Arlo Baby constant buffering and black screen

[Silingi]

I have an Arlo baby cam with the following specs:

Hardware:6
Firmware: 1.8.4.5_20140

I have it set to 1080p and my wifi strength is 100% with 150mbps download/upload. I'm not sure what I need to do in order for this camera to function properly. I have a Google Pixel with the Android app as well as the web browser application, and they are both doing the same thing. Please advise on how to make this device perform as it should. Thank you!

[ShayneS]

Hi Silingi,

How far away is the Arlo Baby from your router? If you move it closer does the reception get any better? What are the 3 Wifi bars displaying?

[Silingi]

It's in the next room over from the router and has all bars filled in with 100% written next to it on the app. The device shouldn't have a problem reaching one room over, and my other wifi devices work just fine in the same room.

[ShayneS]

Silingi,

There are a few things we can try to troubleshoot this. You may have already done a few, sorry to repeat any, just let me know. There may be some type of interference happening for some reason. 1 Can you try and Reboot & TEST. 2 Remove Device/Add Again TEST. 3 Reset & TEST in it's current location. 4 Bring the Baby closer to your router & test the connection (view through all sources, App, Browsers.

[thehogg]

Same issues started recently for me. Assume it is this new firmware version, yet Netgear will make us jump through hoops before they do anything. Also beware of the static image instead of live stream. Static images so far vary from 10 minutes prior to half a day earlier.

Netgear if you can't get your firmware updates right you shouldn't be forcing them on us.

[ShayneS]

thehogg,

What exactly are you experiencing with your device?

[thehogg]

From day dot the arlo baby loads with a static image often days earlier. This is unrelated to last viewing. Eg: image could be 4 hours earlier even though I have viewed 3 times since. This usually lasts a second at most, but since last update actually stays as image without live feed loading. I have reported this issue too many times to count, including noting risk of the current issue and perception child is ok because of old image.

It is really disappointing that such simple things are ignored. I actually used to have 90% netgear equipment including in my business, but this product and copious threads of issues that go ignored has damaged my perception of your brand.

[ShayneS]

thehogg,

Have you contacted support about this issue?

[Lesnypeter]

I have the same issue... It'll take 15 mins of hitting pause and play in order for it to connect and play live.. 🤨

[thehogg]

I have not contacted support as that is why I was searching. 
I have severe anxiety in contacting your support as I am made to jump through hoops when no effort from your end to investigate the issue. 

[ShayneS]

thehogg,

What troubleshooting steps have you performed with you Arlo Baby so far?

[fquenneh]

I have the exact same problem (app tested on 3 different devices, all Samsung phones): black screen, or a static image of my baby sleeping when he is awake and crying. What engineer at Netgear thought that was a safe idea?

This appears to be fairly new so I would also suspect this is a firmware that did not go through any QA (same firwmware as Silingi, though harware is 7). I would very much appreciate Netgear/Arlo to at least attempt to fix on their end.

Arlo baby is 5m away from an Asus RT-AC5300 (yes there is sufficient bandwidth, and yes there are 3 bars). Restarting the camera appears to fix it at least some times but what is the point in a baby monitor if it cannot be trusted?

[ShayneS]

fquenneh,

If you move the Arlo Baby closer to your router & reboot does it still have the black screen or a static images?

[fquenneh]

I honestly cannot tell if this is a serious question.

Yes, I have tried to turn the thing on and off... and it works, without moving the camera. However, the whole idea is that I use the camera when I cannot stand next to it.

With regard to whether the WiFi standard can reach 5m using a last gen WiFi router, this is a query better suited with network engineers ar Netgear. The company is bound to at least have some of them somewhere...

[Nanabear05]

I'm very interested to find out if there is a solution or fix for this problem. I've had my ($200+) Arlo Baby for approximately 6 months.. The buffering lag and black screen when logging in is a constant problem! Fortunately I did not buy this to monitor a baby or child. I warn anyone that asks not to buy it for it's intended use. I only use mine so I can check in on my dog and to get alerts if he's barking. I've since purchased 3 other cameras that combined cost half the price and are much more reliable. The two things I prefer about Arlo are when it captures video for an alert it captures the few seconds prior to the sound or motion activating the sensor and that it has the air quality and temperature sensor.
Is there going to be a firmware upgrade to help?

[ShayneS]

Hi Nanabear05,

Have you contacted customer support regarding this issue?  I have attached the link below for you.

- Arlo Tech Support

[GSpark2018]

Arlo Baby ABC1000

I have also been experiencing constant buffering issues with the Arlo Baby camera.

I have been on the phone to technical support and have learnt that the camera does not operate as a peer to peer network across the WiFi. Instead the live video stream is uploaded to the internet (Arlo cloud storage) and from there is downloaded through the ISP (Internet Service Provider) back to the device running the Arlo App as the baby monitor.

Buffering issues are most often a direct result of slow or poor internet performance or congestion on the Internet providers network. The Arlo baby requires 150Mbps upload and download speeds. If you have poor internet uploads you will most likely experience issues.

This is really disappointing as I thought I was purchasing a WiFi camera that operated over my WiFi network as a peer to peer device (i.e.: The Arlo baby camera streams directly to the baby monitor running the Arlo App) This is not the case. It was not clearly advertised that the camera requires Internet access to work, and won't function without internet access.

You can test your internet speeds (upload and download) at this website: http://www.speedtest.net/

If you know your internet speeds are good then it is most likely your WiFi hardware that is limiting the data flow from the camera to the monitor. Wifi standard is IEEE802.11 (the most common speeds of new phones is IEEE802.11ac note that the 5Ghz channel will yield faster data transmission than the 2.4Ghz band).

I am in the process of trying to get a full refund from the place of purchase, Sorry Netgear but the device does not perform its primary function. Netgear would be better incorporating a peer to peer function so that the camera can operate in independent mode without requiring internet access.

[fquenneh]

Update: I can confirm that the camera has become more reliable with a firmware update that was pushed about a month ago. There are still some glitches here and there (especially when accessing through an internet browser rather than with the app) but it has overall significantly improved in my opinion.