Arlo Essential Spotlight Camera - High Network Latency

[Viper_114]

I've recently purchased six Arlo Essentials cameras for outdoor security and after getting the first one installed fine, the rest have so far failed to be added to the application. I've been in touch with the support team and everything we have done has failed to resolve the issue.

Note: The additional cameras would connect to the Wi-Fi network but just couldn't get added to my account.

After the support call ended, I thought I would check network performance and despite being connected to the network with excellent signal strength, I noticed that the latency between every camera and the access point was extremely high. Usually between 500-1000ms, sometimes exceeding 5000ms and in many cases, just timing out entirely.

I suspect that this is the reason why the other cameras can't be added to the account as they are unable to respond to the app in a timely manner thanks to the latency and packet drops. Is anyone else seeing this issue and if so, what did you do to resolve it? As an FYI, here are the latest results from a ping test to one of the new cameras:

Packet 1 = 1756ms

Packet 2 = 2ms

Packet 3 = Timeout

Packet 4 = 322ms

Here are the results from the latest ping test to the camera that is working:

Packet 1 = 988ms

Packet 2 = Timeout

Packet 3 = 344ms

Packet 4 = 366ms

[jguerdat]

What ISP are you using and what sort of connection is it (cable, etc.)? What is the ping time as noted from speedtest.net from a computer?

[Viper_114]

The ISP (and its metrics) are irrelevant here as this congestion/packet loss occurs within the wireless network. The ping times and packet drop examples I gave were from my laptop pinging the cameras on the local wireless segment.

Pinging other wireless hosts on the WLAN is fine - There is no local packet loss and latency is between around 1ms and 15ms depending on how far the host is from the AP. It’s only the Arlo cameras having the high latency and packet loss on the local network, no other wireless host has the same problem.

But if you must know, my ISP is Exetel, I have around 180Mbps available bandwidth, with latency averaging around 30ms when I test with Speedtest.net

[jguerdat]

Your ISP's latency seems a bit slow but that obviously isn't the problem. If you bring a camera that tests poorly close to your router how much does the latency improve, if at all? 

I tested the 2 cameras I have that are D2AP (direct to access point), a Q and a Go 2, that had different results. The Q, which has to be AC powered, had the first ping return at 114ms but subsequent ones were 11.4ms. The Go 2, which is battery powered, had much worse response times, ranging from 484ms to 625ms. Thus, it seems that a battery powered camera is much slower, I suppose as a function of battery consumption savings. Your results seem to verify this although are generally worse than mine. While this could be a function of D2AP, I would guess that being connected to a base or hub would be the same for the same reason(s) but we can't test that.

Try bringing that camera closer to see what happens.

[StephenB]

---

@Viper_114 wrote:

The ISP (and its metrics) are irrelevant here

---

I agree.

Though poor ping performance could also be a result of power management - the camera isn't always paying attention to the network, and in most situations the camera is sending when it detects motion - so responding instantly to ping (or other requests) might not be important.

Have you tried running ping while the camera is livestreaming?

[jguerdat]

---

@StephenB wrote:

---

Have you tried running ping while the camera is livestreaming?

---

Great idea so I tried it on my Go 2. No streaming was 600+ms while during streaming was 6.5ms so a big difference.

[Viper_114]

Thanks for the response.

I’ve literally had the camera sitting right next to the AP and have had the same results. I have tried moving it back by a metre at a time and again, the exact same result.

I have tried pinging whilst doing a live stream with the one working camera I have and still the same issue. I’ve tried adjusting my Wi-Fi settings as well and again, same issue. I have many different devices connected to my network but the Arlo cameras are the only ones that are experiencing this sort of packet loss and high latency. It’s very strange!

[Viper_114]

I have and the same issue occurs.