Geofencing does not work

[Evanft]

I’ve had this issue this issue for a while and nothing seems to fix it.

I’m using a Pro Base Station and three Pro 2 cameras. I’ve set the geofencing to turn the system on when I’m away and off when I’m in my house. For a while everything worked fine. At some point, however, the geofencing stopped working entirely. If I open the app while outside my home area, I can clearly see that I’m outside the zone but the system doesn’t turn itself on. 

I’ve checked all my settings and they’re all set correctly. I’m also running the latest version of the app and iOS, though the issue has been going on since well before the latest updates.

[jguerdat]

Is anyone else using the app as a guest (granted access)? If they don't use the app occasionally, they get logged out and GF fails. Happens here with my wife who never uses the app.

[Dannybear]

As a workaround go into the geofencing settings and enable the notifications option. This will assist you to confirm when the mode changes on the base station.

When you fail to get the notification when entering or exiting the zone it has stopped working. Then go into the iPhone settings and toggle the location setting to restart the geofencing in the app.

[Dannybear]

Just had it happen to me again today, went out and 30mins later still no geofencing push notifications, both base stations still say I’m at home after opening the app.

Toggled phone’s location services settings, no improvement.

Set the base station mode on one base station to disarmed then back to geofencing and push notification arrived to say I was now in away mode. The second base still says I am still at home.

30mins later arrived back home and receive push notification for first base was now in home mode. No notification from second base to say it was home.

So the workaround is to open your arlo app, toggle the mode between disarm then geofencing again after you exit and enter your zone.

Question,

Will geofencing ever work?

Answer,

Sometimes and only if you don’t use it.

[Dannybear]

Just another workaround to address the app session expiration.

When you login and see the session has expired, set your calendar to alert for every two weeks there after to logout and back in to the app the day after to manage the session expired event.

You do have to be vigilant as the expiration is independent of how often you open and close the app on your phone since you’re app is constantly running in background mode and logged in.

[Evanft]

Nope. I’m the only one who has access.

I also already have the notifications turned on for every time I enter/leave. They don’t activate.

[Dannybear]

There are two locations on the iPhone to enable/disable geofencing notifications.

One location is in the arlo app geofencing page at the bottom to choose what mobile device the geofencing is sent to.

The second is in the iPhone settings page, select the arlo app and scroll to the bottom to enable in/out notifications.

Test notifications by switching between disable mode and geofencing mode, you should get the change notifications.

[Evanft]

All location-related settings were set correctly.

Toggling between geofencing and disarmed keeps the system disarmed. Toggling between armed and geofencing keeps the system armed. Both tests done while inside the geofence. I can also look at the geofencing settings in the app and see my location inside the geofence even though it’s keeping the system armed.

Scheduling mode also doesn’t seem to work, either, though I don’t really use it.

[Dannybear]

Not exactly sure what is the answer, sounds like it just won’t work.

If when at home, you edit the geofencing location address to a location outside the zone will it then give you the geofencing is away notification?

The only other option is to perform the scorched earth method by factory resetting the base station. Then importing again to rebuild the setup.

Have a read of the following article first.

https://kb.arlo.com/000062271/Why-isn-t-the-Geofencing-mode-working 

[putraindrawan]

this is so far the best workaround. when you know you dont receive notifications when exiting or entering means GF is not working. only way is to open app, and toggle between modes and back again to geofencing. 

[ArloFamily]

Logged an issue with Arlo Support for 2+ months now and after a run around, they have acknowledged that there is an issue with Geofencing - only works for one Arlo camera - the others you have to turn on manually.  This did work properly before this for ALL cameras, now only for ONE camera only. Have followed up and asked for ETA but today's response is no ETA!!  

Quote:
"Thank you for the case update. As of now, there's no ETA for the fix; based on the last update, the appropriate team has already followed up, and we are still waiting for the update.

We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation.

It was a pleasure assisting you. Have a nice day! Take care!"

[DXK]

Ive had the same issue for almost a YEAR and Arlo support has been no help.

But Wait! - I spend $1000 on Cameras and an app that Geofencing that worked, and now we're still working on it.

[ArloFamily]

Yes still working on it and NO ETA of fix when I follow up. Very disappointing. I have spent the same and more. It’s not like I am asking for a new function - just restoration of what used to work.  Would I recommend? No. 

And to add insult to the lack of support, have received an email noting that support will be switched off for some of the older cameras from April this year?!!!! 

[StephenB]

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@ArloFamily wrote:

have received an email noting that support will be switched off for some of the older cameras from April this year?!!!! 

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Originally they said that, but pushed that out.

Pro 2 cameras end of life date is currently 1 January 2025.  They'll continue to get security updates until 1 January 2026.  The cameras should still work after EOL, but Arlo isn't saying how long.

Also, Arlo said they'd continue the free 7-day cloud service for the legacy cameras indefinitely (clearly in response to complaints here and elsewhere).