Arlo is the home security camera line marketed by Netgear. The Arlo Home Smart Security Camera has a few unique features not found in other cameras. These are good cameras sporting a 720P lens and night vision capabilities. They are easy to activate and can be accessed via smartphone applications readily available in the app stores. Unlike some standalone cameras such as Dropcam, these attach to a common base station which is located near your home router. When purchasing these, I suggest buying the number of cameras needed within your kit, as it’s always the least expensive way to do it versus buying each camera individually. Kits are available all the way up to five cameras.
The most unique feature is that it’s completely wireless. It’s powered by a battery, not electric. That has some advantages and disadvantages in terms of having to change the battery. Fortunately, there is an indicator within your smartphone application that indicates low battery and when you need to replace these, the batteries are inexpensive.
Arlo Home Smart Security Cameras do not have sound, but do include motion detection as well as 200MB of free cloud storage. Not much storage, but this is something you will pay for with many of the other security cameras on the market.
A photo of the mount included with an Arlo Security Camera accompanies this article. The Arlo Smart Security Home Wall Mount has an adhesive backing and a dome on the front. The back of the Arlo security camera is curved and fits directly onto the dome and uses magnets within the device to stay put. Since it’s a dome-shaped mount, you wind up with a ball and socket attachment so the camera can be manually pointed towards whatever you wish to keep an eye on. These are what are typically used to attach your camera to a wall. I recommend leaving this mount on the wall without the camera for 24 hours to allow the adhesive to cure sufficiently. Also be aware these are using adhesive and these mounts aren’t portable meaning be sure you like the chosen the location before removing the wax paper from the adhesive.
Another mounting option for these cameras is the Arlo Smart Security Camera Table/Ceiling Mount. These differ from the mount we just discussed in that these have a small extension arm. it makes a big difference ir mounting these to a horizontal surface such as a ceiling or under a shelf. Personally, I think this is the style they should include with every Arlo Home Smart Camera as it’s more versatile than the dome type. You can even use this mount to hold two cameras back to back. These mounts can stand on a table or be screwed to any flat surface.
The Arlo Smart Security Camera comes with a standard tripod screw on the back of the camera. The Arlo Smart Security Camera Indoor/Outdoor Mount. These are heavier duty mounts versus the two we just discussed. Made of metal and featuring the standard 1/4″ – 20 threaded tripod screw that will fit the bottom of the Arlo camera, these work real well outdoors. This is probably the most adjustable of all the Arlo mounts. The only drawback of this mount is that you will need to remove the camera from the mount when you need to change the batteries and then have need to adjust the position again.
We just mentioned the tripod hole on the bottom of the Arlo Smart Security Camera so consider the Arkon 11 inch Camera Tripod Mount. This mount stands 11 inches tall and is very flexible in terms of mounting. It can be used as a traditional mini tripod where it stands on a flat surface. The legs are flexible so it can also wrap around a pole, post, chair arm or anything similar. It will screw into the bottom of the Arlo Smart Security Camera using that tripod screw we just discussed.
I like the Arlo Smart Security Camera line in places where electricity isn’t readily available. They work real well for outdoor installations where running a cable is difficult if not impossible. You can supplement these with one or two indoors to complete your home surveillance system.