topic Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System in Arlo Pro 2

Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 12:29:14 GMT

I've invested close to $1000 in this security system and to be frank it sucks pretty bad,. It's become very undependable, I've done all the updates, I've removed the app and reinstalled. The phone lets me know there is movement yet when I check it it shows that a camera was activated but there is NO VIDEO. Why is ARLO so bad all of a sudden the first couple months it was pretty good no problems at all. I've been telling everyone don't waste your money on this system. The local tv station is doing a special on "bad products you should never buy" but I thought I'd check here first for answers. Being undependable and unpredictable with videos is unacceptable. This system has one task to do yet it can''t do it. Any suggestions besides selling this piece of crap and start new with an actual security system that does the work. The fact that they don't really offer any "real" free Arlo tech support for this system should have been a BIG RED LIGHT. Live and learn...never again

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

JamesC — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:12:19 GMT

KimCarson,

Are you able to manually stream and produce a recording?

Are you using a custom mode or the default "Armed" mode for your system?

JamesC

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

VancouverBC — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 15:55:09 GMT

@KimCarson wrote:
Why is ARLO so bad all of a sudden the first couple months it was pretty good no problems at all.

It sounds like the system worked fine initially. I've had no problems with my 4 camera system, it just needed settings tweaked for sensitivity to motion and sound. Arlo is a good alternative to a wired system. If going to a wired system is not an alternative one thing you can try is reset everything and start from scratch. If it worked fine initially, then subsequent tweaks have thrown it off.

Also you say you get notification on your phone but no video, is it just one camera or all cameras? Also check the settings in Mode, that's where the behaviour of the cameras is set. Also try using different modes, hopefully there are some there that have not been changed like Schedule or make a new mode and turn everything, motion and audio, on and set to maximum sensitivity. Change one thing at a time when tweaking.

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:10:01 GMT

Thank you I have made no adjustments since I installed system initially. Today there was motion I could watch it live but camera registered nothing.

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:36:50 GMT

Yes.. I can and yes I use armed

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:38:11 GMT

Nothing has been changed from the day I installed it...

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

brh — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:42:06 GMT

Same here. This morning I had motion detected but never got the video. I too was in the Armed mode and the camera was active. Later I tested it again and it worked fine. Cloud issue due to storms?

Brian

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 19:57:04 GMT

Thank you I know I am not alone I'm tech saavy. I'm stumped. No storms when mine was happening. I installed mine in the beginning of December in the Midwest. We've had storms it started happening a month ago very very undependable and unpredictable which is not good

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

VancouverBC — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 20:10:14 GMT

@KimCarson wrote:
Thank you I know I am not alone I'm tech saavy. I'm stumped. No storms when mine was happening. I installed mine in the beginning of December in the Midwest. We've had storms it started happening a month ago very very undependable and unpredictable which is not good

Do you have a USB memory stick in the USB port on the base station? I wonder if your Internet service has been intermittent so no upload. However as long as you had AC power to the base station and the cameras were powered either by battery or AC, there sholud be recordings on the memory stick. You have to dismount the memory stick and view the videos on a computer, no way to view remotely.

Now I can't even get Community Support for the Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 08:51:46 GMT

I am saddened that I have not received any help that would fix this situation that I am having....and apparently others are having by looks of things on the internet and comments. I have more proof that this is an internal problem at Arlo attached I couldnt even get to community support this morning. I'm debating on taking this to a local tv station with all the various screenshots of how messed up netgear's Arlo security system and let it blow up across ABC as the scam that it is...This is an internal problem they are having I know it...either Arlo has grown too fast and they cant support the people on the net or it's a piece of crap and I've been scammed. Either way I'm out $1000 and I won't go quietly

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 08:52:26 GMT

No USB stick is being used

Re: Now I can't even get Community Support for the Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

steve_t — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 10:04:40 GMT

Have you considered that it could be a problem with your internet connection? And even if for some reason the community website was down for 5 minutes, is that really something to call the system a scam? Community support is just that, a community of users helping each other out. If you want official support, why not contact support and open a ticket with whatever problems you're having. You realise there are thousands of people around the world that use these systems every day without problems, right?

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

VancouverBC — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 15:40:17 GMT

@KimCarson wrote:
No USB stick is being used

If you are stil interested in debugging your Arlo system, insert a USB memory stick into the base station. Use either the app or the Arlo web interface to under Devices > Home cam (that's my name for the system) > Local Storage and activate recording to USB. Try this for a few days. You have to dismount and put th stick into a computer to view the videos. See if the system records to the USB stick. Debug one step at a time. Also as suggested, test your Internet connection, do a Google search for "Internet speed test" and see if you are getting for ping times (time for your modem in your house to connect to the Internet and your upload speed).

If you are unhappy with your system you can always return it to where you bought if you are still within the return period. If you do go to your local TV station, provide the station with a link to this community forum and to this thread in particular for their background to your problem.

For the vast majority of people the Arlo system has worked well. Also users freely volunteer their time in this community forum to share what we know with others. If the system just doesn't work for you I would suggest return it and see what else is available perhaps a wired CCTV system. I have installed those for friends who want 24 hr/day recording.

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 08:25:23 GMT

GREAT! Thanks I will try this I have not done it before. I also upped the sensitivity of the motion although it worked consistently when I first bought at the setting it was at I am trying all the different suggestions. Thank you I will test and let you know how it goes. Great about being able to return too if need be $1000 is a lot of money to me

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

RChobby — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 04:43:41 GMT

One more thing to consider. Have you given others access to the arlo system. I found my wife would occasionally trigger the system by mistake and delete the video almost immediately. So I would get the alert and check for a video, which had already been deleted.

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:30:35 GMT

haha no never no one has access but me....problem I've been having is nothing was triggering the camera. I upped the sensitivity of the motion detector to 70% and today it seems to have helped but I will report back within the week to see if it actually fixed it. I don't know why that would make a difference since it had been working since November/December and stopped within the last 3 weeks or so...

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:31:22 GMT

Doubtful Best Buy would take it back if I purchased it November 2017

Re: Now I can't even get Community Support for the Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

KimCarson — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:35:11 GMT

It is a scam...having to pay for support of a product is ridculous. There should be something right on the box saying you're out of luck if our system doesn't work all you have is communioty support sorry. I call it like I see it too bad if you don't like it. Yeah thousands use it I'm sure and you know what after much research, sadly AFTER the purchase, there are lots of others who are unhappy with it too. Sounds like you work there and I'm not interested in talking to an empolyee doing a "rah rah session" for a broken system.

Re: Now I can't even get Community Support for the Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

jguerdat — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 16:48:46 GMT

Sounds like you're just hiding behind Internet anonymity to spout conjecture without knowing the facts or the people you're dissing. None of us other than JamesC is a Netgear employee. Some of us have spent way too much time here answering questions and then we get people like you.

This is a user forum, not formal support. We'll try to help within our various capabilities but, if you don't like the answers, don't let the door hit you.

Re: Arlo 2 Completely Wireless System

VancouverBC — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 17:25:03 GMT

@KimCarson wrote:
Doubtful Best Buy would take it back if I purchased it November 2017

Probably a refund is not an option if purchased in Nov last year. Not sure where you are located, in Canada the return policy with no questions asked at most big box stores is 30 days. It can be a bit longer depending on the manager and the situation. I've gotten store credits for things returned long after 30 days or returned without a receipt. If your system has malfunctioned there is still the Netgear warranty.

Agreed it's unfortunate Netgear has gone to paid support after an initial free period. Anyways there are other consumers on this forum willing to share info and help other consumers figure out their systems for free if you are so inclined.