Pro 3 Floodlight won't connect to Wifi extender network

[rjcarp]

          I have several Arlo cameras operating within my regular Wifi network (2.4 GHz).  All devices were easily connected using the Arlo app (per instruction) and operate well.  I am looking to operate another camera on the side of the house opposite the router... just outside the range of my regular wifi network.  While I can easily connect the camera within the range, I lose connectivity as soon as I position the camera at the desired location.  I am not interested in moving the router, but instead, looking to make use of a Wifi extender (TP-Link Mesh Wi-Fi dual band extender, Model RE315).

          I believe I have properly synced the extender to my router (via the WPS button).  The extender network works... I am easily able to connect to it with my phone.  I am using the proper band as well... 2.4 GHz.  However, the Arlo app cannot find the device in that network (after making sure my phone is on the extender network... the extender network is entered in the app... I receive a QR code... the camera scans and then chimes... the app searches, but cannot find the camera).  I have made repeated efforts... rebooting both the camera and extender, as well as the network itself (via the phone's 'forget this network' within the wifi general settings)... but no luck.  

          I would greatly appreciate any insight, suggestions and possible fixes.

[StephenB]

Is the extender network set up to use WPA2 with AES encryption?

Have you confirmed that you can reach the internet when your phone is connected to the extender?  (disable cellular data for this test).

[rjcarp]

Yes... the extender network is set up to use WPA with AES encryption

And yes... I can reach the internet when the phone is connected to the extender (network).  In fact, I am able to use the extender network to reach the internet on my phone at the location I would like to use the camera at.

[rjcarp]

          In checking with Google and YouTube, a dangerous thing I suppose... I have come to learn that Wifi extenders offer roughly half the bandwidth because they do double duty as they communicate (receiving/sending) with both the router and the device at the same time.  

          Although it seems unlikely, but is it possible that the Pro 3 Floodlight is not able to send enough (syncing) data over the extender network for the Arlo app to find it in the device search?  (As mentioned earlier, the camera has no problem syncing to the app over my regular Wifi network.)

[jguerdat]

Some but not all extenders half the available bandwidth. Those that use one frequency for the back channel exclusively have full bandwidth on the other band but you do lose the ability to have both bands available for use (a tri-band router and extender or mesh network gets around this).

That said, there's likely plenty of bandwidth when it's cut in half for a camera as long as the extender isn't having trouble staying connected to the router. Did you remove the camera from your account before trying to use it on the extender? Is the SSID from the extender the same as from the router or is it unique?

[StephenB]

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@rjcarp wrote:

          In checking with Google and YouTube, a dangerous thing I suppose... I have come to learn that Wifi extenders offer roughly half the bandwidth because they do double duty as they communicate (receiving/sending) with both the router and the device at the same time.  

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That is true, but I suspect there still is enough.  Run speedtest on the phone when connected to the extender network (using the free Ooka app), and see how much bandwidth it measures.  Arlo says the floodlight needs about 2 mbps of upload bandwidth.

After the failed onboarding attempt, look in your router and see if you can find the camera in the router's attached device list.

Also, see if there are any settings for network isolation (likely there are if you configured the network as a guest network).  If there are such settings, make sure they are disabled.  The phone app needs to be able to communicate directly with the camera in order to onboard it.

[rjcarp · Accepted solution]

jguerdat,

          sometimes the most obvious recommendation is best...  In trying to set up the camera to use the extender network, I simply went to settings on the camera and hit change networks... then went through the usual syncing tasks which repeatedly failed.  On your ask whether I deleted the camera from my existing account, clearly I had not.  Upon doing so, the camera synced easily to the extender network...  the sky cleared, the birds sang and all is good.               Big thanks to you!