Please reply if your Arlo pro 2 Base station goes offline / time zones

[Sussexdude1]

Over the last two days my home station seems to change my time zone at midnight every day, this being a huge pain when scanning back over recordings. I have tried resetting on Arlo web site, iPad and iPhone but midnight strikes time zone changes again. HELP !

[jguerdat]

Have you tried turning the base off and back on or pull the plug? That seems to be helping these days but may not.

[Keck]

@jguerdat

I really can’t believe you just said that. And your status is “super user”? What is the purpose of making that kind of suggestion? You know and so do a lot of other users, that this offline issue is not a reset, unplug bull**** you just mentioned. WOW! Unbelievable!

[Adksi11892]

Also cannot believe that answer !!!!!!!  Yes if I happen to launch the app and check my cameras and see that they are offline then I can remote reboot via the smartplugs I bought.  What happens if I’m busy and don’t check up on my “security system” and someone breaks in before I reboot my “security system” and it’s missed !!!

Yes Netgear, Arlo is a security system !!!!! If I have to constantly live view to check it then what is the point ???

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@Keck wrote:
@jguerdat

I really can’t believe you just said that. And your status is “super user”? What is the purpose of making that kind of suggestion? You know and so do a lot of other users, that this offline issue is not a reset, unplug bull**** you just mentioned. WOW! Unbelievable!

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[guidovanwelden]

Switching the base station off and on doesn't work. The only solution is deleting the base station and adding it again. Problem is that you have to add also the cameras again.
Support from Arlo says that the base station goes offline every time they update the firmware.
This is not acceptable, please contact Arlo support to put pressure on them to solve this issue.

[Mozyone]

I agree. Please stop telling folks "reboot/power cycle the base station". That's not helping the community.

Arlo needs to own this problem and solve it. 

The best I can tell about this issue: "it's related to storing video files to USB storage device".  

[secaz]

Below is what I have recently observed with my train wreck of an Arlo Pro system… have had my system for several years and what once used to work flawlessly has slowly but surely degraded to the point that it is a complete joke. IMHO, it is false advertising for Netgear to use the words security and system in conjunction with their product.

Base stations randomly reboot - will notice that left hand LED is amber, center and right LEDs are OFF. Stays like that forever – doesn’t come back online.

Have 3 base stations, all VMB4000r3 1.12.2.3_2762 and connected to router using Cat7 cables. Base stations, router and modem are all plugged into uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs). One base station will tank while others remain functioning.

Will have to power down base station and yank power code - cannot restart from any interface.

I wait about 30 seconds and then plug power back in, then power up base station - will then fully boot and reconnect. That’s nice if I’m here, if I’m not then can’t get it to work until I come home.

Randomly, will take forever for cameras to come back on line after base station finally boots and connects. Sometimes they come back immediately, though – sometimes have to again reboot the base station.

Base station will be ok for a few days, maybe a week, then tank again, same thing, only the left hand LED activated and displaying amber. Each of my 3 base stations has gone through this several times in the past few weeks weeks.

One thing I have noticed in the past that has randomly mucked up base stations is the USB drive. When set to AUTOMATICALLY OVERWRITE, when drive is full, it will NOT overwrite. It’s stuck at full.

I have randomly been unable to use Arlo to format my USB drives (and these are not HUGE drives, they are 10GB thumb drives designed for repeated rugged use). Sometimes it will let me, some times I have to first go wipe drive using a Linux box and then format, after which the base station will accept it and recognize the drive, and THEN it will allow me to use the base station to format drive.

Go figure.

Since last firmware updated, am having poor connectivity issues with cameras, low signal strength on several. I have a SMALL HOUSE and 3 base stations, so cams are VERY NEAR their base stations. As with every buggy firmware update in the past, this problem crops up.

Also will receive motion triggers, but nothing will record – this, as well, is random. Will see a thumbnail for the trigger when on Devices tab of app/web interface, but no video in library.

Night vision randomly not working - have had this issue in the past with buggy firmware updates. Have to turn camera off/on, then turn night vision off/on, then turn cam off/on. I know this because I often do camera maintenance at night and when I go to do a live feed for camera positioning, the night vision doesn’t activate.

Also have random issues with video playback - audio at times is distorted and video plays back at accelerated speed - happens when viewing via Android app, Google Chrome for Linux. Also viewing downloaded video via Android media players - however, when playing on Samsung S9+ using Samsung media player, will receive message... "Cannot play audio. Audio codec not supported". These corrupt videos are random, no rhyme or reason. I also experienced this about a year ago when there was a particularly fatal firmware update in May 2018, I believe. Eventually was resolved, but it’s back again and is extremely annoying. Once in a while, the videos which won’t play correctly on Android, will play correctly on Arch Linux using Google Chrome. There is no consistency with this playback malfunction.

And these are just some of the bugs and glitches… none of it works reliably… motion detection is a farce, Arlo often picks up a lizard scurrying across my driveway but will completely miss the UPS truck barreling by (and my driveway is REALLY SHORT, the length of a pickup truck). Motion detection, I have observed, also has difficultly with red or silver vehicles, or people walking by who are wearing red...

Arlo is a mess, unreliable and a joke. Netgear uses its customers to field test their firmware without our consent – that’s what it boils down to. They tweak the firmware, push it out, we have zero choice but to update since we can’t DEFER updates, and then they wait for the bug reports to come in. However, their support is SO AWFUL, few of us who are technically inclined and have useful insight into the issues are willing to contact them. My blood pressure elevates to stroke levels if I have to deal with them, so I don’t… they are useless anyway, reading from a script...

[wellfleetion]

That “super user” was probably a level 2 Arlo support person.

Hire some decent engineers to fix your broken software, ok, Arlo/Netgear.

[Dannybear]

Superusers are generally not arlo employees, they are a clique that sit below the forum moderators. They have benefits and are more likely to know what is ailing arlo.

Extract from forum:

What are the benefits of the Superuser program?
• Elevated permissions on the Community.
• Direct access to the Community Team, Engineers, Developers, and other Arlo team members.
• Priority in beta testing programs.
• Invitations to exclusive on-site and online events.
• NETGEAR swag such as t-shirts, mugs, etc.
• And More!

How do I become a Superuser?
Being a Superuser is not tied to a specific rank, but rather specific activities or behaviors that are consistent month over month. The more you post consistently helpful, accurate, and respectful posts in our community, the closer you are to becoming a Superuser. Our Superusers are selected by our Community Team based on quality and meeting a certain threshold and quality of activities each month.

[Bryantbjb]

I have 2 alro pro 2 base stations. Both are on version same version 1.12.2.3_2762. One of my base stations goes off-line multiple times per week. Random times. It will go off line anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours. I have replaced the network cord, and reset the base station several times to stop the issue to no avail. Issue stated about 4 weeks ago. I've also reset the cable modem and changed the switch port the back of the modem (meaning I moved the base station jacks around) It still connects to the cameras (as far as I can tell from the front lights) just not to internet. Started a ticket with Arlo over a day ago - no response as of yet. 

[ralfyguy1]

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@Keck wrote:
Yes I still have offline issues with the new (refurbished) base they sent me. When it goes offline it will set my motion detector back to default of 80%. I keep it at 100%. I haven’t called them back yet to let them know. I’ll keep you posted.

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If you're using the standard "Armed" mode, quit using it and create a mode that mimicks that mode and customize it to your liking. In my case the offline and reboot issues never affect the custom modes I created. I haven't used the standard Armed mode since over a year now. It's useless.

[jguerdat]

Thanks @Dannybear but no one needs to defend nor explain. If those with no interest in understanding the problem but just want to bitch, there's no response truly needed. I'm just retired IT trying to answer questions and have to respond with generic posts when specifics aren't given. At some point, no one here can supply the answers nor provide hardware support which has to come from official support found at https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx. 

[secaz]

Seriously?  Super users?  Sounds like just another layer of protection Netgear has dreamt up as a buffer between themselves and their customers.

Class action lawsuit is warranted, seriously... just my two cents...

Arlo has failed me so many times, it has gotten to the point that I'm actually shocked that it works when I need it to.

I work from home and can't count how many times I've heard vehicles and people going by, yet Arlo captured NONE of this activity.  My dogs are far more reliable.

Also cannot count how many times my dogs have started barking bloody murder becasue of something going on outside, and so I'd TRY to do a live stream but Arlo *conveniently* did not work.

Wonderful system.

I highly recommend Arlo users trade their systems in for a furry, four-legged security system...

[RB321]

I haven't used Armed mode ever. I was using a schedule with different rules, that seemed to screw it up in recent weeks when all the firmware issues started. I have since reinstated my schedule, but am no longer using a 32GB thumb drive for local recording. my system is much more stable. I cant think of the last time it went offline (probably weeks now) and stayed like that. I do note however it has reset itself once to auto flicker from the 50 Hz I set it to. I have never had a replacement base station. I think that is a "red herring" to shift focus. I have 1.12.2.3_2762 firmware. Interestingly enough the Ultra base I also have has not self reset.

[wellfleetion]

The no response from Arlo/Netgear is disturbing. People's safety it at risk and there is no response on their System site check. See for yourself.... https://status.arlo.com

I will never buy another Netgear product again. It has been over a month since my safety has been in question with this "security system". Netgear. I've only had my 1 cam 2 months now and it only has worked as advertised for 2 weeks prior to the May 24th update. Get your act together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quality control is OBVIOULSY an issue, and makes bad retention and bad word of mouth, and eventually, you will FAIL.

[ChinJing]

Hello. Please check the forum there are hundreds of posts about this. Not sure if yours is the same issue as others - there seems to be an issue possibly with using a flash drive or usb drive in the base station causing them to go offline. Level teir 1 tech is clueless is the issue. This is a known issue for many weeks. There is no eta on fix so far.

[ChinJing]

Hello. We have gone through 4 base stations vmb4000 and 2 routers. They all went offline multiple times a day. Arlo tech didn’t help. We finally filed a bbb complaint and arlo teir 2 tech support started returning our calls. They told us the issue was a firmware with the usb drives. The usb drives inserted into the base causes the base to go offline. We also had many issues with the usb not working not formatting and kept getting emails the SD card was full when the flash drive was empty. We were advised by level 2 tech to remove the flash drives from our base stations. They have not bean going offline nearly as much. Only maybe once or so in the last several days vs many times a day before with a flash drive installed. I don’t know if this condition is the same for everyone but it helped us a lot to remove the flash drive. This fix was originally reported by another arlo user named dearjohn. It’s not a permanent fix and i don’t know why arlo doesn’t fix this issue. It makes me think or suspect they want people to just sign up for the cloud service since the flash drives don’t work. Because this has bean going on for a month and they have known about the usb being the cause for @ a week already. Our experience is file a bbb complaint online. It takes a minute and arlo contacted us about the complaint the same and next day and kept making sure if we still had issues or not. This was also suggested to do
By another arlo user and it helped us. Good luck to all!!!

[wellfleetion]

It's a software issue, pure and simple. This started after the May update. Netgear must be ready to sell this part of their business and simply have stopped caring.

[Mrdisappointed]

Arlo is now a separate company from Netgear.  Netgear still controls Arlo but is no longer directly tied to Netgear.  From the no response to the current issues from Arlo, I'm guessing they may be going in a different direction in the future.  Buying any existing Arlo product at the moment might be a "bit" risky.

[Bryantbjb]

Thank you. I had not thought about the usb drive that I have hooked up to the base station that continues to drop the internet. I'll try that tonight. That is one of the differences between the 2 base stations. I thought that I had done some research - guess not enough. Will dig into that tonight as well. Again. Thanks!

[Adksi11892]

If they are so convinced it’s related to USB then why do my 3010’s which have no USB recording functionality keep doing it  ????

[Dannybear]

Just to weigh in, I agree that the issue is not because of the USB drive usage, although removing the drives has demonstrated better immunity from the offline issues according to reports.
I myself have two 16GB sticks installed with no overwrite and yes get the offline once or twice daily. I guess if I have a large drive attached it may go offline every hour or so, and lowering the USB size my make it occur less often and complete removal might get it down to one or two a week but the other issues remain.

Of course we are all getting different issues after the offline has occurred, settings get changed, my siren stops sounding, recordings go missing or incomplete etc.

It is great to see the community working together to make this junk work and I myself have learnt a lot along the way.

I look forward to having at least one day where it just works before I take it back.

[Keck]

@ralfyguy1

I have always used my own custom Armed mode. When the system goes offline and comes back on, some of the settings are not what is stated on my custom mode. This includes the flicker setting, motion setting, time length of videos set to record. Not sure if you remember the time zone issue, where every time the system would go offline the time zone would change, well the other setting do the same thing. They “fixed” the time from changing, but not other settings.

[Mjbeuke]

Looks like my VMB4000 pro 2 base updated to firmware _2772 last night....

I had removed my 1TB USB drive for recording when @ Dannybear had discovered that it could be impacting base station stability - and have had very few if any issues since. I haven’t sent any freezes/reboots, and my doorbell chime and front door camera have properly remained paired together....

As of yesterday I read that formatting the drive to Fat32 may work so I formatted my drive to Fat32 with some PC freeware.... plugged it in all storage space is showing and the drive says “ready” and is being recorded to properly. I haven’t had any reboots or freezes since reinstalling the USB drive last night.

Not sure what the new firmware release addresses.... maybe @JessicaP can enlighten us?

[Mjbeuke]

My base updated to firmware _2772 last night.....

Not sure what it’s for but haven’t noticed any issues yet....

After formatting my 1TB USB drive to Fat32 yesterday at the suggestion of a few others that have had success with this - the base finally recognized my drive, did not give me the error saying it needs formatting, and appears to be recording properly.... time will tell if it still causes the freezes and reboots as it did since the dreaded May update..... been running almost 2 weeks with no USB drive for local recording and have not had any problems.

Maybe @JessicaP or one of the other mods can tell us what the update is for?

[mshet1]

All 5 of my cameras went offline at the same time. Each camera had to be restarted by opening battery compartment and closing again. All was fine for two weeks. Then the same thing happened all over again.