Essential Security Cameras 3rd Gen Offline

[LJJ6]

I have a pair of these camera’s and everyday they go offline for hours. I have reset, updated firmware and tried everything, but still to no avail. The internet signal is strong and the batteries are fully charged. 

[BrookeN]

I have reached out to our development team to investigate the behavior you are seeing. I will update the community soon. 

[jguerdat]

Bring one camera closer to your router or hub for testing. Let us know if it still happens.

[LJJ6]

I have tried this…both have good signal. But it happens every night when the night setting and the spotlight is on.

[jguerdat]

How close are neighbors? Have you used a phone app to see what WiFi signals and strengths are seen that could be interfering with the connection? The thought is that at night a neighbor's network becomes more active.

[LJJ6]

I’ve checked signal strength all good, neighbours are close but I had a previous Arlo essential camera with no problems. Plus it’s only at night with the camera in night mode as soon as day light comes they switch back on.

[jguerdat]

When you brought a camera closer did you leave it overnight to verify whether anything changed?

[LJJ6]

The router is less than 1.5 meters from the camera and at the same height 

[jguerdat]

That short distance may be an issue of the router's signal being too strong. Can you move the camera or router to increase the distance somewhat? ALso, what about the overnight issue?

[LJJ6]

The main problem is that both essential cameras 3rd generation I bought  recently go offline every night if the night mode is on black/white or colour. During the daylight hours the cameras are online with no problems.

[Anthony456]

Have same issue with the 3rd gen cameras. I have 23 arlos and 4 of them are 3rd gens and are the only ones that always go offline. Arlo better see what’s wrong with this gen and release some kind of firmware update. 

[LJJ6]

I’ve updated firmware, reset etc and even tried the light. It went offline so I pressed the button on the camera and it came straight back online, only to go offline 2 hours later. @jguerdat I think Arlo need to sort this problem 

[BrookeN]

Can you all dm me the serial numbers of the camera that you are seeing the offline issues with. I only need the last 4 of those numbers. I will then rollback the firmware to see if that helps with the behavior you are seeing. You send a dm by clicking on the envelope icon on the top right of the forum page.If you don't see it, then go into your profile settings and select preferences, then "Private Messenger." Then select "Turn on private messages" if it is turned off.

[Jgreg77]

My new Arlo Essential 3^rd generation cameras keep dropping off and going offline.  Reconnection is difficult.

Installation:

I started with an Arlo Pro camera set and base station, which worked reliably for over 10 years.  Later, I added three Essential 2k Wireless cameras with solar panels.  These new cameras however, did not link to the base station, but directly to my Wi-Fi system.  I also added a doorbell which linked to the base station.  For the last three years, this system worked well, reliably, however, the Pro cameras batteries became weak and had to be recharged often.

To update the system, I purchased a set of four Essential 3^rd generation cameras with solar panels.  Along with this a new wired doorbell.  All of the new devices linked directly to my Wi-Fi system.  It appeared that the base station was no longer needed, so it is turned off at the moment. 

At this stage, all of the cameras had solar panels, and one wired doorbell camera.

For a couple of weeks, the cameras worked reliably.

I added two more Essential 3^rd generation cameras to use with battery only to use inside the house, for a total of 10 cameras (all Essential models, except for the doorbell).  The installation was set up and worked well for two days, however, now the new Essential 3^rd generation cameras keep dropping off and going offline. 

The wired doorbell camera and the three Essential 2k Wireless cameras still work reliably, it is just the new Essential 3^rd generation cameras that keep dropping.

It does not seem possible to reconnect these new cameras without doing the factory reset and re-linking them like they were new.  (The pro cameras just needed the battery removed and put back to reset when they dropped off).  This is problematic since these cameras all require a ladder to reach.

The Wi-Fi signal to each camera varies, but the connection test shows the signal connection strength as "Good".  (My Wi-Fi system has nodes in various locations around the house). 

How do I diagnose what is wrong with these cameras, or the system?

Is it possible that all of these new cameras are defective?

[jguerdat]

While it could be interference from some other device(s) that also use the 2.4GHz band, I'd start by swapping one of the problem cameras with one of the working ones. That will help you decide if it's the camera or the location to blame.

[Jgreg77]

Four of the new Essential 3rd generation cameras are located in the same place as the original Pro cameras.  The wifi shows good signal in the two added locations and there are no other electronics around to affect the signal.

[StephenB]

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@Jgreg77 wrote:

Four of the new Essential 3rd generation cameras are located in the same place as the original Pro cameras.  

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Are they also connected to the same hub?

[Jgreg77]

I am not using the hub. 

As noted in the original post, when I connected the new cameras, they all attached to my home wifi router (SSID) directly.  Since the hub was no longer connected to anything, it is turned off at the moment.

For a short time, this seemed to work, but no longer.

I am unable to find anything that says the essential camera series needs to have the hub.

At this point, before I experiment further, I would like to know what is going on, and what is required.

[StephenB]

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@Jgreg77 wrote:

I am not using the hub. 

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It's not required.  But the home wifi quality at the Pro 2 locations might be different from the base station wifi quality you had with the Pro 2 cameras.

[Jgreg77]

I have noticed that the cameras seem to come back online when motion is detected, but then go back off after a few moments.  The end result, is that when I go to the app, the cameras are "offline", so I am unable to do a quick check.

Could this be some sort of power save mode?  If so, how do I turn it off?

The whole purpose of installing these cameras was to be able to check things periodically.   If they keep going off, they are useless to me.

[Jgreg77]

I have the same problem as reported here.  https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Essential-Outdoor-2nd-Gen/Camera-keeps-going-offline/m-p/2453659#... (however, this thread is locked with no solution)

I also posted this question, however, the responses seem to have stopped https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Essential-Security-Camera/My-new-Arlo-Essential-3rd-generation-ca...

When I go to the app to check the cameras, the new cameras are all offline, however, when you walk in front of the cameras, they come back on for a few moments, then go back offline.

I can force reconnect the cameras, however, I have to remove them from the app, do a factory reset, and then go through the installation process again.  (This is a nuisance since I need a ladder each time to access the cameras).

I purchased a set of four Essential 3^rd generation cameras with solar panels, and two additional with just for use with battery power.  I have three original Essential 2K cameras (also with solar panels) that have been working fine for three years.   Four of the new Essential 3^rd generation cameras are installed where I removed the old Pro cameras, so the locations are good.

I am using all of the cameras attached my Wi-Fi system (no hub).

I have fiber-optic gigabyte service and tested the Wi-Fi and have strong upload and download speed at all of the camera locations.  I have reset the cameras, reinstalled them, factory reset, moved them, etc. all with no effect.  There are no neighbors close by, so interference is not an issue.   The connection test on the Arlo app shows the connection as "Strong".

This seems to be related to just to the new Essential 3^rd generation cameras.  (Defective?)

Could this be some sort of power save mode?  If so, how do I turn it off?

[jguerdat]

If you're getting recordings while noted as offline, I'd say it's a display issue, not related to the cameras itself. Does the web client (my.arlo.com) show the same thing?

[ujm]

Well we had a good run, I purchased a Arlo security system approximately 10 years ago it consisted of 4 Arlo Pro 2 (VMC4030P) camera's and a base station (VMB4000), setup went flawless and they worked great no problems, so I upgraded to 4 more essential spot light camera's when they came out and they worked fantastic no issues, after years of faithful service in harsh weather than began to fail so they were replaced with the essential spot light GEN2 cameras and they worked flawless also, as the cameras life span ended they were replaced by the essential GEN3, huge mistake all the GEN3 cameras go offline repeatedly and what's left of my GEN1 and GEN2 are still working great so obviously the GEN3 cameras are complete junk it appears by all the negative post on this forum regarding the GEN3 I'm not the only one having problems, Arlo support runs through there check list which consist of everything that already tried so they are absolutely no help, I'm so pissed off I'm going to order the Reolink Argus 3 Pro then I'm canceling my Arlo subscription and throwing the Arlo cameras in the garbage.

[Jgreg77]

The cameras drop off the same online as with the app (both are mirrored).  The new Essential 3rd generation cameras will wake up when there is motion, and show up on the App/website, then drop off after a few minutes.

The Arlo tech support said is was my poor connection, so I got a new router.  The Essential 3rd generation cameras are now all connected to 5G network and all show a "strong" connection.   The behavior did not change in the least.

At this point, I am thinking this is a programmed-in feature, since they all stay up for about 10 minutes or so, then drop off.  The only way to get them to reconnect is with motion, or factory reset.  

Apparently, Arlo does not know about this, since the tech support seems baffled as well.

[StephenB]

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@Jgreg77 wrote:

At this point, I am thinking this is a programmed-in feature,

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FWIW, mine don't behave that way.

One thought - look at the router's attached device list, and find a camera's IP address.  Then the next time it goes off-line, see if the camera still shows up as connected (ideally ping it, if you know how to do that).

[Jgreg77]

This is baffling.....

The cameras seem to be going to sleep (Offline)

The cameras wake up when motion is detected, record the event, then go back to sleep (offline).  When this happens, they disconnect from the App, the Arlo web-based interface, and the router.

Looking at the router clients list. Over time, it shows some of the cameras dropping off and coming back online.  This seems to match the activity on the App.  Some are still connected on the router, but not showing on the App.

I can ping the camera from my computer using the router address.  When the camera is offline it says "The host is unreachable".  When the camera is online, the pings returns normally.  The ping does not wake up the camera.

The more I dig into this, it seems the control is entirely with the Essential 3rd generation camera.  The essential 2k cameras stay online (available on the App) all of the time.

I think the problem is with Essential 3rd generation cameras - they are defective.