Question 1

we have a mountain cabin with electricity , DSL  Wi-Fi  , and a land line phone; but no cell phone service. does system require cell service ?  thanks.

Accepted Answer

No, this system requires a wifi signal NOT cell service.  You have DSL, which should be good enough to monitor your system using the Arlo app.  This system works well and allows you monitor five cameras for free with the app, but will charge a fee above that.  Keep in mind there is no audio unless you get the Arlo pro cameras, which I not have.

Question 2

Do the cameras record 24/7, only when the sensor is triggered or do you manually have to hit record or setup a schedule?

Accepted Answer

The cameras only record when sensor is motion triggered (saving battery life). You can enable/disable the triggering for the system so that you don't get alerts when you're at home (i.e. during the weekend). I only arm my system when I know I'm at work or at night when I'm asleep. Within the Arlo PC or phone application, you are able to hit a "live play" button for each camera if you want to watch live. As soon as you leave the Arlo computer or phone application - it goes back to trigger mode.

Question 3

do i have to have a netgear router?

Accepted Answer

No, you don't have to have a NetGear router.  My set-up is done with the router that I have from my internet provider.  Not sure if there are any added benefits of using a NetGear router, so also try using the Arlo community forum (can't post link) for other possible answers.

Question 4

i  have a NetEGEAR   Arlo vms3330w 3 wire free HD cameras it says it  works at temperature14 F t0 122 F, I live in Michigan it gets lower than 14 F so will they not work ?

Accepted Answer

not sure about the temp thing, but if that what it says then i would move my cameras internally by entrances until the weather warms up. 
I love my Arlo security system. It works fabulously. Our temps here only go down to the lowest being around 22 degrees Fahrenheit

Question 5

Can you record directly to a hard drive/jump drive rather than have to download from the cloud?

Accepted Answer

I don't think you're able to record directly to a hard drive if you have the VMS3330 base station/camera setup.  If I'm not mistaken, such capabilities are available on the Arlo Pro 1and Pro 2.  So, you may want to check out those options.  Hope this helps.

Question 6

I want the information to be stored on my own hard drives instead of the cloud. 1GB of information is not enough and I don't want to pay for extra when I can just have a hard drive that stores the recorded information.  Does Arlo provide such features that allows the camera to store the recording into a user personal server or computer?

Accepted Answer

SO WHAT YOU CAN DO ID LOGIN ON TO UR ARLO ACCOUNT FROM UR COMPUTER AND TRANSFER THE VIDEO TO UR HARD DRIVE THAT WAY

Question 7

How long can I expect the batteries to last? Are they easy to obtain, can they be recharged or do new batteries need to be regularly purchased?

Accepted Answer

The answer to how long the batteries last is, it depends.  There are several things that affect the life of the battery.  Are you arming them to record all the time? Are you recording 10 seconds each time or 2 minutes?  Is most of the recording time at night, using the infrared lighting?

So here is the real life answer.  I had all cameras armed all day while on vacation for a week, set to record 20 seconds.  Then 2 of the cameras I didn't arm them very often for the next 3 weeks.  Each of these cameras probably recorded 100 times for 20 seconds over the 3 weeks.  Batteries still show full charge on those 2 cameras.

The one camera in the front of the house, for the 3 weeks after vacation, I have been experimenting.  So I had this camera armed all the time and changed recording time from 20 to 40 seconds, then tried 2 minutes for 1 day.  Since it triggers it to record every time a car goes past the house, it recorded 973 times this past week.  After only 1 month, the batteries need to be replaced.

On the battery question, 123A batteries are readily available.  The manufacturer recommends you use brand name batteries.  I didn't do that and purchased a brand called Tenergy.  Since they had numerous high ratings and a much better price.  Will be using them to replace the  batteries on the camera that they are just about dead.

The literature also states that you should not use rechargeable.  The reason being that they are no name brands that aren't manufactured with high quality.  I didn't want to take a chance on these, since they were correct on no name brands.

Question 8

I am using hot spot as a sorce of internet connection. Can I use this system with hot spot wireless connection?

Accepted Answer

YOU CAN. BUT IT MIGHT NOT RECORD EVERY TIME

Question 9

what is the maximum distance for camera placement?

Accepted Answer

I would say around 100-150 feet from base stations.

Question 10

I get my house WiFi via a sprint Netgear Zing. looking to get a Netgear Nighthawk X8 AC5300 and a Netgear DC112A cradle to improve or WiFi.  Will this combination work with the Netgear home security system VMS3330-100NAS?

Accepted Answer

It should work just fine

Questions & Answers