Artifacts at start of recording after adding to hub

[Jo060]

I have six 1st Gen essentials and one 2nd Gen Essential. After adding the 2nd Gen to the hub, I'm getting a green screen/artifacts at the bottom portion of the screen during the beginning of the recording. It usually lasts a few seconds, but sometimes the entire recording. I don't have this issue with the 1st Gen cameras that are much further away from the hub than the 2nd gen.

This issue happens 85% of the time whether it's a recording or a live view. 

I also noticed if I switch the quality from best video to optimized, it eliminates the issue. 

I've deleted the cameras and added it multiple times, but still no luck. It works perfectly on Wifi.

I understand that this means missing information / connection issue, but it just started happening and nothing has changed.

I also just received an additional 2nd Gen, connected it to the hub, and it works fine despite it being significantly further from the hub. 

[jguerdat]

While it could be an issue with that particular camera, I would suspect that it's a signal strength/quality issue. What happens if you swap cameras around for testing?

[Jo060]

I'll give that a shot and let you know. 

[Jo060]

So I took the 2nd Gen camera and moved it where the 1st Gen was and it's still doing the same thing. Out of curiosity, I installed the newer 2nd Gen where the previous 2nd Gen was installed and it also did it. 

I'm curious if it's doing it only on the 2nd Gen cameras as it uses more bandwidth (not sure if that's the right word).

The hub isn't that far and had almost a straight line of sight the cameras. I don't have this issue with the 1st Gen cameras despite them being very far away and on the other side of a concrete home.

I also noticed that if I live view the camera, the green goes away within a second or two. If I have it set to record, the green with last longer, sometimes throughout the entire event rendering the video useless.

I've attached a photo for reference. 

 

[Jo060]

I forgot to add. The doorbell also does this ever since adding it from wifi to the hub

[jguerdat]

You mention use of a hub but don't mention which one (some folks call a base station a "hub"). That could be a difference.

What is your upload speed as measured by speed test.net? A low speed could be part of the problem.

[Jo060]

The hub is VM4540. 

My download speeds are between 450-500mbps.

I tried switching all the 2nd Gen devices back to Wifi and the issue goes away. 

[StephenB]

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@Jo060 wrote:

My download speeds are between 450-500mbps.

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Actually it's the upload speeds that are relevant here.

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@Jo060 wrote:

The hub is VM4540. 

I tried switching all the 2nd Gen devices back to Wifi and the issue goes away. 

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You had 8 cameras connected to the smarthub?  It can only handle 5 simultaneous streams at a time, which might be part of the puzzle.

The artifacts are almost always caused by packet loss somewhere on the path from camera->smarthub->cloud.  That can be due to the network, or possibly because the smarthub is overloaded. 

The only other possibility is that the camera compression hardware is failing.  That can be ruled out, since the problem goes away when you directly connect the cameras.

The 2K cameras do require about twice the upload speed as your 1080p cameras, so if the Gen 2 cameras are 2K then it is possible that is triggering the problem. 

Do you have a mesh WiFi system?  Or just a single router setup?  A mesh will outperform a single smarthub.

Is the smarthub near your router, or located somewhere else?  If it is co-located, can you tell us about how far away it is from the router?

[Jo060]

I apologize, I misread your comment. My upload speeds are between 21-25.

I do currently have 8 connected, but the two I'm having issues with are on the front of the house (both 2nd gen 2k), so when they sense motion, they're the one's that are triggered. The other 1st gen's are rarely triggered by motion. 

I do have a mesh system (Eero) which is approximately 2 feet away from the router on the same tabletop.

When I live view, I rarely have this issue (maybe for a second or two at the bottom of the screen), but when the camera is triggered by motion, then entire event is green or grey. I have checked the USB storage which also shows the green.

[StephenB]

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@Jo060 wrote:

When I live view, I rarely have this issue (maybe for a second or two at the bottom of the screen), 

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Do you have 2K livestreaming enabled?  If not, you are livestreaming 1080p, which uses about 1/2 the bandwidth of the 2K recording.

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@Jo060 wrote:

I do have a mesh system (Eero) which is approximately 2 feet away from the router on the same tabletop.

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If you are saying that the smarthub is 2 feet away from the router, then you might try moving it a bit further away (as far as the cable can reach).  If the hub is very close to the router, the router's wifi transmission can overload the hub's wifi antenna system.  FWIW, the smarthub can also potentially overload the Eero's antenna system. This can only happen at very short range, so increasing the spacing some is worth a try.

But you might just be seeing the coverage improvement of the mesh (compared with a smarthub, which functions as a standalone (specialized) router. 

[Jo060]

I'm not sure if I have 2k streaming enable. I don't see the option for that.

I'll try moving the hub and see what happens.

[StephenB]

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@Jo060 wrote:

I'm not sure if I have 2k streaming enable. I don't see the option for that.

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Then you probably don't.  FWIW, I don't recommend enabling that feature.  Turning it on disables your ability to make manual recordings.

Info on how to configure that is here:

• https://kb.arlo.com/000063029/How-do-I-enable-or-disable-2K-or-4K-local-live-streaming-for-my-Arlo-c...

[Jo060]

Moving the hub may have worked. I moved it 6.5' away from the router and the video has cleared up. Each one had a very small, short line of discoloration, but it cleared up after a second or two. 

I have a 20' cat8 Ethernet cable being delivered tomorrow and should be able to move the hub 10' away.  

I'll give it a little more time to see what happens. 

[Jo060]

I tried it a few more times and I am still getting the green recordings but it does seems to be "better".

I'll see what happens with a longer cable. 

[Jo060]

I moved the hub about 10 feet away and there was no change. 

[BrookeN]

Please contact support. Within the app on your mobile device click on the silhouette on the top left ~ support center ~ the device that you are needing assistance with then choose the behavior you are seeing.

[Jo060]

I tried a brand new hub out of curiosity... No luck. 

I've contacted tech support. It's been absolutely awful, like always. It's going nowhere

Do you think adding 3 or 4 of the cameras to wifi and leaving the rest connected to the hub would help? 

[Jo060]

@StephenB

Do you have any other ideas?

I tried a new hub, same issues. 

I tried putting the two 2k cameras on their own hub... Same issue. 

I checked the signal at each camera and it's -37 dbm.

I've moved the hub away from the router, I moved the hub 6 ft away from the cameras... Same issue. 

I've reached out to arlo tech support and despite what I tell them, they're only telling me to delete the cameras. I've done that more time than I can count. 

[StephenB]

If you are planning to get the Arlo subscription, then you can try connecting some (or all) of the new cameras directly to your home wifi.  If that works, you can of course just leave them set up that way.

[Jo060]

I've had a subscription for quite some time. 

I added the hub 9 months or so ago for the added security and local storage.

They all work flawlessly on Wifi, as they did in the hub until recently. 

[Jo060]

Arlo reached out to me via phone call to confirm a few things. They asked if they could send a camera to test. I told them I bought a new camera and hub and still have the same issues... This stumped them.

They are going to move it up the line to try to figure it out...