Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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All Pro 2 cameras offline (since 11/18)

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eric_f
Aspirant
Aspirant

I have the following setup:

 

VMB4000 Base Station (hardware version VMB400r3, firmware version 1.17.0.0_3950_441916b)

4x Pro 2 Cameras (all 4 have hardware version H3 and firmware version 1.125.17.1_11_de8490d)

 

I have had this setup working for the past 3 years without issue.  Sometime after Thursday 11-18 at 10pm CST all four Pro 2 cameras lost connection and show the "Your Arlo device appears offline" message where the video feed was, but I still had connection to the base station through the app. I wasn't home at the time so I restarted the base station via the app but still had the same lack of connection to the cameras.  When I got home I unplugged the base station, let it sit for a bit, and then powered it back up but that didn't fix it. I tried this power cycle several more times and still nothing. I also tried power cycling my modem and my router as well several times even though my internet connection appeared to be working from the base station (via the LED indicator as well as the fact I could access the base station on the app). I then removed the batteries (all of which were fairly fully charged) and replaced them with fully charged batteries (I cycle through spares in a charger) in order to power cycle the cameras, but still no fix. I then completely factory reset the base station, set it up again from scratch, and added the cameras back to it. That worked briefly for a couple hours but then after a few hours the cameras at some point lost connection again.

 

The base station and the cameras are in the same locations around the house that they've always been in. The farthest camera was through one exterior and one interior wall, about 50 feet away, and the closest was about 10 feet away through one exterior wall.  As far as signal strength 3 of the 4 cameras have always shown full signal strength, with the 4th (the farthest away) showing 2 out of 3 bars of strength. We did get a new smart TV to replace our older smart TV (both of which connected to wi-fi) that is near where the base station was positioned, but we had that new TV in place and used it for three weeks and the Arlo system had no issues until the other day when the cameras lost connection. Other than that TV there has been no changes to any electronics or devices in the house that would interfere with the connection.

 

Just to rule out some sort of new (and somehow 3 week delayed) interference from the new TV I moved the base station to the other side of the house.  That put it with one camera about 60 feet away through three interior walls and one exterior wall, giving that camera 2 of 3 bars of signal strength, and the other 4 cameras with full signal strength and the closest again about 10 feet away and through one exterior wall. After plugging it in there it slowly connected to the four cameras however again, over a few hours, it lost connection to the cameras and I got the "Your Arlo device appears offline" messages again.

 

To recap: The cameras and the base station all show to be the latest firmware, the batteries in all of the cameras are fully charged, and the base station has now been tried in two different locations in the house that both show strong signal strength for most of the cameras for the brief times I can keep them connected. There have been no changes to our home wi-fi network at all and the only new electronic in the house is a new TV that we used for 3 weeks before any issues arose and that doesn't seem to be the source of the problem since moving the base station on the other side of the house away from it didn't change anything. Yet all four of the Pro 2 cameras cannot keep their connection and go offline which hasn't happened in the past 3 years unless the internet was down and the base station was also down. I'm at a loss at a solution other than buying a new base station which I'd rather not do, especially if there's a chance the new one would just crap out on me like this one apparently has.

 

So any suggestions for fixes I haven't tried?

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Dannybear
Master
Master
There was an update sent out for the
Arlo Pro Base Station - VMB4000 1.17.0.0_3950_441916b
Dated 14 November and published 19 November.
This could be related.
eric_f
Aspirant
Aspirant

It looks like that is the firmware installed on my base station, so if it was published 11/19 then that very likely is the source of the problem since my cameras lost connection sometime after 10pm on 11/18. Is there a way to revert to the previous firmware?

 

Or is there a way to make Arlo aware of this issue if it is indeed tied to the current firmware? Since I saw another post here about the same issue that started the same day I'm apparently not alone. I'm not eligible for the phone or chat support because I don't have a paid subscription, and I can't locate an e-mail address for Arlo support either.

Dannybear
Master
Master
No there is no method to revert the firmware updates or prevent them from occurring, they just happen overnight.
If everyone gets impacted then arlo may push out a reverted version with a newer number but I have only ever seen this once previously acknowledged.
Without access to arlo support you will need to await for enough users to complain for an investigation and a wait for a resolution to be released.
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