About 1/3 of recordings, play about 10 seconds & video freezes but audio keeps playing

[Regarlo]

About 1/3 of the recordings Play for about 10 seconds and then the video freezes but the audio keeps playing. I have tried downloading the recording but the saved file is no different. I have two arlo pro 2 cameras both having the same problem. They are both hard wired. I use the arlo app on an iPhone8. The audio does not seem to be in sink with the picture either.
Not what you would expect for the price you pay for them.

[Reallyconfused]

My worst camera is one of the ones running on a/c power only. No battery in that one. The last few days it is EVERY SINGLE VIDEO THAT DOES THIS!!!!!!
No more than one quarter of the video plays back before it freezes or the moving subject simply vanishes.
I do have the extended warranty through Best Buy here. I’m giving it a few weeks and back it goes!

[Reallyconfused]

Actually let me reword that. It does not freeze. The subject is seen moving for a few seconds only and then vanishes. The video continues to play for another 30 to 40 seconds, including sound.

Please correct this Arlo! I would love to keep the system but not if it functions like this. It was fine a month or so ago, what happened?

I don’t want to call in as I know all that will happen is I will be asked to reboot, re pare, etc. , what everyone is asked to do with zero results.

Fix it soon, or at least let us know what progress is being made to correct this matter.

[Reallyconfused]

Ok I tried to attach a video but it didn’t work

[alchemist50]

Yesterday I tried removing the battery completely and running on AC power only.  Within a few hours, I again had two recordings with frozen video, normal audio.  Removing the battery doesn't seem to be the solution, at least in my situation.

Once again, the locally stored mp4 videos were fine.  I've no idea what the data flow path is in the Arlo system.  However, it seems logical that the problem does not lie in the communication between the cameras and the base station.  If it were, how could the local recordings be fine?  Rather, it seems to imply a breakdown somewhere between the base station and the cloud servers, or on the servers themselves.  I have the VMB4000r3 base station.  My internet connection is ~370 Mbps up and down, 17ms latency, which I think should be plenty.  FWIW.

[drewguy]

Agree with your assessment - if the full video is making it to attached storage the problem isn't with local wifi or pairing, etc. 

[improve58]

@alchemist50 So with all the evidence coming out of this thread, if we know that the problem is not between cameras and base station (local wifi) or between base station (hard-wired) connection download to local hard drive, and appears only in (local Arlo wifi?) upload through from base station through router to cloud server OR from cloud server through router to computer (in my case ethernet) connection) AND we know in general that this only happens when AC power in cameras is on with or without batteries, what do the electric sleuths here believe could occur via the AC power? Interference? What happens within the cameras when the AC power is turned on? (Base Station is already powered, so shouldn't be an issue.)

[Mjbeuke]

I concur - removing the battery does not make a difference the recordings will still have the same chance to freeze with or without the battery in when the camera is running on AC power. I’ve testing this also and confirmed it.

[Reallyconfused]

But I have seen it in one of my battery only powered cameras. No where near as often as the a/c powered only units, but it can happen, I find.

[Mjbeuke]

The issue your referencing is separate from the issue in this thread with the freezing clips. The Pro 2’s will also sometimes randomly produce a shorter clip than the time you designate.

I have mine set to record for 2 minutes - and I’ll sometimes randomly get a clip that’s not 2 minutes. It will be 36 seconds or 1 min 15 seconds or something.... totally random.

When that happens the clip plays as normal and does not demonstrate the video freezing/ speeding up etc that we are discussing here. It’s a normal clip that works fine just shorter than the time designated through the Arlo app. My Pro 2’s do this and not my Ultras.

That’s a separate issue entirely I’m pretty sure.

[alchemist50]

Exactly the same symptoms here.  Experience either freezes or short recordings (or both) daily.

Any new feedback from Arlo on this?

[bigben89]

I'm having the same issues described in this thread. I have a base station and three Arlo Pro 2 cameras. Two are hard wired and one is battery operated. Currently, I'm experiencing an issue with the cameras not recording anything when motion is detected. I've erased all zones and have reset the base station (thru the website). I have not tried to take the battery out and reset each camera individually. I, too, have seen recordings where there is only 15 seconds of video, but it goes for another 45 seconds. I purchased these back in February 2019.

[Reallyconfused]

No. The clip is full length as stated. The image “freezes “ or the subject vanished and the audio continues for the length of the full video.
Same issue on both but much more infrequent on the battery only camera.

[Chewiebacca]

Add me to the list I am having the exact same problem as the rest of you. For months I thought it was my Orbi mesh WiFi causing the problem. Glad I stumbled upon this post. Hopefully the Arlo team will get this figured out.

[MTP60]

Same issue here with all 4 cameras.
Arlo get this firmware fixed that has to be the issue it be going on since before the latest app update!

[Eric182]

I don’t want to speak too soon, but I’m seeing all my 2:00 recordings are fixed. Fully recording for two minutes...anybody else?

[improve58]

Yes in the last few days I have noticed less cutouts, disappearing subjects. Still not perfect but much better. Video quality is still lacking, some pixilation, etc. I only wish Arlo would post here and keep us in the loop. And this chat community and the phone support people seem disconnected. Phone support has everyone doing these resets and stuff which everyone believes from experience has nothing to do with the problem. Keep us informed ARLO!!

[Cpcp]

Mine are the exact same as Of today no improvement at all

[Cpcp]

Two weeks later any updates?

[alchemist50]

Seven video freeze recordings yesterday.  None yet today, but two with audio and video about two seconds out of sync.  Not sure if that's another aspect of the same fundamental issue.

[improve58]

As we all speculate as to the cause of this (on Arlo's end) since they don't communicate at all, I was wondering if these problems could be attributable to lack of bandwith or memory at their server level? That could account for sporadic service--perhaps during certain hours with the most usage. If the camera is plugged in it's basically recording 24/7. Multiply the potential number of cameras out there and their storage needs must be quite high.

[Eric182]

I’ve had over 150 recordings today (windy with lots of Halloween decorations blowing around setting the cameras off) and they have all been exactly 2 minutes as I have them set up to be. This is the first time this is happened since May of this year. There have been no firmware updates so I don’t know how to explain this behavior. I am very satisfied with whatever happened. I changed nothing on my end.

[Eric182]

I take that back. Im back to having videos freezing again at 13 or 14 seconds today.

[drewguy]

---

@improve58 wrote:

As we all speculate as to the cause of this (on Arlo's end) since they don't communicate at all, I was wondering if these problems could be attributable to lack of bandwith or memory at their server level? That could account for sporadic service--perhaps during certain hours with the most usage. If the camera is plugged in it's basically recording 24/7. Multiply the potential number of cameras out there and their storage needs must be quite high.

---

This is my guess as well.  Given the recordings are "correct" on local storage, it's not an issue of camera communication with base station or the recording itself.  It's somewhere in the upload process that it's getting bungled.  Could be at either end though - some sort of base station buffer that gets overwhelmed or at the Arlo receiving end.

As for times, just this morning I had three 20-second + recordings.  The one a bit before 7am was truncated, but the ones at 8am and 9am were not.  These are east coast times, so would think the loads would be higher at 8am and 9am, both because of more activity at those times on east coast, as well as people getting up in midwest, etc.

[Reallyconfused]

It’s at the point now that when I see someone post that their system is working better all of a sudden....I softly chuckle to myself!
And that’s sad!!

[Mjbeuke]

Mine is still doing the shortened clips/disappearing act as of yesterday.... I continue to use my wifi smart switches and turn them on to charge them and back to battery.... Losing the 3-second lookback is less important to me than having complete videos until they fix this....

Also, like @drewguy  was eluding to - the shortened clips/disappearing seems to happen at specific times of the day for the most part - although I've seen a few weird outliers in the middle of the day. It seem to happen most in the mornings around 7-8am (central time here) - and again later in the afternoon/evening around 4-6pm....

With the number of people impacted by this one and the pretty seriously debilitating nature of the fact the it impacts EVERY A/C power'd pro 2 - I'm really surprised it hasn't been resolved yet... It must be a deep find in the code.