Routines are acting like on/off switches.
I never want any outside sensor or camera to trigger an intrusion alert so I do not add them to the SHM Security. I use Custom SHM Rules to set up the duration of the videos on detecting motion and to only send me SMS and text notifications. The inside sensors and cameras are all added to SHM Security as I do want an intrusion alert if any of them detect motion.
I have two motion sensors mounted downwards at about a 45 degree angle under the eaves of my house. I call them Front Left and Front Right. If the UPS driver approaches my front door from the driveway, the Front Left sensor fires and starts the Front camera recording. The same thing happens if the postman walks across my yard from the other side which triggers the Front Right sensor which will trigger the Front camera. These two sensors negate any delay in the ST/Arlo integration. I have another motion sensor pointing downwards on my front porch out of the weather that fires when someone actually steps on my front porch and it triggers the Front camera. (I also have a Skybell doorbell). I have a multi purpose sensor on my front screen door that alerts me if the screen door is opened. None of these sensors are added to the SHM Security but are set up using SHM Custom Rules.
I have a multi purpose sensor inside on my front door which is added to the SHM Security as I do want an intrusion alert if that door opens.
So the mailman walks across my yard and the Front Right sensor fires and starts the Front camera recording and I get a notification from both the sensor and the camera. If I did not get any mail and he walks by the Front Left sensor triggers and the Front camera was already recording. But if I did get mail and he steps onto my front porch the Front Porch sensor fires and gives me a notification which is, ā€œMail,ā€ and turns on a strong inside lamp in case I am sleeping. As he walks away the Front Left sensor catches him and sends me a notification. So I set up the Waiting for Delivery routine about 10 in the morning which activates the Front camera.
When the activity settles down, I use the Good Morning routine to turn off the lamp and disable the camera.
Anyway, that is how mine are set up for what it is worth.

Brian