Arlo Pro, 2 x Pro 2 - all showing offline

[Hayju01]

Last Saturday I woke to find all my cameras offline, it turned out the Arlo Pro hub had been switched off. It wasn’t a simple fix of just switching it on it took over 3 hours of trying to pair/sync the cameras. Eventually I had to remove the hub from the app re-add it then paid each of the cameras. 

Thsi afternoon I finshed worm and found them offline again and this time the hub was till powered and a power cycle has not fixed it. I am assuming I will have to repeat last week exercise but I really don’t understand why having spent over a £1000 I have to go up and down ladders every weekend resettling the damn things.

Anyone got any ideas ?

[jguerdat]

Was there a power outage? That has caused problems for some. Use of a UPS for your modem, router and base can prevent these problems.

Turning off the base shouldn't cause problems other than wearing out the batteries in the cameras which are trying to reconnect to the non-existant base.

[Hayju01]

Not aware of a power cut/outage and as you say it shouldn’t have this affect. I have spent time again this morning and again the only fix is to remove the hub then repair the cameras.

will invest in UPS and see if this happens again.

[Hayju01]

Not been able to purchase UPS yet but not convinved this is a power issue as nothing else in the house has issue. Woke thsi morning to discover all cameras offline at 6.30 last recording at 5.30. Not going to be very effective security cameras if they keep going offline.

[VancouverBC]

Hayju01:

  You mentioned in your first post that your Hub was "switched" off. There is a switch at the back of the Base Staton (hub), is there any chance that the switch got pressed and the hub got turned off? 

  Where do you have the AC/mains power adapter for the base station plugged in? Right into a wall socket? Or into a power bar or something that isn't a wall socket? 

 Hayju01, where are you located? 

[Hayju01]

Yes, it was unplugged while I added another device and was then plugged into a different socket that was not switch on. It was then that I chose to move the hub to a different location where it would not get accidentally switched off.

I have had two subsequent ‘disconnects’ and my suspicion now is the 1st was an isolated incident and the subsequent two are related to ST integration. So I have receive the Arlo connect from ST, left it today to see if the cameras would resync and they have not. So tomorrow I will manually resync them and see if they maintain connection.

[VancouverBC]

Hi Hayju01

  Where are you located (country)? I ask because I notice we use words and terminology slightly differently which could mean we arrive a different understanding in writing back and forth. I'm in Canada. In your original post you gave the price in £ so likely not in North America?

  Also what is ST? What did you receive from Arlo, you mention "Arlo Connect", is that a message you received or a physical replacement part? 

[Hayju01]

Hi VancouverBC,

im based in the U.K.

ST is Smartthigns and Arlo Connect is the Smartthjngs App that connect the two.

i have not received any replacement parts and the only error I recieve is that ‘devices are offline’ on my 2 Pro 2 and 1 Pro cameras, the Arlo Q is unaffected.

[VancouverBC]

---

@Hayju01 wrote:

the only error I recieve is that ‘devices are offline’ on my 2 Pro 2 and 1 Pro cameras, the Arlo Q is unaffected.

---

OK, so Arlo Q is unaffected, good to know. When your devices are offline, can you take and post a screen shot of the message and where you are seeing that mesage in the app or web interface. 

I wonder if the cameras are losing connection to the base station but the base station is still online. When your devices go offline do you still see your base station (hub) online? You can check by going to Settings > My Devices you should be able to see the base station and edit its settings. 

I got the impression that your base station (hub) shut down completely unexpected. So a difference between the software reporting that the devices are unavailable vs "hey I can't connect to the base station anymore to see my devices so my devices are unavailable". Let's see if we can eliminate some possibilities. 

[Hayju01]

Can’t give you full screenshot as file is too big to attach. I can see the hub and edit it.

[VancouverBC]

---

@Hayju01 wrote:

 I can see the hub and edit it.

---

OK, good, one step at a time. Next question, what is the straight line distance between your cameras and the hub/base station? I'm finding in wooden house construction, maximum distance is about 100 feet or about 30 m. At that distance I'm down to one bar and sometimes the furthest camera doesn't respond when I go to Live View, the camera just doesn't respond before timing out. I keep trying and eventually it connects and shows a live view. So any chance your cameras are just losing their connection to the base station? If your cameras are more than say 25 m from the base station, try moving half your cameras closer to the base station as a test. 

[Hayju01]

Cameras are all within 15m of the base station.

I tried to sync one of the cameras this morning but it didn’t work.

Although I have seen it periodically appear in the app but as soon a click on it it goes offline. Just a few moments ago I saw two of my cameras in the app but again as soon as I try to access them the go offline.

if I get a chance tomorrow I will remove the base station then resync the cameras and see how long that lasts.

---

thanks for your advice 

[VancouverBC]

This is weird, your cameras are losing their link to the base station only15m from the base station. Can you describe your building/house construction. Where I live houses are pretty much wood frame construction, so a grid work or hollow frame of light wood sheathed in gypsum board. Being in the UK any chance your home or building is constructed of something more substantial and dense such as stone or brick?  

[Hayju01]

Sure, my house is of brick construction but nothing unusual (for the UK). It’s not an old building that would have metal mesh in the walls. The cameras have been ‘stable’ up until 2 weeks ago, the only issue I had had was when I added a new camera to the end of my garage and the WiFi signal was just ‘one bar’. I moved the base station to improve this and it is in a very central location to all 3 of the wireless cameras.

i am pretty sure now that this is smartthings integration related. I’m going to remove my base station from the app then resync the cameras as it’s clear they’re are not going to ‘come back’ on their own.

[Hayju01]

So, I removed the base station this morning and re-added it but I was unable to resync my cameras.

So I removed it again left it and re-added a few hours later. Then a few hours later I resync’d the cameras and all looks good.

I found that I was able to resync cameras without dismounting the cameras so at least it will save sometime should it happened again.

I will monitor and update over the next few days.

[Hayju01]

Cameras are all offline again!!!!

So I guess it wasn’t smartthings.

It’s not a power issue

it’s not camera to base station distance.

I guess it can only be a hardware issue.... will look into to how to get the hub replaced.

[Hayju01]

And now they’re back.

doing my head in

[jguerdat]

If it happens again, be sure to check the LEDs on the base.

[Hayju01]

The power and internet lights are still green when this happens. The camera sync is not lit.

the cameras are ‘back in’, the sync light is green as are the internet and power ones.

To be clear, I have done nothing.

[jguerdat]

It could be a bad base since all cameras are doing this. Have you opened a case with support here?

[Hayju01]

I am out of phone support as I don’t have a subscription and I have tried the ‘instant chat’ but it doesn’t seem to be very ‘instant’ waited 45 mins on one attempt and gave up. 

So I came to the community to check I wasn’t doing something stupid.

the cameras have been stable since yesterday so will see how it goes.

i will keep this thread updated

[jguerdat]

You don't need a subscription for phone support. ANyone can call at any time.

[Hayju01]

It says 

Phone support is free for the first 90 days after any Arlo purchase and is also included with any Arlo subscription. After 90 days, phone support for non-subscribers is available for a small charge to help with advanced features, interfacing non-NETGEAR products, configuring large networks, and more. Local telephone fees may apply. Please check with your phone service provider.

my cameras are all offline again, so I better book some time off work and give them a call.

I did some checking today and it does seem that the base station WiFi signal (NTGR_VMB_......) is intermittent or weak. Stood here less than 5m from the base station and my phone can not see it.

[Hayju01]

Contacted support to get their opening hours, only to discover they were open 😀

after 30 minutes of troubleshooting (reset internet route and set WiFi channel to 1,6,11) they agreed it is likely to be the hub and they would replace it. They wanted to charge me for the returns label.

After a brief discussion it will be sent immediately and arrive in 2 to 3 business days.

[VancouverBC]

Good round of trouble shooting, sometimes it's just the equipment. Hope the replacement works without problems.