Pro5S Missing events & taking snapshots

[chicane]

I've had ongoing headaches with my Pro 5S cameras not detecting events or taking snapshots instead.

Today I did a side by side test with a Pro 4 camera in the same location. Both devices are on 2.4GHz and connected to an outdoor Ubiquiti AP (great signal strength for both). I did try the device on 5GHz and found it to be similarly flaky so reverted to a hopefully more stable 2.4GHz connection. Unfortunately not.

Since I have done this side by side test, the Pro 4 is detecting every event (and recording a video). 

The pro 5 recorded video once, completely missed one event and recorded a snapshot instead for the third event. With the video was choppy and audio partially missing at the start, while the Pro4 was smooth and had audio for the full clip.

Both devices are active under my subscription, set identical under the routine (to record video), and smart notifications set the same.

I've had this replaced with a new sealed unit by support for the second time with the same outcome.

Are these devices inherently faulty? anyone else experiencing similar?

[StephenB]

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@roundball wrote:

Yet your Pro5 Firmware and our Pro5s Firmware are not the same, they’re different.

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Both have the same part number (VMC4060P) which I think is clear evidence that there is really only one camera model (just branded differently in some countries).  FWIW, I always found the "s" in Pro 5s to be a bit odd, personally think they should just call it Pro 5 everywhere.

Sorting out differences in firmware is tricky because

• New firmware releases are done quietly (nearly silently)
• Some folks are on Field Trial software, others aren't.
• Arlo almost always uses a rolling release process, so it can take a long time for a new release to reach everyone.
• Firmware in Europe often lags behind other geographies (I think linked to the Verisure partnership).

[chicane]

@BrookeN for the sake of this audience could we get an update? What is happening with this known fault? What is the scope? 

[roundball]

@BrookeN 

Hope you've had another good week...need more of your excellent help.

Arlo is not getting these current pro5s problems fixed.

Will you please expedite replacement of these new defective pro 5s cameras?

Please let me know ASAP, thank you.

Copy:  @chicane 

[Edinburgh_lad1]

I'm confused: is there a problem with firmware or hardware on these Pro 5s? I thought it was the former? 

[chicane]

Firmware issue as far as I know, although my Pro 5S has never been reliable, compared to my Pro 4 cameras.

There has never been a straight answer as to the scope of the issue.

Seems @BrookeN had stopped replying. I wonder if her management has told her to stop engaging?

It’s a real disgrace and shame how Arlo has gaslighted their customers in failing to properly acknowledge or address the issue. 

[EvelynArlo6]

Mine is sending notifications with no video to show for it. I asked for my account to be closed and was refused. Instead they want a supervisor to call me. 

[Wolfpretzel]

It is pretty poor form for Arlo not to be sufficiently open about issues but as with any big company they would rather dodge questions like politicians so that it hopefully doesn’t affect their sales. 

My Pro 4’s were far more reliable despite the audio issue they had (a hardware fault). I thought it would be smooth sailing with the RMA 5S’s as a replacement for them but it has not been. At least the Pro 4’s captured and recorded all events. 

[chicane]

@Wolfpretzel I have noticed the same with my pro 4 cameras (garbled audio on recording) - lucky I don't use that too much but it is still really annoying but at least the pro 4 captures ok. The pro 5S miss events and have very jerky capture for the initial phase when they work. They are so disappointing, even more so their pathetic support.  

[chicane]

@BrookeN please signal that you are still somewhere out there? You're our only hope!

[Edinburgh_lad1]

@chicane are you based in Europe? If so, you can take your Pro 5s back to the seller and ask for a refund on the basis that they're unfit for purpose.

I know you'd rather keep them, but I think this firmware saga and support's attitude in general really sums up the attitude of the whole company to you as a customer. Just a few questions for you to think about:

For starters, why is the product released without being properly tasted? Why is it taking so long to fix the issue? Why is the communication so minimal in terms of what the issues are? Why is there no apology for all that and for the issue itself? Where is the management in all this, given the seriousness of the problem? There's a community manager on here, yet he's hardly visible. Why is there no mention of compensation or goodwill gesture for the problems experienced? Why is there silence recently?

Surely, any reputable company would have been embarrassed by this whole situation and management stepping in to *at least* issue an apology. 

Dixit.