Arlo Pro 3 going offline w. fixed power supply

[Andreas_tv]

I recently set up fixed power supply for one of our 9 Arlo cameras, an Arlo Pro 3 camera, using Arlo's magnetic outdoor charging cable compatible with Pro 3. Following this the camera goes offline, and remains offline, every few hours despite being only 2 meters from the base station and showing full signal strength before it goes out. We also have an Arlo doorbell nearby (using battery) connected to the same base station which stays online. We did not have before when the same camera ran on battery.

Is this a general problem with the Arlo Pro 3 and the outdoor magnetic charging cable? Any fixes? The charging cable is brand new.

[StephenB]

Try moving the charger to the other camera, and see if the problem moves.

[Andreas_tv]

it does not, and also the camera stays online when the cable is not plugged in and running on battery. So it seems like the camera cannot handle fixed power supply somehow, and stay online. Is this a common Arlo Pro (3) issue?

[StephenB]

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@Andreas_tv wrote:

it does not, and also the camera stays online when the cable is not plugged in and running on battery. 

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You said it was using the Arlo magnetic cable.  Is this the fully integrated Arlo outdoor charger?  Or just the USB cable plugged into a third-party charger?

[Andreas_tv]

Hi Stephen. Yes it is the fully integrated Arlo Ultra Outdoor Magnetic Charging Cable plugged into a standard outdoor wall socket: https://www.arlo.com/en_dk/accessories/outdoor-cable-with-magnetic-charge?c=black&t=one.camera.kit

[StephenB]

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@Andreas_tv wrote:

Yes it is the fully integrated Arlo Ultra Outdoor Magnetic Charging Cable 

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Great. 

When I asked if the problem moved when you connected the charger to another camera, you said it did not.  Did you mean the problem stayed with the charger?  (I'm thinking you did, but the response can be interpreted both ways).

If the problem happens with both cameras, then its likely a failed charger.  I have had one of the outdoor chargers fail on me (though in a different way).  You can of course confirm that it's not the camera by temporarily substituting one of the indoor chargers.

[nonsense]

I recently bought arlo pro 3 floodlight with outdoor charging cable. After 1 week, I got the exact same issue.

When the camera was operating with battery only, it works fine. But it was plugged with "outdoor charging cable", the camera went offline after few minutes.

This issue seems not new. I found the same issue multiple times in this forum without a proper resolution.

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3/Arlo-Pro-3-Goes-offline-while-plugged-in-to-AC-It-works/m-p...

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3/Arlo-PRO-3-goes-offline-without-battery/m-p/1818080

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3-Floodlight/Arlo-Pro-3-Floodlight-keeps-going-offline/m-p/17...

I guess that this is most likely a bug in the camera firmware. Arlo's mechanism to distinguish between outdoor cable and indoor cable is rubbish.

I have arlo pro 3 bundle from Costco which includes an indoor cable with usb charger. Their indoor usb charger and outdoor usb charger have same power output as 10 watt (5V 2A). Indoor usb charger has a USB A port, so you can use any charging cable. For some reason, Arlo limits their camera's functionality with indoor charger. Honestly, I have never seen a product with this behavior.

The key part is that the camera is "switching" behaviors by different cables. This mechanism seems turning off the camera.

I realized that Arlo became to release bad products with so-so customer experience. This feels bad because I really enjoyed using Arlo Wire Free cameras for many years. I will be switching my security camera setup. Not worth keeping these anymore!

[StephenB]

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@nonsense wrote:

I have arlo pro 3 bundle from Costco which includes an indoor cable with usb charger. Their indoor usb charger and outdoor usb charger have same power output as 10 watt (5V 2A).

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Arlo's outdoor magnetic charger is 10 watt, but not 5V 2A.  Instead it's 9V 1.1A.  That reduces the power loss in the longer cable.

@Andreas_tv's issue might be different from yours.  If the charger works with one of the other 8 Pro 3 cameras, then it has to be something with that specific camera or battery. 

If all fail the same way, then it is most likely the charger.  A firmware bug is possible, but I think we'd be hearing about that from a lot of other users.

 @Andreas_tv:  what firmware version is running in your cameras?

[Andreas_tv]

Camera is running this firmware - no update’s available according to the Arlo app.

[StephenB]

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@Andreas_tv wrote:

Camera is running this firmware - no update’s available according to the Arlo app.

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I believe that is current (though released quite a while ago).

[JCS56]

My Arlo Pro Floodlight camera does not charge with the ARLO magnetic outdoor charging cable. In addition, it randomly stops the WiFi connection, making the camera useless when using it in a vacation home (i.e. when you are not always home to climb up to the roof to reset the camera :(.

This camera works fine with the magnetic cable attached to the solar panel, assuring me that the XL battery/electricity junction is working fine.  The problem is, after Arlo’s software update, the sensitivity for motion and noise is too high, so the solar supported battery drains too fast.  The problem seems to lie with the magnet based attachment of the power supply, interfering with WiFi signal stability and battery charging.  I called customer support to tell them about my issue, unfortunately, being a woman, I got the usual run around with: is the power plugged in, is your wifi working, etc.  In the end the agent hung up on me.  I would like to get a true engineer involved to validate my concerns and come up with solutions.,  i.e. too many people have bought 50 dollars/Euro worth of magnetic charging cables that ultimately interfere with the proper workings of the camera.

[JJDH]

Same problem.  Arlo 3 Flood Light, with battery installed and Arlo outdoor magnetic charging cable.  Connected via Arlo base station.

I bought the cable because the battery died within 5 or so days.  I tried multiple batteries and on best battery life mode.

Now that I have the cable, the camera randomly stops charging.

Really disappointing that there doesn't seem to be a solution to this.  

[JCS56]

The problem is at the connection of the charging cable with the camera.  The metal connections are often not on an even level.  You may have to add height with soldering a small piece of metal to the unit.

This is truly a weak point of the cameras and it is frustrating that ARLO does not admit to the problem.  It would be so easy to manufacture a new casing with a better connection and supply the loyal ARLOI customers with a replacement.  Instead, a lot of time is spent with useless customer service.

I got my camera to work by cleaning the connection and soldering - hope this works for you.

[JJDH]

Thanks.  Unfortunately my issue seems to be something else as the battery is fully charged, so even if the contacts are an issue, it doesn't explain why the camera shows fully charged but goes offline. It is connected to the base station and other devices on the base station are online and working fine.

The camera is on CVR but no CVR is captured for 8+ hours a day on an average day.  And the live view cannot be accessed during those periods.  Nothing comes through on the feed, or sometimes it will come through hours later that on cameras without CVR.

Wireless shows good connection.

Not sure how to get Arlo's attention on this, but it just isn't a credit CVR / security camera solution at this point for me.