Essential Wired Video Doorbell - HD Video, 180° View, Night Vision, 2 Way Audio, DIY Installation (wiring required), Security Camera, Doorbell Camera, Home Security Cameras, White - AVD1001

I’m writing this review because there are a good number of negative reviews that I feel are not the fault of the product. Let’s start with some basic requirements. 1. Your doorbell chime transformer must produce at least 16 volts. Anything less and you’ll have problems. Most transformers will actually have a voltage rating on them and can be found attached to your doorbell chime that you already have. 2. Good signal strength from your home network is a must. The Arlo doorbell connects to your home network so the better the signal strength the better it works. 3. If you have a low bandwidth service this could affect the timing of alerts reaching your phone. I have FIOS 500/500 and it works very well. Installation is a breeze if you have a little DIY skill. There’s not much instruction in the box but when you download the Arlo app and go into setup to add the doorbell it walks you through install step by step so download the app first, create an account and follow the instructions for installation. Once installed setup in the app will show you the options for motion sensing and zones etc. it took me about 30 minutes start to finish. One thing to be aware of; if you use the angle plate you’ll have to put the screws in at a slight angle too so they sit flush in the holes. If you don’t you’ll have trouble getting the doorbell to snap into place. I gave no stars for technical support as I haven’t used it so can’t comment. The picture is very clear. Motion notifications take only a few seconds to alert to my phone and I can see my entire entryway. I was a little worried about that as my old doorbell was a too low; probably about hip height when standing at the door but the view is perfect and I see the everything. Picture is high definition and not at all grainy. I love the ability to zoom in when viewing by simply using two fingers on my phone screen. I haven’t really tested the two way conversation with someone at the door yet. Some reviews online have said the doorbell feels “plasticky”. I don’t share that opinion. The unit has a nice weight to it and the price point is good. I’m intending writing an update after I’ve had it a while but for now I’m very pleased with quality and performance.

After extensive searching and comparing. Finally decided for the Arlo video doorbell. The main feature is the ability to see more of a vertical view rather than a horizontal. Which, I my case, I am able to see my packages that arrive at all times. - The installation process was a breeze! Following the steps through the app is about as easy as it can get. The only issue I had was turning off the power for the door bell itself. Tried any and all breakers that could be associated with the doorbell, but no luck. It is to my understanding that I may be wire with the furnace depending of the wiring. However, some homes may have the correct circuit breaker. I continued the installation process with caution and was able to install with no issues. - The screw is about an 8 size. I used a 1/8” drill bit for the pilot hole. Worked perfectly. **Update to this part: found a super handy chart and I realized I should have used a different size. Regardless, the 1/8” it still worked for me. - The set up process of the actual video doorbell was also seamless. The app guides you in detail through every step and even offers solutions to problems you might encounter. - Video quality of the Arlo video doorbell is phenomenal. Keeping in mind that it is a small camera, it definitely surpassed my expectation. Having that vertical field of view rather than the horizontal, to me was a lot more beneficial. - The app notifies you of any movement within about 6 to 10 seconds! Once on the app you’ll be able to view the video clip. At first I was fascinated by this, however, I quickly grew tired of getting notified of every car that passed by the street. And that’s where this app is better than others. The Arlo app allows you to customize zones that you want to be notified when something enters that zone. I am able to get the side walk, all of my front yard to include my entrance and some of my driveway. Keep in mind that not all entrances face out directly to the street. The Arlo video doorbell comes with a wall mount that is tilted so you are able to get a better view, with doorbells that do not point to the street. - If someone rings your doorbell, the app will call you phone. In which you can communicate with the person outside and let’s you view the video as well. Furthermore, it allows you to leave your own customized audio message if you do not answer. - The only “negative” comment I have to say about this is the subscription service. But that is relative, let me explain. Arlo starts you off with a 3 month free trial, in which, you get all the benefits of having an Arlo doorbell. Such as, setting zones is your video so you don’t get alerts for every movement. It learn behaviors such as people, cars and animals. Cloud service for 30 days in which you can save clips. And plenty more! After your trial is over, all these features are gone and it becomes a regular video doorbell. Yes, you still get notified but you are not able to make certain adjustments. If you want to continue with the service there’s a fee associated with every Arlo product that you have to pay for. For example, if you have Arlo video cameras and Arlo floodlight then they are considered independent which you have to pay for individually. I will provide an update, but I believe that for the door bell it is $3.99. - Overall I would highly recommend the Arlo video doorbell. The installation and set up process was extremely easy coupled with the guidance of the Arlo app, it sets you up for success. Additionally, it is worth noting that after 3 months of the Arlo service subscription you will be given the option to continue the service. Meaning monthly subscription. Regardless, if you are in the market for a high quality doorbell and service look no further than the Arlo video doorbell.

The good: 1. Good video quality. 2. Easy mounting and setup. 3. Notification includes snapshot of what triggered motion sensor sent directly to my Apple watch. The bad: 1. Quite expensive compared to alternatives. 2. Paid subscription required for saving video to cloud ($15/month for 30 days 4k cloud recording or 10/month for 2k cloud recording. By comparison, Wyze gives you 14 days cloud recording for free). 3. Beware the 3 month trial subscription that comes with it. Nowhere does it say "free." I discovered that it is a 3 month trial - that you pay for! and at the end of 3 months, apparently, I guess, you get to decide if you want to CONTINUE paying? I'm only 3 weeks in now, so I'm a little curious what will happen at the end of three months. I suspect they just keep charging you. [UPDATE: Reading other reviews, it seems that the 3 month trial service is free? Not sure why they charged me, but I am done fighting with them and I will just cancel] 4. Apparently, if you have an Arlo Video doorbell and an Arlo hub or base station, the doorbell must be connected to the Arlo hub or base station, not directly to Wi-Fi, for the doorbell to ring a conventional chime. [UPDATE: this is not true. The doorbell will ring the chime connected to either Wi-Fi or base station. I discovered my doorbell transformer was under-rated for this application, which caused my original problem] And that leads me to customer service.. 5. Customer service is horrendous!!! Can't stress this enough. Here is what I am currently going through: I ordered this 2 camera system and an Arlo doorbell at the same time. The doorbell arrived first, so I installed it. Worked great. A few days later the 2 camera system arrived, so I installed it too. Worked great too. A few days later, I discovered that the doorbell was no longer ringing the mechanical chime. Doorbell worked fine when it was the only Arlo device and it was connected to Wi-Fi. After using it for a few days, I added an Arlo base station with 2 cameras. The doorbell was still connected to Wi-Fi and it stopped ringing the mechanical chime. I read somewhere, I though in one of Arlo's documents but maybe not, that if a system has a base station, the doorbell must be connected through the base station or it will not ring a chime. Well, that's annoying! So, I deleted the doorbell from the Wi-Fi and added it to the base station as directed. It still did not ring the chime. So, I deleted it and tried to add again but I can't. Now I am unable to add it to the hub and I am unable to add it directly to Wi-Fi. The doorbell is not discoverable, as if it's already connected to some system but it's not. So I went from having a working video doorbell to a doorbell that would not ring the chime after I installed the base station and 2 cameras to a doorbell that does nothing. I feel like I'm of average intelligence and somewhat tech savvy. I can usually get most things working. Why can't I figure this out?? I went to Arlo support for help. I searched all Arlo's relevant documents. I searched google for any assistance. I tried all the troubleshooting tips and tricks I could find. No luck. I want to call someone and start shouting. There is no phone number to call; there is no email address to ask a question; you have to submit a trouble ticket from the Arlo app. So, I did. After 3 days, I received a response from Arlo suggesting that I try some of the troubleshooting aids that I had already tried. I am losing faith in this company very quickly. The response also asked for lots of information including proof of purchase, screen shot of internet upload/download speed, and screen shot that the device really is not installed on my account. I answered all the questions and provided all the information requested. The app only allows 1 attachment, so I attached my sales receipt and had to send the screen shots separately. Odd, why would they tell me to attach 3 things but only allow one attachment? I am questioning my own sanity in purchasing this company's product. I pressed save, and the app crashed. I lost all the information I typed in. I am now losing my will to live. So I redid it all, saved it to a Word document, pressed save, and the app crashed again. Third try: I copied my information from Word, pasted into Arlo support, pressed save - success! Hooray! Small victory in actually sending my request for service. I am now waiting 3 days for a reply that I expect to be totally useless and unhelpful. Wait, there's a weekend included, so maybe I'm waiting 5 days. Either I will get this stupid doorbell working in the next week or I will return everything and buy something else. Update to follow. UPDATE: I have now been in contact with Arlo 5 times over the last 3 weeks. They have been sending me very similar messages with minor additions or deletions to the troubleshooting tips and tricks. I have dutifully complied with all suggestions. I never got the doorbell connected to the base station, but it did finally connect to Wi-Fi again after about 30-40 tries, no exaggeration, just doing the same thing over and over. Also, I discovered that my doorbell transformer was under-rated for the Arlo video doorbell, which caused the original problem of not ringing the chime. It needs to be 16-30V. Mine read 15.6V - I assume just enough to ring the chime when I first installed the doorbell, but not enough to sustain. So, I replaced the transformer and now I've got a working video doorbell again. However, it is connected to Wi-Fi, not to the base station. I really would like to connect to the base station to record to an SD card and to eliminate the bandwidth used on Wi-Fi. My fifth and latest message to Arlo included the question, "I am reluctant to delete the doorbell from the Wi-Fi to attempt connecting to the base station again because of all the trouble I had connecting it at all. It honestly took about 30-40 tries. So, if I do disconnect from the wi-fi and can never get it connected again, what recourse will I have?" Awaiting response. UPDATE-2: After about one month and eight replies to-from Arlo support, video doorbell still cannot connect to Arlo Base Station. Arlo support’s final determination is that my internet service is too slow to connect the doorbell to the base station. They want me to upgrade my internet service and try again. I’m not sure I believe that. If it is the case, then I don't understand why I wasn't told that one month and seven replies ago when I sent my first internet speed screen shot - could have avoided 20-30 frustrating hours of failed attempts to connect the doorbell to the base station. Also, based on their numbers, my other cameras would not work, but they do. Why would my internet connection prevent a low bandwidth video doorbell to connect when two higher bandwidth cameras work with no trouble? I am not in a position to upgrade my internet connection at this time, especially not as a troubleshooting aid that may not help. I prefer to cut costs, not take on extra costs. Following that intent, I will now cancel my Arlo subscription. Anticipating any potential future problems will not be supported, I have no reason to continue subscribing to any Arlo service. So, my goal here is to warn everyone to do your research thoroughly. Otherwise, you may not enjoy all the features that make Arlo systems so expensive. I now know that I am not knowledgeable enough to have asked the right questions or to have conducted the proper research to ensure that an Arlo system fits my need. I could have saved hundreds of dollars by purchasing a competitor's system that would have given me the same reduced features that I get from my current Arlo system. Also, beware Amazon and other places advertise Arlo as compatible with Alexa. From what I can tell, it is NOT! There is no Arlo app for Kindle Fire. There once was but it is now defunct. In all, this was a very expensive, time consuming, frustrating learning process.

I bought this because I have Arlo cameras and thought it would make sense. I'm not an experienced electrician, just a regular guy who does some regular home installations of simple electronics. The first surprise was the size: It is considerable larger than others I've seen before (That's what she said). I started following the instructions and everything seem fine, installation was fairly simple and then the moment of truth, when turned the power back on, it didn't work. The cellphone-sized-doorbell wasn't working... I started investigating and learned that (1) your doorbell has a small transformer that is hidden somewhere in your house and (2) if your house is 10 years or older, most likely, that transformer is too small meaning that it doesn't supply enough energy to the video doorbell and you need to change it. Apparently this is a common issue with all video doorbells, not only for Arlo. I ordered another (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WBXYK1J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which added $23 to the whole project. I received the new transformer and replaced the old one guided by a youtube tutorial. It is very very simple, took me 5 minutes. Back to the doorbell and, if you're not installing it in a perfectly flat surface (like a texturized wall) make sure you don't over tight the base, it may arch the ends and the doorbell won't click and lock. Power back on with new transformer and voila, it worked. Completed the installation using the app, was fairly simple. The image was a flickering, the frequency was set to 'auto' so I moved it to 50hz and it solved the problem. Overall, it works well, I've seen some Ring doorbell recordings and the quality of Arlo is better. When someone rings, you get some sort of 'phone call' where you interact with it through your cellphone. I have Alexas all over the house, and they all start yelling "Someone is at the door!" when somebody rings. I've read that people is not happy with having to pay a monthly subscription. It comes with a free 3mo subscription and I was already paying $10/mo for the cameras so I can't say much about this. May be a deal breaker for some. Overall is a good product, I believe they should let you know the transformer requirements beforehand and also, the advertising photos don't really show the real size. By the way, it is not integrated to the rest of the cameras, it doesn't need to get connected to the base but it is integrated to the same app and you can see it in the same screen.

After 20 minutes to install and two days of patient trouble-shooting for setup, the Arlo Video Doorbell is giving us another perspective on the porch pirates in our neighborhood. At the front door, I have an Arlo Pro mounted sideways to give me a full view of the narrow walkway to the front door, and the Arlo Video Doorbell mounted at the side of the door near the wall. This might seem like overkill, but I'm hoping the redundancy helps to reduce some of the limitations of the Arlo Pro camera alone. There always seems to be a lag between motion and camera activation, resulting in videos that don't start until someone is exiting the scene. Sometimes, the lag is so long that a fast operator gets in and out before the camera turns on. For example, I also have an Arlo Pro 2 mounted on top of my garage looking out over the driveway into the street. If someone approaches the house from the driveway, Arlo starts recording as they leave the driveway to approach the front door. Then, I get front door video of them leaving the front door. Arlo blames this on the network. However, I have industry leading gigablast bandwidth and commercial grade, blazing wireless speeds that I can pick up in the green belt down the street; the best money can buy for a home network. If a wireless security system can't work effectively in this environment, then maybe it's not ready for prime time. I don't think this is a problem unique to Arlo; but, Arlo could differentiate itself by capturing the subject from frame entry to exit, not just the exit. My GoPro Hero 9 has a feature that actually captures video before I push the record button; not sure what that magic is, but may Arlo can learn something from GoPro. A second reason for getting another angle from the front door, a smart porch pirate wears a hat that blocks his or her face from the camera mounted on top of the door. The video doorbell provides a look up at the face of anyone approaching the door. Of course, in an era where wearing a mask is considered good citizenship rather than criminally suspect, mask requirements are a plus for criminals that no camera system can get around. A problem with my video doorbell is that the wiring is against a wall. Even with the angle mount, 70% of the image is wall and ceiling. Fortunately, the 180 degree angle view captures enough image to track people coming down the walkway and through the yard. I think the 180 degree angle is unique to Arlo, so bonus points on that one. Setup issues aside, I'm an Arlo advocate with an Arlo Pro 2 system monitoring my home. Around the perimeter, I have five Arlo Pro 2's powered by solar panels, the Arlo video doorbell, and five battery operated Arlo lights. Inside, I have two Arlo Q's. Every component has worked well under harsh desert conditions, including excessive heat, brutal sandstorms, and powerful monsoons. The Arlo video doorbell is an excellent addition to provide redundancy at the front door or as a standalone door monitoring solution. Image 1: Arlo video doorbell is mounted beside the door and Arlo Pro is mounted sideways above the door. The redundancy provides a more complete image while filling in if one of the cameras is too slow to turn on. Image 2: With the doorbell wiring against a door, 70% of the video doorbell image is wall and ceiling. Fortunately, the 180 degree angle offers a full view to capture subjects entering the house from the walkway and the yard. Image 3: A reason redundancy is necessary. Discarded Amazon boxes from the neighborhood porch pirates. They snatch the packages, empty the contents into their back packs, then dash.

Thought I'd post this in case it might help others with the same or similar setup. House came with a Music and Sound (M&S) 223 Music-Intercom System with front and back doorbells, front 2-way speaker, and 5 room wall speaker units (pictured). Having run low on coal to power it, we purchased an Arlo Essential Wired Video Doorbell AVD1001. While waiting for delivery, I removed the front door speaker unit and discovered the M&S used 14VDC to the door bell...not the expected (and now more common) 24VAC. Bummer. Two story house with door bell wiring coming from the attic, so rewiring would be complicated (and in a 130 degree space at this time of year in Houston). And, unlike converting AC to DC, DC to AC is more complicated and expensive (and no, to those who aren't aware, there's no such thing as a DC transformer). Anyway, investigating the intercom 'Master Unit' revealed its primary power supply to be at 21.5VAC. Ah ha. Not needing the old front door speaker any more, I hijacked its wiring and spliced it into the AC power. I also left the master unit end of the door bell button wiring intact. So now there was AC present at the door, and the existing chime wiring, which had been connected to the door speaker button, was also available. There isn't a separate chime box on typical vintage intercom units, and it's my understanding that they (and older NuTone's?) don't close a button circuit per se. The voltage drop caused by pressing the button is actually sensed and it 'rings' because of that trigger. Hence no reason for a 'standard' button voltage. I specified "3 screw" & "mechanical" when the Arlo setup asked what type of chime I had. Now for an actual circuit addition: a 24VAC SPST (single pole single throw) relay which I mounted at the door cavity rather than in the intercom unit box (pictured) but all of the following could be done at the intercom end. One side (either) of the door's ex-speaker/now-AC wire goes straight to the Arlo. The other goes to either coil connection on the relay. The Arlo's other voltage-in connection comes from the remaining relay coil contact. The 'power kit' is also wired across the coil with its switch in the "O" position. Again - no polarity involved. The door bell button's wiring is then connected to the relay's two NO (normally open) switch contacts, either lead to either contact. Makes no difference. The relay I happened to use was an American Zettler AZ2280-1A-24AF chosen for its small size, but any device with compatible coil voltage requirements would work. Its contacts are labeled COM & NO, and the coil isn't marked. Pinout diagram is available on Amazon listing. When the button on the Arlo is pressed, the relay is energized and contact is made between the original door bell button's wiring, ringing the intercom 'chime'. Oh, and I had to grind down the lower mounting screw head which prevented the doorbell from snapping into the frame. Pretty lame considering everything else seemed well thought out. No problems with setup except for the unnecessary, beyond annoying, insecure two-factor authentication band wagon Arlo appears to have jumped onto. No opt-out available, apparently. Hope this helps someone with their 'vintage' installation. It works fine so far.

While Arlo’s first generation of cameras are super convienent and easy to deploy, having to change the batteries all the time is a bit of a PITA. I saw this was on sale and jumped at the chance to add it to our home monitoring system. It was a snap to install. The instructions were straight forward and easy to follow. For those that think you need a compatible “hub” to use it, you don’t. Just choose the connect to your wifi SSID option. After connecting to your network, all the recordings will show up in your Arlo interface like the recordings from all the other cameras. Be sure to really assess whether or not you need to used the angled backplate, if you add it later it can be a bit of a hassle. It’s performs great and now I can redeploy our camera that we had been using for the front porch somewhere else because this doorbell camera takes care of that area and no hassle of changing batteries all the time. The interface for people at your door is also well thought-out. The visitor is greeted with various light combinations and audio prompts. You also have the ability to “answer the door” from your phone, iPad or computer with its built-in two way audio communication. If you’re considering getting this, just do it, especially if it’s on sale like it was for me.

So I'm already bought into the alro eco system. I own 2 spotlight cameras and 1 floodlight camera and they work really well (the floodlight does gives me some issues but that's another review) at picking everything up around my house. I've also been using ring doorbell for years but have been unhappy with it lately and thinking that maybe there's something better out there. I also have Google fiber with a wireless 6 mesh network in place. Well now that Arlo came out with the doorbell I decided it would probably fit right into my setup. Since I wasn't sure yet and was just testing, I set it up right next to the ring so I could do comparison testing for the next few days When I first set up the Arlo doorbell it gave me the choice to do wireless or base station; I chose base station. While testing I noticed the video had good quality but then after about 5 seconds it would go to crap quality and this was consistent. Live view also took about 5 seconds to connect which was consistent with my other cameras. The ring would connect to live view within 2 to 3 seconds. Anyway, after 2 days of this I decided to remove it from my app and re set it up under the wireless. Once I set it up under wireless I noticed the video quality was much better but connecting to live view was consistently 7 or 8 seconds and the ring still connecting in 2 to 3 seconds. I really love the view of the Arlo and other features but the 7 second lag to connect to live view kills this for me. If ring can connect to live view in under 3 seconds then I would expect the Arlo to as well... sadly it didn't and I cannot keep it even though I like my other Arlo cams The ring also shows me a snapshot of the live view without having to actually connect to live view so you can get a quick picture of what's happening outside whenever you hear a noise. Ring wins this one hands down for me.