Arlo Pro 4 - Port forwarding doesn't work

[Spiffed]

I have an arlo pro 4 camera and use port forwarding for my recordings.  I have been able to get this to work while I am on my network which my  smarthub is connected is connected to ( at my second home).  However, when I am on my regular home network, 800 miles away I always get an error message "There was an error obtaining your library.  Arlo team is working on this issue."  I have an open case with arlo but they have not responded with any answers.  I am really frustrated because I have been trying to get port forwarding to work since the end of March, after I learned that my free trial period was over. 

[jguerdat]

It's possible that the hub has a different IP address than what was assigned when you set up port forwarding due to reboots or power outages. Use the router's DHCP configuration to always assign the same address to the hub and then reconfigure port forwarding.

[StephenB]

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@jguerdat wrote:

It's possible that the hub has a different IP address than what was assigned when you set up port forwarding due to reboots or power outages. Use the router's DHCP configuration to always assign the same address to the hub and then reconfigure port forwarding.

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@Spiffed - definitely check this first. Forwarding to the wrong IP address won't work.

Then confirm that the port is actually open, using https://canyouseeme.org/ or a similar port-check site.

[JohnKe]

Assuming that I've already set a static DCHP for my Smarthub, what other options are there? I can connect remotely using Port Forwarding for a while, but eventually I lose connection and get an "unavailable" error message. This even when I go to check my port forwarding settings and find that the ip address, internal port and external port numbers have not changed - the numbers on the Arlo app and the numbers on the router still match up even though the Arlo App returns an error message for port forwarding.

So what is the fix?

Related question - can I disable in the Arlo app Port Forwarding, re-enable it and have it update the ip, internal and external port data if I am physically separated from my router? Or does my camera have to be connected to the router?

[JohnKe]

Sorry, correction to my last paragraph - does my Smartphone have to be connected to the router in order for the Arlo App to be able to update IP, internal and external ports?

[StephenB]

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@JohnKe wrote:

Sorry, correction to my last paragraph - does my Smartphone have to be connected to the router in order for the Arlo App to be able to update IP, internal and external ports?

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It shouldn't need to be, since the base can supply this info and it is connected to the app via the Arlo Cloud.

But changing the forwarding rules in the router would require remote management to be enabled on the router as well.  Personally I use OpenVPN (hosted in my Orbi router), which eliminates the need for port forwarding.

Losing the forwarded connection could be a router issue, and not Arlo.  If you can reboot the router when you see this symptom, it would be worth a test.  (disabling wifi on the phone might be helpful here, since that would let you test while at home).