Video: Setting up and review of Netgear’s Arlo Pro Wireless Security System

In this video, I unbox and setup a Netgear Arlo Pro security system. I already have a couple of Arlo Q standalone camera (see my review from last year) but the Arlo Pro cameras are wireless and connect to a base station.

The system comes with a base station, which you connect to your local network, a rechargeable battery, wall mount and the camera. I also used an additional camera mount, which you will see, in the video. The base station connects up to your network via an Ethernet cable and then pairs up with the camera via its own wifi network. After a couple of firmware updates the system was very quickly up and running.

The camera comes with a magnetic wall mount that the camera snaps onto and comes with a single screw to mount it to the wall. It has a very strong clip and would be ok for indoors but for a bit more flexibly I used an indoor/outdoor mount that the camera connects to via a screw and you can pivot the camera to the optimum angle. The mount comes with three screws and is made of metal.

The base unit also has 100db siren than can be setup to be triggered by motion or manually via the app. It is very loud and high-pitched! The base unit also has a USB port to store the video clips on as well as it being pushed to the Arlo cloud service. They have a basic free plan that keeps 7 days’ worth of video clips with more service available if you need them.

The camera is 720p with night vision that automatically switches on when it is dark. It field of view is 130 degrees which I found perfect for my setup of watching the front of the house. Picture quality is excellent with a very clear image. It has a wide angle PIR so it picks on movement very quickly.

For outdoor use, it is certified IP65 weather resistant. The battery pack comes out of the camera so you can either charge it via an external charger or just plug in the camera to a USB charger (which is included). Arlo say you can get 6 months of use usage from a single charge, I will see how true this is real life once I have been up and running for a while.

The camera detects motion and then can send an alert to your phone via an app or via email. You can then a clip of what is going on going on, you can customise how much video it records. You can also setup the motion sensitivity levels.

Another neat feature is two way audio with the camera, so you can talk to someone via the camera. You could place it at your front door and then a delivery person comes you can give him instructions on where to place your package (or warn an unwanted visitor off).

Some other things you can do with system is link it to Amazon Alexa, you can use your voice to arm or disarm the camera and if you have an Echo Show or Echo Spot you can view the cameras real time on this device display. You can also control the system with Google Assistant, link it to IFTTT and Stringify. Via IFTTT I have setup up my Philips Hue lights to turn on when the cameras pickup motion during the night.

The Alro Pro kit I have costs £194 on Amazon which includes the base station and single camera. Additional cameras are available from £139.

In this video I setup the Arlo Pro and place a camera outside of my house: