Timed Out/Missed Notifications Android February 2024

[JustAsking]

Currently running 6 Essential Spotlight Outdoor cameras through a VMB4520 SmartHub and a Arlo Video Doorbell 2K (2nd Generation) through wifi on an Motorola G on both mobile and wifi internet (Android version 13) and an iPad OS 17.3 on the same wifi only. 

The Motorola phone is brand new out of the box less than 45 days old and the Arlo products are between 14-35 days old, also brand new out of the box. The iPad is about 7 years old and the router is a Linksys MR9000 that'a about 3 years old. All Internet and connectivity checks indicate above good internet connections. The amount of compatibility settings between the Motorola and Arlo App are beyond confusing and I highly suspect conflicting leading to connectivity issues with the app leading to missed notifications. 

I've read threads of same glitch dating back as far as like 2017. 

I keep randomly getting a yellow banner message in the Arlo app at the top of the screen on my Motorola that shows a "Disconnected from the internet" error message and when it happens notifications stop. I never know when it's going to happen and I know when it does that my device is still connected to the internet because I have mobile internet as well as wifi and other apps connected to the internet work just fine when it says this. It only happens on my Motorola and not my iPad and my iPad is only on a wifi connection. My iPad receives every notification at 100% frequency. 

Wifi connection on my Motorola shows "Excellent" under "Single strength" in settings. 

Culprits I currently suspect:
Inefficient Background processing limits on the Motorola to keep up with the Arlo servers of cloud service. 

"Notification Importance" non-prioritizing notifications from Arlo, perhaps in conjunction with "Nearby Devices" recognizing iPad connectivity, who knows? If it is something like notification importance or something similar uninstalling and reinstalling the app over and over again most certainly wont help. 

Fingerprint Login. 

Multiple devices on one account. 

Yes I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app, yes I've inconveniently reset all my settings half a dozen times. 

The most convenient and quickest fix that I've found that works fore me with 100% consistency is disabling wifi connection on my Motorola. On mobile connection I get all my notification on my phone. Once I toggle wifi on my phone off any missed or delayed notifications all come in at once and my notifications work fine. It only happens on wifi on my Motorola. Internet technician came out and checked connection was good. Contacted router company and switched bandwidth channels to 9 or whatever the Arlo recommended frequency was, it was like 9.164 of something. 

I've been in contact with Arlo support for almost 40 days non-stop, they've never called me once. I take that back, they've called me like 2 times out of the 15 or so times we've talked on the phone. I've given them access to all the data and logs on my phone about 10-15 days ago and they've never called back. Been waiting for a call back, again, for like 7 days now. Both my last remaining "30 day free subscription" and the return date for the cameras are conveniently coming to an end quickly and the cameras have not functioned properly for a consistent amount of time since I got them almost 40 days ago and I'm nowhere near a solution to the problem I feel 

Internet provider is spectrum and they definitely weren't happy and even seemed upset that Arlo is using 2.4GHZ capabilities to broadcast their signal. 

HELP!! Notifications don't work on my phone. 

[jguerdat]

I have Spectrum also but have no issues. No idea why the techs may have suggested Arlo was an issue. In any case, it's not a Spectrum issue.

Have you "forgotten" the WiFi connection on the phone and then reconnected? Have you tried both 2.4 and 5GHz bands to connect or is the router set to use one SSID/password for both bands?

[JustAsking]

Techs suggested that they did not think connectivity was an issue, they obviously would never admit any fault of their product, even though there are a solid half a dozen threads on this *exact same issue. 

I have not tried to forget the Wi-Fi connection and reconnecting to it. Just did that, not sure what that would do though. Usually I just toggle the Wi-Fi off then back on again and it seems to work fine for anywhere from 60 seconds to 12 hours at the most. When there are backed up or missed notification and I turn the Wi-Fi off as soon as it’s off all the missed and delayed notifications come in at once…”ding ding ding ding.”

 As far as I know I have not tried 5ghz and the router has one password for both. In the router settings on the admin page there are both 5ghz and 2.4. Arlo had me change the channel on the 2.4ghz connection to 9. 

What’s most infuriating is the lack of response from technical support. 

Why would anyone pay money for this service?

[JustAsking]

Forgetting the wifi connection and signing back in didn't fix the issue. 

I've returned the first of the four remaining cameras today and ordered 6 new Google Blink Cameras for a fraction of the cost. The remaining Arlo products will be returned once the new cameras arrive and I will be updating all of my reviews appropriately.

I should have known better when doing research the fist thing that came up was, "is Arlo still in business? " 
After 40 days of wasted time and money, the answer is a resounding "No, Arlo is no longer in business." 

Once I return my last Arlo product I'll be updating my ticket to "solved" and the solution I will be accepting is; "returned all of my Arlo products and problem is solved." 

[42Panic]

 

My case has been escalated yet again and anticipated response time is now within another week. The problem is that I only had until the 7th (tomorrow) to return the first of the remaining cameras. I returned it yesterday. I have until like the 24th to return the remaining cameras and base station. I'll be returning them sometime around the 15th I suspect. I've wasted enough time and money on this. 

As can be seen in the first of the two screenshots, the current time recorded is 3:44. The arlo notifications marked "now" are timestamped for 3:39 and 3:40 even though the current phone time, or "now" it clearly says that it's 3:44. The notifications marked "now" by the Arlo app are four and five minutes late according to their own timestamp. The phone was on both wifi and mobile data and the notifications were all received on the iPad which was only on the same wifi connection. Also, the doorbell notification had no timestamp even though it was triggered at the same time as the other missed notifications and the doorbell is only connected to wifi via the base station. In other words, the notification for the doorbell was also 5 minutes late and it doesn't indicate this, in fact it indicates that it was delivered on time and it wasn't. 

In the second image it can be seen that sometimes when I open the app I'm given the "you're not connected to the internet" error even though I know I am. All I do when I get this error is pull down on the screen to refresh the page and the error banner goes away and I appear to be back online. Not sure if I'm actuality getting kicked offline, but there's absolutely no reason that should be happening.  

After closer inspection today it was confirmed with certainty that during times of missed notifications my phone does in fact have a valid internet connection with a refresh rate of 120Hz. I was able to load YouTube pages and refresh between new YouTube links while Arlo notifications were not working. Other webpages in chrome were also loading just fine on my phone while notifications from Arlo were delayed/missed.

It was also discovered that the only settings avaibalew for background processing limit on my phone are; 

Standard limit

No background process

At most 1 process

At most 2 processes

At most 3 processes

At most 4 processes

I think everyone wanted to see a "unrestricted background processing limit" but it just wasn't there. I'm pretty sure people with androids, Motorola G apparently in particular, are encountering missed or delayed notifications and they don't know it unless they have multiple devices right there next to them. 

I contacted my router company today for the third time. We went over the speed tests, again. And again, everything came back good. My ISP has done the same thing several times. I was assured by Linksys and spectrum that all test indicated that the router and internet connection were functioning fine and internet speed are even above average, as I've said previously. I'd like to also reiterate again that the iPad gets all the notifications on the wifi connection just fine and all other equipment connected to the wifi is functioning just fine, it's just the Arlo app on my Motorola G only.

I'd also like to reiterate again that I can't believe that it's been 40 days and no help or directive. If I hadn't bought the cameras in separate rounds I would have already been forced to start a paying subscription just to get someone on the phone to help. 

It's for this reason I'm returning all my Arlo equipment, it hasn't worked right since I ordered it over 40 days ago and I've gotten no help and have been cohered into a paying subscription just to continue getting help. 

I might circle back around to Arlo in the future if I don't like the new equipment I've ordered better, but I'll be using a pre-paid credit card to order any subscriptions. 

I think it's also important for people to realize that Alro has a financially vested interest in providing faulty equipment and glitchy software because they make money off of the technical support services. 

2/6/24,

Panic.