Arlo Essential Spotlight Wire-Free Security Camera - unable to be found when phone looking

[Nick_Heb]

I purchased another Arlo Essential Spotlight Wire-Free Security Camera.

Have two others I successfully set up a couple of months ago.

Having trouble setting up the new camera, some advice would be greatly appreciated.

When following the provided set up instructions, i get onto the 2.4G network, the blue light blinks after holding the sync button for 2 secs, the camera reads the qr code and chimes; but when the phone begins looking for arlo products it doesn't find anything. Interestingly the blue light seems to stop quite quickly once the phone begins looking, however it will continue to blink again if I press the sync button again. Though this does not fix the issue.

Also I make sure to do this whole process while standing next to the router, the devices are all charged and I do not have a vpn running. 

Other things I have attempted are: resetting the camera, resetting the wifi set up, uninstalling and re-installing the app; and making a different phone a trusted phone and attempting the process on that. 

Thank you for your assistance. 

[jguerdat]

Try using a computer browser aimed at my.arlo.com to see if that works.

[Nick_Heb]

Hi Jguerdat,

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately it did not work.

Interestingly the same issue of the blue light ceasing to blink when the looking for the device phase commenced, happened again. Again the blue light could be made to blink with further pushes of the sync button but this made no difference.

Further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[jguerdat]

It may just be a faulty camera. WHen resetting the camera, did you hold the button for >15 seconds, until the LED started flashing amber? What network hardware are you using (mesh networks can be problematic)? If you've exhausted all attempts swap at the store.

[Riana]

I have the exact same issue. My camera is not a recent purchase. So I figure a swap isn’t an option for me. Router went down due to fuse pop as my daughter blow drying her hair. All cameras reconnected except one. It’s giving me a hard time. Blue light almost immediately stops after continuing post chime. All suggestions welcomed. 

[jguerdat]

You do have a 1 year warranty so as long as you're in that period you can use Settings, Support for a possible replacement.

First, however, remove the camera from your account and possibly reset the camera:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062438/How-do-I-factory-reset-and-re-sync-my-Arlo-camera

[Odermand]

Bought today 3 cameras. Exactly the same issue with all of them. Checked for 2.4ghz, reset camera, shut off VPN, and so on. No one of the cameras does connect with the phone. 

[jguerdat]

First, the cameras connect to your account on the servers, not your phone. The phone simply provides the interface to the servers.

What exactly have you tried and what do you see? Any error messages? When resetting the cameras, did you follow the directions listed in the link below?

https://kb.arlo.com/000062438/How-do-I-factory-reset-and-re-sync-my-Arlo-camera

[CarolBarrell]

Nick_Heb, I've tried everything you have with my Essential XL numerous times, on two different 2.4 wi-fi sites, no VPN, uninstalled app and reinstalled, tried doing through laptop, did a factory re-set, still nothing works to find the camera. This is my only one, first time. When I did the factory re-set the first time, I did actually get the amber light flicker, still didn't get found. When I tried factory re-set two other times (waiting a while between tries) I couldn't get to the amber light like the first time. Too late for me to return through Amazon, hoping that I can get a solution here. Thanks!

[Odermand]

No error codes. I followed exactly the steps shown in the App. Connect phone with wifi 2.4 Ghz, open app arlo secure, add device, choose correct device, choose correct ssid and password, scan qr code, camera give an accoustic signal, scanning mode on Smartphone start, but never succeed. The scan never stop. The ble LED on camera stops immediately after scanning the qr code. So I press again the sync button. Blue LED flashes for 2 min then stops. Message on smartphone that connection is not successful. 

[CarolBarrell]

When app is trying to connect w/camera (NOT when trying a factory re-set, just regular getting connected), the blue light (after about two minutes?) will then flash rapidly amber. At that time I hit the synch button for two or so seconds and it goes back to blue flashing. Even though that's recommended by Arlo, I wonder if, during the amber flash and trying to re-synch, that might drop the connection to app for a second or less, enough time to short-circuit the connection process.  Maybe an Arlo rep watching this board can answer?

[Odermand]

I resolved. On another discussion I read that the ssid name must exclude special characters. I had an "-" in the name. I removed it to have a WiFi name only with letters and numbers. Now it works.

[CarolBarrell]

My SSID did not have any special characters.  Glad it worked for you, though.