How to Fix Ineffective Netatmo Activity Zones
Netatmo's 'Alert-Zones' feature is a powerful tool designed to give you control over where your camera looks for motion. When configured correctly, it ensures you only receive notifications for events that matter, drastically reducing the number of false alerts. However, if you're still being bombarded with irrelevant notifications, or the camera is missing important events, your activity zones may be ineffective.
This guide will help you troubleshoot and optimise your Netatmo Alert-Zones for maximum accuracy.
### First, A Note on Terminology
While the industry standard term is 'Activity Zones', Netatmo officially calls this feature 'Alert-Zones'. We will use these terms interchangeably. This feature is primarily available on the Netatmo Outdoor and Indoor cameras.
Common Reasons for Ineffective Alert-Zones and How to Fix Them
If your zones aren't working as expected, it's usually due to one of these common setup mistakes.
### 1. Your Zones Are Too Broad or Poorly Defined
The most common mistake is drawing large, imprecise zones. If your zone includes a busy street, a neighbour's garden, or trees that sway in the wind, you will get constant, unwanted alerts.
The Solution: Be Specific and Precise
- Open the Netatmo Security app.
- Navigate to the main menu > My security settings > Select your camera.
- Tap on Alert-Zones.
- Review your existing zones. Instead of one big box covering your whole garden, create smaller, more targeted zones.
- Draw tight zones around specific areas of interest:
- A zone covering just your walkway.
- A zone for your driveway.
- A separate zone directly in front of a door or gate.
Pro Tip: Use all four available zones to isolate different areas. This way, you can be more granular with your monitoring.
### 2. Including Sources of Constant Motion
Your zones must be drawn to actively exclude things that move predictably.
- Vegetation: The number one cause of false alerts. If the top of a large bush or tree is inside your zone, the camera will alert you every time the wind blows. Redraw your zones to cut underneath the foliage.
- Public Areas: Exclude any slice of a public pavement or road that might be in your camera's view.
- Shadows: Be mindful of long shadows moving across your garden as the sun moves. While harder to control, avoiding large, empty spaces in your zones can help.
### 3. Misunderstanding How Zones Work
It's important to understand the logic. The camera's motion sensor detects movement anywhere in its field of view first. Then, it checks if the motion occurred inside one of your defined Alert-Zones. If it did, it sends an alert. If the motion was outside the zone, it is ignored.
This means you don't need to create 'ignore zones'. You only need to define the areas you do care about. Everything else is ignored by default.
### 4. Not Customising Alerts for Each Zone
You can define what kind of motion you want to be alerted to within each zone. For example, you might want to know about people, cars, and animals on your driveway, but only people at your front door.
- In the Alert-Zones setting, tap on a specific zone you have drawn.
- You will see options to trigger alerts for People, Cars, and Animals.
- Customise these for each zone. If a zone covers your garden, you might want to turn off alerts for 'Animals' to avoid notifications for pets or wildlife.
### 5. Outdated Firmware
Netatmo occasionally releases updates to improve the performance of its detection algorithms. Ensure your camera is running the latest firmware. The app will usually notify you if an update is available.
By carefully refining the shape, size, and settings of your Alert-Zones, you can transform your notification experience from noisy and distracting to precise and genuinely useful, ensuring you are only alerted to the events that truly matter.