After a Router change one of my many Arlo Pro 4 cameras won't sync.

[pkincy]

I have 3 Pro 4 cameras and 2 Ultra 2 cameras and use two base stations, a VMB 5000 and a VMB 4540.   After a router change and the difficult resynching of not only the Arlos but all the other connected devices in the house one of the Pro 4 cameras is giving me a fit.   I removed it as a device early and have been trying to re sync it for a day and a half.   When I resync it with the VMB4540 all the lights blink properly and in the proper sequence on both the base station and the camera but the app simply can't find the camera even though apparently all the setup signals were sent and received.    When I try and set it up with the wifi again all works normally until you get to the QR code and it won't chime.   I have tried it in my office with my iPhone and with me PC and its 32" monitor.   All the blinking blue but simply not communication with the App nor recognizing the QR code.    Battery is at 84%.    Camera was working fine with the old router.   Just can't get it resynched.   Also since it is already removed you can't reset it.   Tried the long press of the sync button but that doesn't help either.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Do I know you from the ATS-V forum?

First, it's always easier to reuse the old router's SSID and password on a new router. The WiFi-connected devices will never know the difference. Ethernet devices don't care one way or another.

You can still reset it but the step in the process about removing the camera from the account first obviously must be skipped since it's already removed. The question is whether you're holding the sync/reset button long enough:

2. Press and hold the Sync button for about 15 seconds, until the camera LED begins blinking Blue, then release the button.
   Ensure the camera LED blinks Amber three times. The factory reset may take 15 to 45 seconds to complete.
   Note: If you accidentally hold the Sync button too long (greater than 30 seconds), wait one minute, then try again.

[pkincy]

Yes, I have successfully reset the camera multiple times.   But the plot thickens.    Getting frustrated I ordered a 5s and it came in today.   It will not sync either.    Neither will read the fancy thing that generates a chime nor will either connect.   Interestingly enough I think they are syncing but it is just not reflected in my dashboard.   Why do I think that?    The process of syncing through the VMB4540 has fast blinking blue lights on the camera followed instantaneously by fast blinking lights on the VMB4540.    That process happens readily however the circle with the arrow in it on either my PC on Arlo Dashboard or my iPhone on Arlo Dashboard just keeps spinning not finishing the pairing.   So I suspect that the camera is synching but there is some other step in the process that is failing.

Edit:   Like many other things inexplicable happenings occur.    About the 12th time I tried today the PC dashboard flipped to a screen asking which of two camers I wanted to connect only giving me serial numbers to choose.   I chose one and it happened to be the Pro 4.    I suppose I now have a spare 5s that I can connect later or use as a spare.    The only thing that was different, is I remembered as I was typing the initial replay that I hadn't cleared the waiting Widge which was the VMB4540.   So I pulled that up from the queue to the Dashboard and tried a couple of more times to synch the cameras (both)  and apparently it worked.    So for future synching only due it if you don't have any widgets or devices waiting to be pulled up to the dashboard.    Or maybe it was devine intervention.  /s   But thank you for your suggestions.

[pkincy]

And yes, I was on the ATS-V forum.   Now I have a CT4-V BW and sold the Corvette

[pkincy]

A day later.   I was resynching several of my cameras yesterday from an intermittent outage of my router.   The router came back to life but with diminished capacity so I ordered a new one and spent yesterday reinstalling all the devices that had fallen off the system when the wireless went down.   That included a number of TP Link smart switches, most of my Alexa devices and 3 of my Arlo cameras.    All came back on in good order after I familiarized myself with the arcane resynch procedures except the Arlo cameras which took hours and hours over 2 days to bring back to life, but with your help and a lot of perserverance I was ultimately successful.   

Fast forward to today when Amazon delivered my new Mesh router system.   I was careful to set up the new system with yesterday's SSID and Password so I wouldn't have a problem with my 20 devices in my network.   It took about an hour to get the new system up with careful help from their tech support folks and only about 15 minutes of that hour was I without internet and when we got the new system back up successfully it had the day old SSID and password.   15 of my devices survived that 15 min without wifi and 5 did not.   2 Amazon Alexa devices and 3 Arlo devices, 2 cameras and one base station.   The 2 Alexa devices only took minutes to resynch...mostly power cycling.  It is now 3 hours later and my Arlo base station refuses to connect.   The one camera that can work w/o a base station still stubbornly refuses to resynch.

My solution this time is to trash that base station and its 2 cameras.   Life is too short to try and work with Arlo's problems.   I certainly like the system when it works, but it doesn't work a lot of the time.    I have 3 different remote camera systems.   The Arlo and two others.   For every Arlo device I trash I will add one more device from the working systems.   A system should be easy to design and support that can handle 15 minutes of wifi downtime.    The others did it but Arlo did not.    So I am done spending hours working on Arlo problems when their competitors simply plug along working as normal.