Constantly having to restart Pro 5S

[Joseph17]

I am so beyond tired of having to restart this cam every day multiple times.  My other Arlo indoor cam has no issues. But the Pro 5S will just take forever to connect. The only fix appears to be a restart. I've had the thing for 3 yrs with on and off issues but never get a level of good consistent performance.  Is the thing getting too old? Do they die after a few years? OK, rant over.

With my Ring cams, in and out, at two properties, everything works flawless, all the time. Not to mention I pay $100 per yr with Ring for 9 cameras, but Arlo wants $250 for my two cams per year. Yikes.

[ShayneS]

@Joseph17 

Was this Connecting concern always problematic with the device when you first purchased it?

[ShayneS]

I reviewed the camera connectivity and it looks like you have a very low RSSI value. This will likely cause live stream, offline, and connectivity issues. Some of the main causes are using a 5 GHz band, which does not reach as far as that 2.4 GHz band. Doors, walls, glass, distance, other devices, all can cause radio interference. 

To verify this range issue, you can bring that camera closer to your router and you should see an improvement with connecting. You can also try moving to a 2.4 GHz band. 

[Joseph17]

Thanks for the help! Doesn't this cam automatically select the strongest network? In the settings it states that I'm connected to both. The router is an older ATT provided unit that works good overall for everything else. Plus I have it elevated in a open room, no more that 50 ft from the Pro 5S. There's not a lot of "stuff" between the router and cam.

Unlike with my Ring app, I don't see the RSSI indicated in the Arlo app, or can't find it.

[ShayneS]

@Joseph17 

The RSSI is a value for the support team. The only signal bar you will see is the Signal bars in the app. Let me dig in to this a little more with the team and I will report back as soon as possible. In the meantime, if possible, you can try making two separate bands for 2.4 and 5 GHz. And reconnect the camera to 2.4 and see if that improves the live streaming. It should. You can also try and assign that device to 2.4 through your router so it sticks as well. 

[Wapm66]

I have the same issue.  My setup is a doorbell camera and Pro 5s camera.  Doorbell camera 100% reliable with motion and recording the Pro 5s not so - needs a restart every day. Have tried setting my router to restart every day on scheduled task to force camera to reset, seems to be better but still needs occasional restart.  Very frustrating.  

[lpd688]

Just fyi, I had very similar issues with the Pro 4s.  I have since replaced all my Pro 4s with Pro 5s.  The problem was not rectified until my ISP had a mechanical failure at their plant.  Once they made the necessary repairs, I’ve not had any connection issues with cameras.  Just a thought, check into if there is an issue with your ISP.

The issues my ISP had to resolve was a cable modem termination system and replacing their amps at their plant.

[ShayneS]

@Wapm66 

Can you PM me with the last 4 of the serial umber of the devices or the names of them that this is occurring with? Also, do you have a screenshot as well? 

[Wapm66]

Hi Shayne, thanks for reply. How do I PM you as I don’t want serial numbers in this public post? 
thanks

Wapm

[ShayneS]

@Wapm66 

You should be able to select my username then on the right side I believe has a send user a private message button in green. 

[Wapm66]

Hi Shayne,

I don’t see that option only these under the green button. And after clicking your name I see your posts but no PM options. See screenshots below   

 

 

[StephenB]

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@Wapm66 wrote:

I don’t see that option only these under the green button.

 

press the envelope icon (top right of your second screenshot).

[ShayneS]

Thanks StephenB

[Joseph17]

Do I really have to go thru all this? The Pro 5S says it's connected to both the 2.4 and 5 band. Plus it says it'll select the best band. Still every single day I'm having to restart this thing. Then it'll work for an hour or so, maybe a day, who knows. Like just now,  big snowplow truck went by but no notification. Other times it'll pick up a squirrels movement.

It's beyond frustrating. Honestly, it's winter here and cold out, otherwise I'd replace this thing today with another brand.

[ShayneS]

@Joseph17 

To further troubleshoot this, we'll have to perform some steps, and if possible, you will need to provide some info if we need to further investigate the root cause. 

Have you tried resetting the camera and utilizing the same location? 

Are you using an AP with mesh capabilities (Multiple AP devices)? Your AP would be the ATT gateway combo. Does it have mesh capabilities and are you using it?

1. If yes, what is make and model?  is it ISP provided equipment

The Reason for the questions are that some mesh AP devices and ISP provided equipment can be very aggressive at “Managing” devices (Load balancing) including forcing client devices to a specific band or Mesh AP node.  

[Joseph17]

To further troubleshoot this, we'll have to perform some steps, and if possible, you will need to provide some info if we need to further investigate the root cause. 

Have you tried resetting the camera and utilizing the same location?  Yes, I have.

Are you using an AP with mesh capabilities (Multiple AP devices)? Your AP would be the ATT gateway combo. Does it have mesh capabilities and are you using it?  No mesh.

1. If yes, what is make and model?  is it ISP provided equipment  Pace 5268, provided  by ATT

The Reason for the questions are that some mesh AP devices and ISP provided equipment can be very aggressive at “Managing” devices (Load balancing) including forcing client devices to a specific band or Mesh AP node.  

[Wapm66]

Hi Shayne,

Thanks for the advice, so you’re suggesting to remove the 5GHz connection and use only the 2.4GHz connection.  I have 2 cameras both with the same problem, one is very close to router the other is further away. 

I’ll see how it goes with just 2.4GHz connection.  

[ShayneS]

@Wapm66 

If you're experiencing similar symptoms, that is a step we can take to try and isolate any potential issues to see what kind of improvement we get. 

[Racinfan83]

I have a 7 camera Pro 5. All have power plugged into them.  I have used Arlo products for years and this is first major issue. I changed routers from a Netgear MESH system to a Deco MESH system, so I pulled all the cameras down, reset them, re added them, etc. They all show decent to excellent signal, and they're all connected to both 2.4g and 5g. Problem is they randomly keep going dormant - they say they're armed and in detection mode - but they aren't detecting anything, and when I try to view live camera they just give me the spinning wheel. Most of the time I can go to either the desktop app and hit "restart" and they will restart and I can go live with them. Then it happens again. Same thing with phone app.  Not always the same ones either. I have unplugged and re plugged the router, modem, etc, pulled all the cameras down and hard reset all of em and re-added, all that works, but then they will randomly just quit detecting again. It is freakin frustrating! Help!

[ShayneS]

@Racinfan83 

It sounds like the camera is going offline or has poor signal to the router. Are you able to test by bringing one camera inside and see how their live streaming and motion detection goes? 

[Racinfan83]

I can try that. Funny thing though is the two cameras that go dormant the most - one is inside - the other is outside but is the closest to the wired main deco mesh unit. (About 15 feet and there's a big window between them) I will bring it in after work and see what it does however... I did go into the Deco app and set all the cameras to 2.4g which seemed to help the ones on the back of the house... So IDK...

[Racinfan83]

So I brought the one that's closest to the main Deco in and it started working. So I deleted and reset it while I had it there, put it back out and it worked for a day or so. Then back to not picking up motion or being able to connect to it from app. This one is like 12 feet from the router and there's a window between them. 

I have gone onto my Deco app, and set all 7 cameras to 2.4g only, and the ones connected to the main router set to "high priority" on it..I still have random cameras with good signal dropping out not detecting motion until I restart them once, sometimes twice. Getting really frustrated....

[ShayneS]

I have escalated your case & someone from support will be reaching out to you as soon as possible.

[Wapm66]

Hi Shayne,

I’ve configured the Pro5S cameras (2) one at each property to only be connected to the 2.4G network. There was initial improvement but seems to have reverted to the same issue - camera is active but does not record.  What should I do next? 

[StephenB]

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@Wapm66 wrote:

camera is active but does not record.  What should I do next? 

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Can you make a manual recording while livestreaming the camera?