Maker profile · Arlo
Arlo Camera Systems: SmartHub Models, Direct Wi-Fi and the Arlo Secure App
Arlo sells two kinds of system under one name: cameras that pair with a SmartHub or base station, and cameras that join home Wi-Fi on their own. Both run from one app and one account, and both can be watched live without a paid plan.
- HubOptional on most current models
- AppArlo Secure: Home Security
- Without a planLive view, alerts and two-way audio
- Cloud history30 days on the paid plans
01 · Setup route
Where an Arlo system is set up: the Arlo Secure app
Every Arlo camera, SmartHub and doorbell is added inside the Arlo Secure app, which also creates the account. Arlo’s printed quick start guides give one web address for finding the app, and everything else Arlo publishes sits on arlo.com.
The app, as listed
- Listed in
- Apple’s U.S. App Store carries it under this title; Arlo’s own guides shorten it to the Arlo Secure App.
- Where devices are added
- Inside this app only; no web page is part of pairing an Arlo camera.
Addresses that belong to Arlo
- Arlo’s printed guideGiven in Arlo’s quick start guides, such as the one packed with the Essential Indoor Camera, as the place to find the Arlo Secure app.
- Arlo’s domainThe web version of an Arlo account. The name just before .com is arlo, so the address sits on Arlo’s own domain.
Not part of setting up an Arlo system
- A call that arrives unprompted, or a number taken from an ad or a pop-up
- Remote control of a computer, for any reason
- A payment to anyone other than Arlo itself
- A verification code read out or passed to another person
How an Arlo setup works
An Arlo setup is built around one account, created in the Arlo Secure app, and every camera, hub and doorbell is registered to that account as it joins. The app asks which device is being added and shapes the rest of the sequence to suit it, since a camera that connects straight to the router and one that relies on a SmartHub go about it differently.
A direct-to-Wi-Fi model such as the Essential range takes the home network’s details from a QR code the app shows on the phone’s screen; the camera reads the code through its lens and chimes when it has what it needs, and Arlo’s documentation for these models specifies a 2.4 GHz network. On a SmartHub or base-station system the hub is connected to the router first, and the cameras then pair with the hub over its own wireless link instead of joining the home Wi-Fi themselves. Guide 1 compares the QR-code method with the other ways a camera can be given network details.
Pages that borrow Arlo’s name often present my.arlo.com, or the word setup itself, as a service of their own with a telephone number attached. Arlo’s pairing runs inside the app from the first screen to the last, and apart from the app stores, every address involved ends in arlo.com.
02 · The system
How an Arlo system fits together
Five parts and two possible routes from camera to router. Each chip lights up one part of the system and sets out its job.
An Arlo camera
- What it does
- Captures video and sound, runs its own motion detection and, on battery models, sleeps until movement wakes it.
- What it needs
- A charged battery or wired power, plus a link to a SmartHub or straight to the home router, depending on the model.
- What depends on it
- Every alert, clip and live view begins at the camera.
The SmartHub or base station
- What it does
- Sits between the cameras and the router and runs a wireless link of its own for them; on models with a card slot it can also keep recordings in the house.
- What it needs
- Mains power, plus an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi link to the router.
- What depends on it
- Cameras from the base-station era cannot run without it; later models treat it as an option for range and local recording.
The home router
- What it does
- Carries all Arlo traffic to the internet, whether it arrives through a SmartHub or straight from a camera.
- What it needs
- A working internet connection; direct models also need its network name and password, handed to them during pairing.
- What depends on it
- Viewing from outside the house, alerts and cloud recording.
Arlo’s servers
- What it does
- Relay live video to phones away from home, deliver notifications and, on a paid plan, store clips and tell people, vehicles and packages apart.
- What it needs
- An Arlo account that every device is registered to.
- What depends on it
- Anything watched or received while away from home.
The Arlo Secure app
- What it does
- Creates the account, adds and names devices, sells and manages plans, and grants other people access of their own.
- What it needs
- A phone signed in to the Arlo account; two-step verification adds a code at each new sign-in.
- What depends on it
- Every setting and every grant of shared access: the app, not a website or a caller, is where the system is controlled.
Arlo’s first systems were built around a base station, a small box wired to the router that ran a private wireless link for the cameras. Keeping the cameras off the household Wi-Fi let their batteries last longer and let the base station hold recordings on attached storage, and the company still sells hubs under the SmartHub name for those reasons.
Most later Arlo cameras can skip the hub and join home Wi-Fi directly. Some can also be paired with a SmartHub when an owner wants its extra range or local recording; each model’s product page states which arrangements it works with, and the app adapts its pairing sequence to the model being added.
03 · Plans
What an Arlo camera does with and without a plan
The switch flips between an account with no plan and one with a paid Arlo Secure plan; each card shows what changes.
Without a plan: 2 of 7 in full and 2 in part.With a paid plan: 5 of 7 in full; local recording still needs a hub, and monitoring the top tier.
- Live viewIncludedIncludedStreams in the app at any time.Unchanged with a plan.
- Motion alertsIn partIncludedBasic notifications when motion is detected.Richer, interactive notifications.
- Two-way audioIncludedIncludedTalking and listening through the camera both work.Unchanged with a plan.
- Cloud recordingNot includedIncludedNo clips are kept in Arlo’s cloud.Event clips kept for 30 days on the standard tiers.
- Smart detectionNot includedIncludedMotion only, with no sorting of what moved.People, vehicles and packages told apart.
- Local recordingIn partIn partThrough a compatible hub with storage.Still through a compatible hub with storage.
- Professional monitoringNot includedIn partNot offered without a plan.Offered on the top tier only.
Prices and tier names change from time to time, and Arlo’s own pricing page is the reference for the current line-up in each country.
04 · Genuine or imitation
Five things that carry the Arlo name
Each one is either genuine or an imitation. The answer and the reasoning appear as soon as a choice is made, and the panel at the end keeps the score.
Item 1 of 5
https://www.arlo.com/
Correct. It is genuine.Not this one. It is genuine.
The name just before .com is arlo, and a slash follows straight after it: Arlo’s own domain, with nothing borrowed.
Item 2 of 5
https://arlo.camera-pages.example/
Correct. It is an imitation.Not this one. It is an imitation.
Read from the right, the owner is camera-pages.example. The word arlo on the left is a label that whoever owns that domain chose to add.
Item 3 of 5
Correct. It is genuine.Not this one. It is genuine.
Both the title and the publisher line match Arlo’s own listing in the U.S. App Store.
Item 4 of 5
Correct. It is an imitation.Not this one. It is an imitation.
The publisher is not Arlo Technologies, and wrapping a brand in words such as guide or for is a habit of copies.
Item 5 of 5
A sponsored search result that carries the Arlo name and offers to pair a camera on the owner’s behalf, for a fee.
Correct. It is an imitation.Not this one. It is an imitation.
Arlo cameras are added inside the Arlo Secure app by their owners. A result offering to do it for a fee leads to a third party, usually one that goes on to ask for remote control of a computer or a card number.
correct answers out of 5 so far, counted as each item is answered
05 · Background
Arlo, from base stations to direct Wi-Fi
- 2014A Netgear camera lineArlo’s first battery cameras pair with a base station wired to the router.
- 2018An independent companyArlo lists on the New York Stock Exchange and separates from Netgear.
- SinceDirect Wi-Fi modelsNewer lines join home Wi-Fi themselves, and the SmartHub becomes an option.
- TodayThe Arlo Secure nameThe app and the paid plans both carry it.
The app and the account
The app appears in the U.S. App Store as Arlo Secure: Home Security, with Arlo Technologies, Inc. on the publisher line. An Arlo account is created inside it, and every camera, hub and doorbell is registered to that account.
Members of a household are not meant to share the owner’s sign-in. The app can grant access to friends and family, each signing in with an Arlo account of their own, and that access can be withdrawn individually. The account settings include two-step verification, which asks for a one-time code when a new phone signs in.
Older models and the end-of-life policy
Arlo publishes an end-of-life policy that names older cameras and base stations and states which services continue for them and for how long. For anyone buying a used Arlo system, that page answers whether the hardware will keep recording to the cloud and how much longer it will receive security updates.
06 · Arlo’s own pages
Where Arlo publishes its own information
Product documentation, pricing and the end-of-life policy all sit on one domain.
- Arlo’s own websitewww.arlo.com