Cameras offline by WiFi interference (Arlo Pro 2)

[CormacFabiano]

I just want to put this out there, it might help someone else:

All my 4 cameras going offline after some time was caused by my internet router's WiFi interference with the Arlo Pro 2 hub camera WiFi. And the Arlo pro 2 hub follows the router WiFi channel by design.

Story:
My Setup was working fine for a year, then without any apparent reason at the beginning of 2021 all my 4 cameras was acting up.

When trying to access the cameras from the Android Arlo App, they would either respond slowly (5-20 sec) or just getting status offline. If I waited in the app the cameras could suddenly get status online again, but would still not show live video. I got the impression that the system was just sluggish to respond and getting timeouts causing offline status.

The problem was always temporarily solved by remote restarting the hub. After restart all was working fine for some hours. The next day, same story.

Then I startet debugging my setup. Re-install Android App, Hardware reset of the Hub, remove-and-install battery in all the cameras. This did not help - day after, same problem.

I was now suspecting WiFi interference, so I downloaded a network monitor app to my phone. Found out the Arlo Hub had the same channel as my router, sitting next to the Hub. No other networks was detected in this remote area. And by now, I know this: The Arlo hub is always choosing the same channel by default. This is designed behavior by Arlo. There are several discussions about this issue in the Arlo forums.

Not really needing the internet router's WiFi when security was enabled, I tried to turn it off. Voila! All camera connections problems gone! Cameras are always responding and everything works. This is verified by several tests now.

So, I’m voting for an expert mode in the Arlo hub, to be able to choose the hub WiFi channel manually. I am pretty sure this would have solved the problem without the need for turning off internet WiFi.The problem can of course be the internet router. I have not tested any other 4G router.

Other possible workaround is to have the internet WiFi router placed some distance away. (20 ft?) It will make the Arlo Hub choose a non-interfering channel, according to what I read in the forums.

Some hardware and software info I pulled today:

Arlo Pro 2 Smart Hub
Hardware: VMB4500r2
Firmware: 1.16.4.3_3616_fbb05d3

Cameras:
Hardware: H6
Firmware: 1.125.15.0_35_1191

Router:
Huawei E5186S
(4G Mobile network router)

[jguerdat]

You can change the base's channel by moving it far enough from the router. Simply moving it to the end of the existing cable may be enough to fix things. I had my base/hub next to my router for years with no issue but recently had to move it away to solve a video quality issue.

[TomMac]

Yes... the base units by default follow the routers channel unless about 20 ft or so away from same ( of course depends on what the signal travels thru ) .

You can, if your home has the option, by using up to 300ft of ethernet to place the base unit where ever you want.