Arlo Baby going offline most days

[cmackOTI]

Hi Arlo reps,

I bought an Arlo Baby (ABC1000) in April this year, and have been having constant problems with the device and service since then. I have persevered through the issues, and have tried to convince my partner that it'll all be fixed with the next Arlo update, the next version of IOS, the next whatever. However, after 6 months the time has come where both she and I are furious that a baby monitor, whose sole job is to allow us to monitor the most precious thing in both our worlds, is so unreliable that it fails to perform that one task often multiple times a day, including at night when we're asleep.

In my opinion, the Arlo Baby device and service are substantially unfit for purpose, and contain a number of major problems which have not been rectified by either NETGEAR or the Arlo product team in a timely manner. As such, I'm seeking a full refund of the purchase price for the Arlo Baby camera and Arlo Baby stand, per my consumer rights under Australian Consumer Law.

I've done all the basic troubleshooting, and some more advanced troubleshooting, and nothing has helped.

• Arlo Baby on the latest version at the time (currently 1.8.5.3, to fix the latest audio and streaming bugs)
• All Apple iOS devices (2 x iPhone 7 Plus, 1 x iPad Pro 1st Gen, 1 x iPad Pro 2nd Gen) on the latest version at the time (currently iOS 12.1)
• Arlo app uninstalled and reinstalled from Apple App Store
• Arlo Baby camera removed and re-added to Arlo app
• Arlo Baby camera removed and re-added to Apple HomeKit
• Arlo Baby power cycled (often multiple times per day to resolve issues - this infuriates my partner, especially when she has to walk into the room when our baby is sleeping)
• Arlo Baby reset to factory and set up from scratch

On the home network side:

• All Ubiquiti network gear (USG 3P, UniFi Switch 24, 3 x AP AC Pro) on the latest firmware at the time (with perhaps a week or so lag from release to install)
• Internet connection is Telstra NBN 50 fiber to the premises (FTTP). Speedtest.net regularly hits around 45 Mbps down, 18 Mbps up, including during the evening. Ping to local Telstra test server is 3ms. I have the Ubiquiti gear running periodic speed tests every 30 minutes, and the results are consistently similar.
• The room containing the Arlo Baby has a ceiling-mounted wireless access point, and the Arlo Baby has direct line of sight.
• The wireless AP controller shows the Arlo Baby connection with a signal strength of -44dBm, which is superb, and expected with approx. 2 metres line of sight between it and the AP.
• The 3 wireless APs are on 2.4GHz channels 1, 6, 11, and a site survey shows low channel utilisation for all 3 (~9% at idle), including interference. The 5GHz channels all show very low utilisation (~2% at idle).
• I've tried forcing the Arlo Baby to join either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz wifi bands - no difference.
• I've tried each of the 3 APs separately by taking the Arlo Baby around the house - no difference
• I've tried force associating the Arlo Baby with different APs from a fixed location - no difference

The problem is not my home network.

All the while my partner and I have experienced:

• Numerous 'The streaming service is reporting that the device is not streaming' errors (solution: keep closing the error message on the Arlo app and hope the stream starts up after the 5th/10th/20th error message is displayed)
• Numerous 'Your device is not connected' errors (solution: power cycle the Arlo Baby, and hope it starts working)
• Numerous silent failures of the audio/video stream (Arlo app sits on 'Connecting...' message continuously), until we realised the stream is broken or hear our baby crying when we are nearby (solution: calm the baby if crying, then power cycle the Arlo Baby and hope)
• Recently, live video working on both our iPhones, but not working (frozen image) on both our iPad Pros
• Stuttering audio and pixellated video when connected locally (which the latest firmware improves on)
• Consistently awful performance when outside the home over 4G (badly stuttering and laggy audio, and sub-1 frame per second video, if the video works at all), despite being able to consistently pull data at full speed (~18 Mbps) from other devices inside the home at the time (I strongly suspect Arlo's relay servers or data centre WAN links are badly under-specced)
• Missed recordings, and truncated manual recordings (e.g. 7 seconds recorded out of 60 seconds)

And the list goes on.

The sole purpose of the Arlo Baby Monitor System, and the reason I bought one, is to monitor a baby. Specifically, my baby. It has consistently failed to do this over the past 6 months in a substantially reliable manner, which is mandatory for product in this category. I would be irresponsible and negligent as a parent if I continued to accepted the product's inherent unreliability.

I've given the Arlo Baby time, effort, and patience - it's got great potential, and I've really wanted it to work. But it just doesn't.

Please let me know the next steps required to process a refund.

Sincerely,

Callum Mackintosh

[Hoyitalvin]

happens daily multiple times throughout the day for me, and they have yet to say anything. I'm under the assumption they're ignoring me now. 

[kmegray]

I am officially at the end of my tether with this piece. Same issues as described by everyone above. This item is simply not fit for purpose. I now have a camera flashing a light in my baby's cot, playing music in 2 second bursts & not providing me with any sort of visual on my child. There are no WiFi issues with my router/provider/any other devices which require internet connection in my house - yet Arlo Baby can't stay connected? Absolute joke. A refund is the least you could offer. It would go some way to compensate for the hours of anxiety and stress this device has given all of these new parents.

[Dmoff]

Piling on here because all I see are problems, not answers. Ever had a router that keeps dying and has to be restarted all the time? Usually a Netgear. They got us with the Arlo brand and suckered us into buying this terrible excuse for a monitor. I've had constant dropouts, and this time it just died for good after I had to sneak like a ninja into my son's room under cover of darkness in the middle of the night to troubleshoot this piece of crap instead of actually sleeping the night before a big meeting.

Not a lot of products can ruin your life. Arlo Baby can.

[Hoyitalvin]

They still have not responded back to me. They completely ghosted on me. I’ve had this problem since February but didn’t address it until recently because I thought it was my house WiFi. I troubleshooted it for a week and come to found out it was just arlo baby. I’m very unsatisfied and will not recommend this product to anyone.

[Klaymation]

Hi There,

i brought this baby monitor and had been using it since last November, things ain't always perfect as it will disconnect randomly, stop the music or change from white noise to a different on its own, live feed is never stable, often takes too long to connect for live feed, disconnect frequently and cant switch to different wifi network. i had been using Netgear ORBI with extender and it barely works, the router covers 3000sq ft and i only live in a 1600 sq ft home! i figure it would more than enough range for all my devices but Arlo is on the only devices that disconnects frequently or unable to connect during the night when i want to check on my child. because of the this, i switch over my older linksys router and it's only connect for my smart tv and Arlo; still i am unable to get a stable signal as i cant log in and check on my child from work or when i am out. connection isnt stable, always takes more than 5 mins to connect and the live feed quality is poor despite HD setting. i jsut tried to reconnect to my ORBI and not i can even connect! i had made sure everything i type in the exact SSID and password and still nothing. sometimes i get the device not found, sometimes i dont.

I had been trying and followed the instruction for the last 4 hr, no luck at all. i already tried the factory reset, remove the device completely from the app and not i cant even add the camera back to the app! i tired logging into the website version and still no luck. it's always stuck at the " looking for your arlo camera screen for at least 5 mins and nothing happens. Baby Arlo lights, music, lights works but it just wont connect. i dont know how i can sleep!! i had been waiting for live chat for the past 1.5 hr and my wait number went from 14 to 9 to disconnect, to 9 disconnect and had been stuck at 5 for 30 mins already. the camera worked last night and i just want it to work again 

[finn4321]

Based on all the comments I have seen, I dont think the actual Wifi setup matters at all. People have tried everything from the fanciest mesh routers to basic routers with the camera next to it and it simply does not work reliably. At this point the issue lies with Arlo.

I have no illusions that they will fix the issues at this point and the only thing we should all push for is money back. I bought Arlo Baby on the day it came out for my firstborn. I didnt even bother to use it for my second baby. It is just stuck in a drawer.

[Hoyitalvin]

I agree, I’ve tried multiple outlets (WiFi extenders, mesh routers, have it literally 2 feet away from my router, both 2.4 ghz and 5ghz, and etc. they even sent me a “replacement” and it did the same exact thing. I spoke to them a week ago and still nothing back. All they said was “our engineers are working on it” I thought I was alone. I’m so irritated with this product and I mean I love their outdoor cameras, but their baby cameras.. I would not recommend this ever to anyone.

[Archer666]

You're right the WiFi setup is not the issue i believe for the vast majority of people... from my testing/experimentation the unit is overheating which is causing these issues... with all other Arlo cameras they are just left on permanently and I've never had an issue but there's fundamentally something wrong with the design of their Baby Cam.

If you would like to make use of the very expensive camera stuck in a drawer try the following:

• Permanently remove the little animal skin from the head of the camera, it seems to be insulating the head of the camera making it even hotter.
• When your baby is not sleeping unplug the camera and switch it off on the bottom. Only turn it on a few minutes before you plan to put your little one to bed (to allow time for it to connect etc)... you could probably also setup a timer switch or wifi switch to make this less annoying but it takes 2 seconds to do it manually so we just do it that way.
• If you have a favorite white noise sound (we only use the Oceans and Seagulls one) delete all the other sounds through the app... if there is a break in connection due to internet issues ours will reconnect (most of the time) and start playing the white noise again... but it will only start playing the top entry (i think Brahms Lullaby?). If you just leave the one sound on there it will play that and be slightly less likely to wake your baby due to an unfamiliar sound.
• Cover the stupid status lights under the lens with a piece of black electrical tape (again to avoid waking the baby when those amazingly/annoyingly bright LED's that you cant turn off start going through their re connection process)

Having been doing all of the above for the past few months we have had no issues at all that weren't the result of our internet going down.

No freeze ups/random disconnects, no pixellation on the camera feed etc etc... it amazingly has been working how i had hoped it would work when i first bought it.

It sucks that i have to do all of that but its better than having to go buy another camera i guess... and my Wife no longer mutters under her breath "i wish you'd never bought this stupid *** camera"

[Benjiruss]

I'm just gonna add my name to the lost of frustrated new parents here. Can't even turn white noise on or off anymore.

Device regularly shows up as unavailable or the stream is just frozen and I have to reboot the camera?

Did any of you guys end up successfully getting a refund I've had my camera for about a year and like many of you persevered but this latest white noise issue has done it for me.

I got a $20 audio only monitor that I now have setup in conjunction with the Arlo baby since I simply to not trust it to alert me when my child needs me.

[Hoyitalvin]

They’ve completely ghosted on me about this issue. Not happy at all.

[adraper12]

I have 2 baby cameras and will start the live stream when I go to bed so I can hear them throughout the night. My live stream feed stops and my phone closes. I have both current iOS version and app. Frustrating because my kids are upstairs and my 3 yr gets up during night to potty at times.

[gb1986]

Hi, is anybody else experiencing issues with the Arlo Baby going offline. Since the latest firmware went out to the device. The Arlo baby frequently drops out. The WiFi in our house is fine. No other device is experiencing issues. We use the white noise in a loop for our baby. We can always tell when the device is going to drop out as for around 5 mins beforehand we can hear the white noise going louder, quieter, stopping and then starting and then the device just goes offline. Interestingly when looking on the router at the attached devices. It’s still shows as connected. It’s a shame that the Arlo baby can not connect to the Arlo Hubs as we rarely have issues with connectivity from our other cameras which all run through the smart hub.

[ShayneS]

Hi @gb1986

Please contact the Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link. Arlo Tech Support

[Jchen124]

after testing today I came across the thing a lot of people experience, 

The cam disconnects itself after +- 20 minutes > for a baby cam this is not really a solution.

I had to cycle the cam everytime it disconnects.. 

[JLilJZap]

Yes! This happens daily. I've reached out to support to open a case, they reply asking for more information, but the link to reply to the case doesn't work and the email is a do not reply email.

Stellar customer service...

[TwinCitiesJHawk]

I am having this issue every night since latest firmware. Ready to move away from arlo for good.

[ShayneS]

Hi @TwinCitiesJHawk

Please contact the Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link. Arlo Tech Support

[TwinCitiesJHawk]

I’ve contacted support, opened a case and still awaiting word back @ShayneS. This needs to be resolved quickly as I have a newborn and a disconnected camera.

[ShayneS]

Hi @TwinCitiesJHawk

May I ask which troubleshooting steps you have performed so far? I don't want to suggest any prior methods you have previously performed.

[TwinCitiesJHawk]

I’ve rebooted, restarted, unplugged, removed from account and hard reset the arlo cam. I’ve tried everting I’ve read on the support sites. Anything else I should try @ShayneS ?

[ShayneS]

HI @TwinCitiesJHawk

What does the app say when it's offline & what is the status LED when this occurs?

[TwinCitiesJHawk]

I’ve seen no light at all until I unplug and plug the cord back in. And sometimes I see flashing purple and flashing orange @ShayneS

[ShayneS]

@TwinCitiesJHawk

That is an indication of it being too far from the router or loosing connection to the router. Have you tried to reboot your router? 

Here is an article with more troubleshooting steps/details fro reference. My Arlo Baby has a poor WiFi connection and the LED is blinking purple; what do I do?

[TwinCitiesJHawk]

@ShayneS the router is in the same room. The other arlo camera we have which is further away has never had issues like this.

[ShayneS]

@TwinCitiesJHawk

Did you move the router? Did this issue ever happen to occur before the Firmware update as well? Did you try to reboot the router?