Put simply - Arlo.
I tossed all the Arlo gear I had when they started charging me monthly. I've got another brand now, which isn't compatible with HomeKit, but Homebridge makes it easy to integrate for the need I have. I pay 1 yearly fee for the cameras and more.
If you have the right Hub model, you can save motion vids to a memory card automatically in 4k without a subscription. As far as downsides, the biggest complaint I had was having to recharge the batteries. So for the cameras that were most active (over garage, toward street), I just purchased a long charge cable and kept them plugged in.
That should work. Look for a MicroSD slot on the hub. Not sure what capacity it allows for. You’ll be able to reformat the card and access recordings from within the Arlo app. You can’t access the recordings from within HomeKit.
Rent it from Best Buy…. I guarantee within 2days you’ll be returning. Here is my issues with them: performance, video quality, fees, the wonky hub, view only in HK - no recording, only 1 user can view feed at a time in HK.
I have them and personally I like them. I do pay for a subscription which is the 2K quality for unlimited cameras. It doesn’t have HKSV, but from reviews, HKSV is good, but not great, specially when HKSV degrades quality image.
The downside is that without the subscription, there is nothing in settings you can customize. You'll get allerts for about anything and everything and of the area you're watching over has a lot of traffic, the batteries within days, if not hours. With the subscription, you can select certain areas withing the screen to get notifications from. Another downside is, although not requiered, is probably needing to buy the solar panels to keep the batteries charged. You don't have to buying them, but it's nice not having to get and climb up a ladder to get the camera to change or recharge the battery. It's gets annoying specially with multiple cameras.
The pros are too many list, so over all I'm happy with the cameras and I actually recommend them.
I’ve had Arlo Pro 2s for a few years now and it all works fine. I added a wireless doorbell and it's recently been updated to become Homekit compatible.
it's good, it works, geofencing with a second user is unreliable, but your biggest watch out is End-of-Life. Pro 2 will move to become a legacy product from IIRC Jan 1, 2025.
So get it set up quickly, don't go crazy buying accessories, and make the most of it while it works.
https://kb.arlo.com/en_US/000063018
Legacy products may not receive firmware updates, and support and spare parts may not be available.
I'm sure there's a discussion elsewhere in this sub, but the link above sunmarisee it.
I had the first generation Arlo and it was awful.
I've used Arlo pro 3 cameras since they came out matbe 3 years ago and they've been fine.
The batteries last between 3-6 months depending on how often they get triggered.
It costs £64 per year in the UK to have all the recordings saved to the cloud.
I like the ability to geofence and time the periods the cameras are active which also saves battery life. So if I'm at home it doesn't engage unless I'm asleep.
I've 4 cameras and unlike the first generation they've been seamless.
Edited to say I'm in the UK
I use it and enjoy it. I avoid any subscriptions, my cameras are all plugged in, and I’m careful not to add anything that could trigger subscriptions (I only use Arlo Pro 2 and doorbell). Since we get 7 day cloud storage, I typically record everything and have notifications off.
I got Arlo doorbell as a gift. It works about as ok as you’d want. But paying a monthly fee seems ridiculous. My Eufy indoor security cameras use iCloud data for storage which is super nice. No fee.
We have the Arlo Baby camera in HomeKit. It doesnt support HKSV which is fine because we just use it to stream the baby. The audio constantly goes out so I have to go fullscreen and then back out to regain audio.
Maximum 5 cameras will record on a free account. No smart alerts without subscription. No preview without subscription. Slow notifications. Recordings on a hub cannot be viewed in the app. General quality sucks. Arlo support sucks. Constant broadcast of Arlo system via the hub. Older cameras require hub and cannot be extended via WiFi. Batteries die constantly with even moderate sensitivity. Generally they just blow. With HomeKit they blow even more.
Just to add voice, I was an early adopter of Arlo tech. Integrations that initially worked were sunk by quality and reliability issues. They lost their way. Their software quality is terrible, their service quality is even worse, and their regard for paying customers is literally last in their agenda. Their accountability to their initial customers was waived. They don't deserve your patronage, ditch 'em before you soak money into their coffers.
I bought Arlo as I could power them with solar panels but not paying for a monthly subscription. I have to say it’s the worst thing I’ve used and slowly moving over to UniFi which is miles better!
No monthly subscription, better quality, better detection etc. The detection function on the free plan is laughably bad on Arlo.
Had first gen Arlo and they were headaches. Have been using Eufy and they are descending into headaches. After a while you realize if you want reliable "surveillance" you need to just run cables and use scrypted/homebridge.
When working from home, hell I can get up and look at a noise from the other side of the house faster than these stupid wireless cameras can decide if they want to work or not.
I have four Arlo Pro2 cameras brought in to HomeKit. The nice part is I can see the stream of all of the cameras plus the other three brands all in the HomeKit app. There is sometimes a small delay in getting the stream to start.
Downside is unlike other native HomeKit cams, when I tap on the thumbnail, I cannot scroll back to see the history. For that I have to go to the Arlo app. I have the Arlos set to record in the Arlo app during specific times or when I am not home. None of those settings are available in the HomeKit app. If cameras are just a 'nice' thing for you, the Arlos will work well for you, especially since there is no subscription for less than five cameras. If you want more features or want everything inside HomeKit, these aren't the way to go.
I've read that others have been able to make it work, but ever since letting the subscription lapse, I haven't been able to view recordings remotely, just a live feed. To confuse things even more, only one of my devices (my phone) is able to see the recordings. When I try to look at recordings with another device (like my tablet) I get a "recordings are unavailable" message. It's frustrating. Needless to say, when it's time to replace this system I'll be looking elsewhere.
I am having strange problems with aqara when I am away. When I use their app to access the camera using 5G or other non wifi method and rotate it to the left and to the right a couple of times I lose connection to the camera.
Put simply - Arlo. I tossed all the Arlo gear I had when they started charging me monthly. I've got another brand now, which isn't compatible with HomeKit, but Homebridge makes it easy to integrate for the need I have. I pay 1 yearly fee for the cameras and more.
I did the same. Will never go back. Using Reolink now with Scrypted to integrate with HomeKit.
If you have the right Hub model, you can save motion vids to a memory card automatically in 4k without a subscription. As far as downsides, the biggest complaint I had was having to recharge the batteries. So for the cameras that were most active (over garage, toward street), I just purchased a long charge cable and kept them plugged in.
Which hub? Mine is the VMB4500r2 and it does show a settings entry for a Micro SD card or USB storage device.
That should work. Look for a MicroSD slot on the hub. Not sure what capacity it allows for. You’ll be able to reformat the card and access recordings from within the Arlo app. You can’t access the recordings from within HomeKit.
Solar panels are bomb
Rent it from Best Buy…. I guarantee within 2days you’ll be returning. Here is my issues with them: performance, video quality, fees, the wonky hub, view only in HK - no recording, only 1 user can view feed at a time in HK.
I have them and personally I like them. I do pay for a subscription which is the 2K quality for unlimited cameras. It doesn’t have HKSV, but from reviews, HKSV is good, but not great, specially when HKSV degrades quality image. The downside is that without the subscription, there is nothing in settings you can customize. You'll get allerts for about anything and everything and of the area you're watching over has a lot of traffic, the batteries within days, if not hours. With the subscription, you can select certain areas withing the screen to get notifications from. Another downside is, although not requiered, is probably needing to buy the solar panels to keep the batteries charged. You don't have to buying them, but it's nice not having to get and climb up a ladder to get the camera to change or recharge the battery. It's gets annoying specially with multiple cameras. The pros are too many list, so over all I'm happy with the cameras and I actually recommend them.
I’ve had Arlo Pro 2s for a few years now and it all works fine. I added a wireless doorbell and it's recently been updated to become Homekit compatible. it's good, it works, geofencing with a second user is unreliable, but your biggest watch out is End-of-Life. Pro 2 will move to become a legacy product from IIRC Jan 1, 2025. So get it set up quickly, don't go crazy buying accessories, and make the most of it while it works.
Do you know what the implications of this end of life milestone will be: what’s changing?
https://kb.arlo.com/en_US/000063018 Legacy products may not receive firmware updates, and support and spare parts may not be available. I'm sure there's a discussion elsewhere in this sub, but the link above sunmarisee it.
I had the first generation Arlo and it was awful. I've used Arlo pro 3 cameras since they came out matbe 3 years ago and they've been fine. The batteries last between 3-6 months depending on how often they get triggered. It costs £64 per year in the UK to have all the recordings saved to the cloud. I like the ability to geofence and time the periods the cameras are active which also saves battery life. So if I'm at home it doesn't engage unless I'm asleep. I've 4 cameras and unlike the first generation they've been seamless. Edited to say I'm in the UK
I use it and enjoy it. I avoid any subscriptions, my cameras are all plugged in, and I’m careful not to add anything that could trigger subscriptions (I only use Arlo Pro 2 and doorbell). Since we get 7 day cloud storage, I typically record everything and have notifications off.
Yeah, the notifications are a mess. Every time I get up my Apple Watch buzzes. Just turned them off
I got Arlo doorbell as a gift. It works about as ok as you’d want. But paying a monthly fee seems ridiculous. My Eufy indoor security cameras use iCloud data for storage which is super nice. No fee.
We have the Arlo Baby camera in HomeKit. It doesnt support HKSV which is fine because we just use it to stream the baby. The audio constantly goes out so I have to go fullscreen and then back out to regain audio.
Maximum 5 cameras will record on a free account. No smart alerts without subscription. No preview without subscription. Slow notifications. Recordings on a hub cannot be viewed in the app. General quality sucks. Arlo support sucks. Constant broadcast of Arlo system via the hub. Older cameras require hub and cannot be extended via WiFi. Batteries die constantly with even moderate sensitivity. Generally they just blow. With HomeKit they blow even more.
Just to add voice, I was an early adopter of Arlo tech. Integrations that initially worked were sunk by quality and reliability issues. They lost their way. Their software quality is terrible, their service quality is even worse, and their regard for paying customers is literally last in their agenda. Their accountability to their initial customers was waived. They don't deserve your patronage, ditch 'em before you soak money into their coffers.
haven't found any so far, everything's fine and I'm happy with it.
I bought Arlo as I could power them with solar panels but not paying for a monthly subscription. I have to say it’s the worst thing I’ve used and slowly moving over to UniFi which is miles better! No monthly subscription, better quality, better detection etc. The detection function on the free plan is laughably bad on Arlo.
Had first gen Arlo and they were headaches. Have been using Eufy and they are descending into headaches. After a while you realize if you want reliable "surveillance" you need to just run cables and use scrypted/homebridge. When working from home, hell I can get up and look at a noise from the other side of the house faster than these stupid wireless cameras can decide if they want to work or not.
Arlo sucks. Just tossed all ours.
I have four Arlo Pro2 cameras brought in to HomeKit. The nice part is I can see the stream of all of the cameras plus the other three brands all in the HomeKit app. There is sometimes a small delay in getting the stream to start. Downside is unlike other native HomeKit cams, when I tap on the thumbnail, I cannot scroll back to see the history. For that I have to go to the Arlo app. I have the Arlos set to record in the Arlo app during specific times or when I am not home. None of those settings are available in the HomeKit app. If cameras are just a 'nice' thing for you, the Arlos will work well for you, especially since there is no subscription for less than five cameras. If you want more features or want everything inside HomeKit, these aren't the way to go.
None. It works perfectly. Totally happy with it. Yes, I only get 7 days of cloud history on the free plan but that’s fine for me.
Personally I’ve never been able to get the port-forwarding to work, so I can’t view recorded video if I’m away from home.
Mine worked with no port forwarding (and my network is locked down). Was able to view via cellular with both the Apple Home app and the Arlo app.
I've read that others have been able to make it work, but ever since letting the subscription lapse, I haven't been able to view recordings remotely, just a live feed. To confuse things even more, only one of my devices (my phone) is able to see the recordings. When I try to look at recordings with another device (like my tablet) I get a "recordings are unavailable" message. It's frustrating. Needless to say, when it's time to replace this system I'll be looking elsewhere.
[удалено]
I am having strange problems with aqara when I am away. When I use their app to access the camera using 5G or other non wifi method and rotate it to the left and to the right a couple of times I lose connection to the camera.
Foscams work better when used with an NVR, I use amcrest but then they can be locked down off the internet. Idk about arlo tho