Netgear Arlo Smart Home Security
Verified156 reviews
Absolute rubbish – Do not waste your money! Look elsewhere. This product has not worked as expected since day one. Cameras supposed to activate on leaving house. While you are away they suddenly log you out and then go offline so absolutely no use as security cameras. Instructions and interface terrible. The biggest waste of money ever. Batteries now won’t charge… Read more
despite only having been operational for probably a total of 6 months. Never worked and absolutely useless
Arlo simply cannot be trusted – The facts are simple. I purchased a x2 camera and base station system in mid 2018 for $800aud with the main selling point being “7 day cloud storage free”. Now out of the blue, Arlo have effectively bricked mine and an untold number of existing users worldwide by revoking cloud storage/ remote access unless a monthly subscription fee is paid. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS DISHONEST AND UNETHICAL COMPANY! Show details
Rubbish product with rubbish service – A monthly subscription was never advertised nor was I made aware about it upon purchase, Arlos attituted was I could by a base station that may work or basically to bad so sad. The app is clunky an not user friendly. 1 camera ceased working after only 18 months and took Arlo almost 1 month send a replacement yet gives me 10 days to return the… Read more
broken camera or I'll be charged the full amount.
Customer service is unhelpful in every way. Very much a regretful purchase.
Reviews with attachments
Bad cameras – Constantly coming offline, now again I am on holidays and get message that cameras are offline .. regretting buying into the system.
Arlo forums tell the real story of abissmal support – Being WiFi comes with its advantages for sure, but users must be aware these will require regular charging for busy cameras. The big story though is the abissmal support from Arlo when things go wrong. Unfortunately Arlo themselves are usually the culprit with bugs occuring after FW and/or App updates. Users should be aware that full features… Read more
listed on the box require a subscription service to Arlo Cloud, and that can get real pricey. If your counting on full features using recording to a local SD card in the base unit, be very afraid. Twice now Arlo have broken access to local recordings, effectively making the review of recordings unavailible, so if that excites you, get Arlo. Worse still, in the latest update Arlo have broken this functionality in late August 2022, and it is still not fixed in October. We now have a system thats records events but you cannot review them. Now thats a security system !!!!!!
Updated now improved (Unreliable don't buy this) – ***Update*** The app has improved greatly and the charging has been fixed by instilling solar pannels from amazon that work great. updated to 3 stars as still not sure about customer service however i hear this has improved also. Unreliable! Wish I bought another brand. Now invested im stuck. Customer service is non existing and the app crashes… Read more
all the time. Cameras sometimes won't charge the whole lot Is a joke. One star because it sometimes works and the image quality is good.
Arlo Ultra Home Security System - A Risk to your home & family’s safety – The system has critical failures. Arlo knew about these failures & released anyway. Worse, just by accident I saw that an unknown party was logged into our system having access to all security settings, could see into our home with access to all our cameras and locked us out from any control over the system. Arlo Support were immediately contacted… Read more
and provided the evidence to see this massive system failure that put my home at more risk than had we not had the Arlo system at all(see attached photo). Arlo Support have never responded. The batteries brand new, never fully charge and need recharging every 2nd day. Our BMW Wagon parked directly in the focus zone of the camera was taken without the camera catching a thing but a tree in next door’s yard, not within the camera’s view sent 175 notifications in 4 hours of movement.A terrible, terrible system.
Positive reviews
Batteries – the Arlo camera works great at night ,picture very clear with all types of weather. Very reliable , you can change the sensitivity manually, for battery life, buy rechargeable 123A As It will Show details
Positive review – I have had my arlo pro, 4 cameras about 18 months, worked well at first then had heaps of difficulty with it going offline, disappearing altogether batteries running out too fast, so much so that it was useless to us, I did do a review a while ago, which wasn’t a good one for the net gear company, I have recently decided to try again .....and… Read more
behold it is working, and seems to me that they are helping no end to get it right now, hope it keeps up and good on you for obviously listening to the customers grievances and working on it, Regards Erica.
A great little system for the money ($499 on Ebay) – I received the Arlo pack the day before leaving for holidays. It was a breeze to set up the base station and then set up an account and download the app to my phone. I didn't have time to install the cameras outside so I simply sat them on tables and benches inside but facing pertinent doors and windows. It was so comforting to be able to get on… Read more · 5
and see what was happening at home while we were away. When we returned we took the time to install them outside, many just by using double sided Tarzan's Grip tape, but some we drove in a screw and hung the mount. Many of the reviews speak about the clarity of the pictures but I find it sufficient to be honest. The daytime pics are clear and sharp, the night time pics may not be as clear (still pretty good though) but at least we are alerted if someone comes near to the house. Thankfully all our alerts have been about ourselves or the dog so far. I had a problem with the batteries in one camera. They went completely flat within the first 2 weeks, whereas the other cameras still had more than 65% charge. I rang the Arlo customer service and after determining it was a fault with the batteries, they sent us a new batch at no extra charge. At the same time I got on to Ebay and bought a charger and four rechargeable batteries for around AU$100 (RCR123A by Tenergy, one of the few trusted suppliers of rechargeable batteries for the Arlo as some cheaper brands can overheat and destroy the cameras). The rechargeables are expensive (around AU$58 for four batteries) and as each camera requires 4 batteries I have been spreading the purchase to one set each month until all four cameras are running on rechargeables. Tenergy state they can be recharged up to 300 times each, which seems economical in the long run. I hope we get a good many years out of this current Arlo (I will come back and add to my review at the 1yr mark or if anything goes wrong in the meantime). We will happily replace it with the new and improved version of Arlo at that time.
Negative reviews
Cancel camera – Netgear decided to pull the support on arlo cameras that are a certain age. Why do they stop the cameras from working? The cameras worked perfectly fine until it was shut down.
Rip off & dont waste your money – Initially was a good unit & unfortunately I purchased a second one soon after the first. The batteries don't even last the warranty period & they make it extremely difficult to get new ones. With major persistence I got a replacement from them which lasted less time than the first. The second units battery failed soon after also & they wouldn't… Read more
replace it. Luckily both units are indoor & can be connected to a constant 240v supply. After 1 year plugged in, now the charger has failed & they don't sell replacement ones & expect you to buy another $600 camera unit. Absolute worst after sales service you could imagine.
Find out how Netgear Arlo Smart Home Security compares to other Wireless Surveillance Systems
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Unreliable hard to cancel service – I canceled my subscription over a year ago. No recordings have be taken in that time. They automatically billed me again and now only offer a partial refund. When the cameras where in use they where spotty at best Show details
Recent reviews
Buyer beware!! Zero customer service and two of the five cameras I purchased are faulty! – If I could give 0 stars I would! Worst customer service and two of the five cameras I purchased don’t work. Waste of money and too stressful to deal with their non existent customer service. I have purchased 5 cameras within one year and the 2 most recent do not work. I am still chasing up my RMA (return) one month later which was delivered to… Read more
their Sydney warehouse and I have proof! They are telling me it hasn’t arrived and they will contact me once they have answers. They are doing nothing about it. I am paying them a monthly subscription and they are giving me no answers! I wish I had done my research and never bought these terrible cameras. I wasted so much money for nothing!! It’s not nice because I had to work very hard to pay for these rubbish cameras. They are probably laughing right now - they don’t care about their customers! They just take your money and see ya later!
They belong in a cheap toyshop – Have recently purchased 2 of the 4k Ultra cameras , absolute rubbish picture quality , nothing like 4k quality that I'm accustomed to The siren is NOT a siren , I mean when does the sound of a bee inside a beer can sound anything like a SIREN , I call it false and misleading advertising This rubbish belongs in a cheap toyshop Show details
Waste of money – Have 3 cameras and after 12 months they want $13 per camera per month. Can't even check if there was someone at the door, 10 minutes ago, bought the solar panels, yes they stay charged the cameras, but pointless when you can't access anything. Cost me $1,000 and that didn't include the solar panels. Might as well of flushed money down the toilet. PATHETIC. Show details
Don’t bother, unreliable – Charger doesn’t work, spend hours repeatedly factory resetting, waste of time and money. Picture quality unclear. Customer support non existent. Show details
DO Not Buy this Product – DO NOT Buy these Camera''s, it took Arlo 4 months to get 1 Camera working out of 6 Camera's, continually email what they thought the fault was and still did NOT get the other 5 Camera's working. The Camera's would NOT connect to the Wi Fi for the first month and a half of emails and Faults. You cannot return these Faulty goods either, they stated they are not able to refund the goods. Show details
DO NOT Buy This Product – DO NOT Buy these Camera''s, it took Arlo 4 months to get 1 Camera working out of 6 Camera's, continually email what they thought the fault was and still did NOT get the other 5 Camera's working. The Camera's would NOT connect to the Wi Fi for the first month and a half of emails and Faults. You cannot return these Faulty goods either, they stated they are not able to refund the goods. Show details
Disappointed – I am completely dissatisfied with my entire system. I have 3 cameras and none of the zone activities work unless they are plugged in. All 3 are outside use and are connected to solor panels and stay charged. Due to the cameras not working correctly several of neighbors car were broken into and 1 guy was shot and killed. And because the cameras… Read more
won't work right I was not able to use the cameras to help the police or the neighbors. Completely useless. Also the quality of the video is not that good. I have the right settings for the cameras as far as video settings go. And I had a subscription but decided to not renew due to terrible customer service support. For the amount of money that this system costed me I wish I would have went with a different brand all together. And now I can't even call or chat with the customer service because I don't pay 10 dollars per camera per month . I would like to send my whole system back and be refunded . But we all know that will never happen . But I will never buy or recommend any products mad by Arlo period. And if you find yourself reading this just know I'm not someone who is just never satisfied. Nor am I the type of person who spends his days writing reviews about anything I buy unless I'm truly amazed buy the item or service I have purchased . Anyway hope this helps someone that may read before they buy .
Still Taking money from account – Cameras did not work with our internet strength. We returned them the first week. 5 months later they are still taking money out and wont stop. Phoning them doesnt work. Show details
Find out how Netgear Arlo Smart Home Security compares to other Wireless Surveillance Systems
Know better, choose better.
Near hopeless as a reliable security system. Held to ransom to access quality – I bought this security system after experiencing family violence. It was extremely important for our safety. We needed a system with an alarm/alert on it that we could watch live through our phones. The video footage ‘takes a break’. It’s not CCTV so when a truck hit part of our house, it cut off at the impact point and we were unable to be… Read more
compensated as the company argued that you couldn’t see when it hit (despite before and after footage showing damage) our Arlo system took a break right at that vital point. I’m constantly worried that it will cost my child and I our safety one day but don’t have the funds to upgrade the system. We’re working on it!
I have made complaints and asked for help. Was given the run around to take photos, measure heights etc, etc until they just stopped responding and cut the case off.
You have the option of paying extra for continuous recording or better quality with their subscription plans. Feels like you’re held to ransom- want to be safe- pay us more or we don’t care what happens to you. It’s horrible.
Two Step Verification – Stupid, time consuming and not necessary. A password is all I require. With this two step thing I have to have my mobile turned on when ever I want to log into Arlo on my computer. Show details
Arlo Security System Is Trash – Brutal unproductive updates, there's so many complaints over my 6 years of owning this over-priced worthless security system. Constant signing in to auto logging off, as a disabled pensioner seeking an efficient half-butt working security system, this is not the one. Many other less expensive better quality camera picture and user friendly… Read more
security products available. I'm surprised this company has not gone under or bankrupt. A negative 10 star product.
Forces you to verify login every.single.time! – I bought three cameras a couple of years and the whole set-up was serviceable for a while. About a year ago though, Arlo changed the web-access so you have to go through the verification process every.single.time followed by a bunch of links to get to the camera recordings. Shocking UI. They claim this is security enhancement, I claim it is a… Read more
security flaw as now many times I just can't be bothered and so have stopped using it except for alarming/suspicious cases. Will never use this product again given the evident contempt for their users this demonstrates.
This product is a rip off i bought the Arlo essential pack and wish i had done my homework cause these are useless – This product is a rip off i bought the Arlo essential pack and once the trial period finished i can’t have any recordings i can only watch live please don’t buy this product it’s a waste of time hope no one else has to go through this and waste money on something that doesn’t work anyone looking to buy arlo don’t bother they are a waste of time Show details
Does not work – Does not hold a charge. 4 recharges in 4 days Does not link to the internet, tried multiple times Support when the do answer is pacific standard time so I can call in the middle of the night or nothing Supplier won't take it back till I speak with arlo. Absolute waste if time and money Show details
Terrible - you must subscribe ($15 a month) - or cameras become practically worthless – I had a number of older ARLO cameras - these had 7 days free recording - that feature is now turned off on the current range of cameras. Also local recording does not allow for a NAS (and USB requires you to manually unplug and review on a computer making the app pointless). You must now have an account ($15 a month) or the recording feature is… Read more
switched off. Expensive and if you had an older account/cameras - misleading (if you assumed the original account system continued to operate to provide 7 days free recording).
Access to the APP and my.arlo.com is terrible! – With Arlo cameras you require a 2nd verification code via an access token EVERY TIME you login to the app or website. When logging in, very rarely do their verification buttons actually send you a code. This means people can't access their cameras. Also, they make the 2nd verification code system mandatory for every login. They claim it is every… Read more
14 day but that is not my experience. I NEED a code EVERY single time to log in. When is FAILS TO SEND I have no access. The end result is you don't get access to our own camera system which costs thousands and thousands of dollars. Shame on #Netgear for not making your app user friendly.
#ArloCamera is not worth the effort if you're starting out with a new camera system. Netgear's #ArloAPP is useless. Don't go there!
Arlo Camera Pro 2 – I have bought and used Arlo Security Camera Pro 2 and it does not work after 1.5 ~ 2 years. Be prepared to replace and buy new after 2 years. Arlo warranty is for only 1 year. Show details
dont last outside – All cameras worked great for the first few months. After a bit of rain they stopped charging and the charging ports rusted out. This even happened with the weather protective sleeves. These cameras are now totally useless. Dont use if it can get rain on it. Show details
Terrible live viewing – Great camera if your only after looks and simple recording. However I needed the live viewing and it lags terribly. At the best I get a 5 sec delay but on average its about 10 sec plus. So if someone is coming up your drive way they are already inside your home by the time our alerted. So no good for prevention only good for identifying after the event happens to police. I suggest get swann, so much better. Show details
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