Pro 4 cams appear disconnected when on a different network

[SipasDad]

I have Pro 4 cams at our cabin and main home, obviously on two different WiFi networks (not using a base station at either location). When I’m at the cabin and my laptops/iPhone are connected to the same network as the cameras, the cameras appear connected nearly all the time. But when I try to access the cabin cameras from my home network, they appear disconnected most of the time, but will reestablish and lose the connection every couple of minutes. The cameras on my home network show connection 100% of the time. This pattern happens no matter what browser or platform I’m using (iPhone , two laptops, 3 browsers). It seems like a timeout error due to TCP/IP establishment time when on a different network than the ones the cameras are actually on at the cabin - but I’m guessing here.

I believe the WiFi connections to the cameras at the cabin are strong. The Arlo setup utility rates the connections as “strong” at each camera location. A speed test of the cabin WiFi network shows ping times less than 10msec, download speeds of 30-60MB/sec and upload speeds of 20-50MB/sec at each camera location. I’m running a eero mesh WiFi system there and the eero network tool shows the cameras are connected and communicating with the network at a few kB/sec every few seconds.

Even with the apparently strong WiFi signal, I do wonder if the cameras are having trouble establishing connection with the Arlo cloud from the cabin - as sometimes they appear to fail to upload videos of action they should capture. Again - maybe an issue with time to establish a TCP/IP connection from that location?

Any suggestions or ideas for diagnostics?
Thanks!

[JamesC]

SipasDad,

This sounds like it could be a connectivity issue. When you notice the cameras are offline, do you also notice lack of recordings at the same time? If you log out of the app or web client and log back in, does the issue persist?

JamesC

[SipasDad]

Hi JamesC
Sometimes I do get notifications and recordings when they show offline. So I don’t think they are actually offline. Also, I can see the transmissions from the cameras to the network via my mesh WiFi diagnostics.

Logging in and out doesn’t help solve the issue - but can re-query the connection and may show a different stays (on or offline). But the reported status continues change every couple of minutes.

[SipasDad]

Hi Again
I’m now almost certain that this is related to some kind of time to establish a connection to the Arlo servers from the cabin location, despite the fiber connection. Here’s why: when I run the speed test (via an app on my iPhone) from the camera locations at the cabin, I notice a distinct latency in the time the app takes to start registering the network speed compared to running the same test at home, where I have a different ISP. At the cabin, the speed test app shows a flat line (mb/sec over time) for a bit before it starts roaring along at >20mb/sec. At home, it jumps up immediately to the local network speed. It’s quite noticeable and repeatable.

I’ve asked the cabin ISP to reset the connection and I’ve restarted the WiFi network - both to no effect.

I think the issue is with the ISP I use at the cabin. But I don’t know the terminology to get them zeroed in on solving this. Any suggestions on 1) what else to try, 2) what terms will get the ISP pointed to the issue and solving it?

Thanks!

[StephenB]

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@SipasDad wrote:
 At the cabin, the speed test app shows a flat line (mb/sec over time) for a bit before it starts roaring along at >20mb/sec. At home, it jumps up immediately to the local network speed. It’s quite noticeable and repeatable.

I think the issue is with the ISP I use at the cabin. But I don’t know the terminology to get them zeroed in on solving this. Any suggestions on 1) what else to try, 2) what terms will get the ISP pointed to the issue and solving it?

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Some cable modems have a built-in standby ("sleep") mode that could be kicking in.  There should be a LED indicator telling you if that is on or not.  So if you use a cable modem, you could try looking for that.  If the ISP is leasing you an access device (modem, gateway) or including it as part of your service - you could also just tell the ISP that you think it isn't working reliably, and ask if they can provide another one.

In general, your internet bandwidth is dynamically shared with your neighbors - so if you suddenly start using the bandwidth, the access device needs to request it.  That could be creating a lag (though it shouldn't be several seconds).  You could try running the speedtest while watching a youtube video on another device, and see if that startup lag continues. 

Though it could be a red herring - depending on where the speedtest server happens to be.

Do you have a way to test the speed over an ethernet connection at the cabin? (e.g, bring a laptop that has an ethernet connector?).

If you can reach the cabin router remotely, you could also try running a ping test that would let you know if the connection is unstable.

[SipasDad · Accepted solution]

Thanks, StephenB.

Happy to say the problem is now solved! The ISP moved me to a different VLAN and this one doesn’t have the lag in the connection time. Maybe it’s related to your idea on the network traffic being high on the original VLAN. The tech really had no idea why it would produce a different result. But now I get constant “online” from each of the cameras - as I would expect from the speeds I’m measuring and the “strong” signal strength in the camera setup utility.

So take heed, folks! “Offline” condition could be due to your ISPs VLAN performance - despite great speed and connection strength to your WiFi!

[StephenB]

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@SipasDad wrote:
The ISP moved me to a different VLAN and this one doesn’t have the lag in the connection time. 
...

The tech really had no idea why it would produce a different result.

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Interesting, thx for sharing.  I don't know why that would produce a different result either.  But if it's resolved, then all is well.