Your Arlo device appears offline

[knight1fox3]

Another update regarding the my other previous topic (reference link) that was recently posted. Since my last post on that particular topic, the Floodlight Camera has been working fine up until the morning of 10/27/22 (see attached image/message). No changes to anything including my Wi-Fi network which continues to function normally with my other Nest Cameras. Is it safe to assume the Arlo Camera has some sort of malfunction and requires warranty repair/replacement? Again as I noted above, it's rather difficult to troubleshoot with no sort of diagnostic error code to indicate what might be the issue. I was fine with removing/factory resetting the device previously, but I'm not about to make this a regular routine every two weeks or so. Any feedback/suggestions are appreciated. Also, any guidance on engaging Arlo support on this matter would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!

[Dannybear]

Not sure if this can easily be checked, can you get the camera back online by removing the AC external power to see if you can cause a status change that can cause it to reconnect.

I have smart plugs on all my pro2 cameras that are externally powered and have to power cycle them weekly to get them working again.

[knight1fox3]

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@Dannybear wrote:

Not sure if this can easily be checked, can you get the camera back online by removing the AC external power to see if you can cause a status change that can cause it to reconnect.

I have smart plugs on all my pro2 cameras that are externally powered and have to power cycle them weekly to get them working again.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I will give that a try & report back since I've got nothing else at this point. Just seems odd that the camera would function for nearly an entire year without needing to do this. The few select times I saw the camera being reported offline, it would always come back online shortly thereafter. Which as I noted in the other thread, I assumed was likely due to a firmware self-check/update.

[Dannybear]

@knight1fox3 

This is suggested as a workaround, if it works then it could be something for arlo to look into closer. 

Just because i need need to do this, it just means that for me it is an issue that was never fully addressed.

While I have had lots of firmware fixes and bugs over the years I just found it was simpler to just power cycle everything, bases included which can be done remotely.

[knight1fox3]

Understood. Appreciate the additional insight and will still give it a try. As you noted, I'm inclined to think that power cycling won't help my situation because I haven't had to do that in the past. We'll see how it goes!

[Dannybear]

It sounds like you have not had arlo all that long.

It’s all about workarounds here, the same issues keep popping up from time to time, arlo eventually fixes it and then same occurs again and a few months later they eventually fix it again.

The difficulty is that arlo customer support require a subscription to open a fault case. The priority of the issue is raised only when enough customers complain.

Then they have to duplicate the issue with their test beds before they can identify the cause, then roll out the fix in the next batch of updates. Then claim they have it fixed while they wait for the results.

I installed my smart plugs back in 2019 from memory, if I’m home I can easily do this myself, if I’m away who can I call except ghostbusters.

[knight1fox3]

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@Dannybear wrote:

It sounds like you have not had arlo all that long.

It’s all about workarounds here, the same issues keep popping up from time to time, arlo eventually fixes it and then same occurs again and a few months later they eventually fix it again.

The difficulty is that arlo customer support require a subscription to open a fault case. The priority of the issue is raised only when enough customers complain.

Then they have to duplicate the issue with their test beds before they can identify the cause, then roll out the fix in the next batch of updates. Then claim they have it fixed while they wait for the results.

I installed my smart plugs back in 2019 from memory, if I’m home I can easily do this myself, if I’m away who can I call except ghostbusters.

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Apparently not, LOL! Definitely sounds irritating from a "work-around" perspective. Anyway, I tried the suggestion of disconnecting/reconnecting power without any improvement. Device still shows offline in the app. I dismounted the camera (again) and brought it inside for further troubleshooting. When I remove/re-insert the battery, I see a blue flashing LED for a short time then nothing. Which I assume is some part of the initial pairing process. The last time it did this, it required a factory reset to get it to respond and connect again in the app. But as per the previous thread I linked above, that only lasted for around 2 weeks or less and then it did the same thing. I did find another separate thread where someone described a similar issue. Which indicated to reach out via PM to @JamesC for this specific type of issue. So I think that is my next option if I even decide to stick with the Arlo Floodlight Cam at this point. I'm already considering alternative manufacturer's as this continued troubleshooting time isn't worth the high cost they charge for the device in my opinion. If I'm going to spend that kind of $$, I expect a certain degree of reliability. </end rant>