I have 3 Arlo cameras and opted for a base to record rather than pay a subscription. All went well for a year then I was sent an email that if I didn’t take out a subscription I would lose the recording aspect. I just thought they had sent this email in error as I had the base and was past the initial 3 month trial period. I was wrong and on… Read more
the day stated the ability to record stopped. I called customer service and they assured me no one can get into the cameras externally. However, I finally went through settings and found things turned off which I had never been into. Then I was able to record locally but I could not look at recordings externally. Now, even local has gone. Now, features that I had been using for nearly two years are no longer available. I will be upgrading to a different camera company shortly and I would advise a lot of research if you are considering purchasing these cameras.
Absolutely disgusting. I've never bought a product only to be slammed with costs and the need to have a plan after purchase. I bought 3 cameras about 3 years ago. About a year ago the app informed me I needed a plan if I was going to use both cameras. I said no. I'll store locally only 30 days worth and still I get billed $15 each month. I have… Read more
emailed and no response apart from them taking money. I now have another message saying I need to upgrade if I want to use both cameras. My 2nd camera hasn't worked for 72 days and I suspect this is why. I deeply regret not buying eufy in the first place. My Dad has them and there is no plan or cost.
Arlo is garbage,The solar panels are lucky to last 12 months yet $70+ dollars each at bunnings a [Content Removed] subscription and zero customer service better off spending a bit more for good quality. This panel is just over a year old and the Ai bot just kept asking if it was facing the sun. Never will i waste my money on their crap again
Reviews with attachments
So apparently my subscription doesn't allow me to speak to a human, I can only contact ai chat. Except I can't access my account and when I ask the AI to help me reset my password it asks me to login. Still charging me $8 a month though Show details
Arlo was once the leader in home CCTV security. They are now woeful. Various camera settings and features were once freely available. These were cut off without notice and can now only be used with subscription. Local recordings also now appear to also be unavailable. I can no longer access them. My system has indicated for the last month that the Arlo team is working on it. Show details
Arlo have been caught out before with false advertising, and they are still doing it. I bought two pan and tilt cameras from Aldi on special. When I get home I find that only one camera is supported on a free plan and if I want to use 2 or more cameras, I have to buy a plan. Fair enough. I check out the BASIC UNLIMITED plan and find it suits me.… Read more
It says I'll get filtered alerts which is what I was looking for. A "filtered alert" tells you whether the camera detected a car, a human, an animal etc. It works for a while, then stops and starts marking all the recordings as a generic "motion detected". Apparently this is a trial period for a month or two - which they don't tell you when you sign up, even though their own plan details says it's included in the whole plan anyway. I contact support and they tell me they can upgrade the plan - A PLUS plan - to get filtered alerts even though they say I'll get it on my existing plan. Very underhanded way to get people to upgrade and spend more. The camera hardware is fine, but the company acts criminally with it's false advertising. I can email anyone who's interested in the complete transcript with the help desk, and how they push to upgrade me rather than just give me what I paid for.
The camera will begin have issue after the warranty period and the Arlo technician will not solve it and they also will ask you purchase a new one. The customer request will never been answered. Even you give them a call, they will say”I will give you feedback in 24 hours” and never call back. One refunded request been hold for 6 weeks even that claim it will be solved in 14 days.
Latest follow-ups
Arlo is the nastiest security camera company. The customer services is absolute rubbish. Someone broke into my house stole the valuables.I asked for the recordings on the particular dates as The recordings were missing on those date when this… Read more
happened. I pay the monthly subscriptions and they should have recordings of past 30 days as per the plan I am subscribed to. They have accepted their technical faults when the camera didn’t record the videos. Requested them to provide me those videos. Their reply as it it
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us regarding your request for camera recordings from November 27 through November 30. We understand how important these recordings are, especially given the circumstances you shared, and we truly empathize with your situation.
As discussed, we conducted a review of your account and devices. At this time, we regret to inform you that the requested recordings are no longer available and cannot be retrieved once they have been purged from cloud storage. We understand this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and we sincerely apologize for the frustration this has caused.
We also reviewed your subscription details and confirmed that your Basic Unlimited Monthly Plan includes up to 30 days of cloud storage. Unfortunately, we cannot restore recordings once they have been removed from the system. As part of our commitment to customer care, we extended several courtesy options during our conversation. While these offers were declined, we want to inform you that they remain available (3 months refund + 1 year free plan + 50% discount for Arlo products).
Additionally, we provided you with our Law Enforcement Guidelines (https://us.arlo.com/pages/law-enforcement-guidelines), which outline the appropriate process for official requests related to investigations. Please also note that your refund request for the payments collected since 2022 has been reviewed and, at this time, it has not been approved. What a irresponsible reply from a Arlo advocate
Follow-up · The offered is already mentioned on my review. The camera model is attached below. The camera had iCloud subscription.
Positive reviews
I used their cameras all around my house whilst I was away a lot four years ago. I'm going to be in a similar situation in the coming months so I started charging up the cameras. It was a little complicated with new wifi, new mobile, new computer, cameras completely flat and out of date software. I called to order new chargers and cables and the… Read more
lady asked me what was wrong with the ones I had. I said they look okay but they are old and I explained what I was trying to do. Instead the lovely Aliyah talked me through the whole proces and we updated one camera. She was happy to do the other ones with me but they weren't charged yet. However, I had jotted down the steps and now I am doing the remaining six myself. Extemely kind customer service. The cameras themselves provide great quality video and audio, even further away in the backyard. I bought them four years ago at Bunnings. Thank you Aliyah and Arlo!
5 star – Easy to set up and connect to wireless Easy app to use To many people on here who can't read instructions ,the problems aren't with arlo, but with people stupidity on setting them up, 3 cameras at under $400 dollars you can't go wrong Only one account to run and view multi cameras don't know why people say you can't $12 a month is not expensive to record all your footage Very good quality
Good support – I contacted them because I was annoyed that it seemed there was no ability to record video from a video doorbell without subscription. The first contact was with a chatbot, he was brief l hyperactive and very annoying, it didn't take long to chat to a real person and they sorted out my issue with a lot of patience, considering I already was feeling annoyed. Show details
Negative reviews
I bought 2 Arlo cameras with a base station back in 2019 and was happy with the 7-days cloud and local storage included. The app at the time was easy to setup routines/schedules. I have since purchase 2 additional cameras in 2024 and have consistently been dissatisfied. The new app is complex to setup and not user friendly. The lack of features… Read more
and incompatibility issues are now all designed to force you to buy an ongoing subscription. Even with a base station the new cameras won’t record locally.
I have reached out for support multiple times and struggle to get a reasonable answer to any questions.
Do not waste your money.
Find out how Arlo Australia compares to other Electronics & Computing Shops
Know better, choose better.
I am not usually prone to writing one way reviews, as most of us amateurs do, but in this case I am prepared to make an exception because I cannot find a single redeeming feature with this system. Our perimeter fence in an aboriginal village in the NT was breachd for the 11th time at 0207 this morning and Arlo failed to record anything on 5 of… Read more
the 8 cameras and there was no notification sound. This happens routinely! We installed the cameras after the 5th breach in the hope of receiving some notification, but in every instance most cameras failed and there was no sound notification. I will say no more as other writers have expressed their opinions more succinctly. Negative opinions with which I wholeheartedly agree. PLEASE, do not waste your money.
Worst customer service ever experienced. Very obviously overseas based, put through to 5 people (at time of writing) all asking the same thing - a 2 min review of the current conversation then you're pushed through to another person. Been online with them for 40 minutes now and going in circles. Pity, because the product is quite good. Show details
Recent reviews
Initial setup ok, but ongoing issues from then, minimal battery life and updates every time you do charge. Then would not charge, nightmare maybe got 6 months out of the system and then the pain of running was too much. No help from customer care, would never buy again. Show details
I find these cameras are not worth the frustration they create. It could be the software that causes continues problems? However the product needs to work when I want it to work. It doesn’t. Show details
The devices work but. This is also my review on the app store. motion detection is cr#p, stop annoying me with an ad to say join a plan. if I wanted a cr#p device that I need a plan to work with I would of bought ring. but eufy is now the way to go. will never buy arlo again since the constant push to pay for plan. Remember guys you were free.… Read more
edit. why the hell did you remove schedule time monitoring? so we have to pay. your company is now become a scam.
I have 3 arlo security cameras that have been working fine till I went to turn one off as hubby was busy near it. Getting on the app said cameras are not connected. After all efforts I contacted arlo help line . They stated an arlo camera has an end of life of 4 years . And they just shut down with no warning .I was told I had to replace all… Read more
cameras. I tried to restart my arlo main station once I turned it off it shut down and wouldn't restart. Arlo are just greedy and want me to replace and join their plans. Look like I will never be the owner of another Arlo as there was nothing wrong with the ones I had .
The service is total cr#p from Arlo because you can't buy any of there Arlo Pro 6Gen replaceable batteries anywhere in Adelaide, Australia ( would not recommend this brand at all
Had my cameras for years then all of a sudden they do an update and now I have to pay a subscription for them to work. I bought them so they are mine. You can’t take them back! Filthy dog company and will never touch them again. Hope they go broke the low life pigs! Show details
Beware of ARLO deceptive trade practices How dare Arlo change from a free service to a subscription based service! I have purchased 8 ARLO devices both for residential and business security. The initial cost was substantial which did cover self monitoring ... To now make a change to PAID subscrition is a deceptive trade practice and should be… Read more
raised with the ACCC. Sorry ARLO ... you will never again have my support and I urge anyone considering this product to think again!
Find out how Arlo Australia compares to other Electronics & Computing Shops
Know better, choose better.
I have tried to return a couple of Cameras to Arlo, and they are refusing to refund. It is impossible to use the newer cameras on the older (non-subscription) Arlo Pro 2 system with a UMB4000 base station. Arlo has a 30-day refund policy but then they offer free subscription for the first 30 days! I did not discover until after this period that… Read more
the basic function of the cameras (recording and making available footage remotely) was not available without a subscription. Nowhere I looked in all my research was this fact disclosed. Furthermore, I phoned them before purchase to verify that these cameras would work with my system. I was told 'no problems'. No mention of the fact that I would from here on, need to pay subscription fees if I proceeded.
By the way, apart from the above, the system in the first month subscription period was very unreliable. Notifications were not reliable... sometimes they worked, and sometimes they didn't. I seriously suspect that these later cameras are very 'buggy' when connected up with older systems.
On top of all this, my experience over recent weeks with Arlo service has been an absolute disaster. Rarely have I encountered a company that treats customers (at least customers with awkward problems) with such disdain. I am in the process of documenting my experiences with the 'service' side of this company.
I propose escalating this case to the Office of Fair Trading in Queensland and if necessary progress on to ACCC.
I have my 3 Arlo pro 3 cameras connected to power 24/7 as battery life & constant recharging drove me crazy! Still a camera will record a tree rustling every 2 minutes but miss 30mins when 5 cars drive by!! Go figure. Very disappointed with the fickleness of these as they seem to constantly miss the important recordings & yet capture a shadow! Show details
Had Arlo cameras for around 2 years now. Not happy with them . They are not working all the time and don't capture everything when my clever dog camera capture all things ... Got to pay for subscription also . Would not recommend
Sad but true, I have had Arlo cams for some time and for years had no problems with the Cameras, phone app or web browser at all. If someone pressed doorbell I would get an immediate notification inside mills seconds. Then something has changed in the last two years with the backend algorithms and its decaying - the latency is anything from 7 to… Read more
21 second. If a delivery presses the doorbell they have gone by the time the Arlo system notifies.
My internet is fibre at ultra fast and the base in Cat 7 cabled into the router, Cameras 5 feet away take 7 seconds to render.
Contact the support and say you have latency problems and they place me on hold and dont bother coming back to connect -same with support chat. Reading reviews of other camera systems aint too flash either.
Can I give this 0 stars? Don't buy this. Wish I could have this choice all over again. The devices are flaky and buggy as anything. Support is horrific. The app is a poorly designed. Did I mention the devices are REALLY REALLY flaky? Our latest gen2 spotlight is connected to a genuine solar panel, and once a week it just stops charging from… Read more
the panel. I have to reboot the camera to get it to start charging again. More than once a camera has just completely locked up and I've had to factory reset it to get it to respond again. Sometimes the spotlight will come on and then never go off until the camera goes flat or I factory reset it (typically the device locks up at the same time). It's just a never-ending litany of bugs. But now that I've sunk hundreds of dollars into 6 cameras, I'm stuck in the arlo ecosystem until I decide to throw that money down the drain and start again. I just typed out a whole support request on my phone, tapped "Next", and then my support request disappeared.
Don't do this to yourself.
I have the camera since while, they record all the time, but when I need it, didn't work! , it looks like the thief can disable them easily. Moreover, it not record in the hard-drive since 2023! I suspect that someone get in my house and disable them and forget to return them back to work when I was a way. Please think twice before you through your money in the bin. Show details
While Arlo's security cameras are marketed as a convenient, wire-free solution for home surveillance, my experience indicates significant shortcomings that compromise their effectiveness. The core issues lie in two critical areas: severely underwhelming battery performance and a persistent, frustrating delay in accessing the live feed. For a… Read more
security product, these are not just minor inconveniences—they are fundamental flaws that undermine the very purpose of having a camera system. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this product to anyone seeking reliable and responsive home security. Detailed Analysis: Battery Life (Fails to meet expectations) One of the primary selling points of Arlo cameras is their wire-free, battery-powered design. However, the reality of the battery life is a stark contrast to the advertised claims. Instead of the several months of life promised, the batteries in my cameras consistently required charging far more frequently, often lasting only a matter of weeks, or even days, in high-traffic areas. This creates a cycle of constant maintenance that is both inconvenient and impractical. A security system should be a "set it and forget it" solution, not a demanding chore that leaves your property vulnerable while cameras are offline for charging. The poor battery performance is not only a major hassle but also a significant security risk. Live View Access (Unreliable and unresponsive) A crucial function of a security camera is the ability to instantly view a live feed to check on your property or respond to an alert. Unfortunately, the Arlo system's live view access is consistently unreliable. When attempting to quickly access a camera feed, the app often fails to connect, resulting in a blank screen or a lengthy loading delay. This lag makes the system useless for capturing and responding to real-time events. By the time the video feed finally loads, the person or event you were trying to see has already passed. This defeats the entire purpose of having a security camera for immediate visual verification.
Bought arlo ultra. Basically very expensive live feed cameras. You cannot, despite claims otherwise and local storage, store footage, have to have a subscription. They claim otherwise, no it’s only iCloud you pay for is the claim. Nup NOT TRUE. That this is done after the fact is a breach of aus consumer laws in my view but my advice just avoid… Read more
them. Even if you subscribe based on their conduct to date they can and will change, alter, increase charges at their will. I may pursue them for breach of the ACL if I can be bothered but regardless will never buy again and my advice, avoid them at all costs.
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.
This product, because it’s unreliable can cause fights between family members. If you need it to… Read more