Be able to modify the wireless channels of a base station in order to increase service reliability.

[mixtape]

This is piggybacking an older Arlo Idea request with more than 140 votes, that was closed. 

Summary of the idea:

Allow users to adjust the Wi-Fi Radios settings of the base station, in order to be able to change the channel in which the base station transmit (in both 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz band).

Introduction:

With a lot of smart things in our home and the use of automation, a "good and reliable" wi-fi network is mission critical for our daily lives,  understanding that home security is super important as well.  In addition, we really love the hassle free approach that Arlo offers. 

Issue:

Arlo does not offer the option to modify the Wi-Fi radio settings of the base station,  most of the time the station use the same Wi-Fi channels of the existing home router/wireless infrastructure. This create a situation that channel contention occurs and creates co-channel interference, providing a poor user experience and downgrading the reliability aspect of both (security cameras and home network)

In the following image, the Arlo Base station is in the same channel of my home Wi-Fi router (Arlo uses 20 MHz channel width, my home router use 40 MHz width). So if you have 2 or 3 Netflix or youtube streams in your home network and the Arlo station is in the same channel, you will likely create a scenario that cameras would struggle to send data to the base stations or provide live feeds. 

Proposed Idea or Solution

Simple Option:

• Create an option to tell the Arlo Base station to not use the existing channels of the wi-fi network. A menu could be created that Arlo prompts the owner which SSID is the home network, so the Arlo base is aware to not transmit and use the same channel of the home network. 

Advanced Option:

• Create an option to allow some channels to be disabled in the 5 GHz and 2.4GHz. (and not allow a fixed channel to be selected that might be congested in the future and tentative disrupting the security cameras).

Conclusion and closing thoughts:

Any of these options would provide flexibility to the Arlo base station to select the best channel, without creating co-channel interference (or increasing channel contention) with the existing wi-fi router/wireless infrastructure, will not downgrade the hassle free approach of ARLO and will provide a reliable user experience to both security and wireless use cases.

P.D: A nice to have option is to be able to change the SSID name of the Arlo Base Station (but, baby steps first)

I hope that Arlo community support in this idea and Arlo engineering team understands that this is not about power users being picky, this is about increasing reliability to both Arlo and home wireless services.

Be safe.

mixtape.

[Madsoft]

Or let arlo use the routers WIFI and disable its own extra wifi, the base is wired so why not.

At the moment it is a, in my case netgear, wifi killer and breaks the wifi mesh with the base station.

[Maverick2805]

also an issue here, the basestation completely renders my wifi useless. I need to switch to LTE on my mobile if I want to see a camera feed. Are you kidding? 1000$ for a system and horrendous monthly fees for a killed wifi... unbelievable

[findcoop]

Piling on. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that my Sonos speakers (2.4 GHz) all over the house would spontaneously go offline, indicating that they had lost connection with the WiFi. I loaded up  WiFi analyzer and noticed that Arlo and one of my APs had selected the same channel. When I initially set up the Arlo, I had it on Ch 6 and my APs on 1/11, and it was fine. Then I found Arlo and one of my AP both on Ch 8. I separated them once again, but Arlo found my AP once more. Every time this happens, it causes devices in my home network to **stop functioning**. This is a nuisance but for others it could be a safety, or security issue.

The Arlo hub is the only device I've heard of that auto selects a network that is in conflict with existing equipment, most would try to find the least busy channel for optimal coverage. Two APs will not operate in the same channel efficiently. As others have suggested, improvements please:

1- Auto select the least busy channel, or

2- Support manual channel selection, or

3- Support existing WiFi infrastructure, because anyone buying this is going to have WiFi already

[findcoop]

This is a hack, but it works.. Arlo Hub wants to jump on the strongest channel, so give it one.

1. Move Arlo Hub as far from your router/access points as you can

2. Get a cheap 802.11G router, people are throwing these out for getting N/A/AX stuff now

3. Set it to the channel you want Arlo to use

4. Choose an appropriate SSID, such as buyers_remorse

5. Install it beside Arlo

6. Turn it on

7. Reboot Arlo Hub

Arlo Hub should come up on this channel and stay there. You're not connecting this router to anything, it's only purpose is to shout on the configured Wi-Fi channel so that Arlo will choose it, and not conflict with your other devices.

[Skutter2k]

Exactly the same issue here.  I have a fantastic wifi network already with plenty of outdoor coverage.  The Arlo base station just messes everything up, various products fall off the network (smart bulbs, sockets and speakers all use 2.4Ghz for example).  If I leave my APs on auto they try and move away from the Arlo, the Arlo follows them so they move again.  If I fix them the Arlo just sits there and clutters up the spectrum.

If we have good wifi that reaches outside the house let us just use that with the cameras please and let us turn the wifi on the base station off.  We know it can be done because other Arlo products work from the home wifi.

Failing that, let us control the power and channel used, please.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Hi there

This topic has been covered on a number of occasions, but old threads are locked and I can't add my twopence in.

I find it extraordinary that the base station automatically somewhat adjusts to the same WiFi channel as the router.

Suggestions that I should move my base station further away to avoid interference from/overlap with the channel are simply out of this world:

- Arlo needs an internet connection - through the ethernet cable - and so it's most likely that it'll be placed next to the router.

- users' connection issues described in these fora (strength of signal, flashing red light) are mainly caused by what I described above. Asking users to elevate, move their routers, use longer ethernet cables, etc is unacceptable

[DarkVaderSF]

Same for me. I have Arlo Pro. The base station channel locks on to my router’s channel and messes up the network. Netgear needs to fix its software so that users can have option for manually selecting the channel of the base station (and keep it there). This is poor product development. 

[Retired_Member]

This!!  I'm current five weeks into my Arlo misadventure and I'm still trying to get the results I thought I was paying for.  I'm delighted with many features of the system, the ones that drew me to these products in the first place, but disgusted that working with such an expensive home security product so often feels like playing with a cheap unreliable toy.

I've run into a long list of bugs, problems and inconveniences but on the WiFi configuration front these features would be a huge help to the technically-minded and to professional installers:

1:  Allow the channels associated with specified SSIDs to be excluded for use by the Arlo hub.

Sometimes co-channel interference is better than using adjacent channels, sometimes it's not.  When you're trying to receive signals from cameras attached to the outside of concrete walls, and all the access points in the area apart from your own are some distance away (and on the far side of other sets of concrete walls) and thus barely detectable by the hub, it's far from ideal for the hub to share the loudest channel it detects, by default, without any option to change that behavior, rather than use the quietest.  I want the channel that will best enable the hub to reliably receive signals from the cameras with the weakest connections, muffled by distance and concrete, and distinguish those signals from everything that is not my cameras.  I do not want my hub to automatically choose the channel that may not only do that job quite poorly but also degrade my home WiFi performance as a special added 'FU valued customer' bonus.  The hub is not an ordinary access point - it transmits very little relative to how much it receives.  It's perhaps the channels that are loudest at the farthest edges of the camera perimeter that matter most for getting those video streams into the hub reliably.

2:  I'd like a way to view live WiFi signal metrics on the hub.  In my particular situation moving the hub as little as two feet in any direction can greatly affect the connections to some cameras (lots of concrete walls and other obstructions between the hub and a couple of the cameras).  All I have are the three signal bars for each camera and the video bandwidth indicator on the camera positioning utility to try and find the ideal spot for the hub now that the cameras are all in place.  It took hours of experimenting to achieve smooth live video streaming from any camera (almost) any time I choose, and I'm still not sure I've found the ideal spot for the hub.  Being able to view a very granular equivalent of the 'video bandwidth' indicator for a number of cameras simultaneously on one screen, so I can observe the effects in real time as I move the hub around, would be a huge help to me and I'm certain it would be very useful to a professional installer.  A second screen with average signal strength for all cameras over the past 24 hours, ideally expressed as a percentage, would be an excellent addition and a convenient tool for verifying whether moving the hub actually yielded a real world improvement or not.

3:  Let me change the SSID please?!  Seriously.

Many thanks

[Rumbler]

Same issue here. I spent over 12 hours on the phone with Arlo. I design networks. I demonstrated the loss of performance of both the camera system and my home WiFi network. It’s been a year, no change.

I now use a WiFi extender on low power to the channel I want. It sits right next to the Arlo base station. It tricks Arlo to use that channel and frees the channel I need for my normal router. It also improved the performance of Arlo since the power from Arlo’s base station is so much higher than the extender and there’s no devices on the extender so the cameras make it un-interrupted to the base station.

This could be solved so easily.

Lastly Arlo violates FCC regulations since it, by design, creates harmful interference because it chooses the highest signal strength channels instead of choosing the lowest signal strength channels.

Arlo, give us the ability to manually set the channel. 

[StephenB]

@Rumbler  wrote:

Lastly Arlo violates FCC regulations since it, by design, creates harmful interference because it chooses the highest signal strength channels instead of choosing the lowest signal strength channels.

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Be careful on what you are accusing them of doing - FCC regulations have the force of law.  The only FCC regulations I know of that constrain WiFi channel selection in the 2.4 gHz band forbid the use of channels 12-14.   

If you know of a relevant FCC regulation, please cite it.

@Retired_Member  wrote:

1:  Allow the channels associated with specified SSIDs to be excluded for use by the Arlo hub.

2:  I'd like a way to view live WiFi signal metrics on the hub.

The first idea is interesting (and not one I've seen suggested before), and I see how it could be useful.

Live signal metrics would certainly be useful, the couple of bars shown in the app are not enough.

@Retired_Member  wrote:

3:  Let me change the SSID please?

Often requested of course.