Customer Ratings & Reviews

It gets the job done but what I don’t like is the shutter. Sometimes I wish I can just leave it open but there is no option.

I received the Arlo Essential Indoor camera 5 days ago. I started the set up on the day I received it and just got it working yesterday. I can either blame it on the app or my stupidity! The Arlo camera will only connect to Wi-Fi that has a frequency of 2.4 GHz. I have a 5 GHz Arris router and a 2.4 GHz Century Link router. I’m usually connected to the 5 GHz router, but the other is available. The app has good instructions for changing to a different SSID in the phone settings. During the camera installation, I got as far as entering the SSID password on my phone and powering the Arlo Camera and then got stuck. There was no “Continue” button or right arrow in the app. I assumed that nothing was happening because of interference from the 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Either that, or I was using the wrong password since the app didn’t check the validity of the password. I plugged and unplugged, changed phone settings and started over in the app for 5 days. Yesterday I accidentally swiped left on the “Power Your Arlo Camera” page and found the rest of the instructions. But once again the instructions were unclear. They said to “Press the Sync Button to Start Sync” and to wait for the blue light to flash. I pressed the button but nothing happened. I had to Goggle Arlo Indoor Camera Sync Button to find that the button has to be pressed for several seconds. Once I got past all of that, the rest was easy. The Arlo camera is wired, which limits where it can be positioned since it must be placed within a couple feet of an outlet. Compared to other Arlo cameras I’ve tested, the stand seemed cheap and like it could easily break. Notifications can be set up for people, vehicles, animals, all motion or a combination. When aimed outside, even the wind gently blowing a tree will set off the motion alert. When all the notification types are enabled the phone can ding constantly with alerts, so it's nice to be able to filter out some. Even so, there can be hundreds of alerts in a short period of time and each alert is a video that takes up phone memory. Fortunately, it is possible to “select all” videos and trash them in one step. The alerts (phone dings) can be muted for up to 24 hours but I couldn’t find a way to mute until unmuted. When muted, a video will still be made of the event. Videos can be filtered by vehicle, person, animal and package for viewing, which is helpful if just looking for a package to be delivered. Unlike another security camera I tested, the Arlo indoor camera can “see” through a window. I was able to see the FedEx truck pull up and the driver deliver a package. However the picture was too small to identify a person or capture a license plate number. I could tell it was a white truck with FedEx on the side and that the package was delivered by a man of average build wearing shorts, but that was the extent of the identification using my phone. However, it appears that it's possible to view a larger picture using the Arlo Web Portal on a PC. The Emergency Response feature, available free for 30 days or after that with a subscription, could be valuable. During Emergency Response set up, information such as residential/business, single dwelling/apartment, building access code or building entry instructions, name, age, language spoken and a photo are entered. Once the set up is complete, touching the red shield in the upper right corner of the app will theoretically cause a siren to go off and an Arlo agent will contact a first responder. Arlo will share the location and any additional information that has been provided. I didn’t test this part. It seems like it might be easy to hit the red button by mistake, but on the other hand if it takes too many steps to get to it, it wouldn’t be useful in an emergency. My overall opinion is that the picture is clear and the camera does accurately detect a person or vehicle passing by its wide field of view. It’s unlikely that the identification of a stranger could be made from the picture on my phone, but it does have a small screen. I think a paid subscription is needed to get the most value out of this device.

Does not work as I expected. My other Arlo’s do not notify me every time something moves. On this unit you can only turn of the notifications for 24 hours max.

I couldn’t get it to connect to the app, had to return it

The product literature gives the impression the camera can store video when set up with the Arlo cloud service, but so far we've been unable to achieve the hook up to the cloud service. So we can get alerts and a still image taken when the camera was triggered. Sometimes that give a clue as to what happened. Sometimes not. If one tries to zoom into the image to see what is happening, the image is erased and the camera jumps to live video. Without the subscription this camera is of very limited utility. The Arlo website in general is very confusing and the set up instructions leave a lot to be desired. After a number of attempts the camera's privacy shield finally opened--we have no idea why. One online customer theorizes that the camera sync button is very time sensitive and if it is held too long the camera starts a reset process (though this is unclear if it is actually happening or not). It can also be frustrating getting the camera to hook up to one's wifi. It is not clear why it has so much trouble, but the online support suggests that one has to be very very close to the router for set up. Or maybe we kept triggering the reset process unwittingly. Eventually it found the wifi. Then we moved it - and more frustration. I think there are better options out there and I'm not sure why online reviewers have been so positive.

poor customer service through Arlo, can't get camera to work

worst camera. buy ring. this is a piece of crap please avoid

I'm so annoyed I've stood outside like an idiot with an extension cord with my phone and camera trying to get to to connect to the 2.4, I've went in to my router settings and turned off my 5ghz so that the wifi would only project 2.4 and STILL WONT CONNECT. I need my camera by Thursday. I'm putting it back in the box and returnig it now. So frustrated.

Terrible, only worked for one day. Waste of money.

Tried everything through Arlo but for some reason the indoor camra doesnt like the wifi while the pro 4 does

Tl;dr: Arlo’s subscription AI is a valuable addition for home security. A Privacy shield ensures your interior surveillance is not intrusive. A strong app and backup local recording create long term value. Arlo has moved into competition with Nest and Ring with their always powered indoor wireless camera. Unlike some of their more famous brethren, this camera requires 110v all the time. There is no battery. It retains the night vision sensor and high resolution developed for Arlo’s battery powered cameras. It also retains the same app and dedicated wireless gateway. This means easy set up and no learning curve if you already have Arlo’s battery powered camera (which I do). Overall set up was pretty easy. Plug the camera in. Find it in the app. Rename the camera, then you’re in business! The hardest part was trying to decide where the camera would be located in the house. The video is very clear, even in lower light. Video switches to black-and-white when it’s too dark for color. This switch su supposed to be automatic. It’s fairleigh accurate, doesn’t always switch when it sould. My cat’s dawn antics were captured in black and white for the most part due to low light. Turning on a fixture would switch modes to color recording. Arlo offers multiple subscription options. While this base station has a spot for local storage, Arlo’s subscriptions bring significant value. There’s a $14.95 monthly plan which sends you alerts based on different types of activity (i.e. person, package, audio alert). Tapping the notification gives you a clip of what caused the alert. You also have the option to contact 911, initiate a siren, or talk back through the camera. Further, you can initiate a live view in 4K resolution across 170° field of view. Without the subscription, you will not have access to the camera or recordings outside of your home. You would only have access to videos stored locally in the base station. A three-month trial subscription is included in the initial purchase. The AI intelligently zooms in on the section of the frame where activity is occurring. An additional $9.95 monthly add-on provides continuous cloud video storage. While the specs on this camera set up are impressive, the software is what all pulls it together. Fortunately, Arlo knows this and has put significant effort into the app. If you already have an investment in the Arlo security family, this is a great addition and a no brainer.

This camera is horrible DO NOT buy waste of money waste of money cant no longer return. I just bought not long ago and got disconnected no longer was to connect to internet and yes I do have the required internet.

A piece of crap. Worked two months and wouldn’t connect. I have several other Arlo cameras that never have a problem. Arlo support was no help. Kept asking stupid questions. Save your money on this one.

This camera would not connect to my base or wifi. Yes I verified I was on 2.4 GHZ and still no luck! Returning this asap.

Having trouble getting to work. Haven’t tried again

Not easy to connect to Wifi and not enough instructions

This is my fourth Arlo product. I must say the resolution isn’t as sharp as the Arlo Q. They are discontinued and were more money. Sorta makes you wonder are these half the price in costs

This is a very nice WiFi security camera, we use it to monitor our dog and home while we are at work to ensure no one breaks in. It works incredibly well after the initial set up. The set up is fairly straight-forward, but you need to be able to switch to 2.4 GHz WiFi. I run a Linksys Velop mesh network that shows as one unified signal, making it nearly impossible to manually switch to 2.4 GHz. Instead I had to turn the wifi on my phone on and off in the hopes it wouldn't connect to the 5 GHz channels. This took about 15 minutes of moving around the house. Excluding that, the setup took about a minute in total. The video is clear, has IR night vision, the siren is quite loud and annoying (perfect deterrent for intruders!), and the privacy shutter is very reassuring! The voice response is slightly delayed, as to be expected with something having to go through the internet, but still very nice for quick messages to delivery drivers and guests. The camera is very easy to mount and comes with a detachable mounting plate. Overall, this is a very nice camera, after our initial setup woes. Not having the ability to use 5GHz WiFi is the only reason this get 4 instead of 5 stars.

Unit didn't work out. It wouldn't connect to my existing base station nor would it connect to my network.

This is a great little camera for the home. Never hurts to have multiple cameras around the house and this one work great for indoors. Setup is pretty simple. I had some issues with getting it setup out of the box but, once I reset the camera, I was able to successfully pair the camera to my phone app. I was also able to pair the camera up with Alexa as well which works great since I have a few devices from multiple manufacturers. The camera produces great video images as well as images. As with any camera, you can setup multiple notifications which is good. There are options for people, packages and even animals. I currently have this setup in one of my bedrooms however I’m probably going to wall mount it somewhere in my living room. There is a subscription for this however you get a 3 month free trial with the camera. Overall this is a great camera. My only gripe was that the cable included with the camera came up short for my needs. I’ll probably have to buy a longer cable to make it work but that’s not a huge thing.