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ARLO PRO 4 Fixed time recording not working

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kenzoc
Aspirant
Aspirant

Hey all,

 

I have googled the out of this and found many posts on the arlo forum with a similar problem but no concrete fixes..

 

When I have the arlo pro 4 (2 units both doing same thing)set to default to stay active whilst motion is detected (up to 300 seconds) i only get 6-10 second videos regardless of movement(I have tried just walking in circles in the detection area). I have changed it to fixed time and played around with extending the time to 60, 120 seconds etc but even after setting a fixed time and saving (and sometimes even making a new mode with this setting just to see) my camera is still only recording a short duration (6 seconds seems to be the average).

 

I have reset router, reset cameras, resyncd camera, factory reset cameras, changed settings on web, changed settings on app, deleted mode and re-added, edited mode and saved..

 

I have 2 essential camera on the side which has siren set to on and they will record longer (50 or so seconds but still not hitting the fixed time i set but def better).

 

WTF is going on here? The front camera in question is like 2 meters from my orbi router, shows strong signal strength and my upload is around 50mpbs so i dont see bandwidth being the issue and i have tried resyncing the camera multiple times and cycling my router. It is above the garage so a little high but seems to be do the initial detection of movement quickly so i dont see it as a placement issue?

 

Extra details: I do not have a base station, the camera in question at the front is connected to a solar panel charger.

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StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@kenzoc wrote:

I have changed it to fixed time and played around with extending the time to 60, 120 seconds etc but even after setting a fixed time and saving (and sometimes even making a new mode with this setting just to see) my camera is still only recording a short duration (6 seconds seems to be the average).

A fixed time should be working.  Maybe try making a 60-120 second manual recording, and confirm that doesn't stop prematurely.

kenzoc
Aspirant
Aspirant
I must admit this is one thing I hadn't tried. Interesting results, I attempted manual recordings at 60 seconds and around 90 seconds (which appeared to work fine from the counter on the live view) - the resulting files on the all however were around 24 seconds for the 60 seconds recording and 30 seconds for the 90 seconds recording.

I am wondering now if the actual live video is actually going in "slow motion" with many seconds live view resulting in only a few seconds real time (due to lag of video?). I don't feel like this is an upload bandwidth issue as my upload speed at the camera is consistently 50up.
StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@kenzoc wrote:
I attempted manual recordings at 60 seconds and around 90 seconds (which appeared to work fine from the counter on the live view) - the resulting files on the all however were around 24 seconds for the 60 seconds recording and 30 seconds for the 90 seconds recording.


That is weird.  I don't think this is a rendering speed-up, but it is possible that loss is causing parts of the recording to be dropped. 

 

You could do another test when you are in front of the camera, and make a gesture at the beginning and end, to let you verify those segments are recorded.  Keep moving during the test, so you can see if there are any dropouts.  Alternatively, just count or talk, and when reviewing the recording listen to the audio (and watch lip motion).

 

 Also, you could try moving the camera closer to the base (or wifi router if you are using home wifi), and see if you get the same results.  

kenzoc
Aspirant
Aspirant
Did some more tests..

This issue seems very specific to the Arlo pro 4s..

My essentials are recording the fixed length (+/- 10 seconds ) consistently. Both my pros are stick to around 10-15 seconds regardless of fixed length. I did notice via orbi app that the essentials were getting better signal (72mbps link speed) whilst the pros were sitting around 52mbps.. I moved one of the Orbis closer to a pro4 which resulted in 72mbps link connection speed listed in orbi, yet I still am experiencing same issue of only a 10-15 second clip (even when jumping and waving like a mad man right in front of it).

I'll also note live view on all cameras always seems 30 seconds to a minute delay (showing live as the past..).

Very confused but does seem to be very specific to the pro 4 only, which is a bummer as I've put them in areas I am more concerned about for the extra resolution.
David596
Aspirant
Aspirant

@kenzoc wrote:

Hey all,

 

I have googled the out of this and found many posts on the arlo forum with a similar problem but no concrete fixes..

 

When I have the arlo pro 4 (2 units both doing same thing)set to default to stay active whilst motion is detected (up to 300 seconds) i only get 6-10 second videos regardless of movement(I have tried just walking in circles in the detection area). I have changed it to fixed time and played around with extending the time to 60, 120 seconds etc but even after setting a fixed time and saving (and sometimes even making a new mode with this setting just to see) my camera is still only recording a short duration (6 seconds seems to be the average).

 

I have reset router, reset cameras, resyncd camera, factory reset cameras, changed settings on web, changed settings on app, deleted mode and re-added, edited mode and saved..

 

I have 2 essential camera on the side which has siren set to on and they will record longer (50 or so seconds but still not hitting the fixed time i set but def better).

 

WTF is going on here? The front camera in question is like 2 meters from my orbi router, shows strong signal strength and my upload is around 50mpbs so i dont see bandwidth being the issue and i have tried resyncing the camera multiple times and cycling my router. It is above the garage so a little high but seems to be do the initial detection of movement quickly so i dont see it as a placement issue?

 

Extra details: I do not have a base station, the camera in question at the front is connected to a solar panel charger.


Hello @kenzoc

I have an Arlo Pro 2 VMB4000R3 base & Cameras with H3 Hardware Version.  I have 4 cameras, but shut 3 down to try to trouble shoot.  The one camera I have left on is set to 90 seconds fixed record time.  It records, but the time is not fixed.  Seems to be using motion only to keep it going.  If I trigger it and leave, it quits recording.  It could be 15 seconds or 22 or 31, no rhyme or reason.  I have rebooted the base, no change.  This used to work fine, I don't know when it started acting up and I was not part of the original thread from 2018.   I just began to trouble shoot this yesterday and found the original 2018 thread closed with no apparent resolution.  I am using both a PC via the Arlo website or an iPad with the latest Arlo app to manage my setup. 

kenzoc
Aspirant
Aspirant

Tried getting an outdoor power cable to see if any improvement.. sadly not, my fault for thinking this crappy product could ever work and investing even more money into this nonsense.

 

Terrible support and terrible product. 

Fadlady
Aspirant
Aspirant
I am having the same problem and it’s driving me crazy. Did you find a solution?
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