topic High pitch hum from the security system that base station in Arlo Home Security System

High pitch hum from the security system that base station

Yuzil — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 02:37:36 GMT

I just bought the Arlo home security system with five sensors, and I was happy with it to set up mostly (My two issues being that adhesive for the protection on the sensors is a bit too sticky and I had to work at it to peel it off. The second being I had one sensor add while still going through setup but setup didn't detect it).

After it being in the house for an hour, I noticed a very high pitch hum coming from the base station when I approached it.

Long story short, after playing around with settings a bit, it seems when the keypad backlighting is on, it seems to be generating interference that the siren is likely picking up. When I turn off the motion activated lighting along with the current mode lighting, the noise goes away.

It seems the base station does not have proper isolation between the lights and the siren, which causes it to generate a very high pitch hum.

My solution for now is just to leave those two settings off, but it makes me sad I can't use them without having an annoying sound coming from the base.

Re: High pitch hum from the security system that base station

Yuzil — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 04:24:06 GMT

I opened a support ticket, but no movement yet (as they wanted proof). I ended up installing Spectroid app (android link) on my phone and recorded a video with my phone right next to the hub.

You can see that when the lights are on, it generates a frequency of around 12,290 Hz. As the lights start to dim, the frequency of the generated sound drops to about 10,000 Hz before disappearing. But at the same time, a new frequency appears at around ~20,250 Hz (this seems to be constantly generated when the lights are off).

My obvious issue is that adults can hear to around 17,000 Hz (and kids to 20,000 Hz or a little above, and I have kids, so this may bother them).

Hopefully I just have a defective unit, and this isn't systemic.

Re: High pitch hum from the security system that base station

ShayneS — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 23:58:29 GMT

I have escalated your case & someone from support will be reaching out to you as soon as possible. I have provided your escalations number here: 43415549

Re: High pitch hum from the security system that base station

Yuzil — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:06:43 GMT

@ShayneS thanks! Though I just returned the system to Best Buy, and gave them a heads up I had issues. I was installing the system at my mom's house while I was traveling, so I didn't want to deal with longer term support while being out of state (Incase it needed a swap or something).

As I want to get one for myself at some point, I'll buy a new unit and give it a try.

Re: High pitch hum from the security system that base station

ShayneS — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 18:14:18 GMT

@Yuzil

Sound good, thanks for the update. Feel free to message me when you receive your new system and I can help you set it up : )