Arlo Pro 2 won't connect to internet after internet service provider change

[KathyInVA]

Interesting and frustrating problem. I've been using my Arlo Pro 2 system for close to three years, working flawlessly on a cellular hotspot wifi connection. I have a wireless wifi extender that extends the hotspot network and the ethernet cable goes from the extender to the arlo pro 2 basestation.  

Recently, T-mobile bought out Sprint and everything switched over to their network and since then, the base station won't connect to the internet (middle light is orange always). I have done EVERY bit of troubleshooting that i can think of (I'm fairly tech savvy). I have replaced EVERY component. The hotspot itself, the ethernet cable, the wi-fi extender, and finally, the Arlo Pro 2 base station... thinking for sure one of those things would be the problem... but nope. So then I was thinking it HAS to be something about the setup of the T-Mobile hotspot network... so I reset the wi-fi extender to factory default, and reset it up to extend my actual cell phone wifi hotspot... and guess what, the basestation connects to the internet! Obviously though, I can't run this thing off my cell phone, since that needs to stay with me... so then back to the hotspot device/network settings in it, now that I've determined for sure that is the issue... I went into settings for the device and turned off both firewalls completely. Rebooted everything, still doesn't work. Tried two diferent connection profiles, still doesn't work.  Its the T-Mobile Franklin T9 Mobile hotspot... the same exact device that was working fine when Sprint was the carrier. And now I have two, same model and they both do the same thing. Here is the crazy thing though... I CAN'T POSSIBLY be the only one with this problem if it is a specific issue with the mobile hotspot connection settings to their network... yet I can't find a thing anywhere from anyone with a similar issue. PLEASE HELP! This is driving me nuts! 

[jguerdat]

I'm not networking guru by any stretch, especially for cell service, but there was a recent post about having the cell provider switch something to allow things to work. This may actually have been in a different country for a different reason but it may be worth investigating with the provider to see if they can make changes to your hotspot connection.

[StephenB]

Are you connecting anything else to the wifi extender?

You might try connecting a PC to the extender's client-side wifi, and make sure you can reach the internet when you do that.

[KathyInVA]

thanks. Yes, I did see that and yes it was in another country. I have tried going through T-Mobile support to no avail. Without knowing exactly what the problem is... they really can't do much to help. What is it that the Arlo specifically looks for that could be different between my cell phone network and my mobile hotspot network. Without knowing that specifically, its just shooting in the dark. The other post had something to do with specific ports being closed... by a firewall... I turned the firewalls off completely for the mobile hotspot and still had same issue. 

[KathyInVA]

yes, my computer and my phone can both connect to the extender's wifi signal and browse the internet with no issues. 

[StephenB]

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@KathyInVA wrote:

yes, my computer and my phone can both connect to the extender's wifi signal and browse the internet with no issues. 

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What is the status of the base station LEDs?

• https://kb.arlo.com/000039100/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Arlo-SmartHub-or-Base-Station-mean

[KathyInVA]

the middle light stays amber. When I used my cell phone hotspot in the setup instead of the mobile hotspot, it worked and that middle light was green. I could connect to the base station. But using the mobile hotspot, the middle light stays amber, can not connect to the base station. However, anything else connecting to that mobile hotspot can get on the internet just fine.

[StephenB]

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@KathyInVA wrote:

the middle light stays amber. When I used my cell phone hotspot in the setup instead of the mobile hotspot, it worked and that middle light was green. I could connect to the base station. But using the mobile hotspot, the middle light stays amber, can not connect to the base station. However, anything else connecting to that mobile hotspot can get on the internet just fine.

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Is this with the original extender?  Or is this with a new one?

Do you have another way to check the LAN port on the extender (hooking up a laptop with ethernet for example)?

[KathyInVA]

my apologies for the delay in responding... yes, the ethernet port does work going directly to my laptop. Furthermore, it does the same thing with both wifi extenders. Interestingly enough... for the first time ever I just so happened to be connected to the mobile hotspot with my laptop (its usually strictly for the security system), and while I can surf the internet and do everything with no issues, when I just tried to connect and upload some changes to my website using FTP protocol and Filezilla, the connection was denied by the server. Closed Filezilla and reopened, tried again, server again refused the connection. Disconnected laptop from the mobile hotspot, connected to my cell phone hotspot, and can connect to my website and upload files no problem, in Filezilla. There is SOMETHING with the connection of that mobile hotspot that the arlo base station needs that is not available, and likely the same thing with the security checking within the Filezilla FTP connection. Now if I could just figure out exactly what that is... I may be able to get somewhere! Ha. Unfortunately, cellular internet is my only option here other than satellite internet which is too unreliable for a security system and too expensive.