Arlo - Buyer Beware
Dealing with Netgear has been one of the most exasperating technical support experiences of my life. I have been through multiple support tickets and they refuse to stand behind their product. I purchased the 3 camera Arlo system with a 2 camera add-on package in July of 2015 for about $700. Initially, the system was very good โ I was very pleased for about a year and a half. I started getting an intermittent red tint on one of the cameras in February of 2017 and opened a support ticket with them in April. I went back & forth with tech support for several weeks โ they give you a new set of instructions every time to chat or speak with them. Itโs almost like a game to see if they can get you to give up. So after multiple attempts at removing and re-synching cameras, replacing batteries, rebooting the system, etc. they say they will do a one-time replacement of the camera. But during this process, one of the other cameras wouldnโt sync, so I am down one camera. I didnโt want to go through the same process with the camera that now wonโt sync and I didnโt want to send the camera with the red tint in, because I would be down two cameras. So I gave up.
In the fall of 2017, I noticed that the batteries were burning at a much faster rate than they had previously. In January of 2018, the batteries in 3 cameras died in about 2 weeks, so I made contact with tech support again in early February. The tactics are the same โ reboot, delete and re-sync the cameras repeatedly, replace the batteries, etc. The batteries were dead, so they sent me three sets of batteries to try to get the issue resolved. I installed the batteries, deleted & re-synced the cameras and none of them record video and all of the batteries were down to 3% in three days. Clearly, there is a significant problem. They then requested that I do a hard reset, which I did. I also removed & re-synched the base station, removed the cameras, replaced the batteries in two of the cameras and attempted to re-synch the cameras. I was able to synch one camera but the other camera wouldnโt re-synch. The lone camera that is synched is offline and will not connect โ it doesnโt record and canโt be viewed.
So, I now have a system that I paid almost $700 for and it is completely useless after 2.5 years. I have not gotten a response from Netgear after I sent my last two messages in the past 10 days. I am extremely unhappy with how my issues have been handled and I will never buy another Netgear product in my lifetime. Also, any potential Netgear buyers may want to check out the Better Business Bureau page on Netgear, which gives you a good idea of how they handle customer complaints about their products.
https://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/internet-service/netgear-in-san-jose-ca-210357/reviews-and-complaints
Update - 2 years later I would drop it to about 2 stars. One camera now has a red tint and I went back and forth with tech support for several weeks about replacing it (even though it was out of warranty) and then another camera stopped working completely. The cameras often become disconnected, so video is not recorded and there is no way to remotely reboot each camera, so I have to get the ladder out and hit the button on each camera to get it reconnected. It seems to go through batteries faster than it did when I bought it as well - I am irritated that I have to dedicate so much time to a system that should be pretty easy to maintain. Plus I am down to 4 cameras instead of 5 because I don't want to go through 15 emails back & forth with the tech support folks.
Love this system - wish I could give it 4.5 stars. My only criticism is the length of time that it takes to start recording - if the subject is fast moving, you may miss part of the video. In general, it is great - easy to install, easy to adjust and easy to view/save/send the video. Viewed a doorbell ditcher on our doorstep at 1am and got good video - it was great to be able to see what was happening.
Reason of review: Bad quality.
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