topic Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra in Arlo Ultra

Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

PhylumT — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:23:21 GMT

This issue needs serious consideration, with a signal distance I understand capped out at 300', with loss of strength seriously degraded when you aren't even 1/3 that range, with consideration of obstructions such as trees, walls, furniture, placing the Arlo Router in the front of the house but trying to secure camera's around the entirety of the outside of your home plus on structures such as shops or watching entry points to your property or your mailbox at various locations of your home... ARLO MUST provide boosters.

t-Mobile for example has provided a FREE booster for cell signal at my home, prior to that AT&T, however I would for a reasonable price purchase signal boosters if it meant I could without concern place cameras in any location on my property whether I was on a small piece of land or more than a half acre.

it is clear to me that the new Arlo Ultra cameras I have, while they do have improvements over the Arlo HD, does lack the same signal strength that the HD system had for some reason. Additionally; I have now dead zones due to poor strength that didn't exist previously. That said, even with my Arlo HD system, I still had a strong desire to have a booster, I don't want a 3rd Party, I want an Arlo design and tested product that will work seemlessly.

A wireless booster would be excellent. Please resolve this.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

jguerdat — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:23:33 GMT

Use a second (or third) base. That has always been the method to boost signal to specific cameras. Position the bases appropriately and sync specific cameras with each base. If the Ethernet connection is an issue, a WiFi or powerline extender can be used.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

PhylumT — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 21:23:42 GMT

“Use a second or third base” - this creates several issues.

1) requires Ethernet
2) Power
3) Line of site/object issues
4) having to manage a completely separate base

WiFi poweline extender

1) requires power to locations
2) requires consideration for placement, considering it would most likely be located within a residence it would result in being within 50’ of the other base and so very little benefit for such a large investment.

I appreciate your feedback, but a wireless booster system powered by batteries like the arlo to relay signal seems like the better option. As stated, people who have a large property and have outbuildings, hills, trees, etc run into issues. I am asking for a good solution to this, an additional $400 base station doesn’t seem like it, when it puts them 40’ from each other, my cameras 100’ from the house, sides of the house and back would see marginal if any improvement.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

zincyellowcobra — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:49:14 GMT

@jguerdat wrote:

Use a second (or third) base. That has always been the method to boost signal to specific cameras. Position the bases appropriately and sync specific cameras with each base. If the Ethernet connection is an issue, a WiFi or powerline extender can be used.

That’s a good idea but not everyone wants to or can afford to buy multiple base stations. With that said, I did exactly what you are suggesting for my Arlo Pro 2 cameras. In fact I have three base stations running 15 Pro 2 cams and did that as workaround for signal issues. I just added 4 Arlo U;tea cameras to the mix so have a 4th base station to run those cams. The Ultra camera signal strength is a joke compared to prior cameras. At this rate, I will need 6 base stations as a workaround for Arlo signal strength deficiencies should I decide to upgrade the entire system to Ultra cameras.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

PhylumT — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 23:10:12 GMT

I also agree, cameras in the exact same location as my Arlo HD with base station in the same exact location, I have at least 30% weaker signals., additionally when attempting to view live it takes longer and sometimes the camera becomes unavailable. The Arlo line is a great set of cameras, however with that said... some aspects show why wired cameras have certain advantages that they should not.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

JamesC — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 16:51:13 GMT

A new firmware update for the SmartHub was released that may help with the issues being discussed here. Please make sure your SmartHub is up to date with the latest firmware (1.12.0.1_30356) and let us know if you continue experiencing issues.

A note about signal strength: Poor connectivity and offline issues can be caused by environmental issues like WiFi interference or poor signal due to range. If you're experiencing this, you might try elevating your SmartHub and moving it away from any other devices that emit a wireless signal (routers, baby monitors, telephones, etc.).

JamesC

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

PhylumT — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 19:23:53 GMT

Hi James,

The hub is updated to that thank you. With the new update I’ve noticed some crashes/shutdown/loss connection to cameras.

The hub is exactly where it was for the Arlo HD, I did elevate it about a foot which actually helped but now my wife is angry because she now has to see the router.... even with the elevation change the hub connection is less than the HD was.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

JamesC — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 19:42:52 GMT

PhylumT,

The engineering team is looking into reports of signal strength concerns. I understand that when elevated, this may make the location less ideal but this is a valid step for improving signal strength for any WiFi device. If it's down low, underneath an entertainment stand or something similar, the signal strength will be significantly weaker.

I'll keep this thread updated with any new information I see regarding signal strength.

JamesC

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

rodknee — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 01:08:08 GMT

I have issues with poor wireless connectivity as well.

Dothe cameras connect via the SmartHub or the wireless routers, of which I have a few spread through out the house which use bridge connections and cabled to improve data transfer.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

michaelkenward — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 09:24:45 GMT

@rodknee wrote:

Dothe cameras connect via the SmartHub or the wireless routers...

Cameras talk to the hub over wifi. The hub is wired to the router.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

smyrnet — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 04:25:27 GMT

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

jguerdat — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:54:03 GMT

Are you having issues with connections/recordings due to the apparent low signal levels? If not, I wouldn't be concerned - perhaaps it's more of a display issue. WHat's the distance between base and cameras and how many walls, etc. does the signal pass through?

The older bases have been promised a firmware update down the road but no release date as yet. Whether that will enable all capabilities of the Ultra camera is unknown.

I use a 128GB microSD card and others are using 256GB with no issue. Don't know where the 32GB limit came from in the documentation but it isn't true.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

rodknee — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 01:14:40 GMT

3 Cameras are within 10 to 20 meters and the signal passes through 3 wooden (hard wood) walls and plaster. The signal shows 2 bars rather than the 2 expeded 3 bars. I get connection issues on one of the cameras which is less than 15 meters away from Smart Hub which is in a high prominent position.

The disappointing thing with the Arlo Ultra SmartHub design is that it does not leverage existing infrastructure (ie 3 existing Wireless N routers which expands the WiFi signal - like a Wireless Mesh Network). My assumption is that I need to purchase another Arlo Ultra SmartHub to gain better wireless coverage?

I’ve also worked out that in order to gain the full suit of Arlo Ultra Camera functionality they need to be powered by USB charger. The Solar Charger does not even provide enough power to allow the Arlo Ultra camera to provide continuious video recording?

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

michaelkenward — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 08:55:26 GMT

@rodknee wrote:

3 Cameras are within 10 to 20 meters and the signal passes through 3 wooden (hard wood) walls and plaster. The signal shows 2 bars rather than the 2 expeded 3 bars.

I don't know what led you to expect "three bars". I have two visible on three cameras between 10 and 30 metres from the hub. No obvious connectivity issues.

I’ve also worked out that in order to gain the full suit of Arlo Ultra Camera functionality they need to be powered by USB charger. The Solar Charger does not even provide enough power to allow the Arlo Ultra camera to provide continuious video recording?

The solar charger is just that, a charger. It tops up the battery. It does not provide the permanent power that you need to get CVR.

This is what the Ultra manual says:

"Connecting your camera to the Arlo Solar Panel (sold separately) to charge the
battery does not provide AC power. To use activity zones and CVR, you must plug the
camera into an AC power outlet."

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

Teddles — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 12:24:45 GMT

I have my hub on a shelf very close to the ceiling of my office. The office is at the front right of the house on the ground floor. The house is cira 2016 built - nothing special, walls concrete rendered with an attched garage adjacent to the office.

I was very surprised to find that when I mounted a camera outside approx 1 mtr above the garage door, and within about 2-3 mtrs of the hub (outside wall in between), the signal dropped to lowest orange dot...

Camera still functions - just, but somewhat worrying!

There is nothing interfering with it in the garage (no equipment etc).

Totally opposed to this, I also have a camera on the rear wall of the house looking into the garden...and the wifi bars are FULL???? This is about 7-9 mtrs away with internal walls/ kitchen/ external wall in between, so how the heck do you reconcile that????

I wonder if wirless is the way to go now....

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

jguerdat — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 13:21:28 GMT

Concrete walls are probably the big issue. I'd bet there are rebars in the walls to help support them - both the metal and concrete will have an effect on the signal being able to penetrate. Not much you can do other than to keep the base close to the cameras and maybe use a second base for cameras that have a weak signal due to the positioning of the first base.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

michaelkenward — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 14:00:22 GMT

@Teddles wrote:

I was very surprised to find that when I mounted a camera outside approx 1 mtr above the garage door...

Metal doors?

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

TomMac — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 11:47:22 GMT

As a side note to all above...

I was having issues with my Ultra base and signal dropping from 2 bars to one (red dot )...

After it would drop , it would stay that way until a reboot. ( then it would go back to 2 bars for a day or so )

Turns out I had to move my Ultra base farther away from my main router. I change the stock ethernet cable out to one that was 20 ft long, moved the Ultra base away and now ALL FIXED.

My guess is that the main router and Ultra base were interacting and the Ultra base would switch over to 5 ghz ( which has less range )... moving away solved this and increased the signal as now it stays on 2.4ghz ( better range ) giving a better camera signal.

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

Sparky8151 — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 12:45:59 GMT

HI, can anyone advise, HOw is the signal communicated, is it a direct link between the hub and the camera, or does it use the wifi to pass the signal from camer to hub

i.e. camera direct to hub

camera - wifi - hub.

The reason i ask is I want to position a camera down at the end of the drive, and am thinking of buying a AP Mesh to extend the wifi

Re: Signal Booster Arlo Ultra

jguerdat — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 13:03:53 GMT

The wireless cameras only use the base<>camera WiFi connection. You can't use a normal WiFi extender or any other device to extend the connection. If needed, a second base/hub is what can be used to optimally position it for certain camera connections. You can use a WiFi or powerline extender to plug the base/hub into so it can be placed as close as possible to the camera.