Issues using ArloPro 2 with a hotspot

[paulinde]

For over a year I’m using a hotspot at a seasonal home and having an issue where the center internet LED keeps going to orange. It may stay green for a few minutes and then go orange for a minute or two and cycle back to green. Cycle is never ending. At the same time I was only getting a few weeks out of my camera batteries with at the most, just a few 12 seconds recordings a day. Support blames the poor battery performance on camera signal strength. My hotspot has 4 bars to the outside world, and all cameras are 3 bars (all within 20 feet of the hub) hardly a weak camera signal. I finally powered all cameras which eliminated the short battery life. All firmware is most current. If I bring the hub home and connect it to my network it keeps a constant connection.

A few weeks ago the hotspot gave out and I replaced it with a Netgear LTE modem which eliminates the need for an extender as it can connect via ethernet to the hub. However, without adding a router it eliminates the WIFI which is not an issue to me.

The Modem still has the same issue with the internet connection. I am using Consumer Cellular which uses the AT&T network. At this point I am suspecting that the provider is dropping the internet due to the lack of traffic and it reconnects after the hub tickles them enough.

Anyone with any thoughts on this?

[ShayneS]

Hi @paulinde

Is there a way to monitor your traffic when the base is connected the the mobile hotspot? it sounds like the hot spot is dropping signal or periodically losing bandwidth. 

If the internet goes out the base will then go offline & the cameras will keep trying to reconnect themselves. This can cause a much more rapid battery drain than normal use. 

[paulinde]

SheyneS,

Thanks for your input, makes sense as to the short battery life.

I have a thought on the internet dropping.  On the first hotspot, and now the broadband modem, the hub is the only device so traffic is virtually non-existent except when there is movement, which between several cameras is hardly once a day.  The unit is a couple of miles from route 95 between Washington DC and New York so there is a lot of cell traffic coming and going. My guess is that the provider is disconnecting connections having no activity to make their resources available for others.  I'm going to put an old laptop on line with a ping every few minutes to see if that helps in keeping the connection active.

Paul