Arlo cameras connect but hang indefinitely

[Gary_BKK]

I bought a 3-pack of Arlo Essential Spotlight cameras.  I struggled for weeks to get them to join the network.  They either couldn't be found, or they'd connect but then hang indefinitely.  I tried all the suggestions from the online forums, and have worked with Arlo support for over a month.  Everything else on my network works fine (laptops, phones, Netflix, Amazon, etc.).  It is only the Arlo cameras that have had problems. 

Finally I gave up and bought Eufy 3 cameras.  They're 4K, higher quality than Arlo, and joined the network with no problems.  They've been working flawlessly since I installed them.  They also offer local storage, so no need for monthly subscription cost.

Arlo support is not allowing me to return my defective cameras.  So if you're reading this and thinking about buying Arlo cameras, my strong advice would be to avoid them at all cost -- they are poor quality and the company doesn't stand behind them.  That's been my personal experience, at least.

[JamesC]

Gary_BKK,

When you say the cameras connect but "hang indefinitely", what do you mean? Are you seeing an error message (what does it say?) Are you able to provide more details?

JamesC

[Gary_BKK]

For one camera, it showed message that firmware was being updated.  It stayed in that state indefinitely until I reset it.  In other cases, the cameras would go into "offline" state indefinitely.  These cameras were at my holiday home 400km away from where i live, so I had no easy way of getting there to physically reset them.  The whole purpose of having the cameras was to keep an eye on the home when I'm not there, but given my experience with the cameras over the past couple months of trying to get them to work, I had no confidence that they were anywhere nearly reliable enough for that.  The Eufy cameras that I got have been working perfectly since I installed them though.