Pro 4 - discovery with Unifi 2.4ghz network

[jh5224a4]

I've been struggling with discovery.  Everything works fine on a hotspot so the cameras are functioning, however on my network I'm unable to add the cameras to my portal.  

The cameras are on my network, that portion of pairing/discovery seems to have worked, in that I can see them from the network side with valid IPs so drop the 2.4GHz/pairing portion which is the extent that the site troubleshooter goes to as far as I can tell.  Straight 2.4GHz, not 2.4/5 and not mesh.

So they're on the network, but can't be added via the mobile app or the web, in both cases on the same network and same access point as the cameras. "Discovery failed - your device could not be discovered. Make sure it's powered on and connected to the network."

It's on the network and responding to PING.

I can't find anything in logs to suggest that something on the Arlo side is being blocked but I've also failed to find a basic listing of domains that Arlo requires.  I see a lot of ad network traffic being blocked and did temporarily allow all requests, however this made no difference through pairing.  

At this point, I'm open to suggestions and any help is appreciated.

[jguerdat]

Since you connected the cameras to a hotspot but are now trying to connect to your WiFi, did you remove them from Settings, My Devices before trying to connect at home? Have you tried a factory reset on the cameras?

[jh5224a4]

Yes, I tried hotspot after encountering this situation, then removed devices/reset and I'm back to the same situation.  Devices on my network but aren't able to be discovered.

[jguerdat]

That would seem to imply a router setting blocking access to arlo.com on ports 80, 123 and 443. Can you verify that you have nothing configured to block the cameras?

BTW, if you're using a VPN, disconnect it while setting the cameras up.

[jh5224a4]

I have searched for a list of ports and domains but haven't found anything comprehensive.

I'm not blocking 123, 80, or 443 out, I've whitelisted *.arlo.com and don't see anything to that domain being blocked for any reason. 

I tend to agree with you, however I'd like to determine which domains need to be whitelisted beyond arlo.com

I am using VPN on the full connection however *.arlo.com traffic is exempt and uses the ISP gateway.

[StephenB]

Are you using ordinary DNS?  Or DoT/DoH?

Also, you might try changing DNS to use cloudflare (1.1.1.1), and see if that makes a difference.

[grovny]

Exact same problem as OP. New set of Pro4 cameras will not sync with the app (nor via the my.arlo website). They do show up on my Unifi 2.4G network, I can see the cameras and IP addresses. In my case, however, I have an additional non-Unifi 2.4G network on a different channel - tried that SSID and password, same result. The cameras read the QR code and chime, but the app cannot find them.

[jh5224a4]

Hey @grovny,

I'm still working on mine. I had all three on Unifi and blazing then found one of the lenses had a defect and had to swap so i'm back to square one but just sat to sort through.

I don't know what's failing in the Arlo discovery process, however I was able to simply add to a phone hotspot then go in and change (via the website) the network to the Unifi 2.4GHz.  I will say it hasn't been quite so easy this time around, so I'll have to see what I did differently from my notes.

[jh5224a4]

Thanks for the response on this @StephenB, the network segment these devices are on does not use DoT or DoH.

[jh5224a4]

@grovny  - I'm sorted now.  

While I can't add directly to my Unifi SSID, I've got a process I can repeat to get them on my network.  

Setup a hot spot that is separate from the mobile device you run the Arlo app on.  Join cameras to my.arlo.com with a browser from a computer connected to the hotspot.

Disarm cameras, launch the Arlo app on your mobile device while connected to your Unifi 2.4GHz SSID.  Change network (see here: https://kb.arlo.com/000062357/How-do-I-change-the-WiFi-network-that-my-Arlo-is-connected-to).

I hope this works for you and anyone else that may run across the issue until it's resolved.

[grovny]

Amazing that you figured that out.

I just realized I don't have hotspot enabled with my cell carrier, and they charge a $60 one-time fee to add it to one phone.

So I'm wondering whether your approach worked simply because you did initial setup using a different ISP, or whether "hot spot" was needed. If the former, I may try initial setup using a different ISP (from Starbucks, say) to save the $60.

Still begs the question, why does your approach work?

Thanks much for posting your experience.

[grovny]

UPDATE

My cellular carrier added hotspot for $10 vs $60, so I turned that on. Went through all the steps @jh5224a4 Aspirant listed above and it worked for all 3 cameras. Each is now connected to my Unifi 2.4GHz network.

Would still love to know why using hotspot for initial configuration works. Hopefully someone at Arlo sees this thread and will correct the syncing operation using this info.