Arlo Pro Camera - Video pixelated, frozen or green when recording

[Kate416]

I have 3 Arlo Pro cameras connected to my base station.  All 3 have been in place at their current locations for just shy of 3 years now. Never once had an issue w/ them until a week ago.

A week ago today (3/14), 2 of the 3 cameras started having issues when they were recording video after being set off by motion.  Both cameras have the record time set to 45 seconds when triggered.  I noticed that the record time far exceeded the 45 seconds it was set for.  The first 3 to 8 seconds of the recording are fine.  Then the screen has pixelated boxes show up on the screen.  Then the video pauses completely and either the screen goes completely green or it's a pixelated mess that you can't make out.  The audio works just fine this entire time. But the video is useless.  The thrid camera is not having this issue at all. Not once.

I took all three cameras down, fully charged them, deleted them off the base station, factory reset the base, added all the cameras back and put them all back up.  Same two are still having the issue described above.  And it's getting worse. It was just once in a while, now it's basically every time it records anything.

Wifi singal strength on all cameras is good and has full bars.  Firmware versions on all cameras is: 1.092.0.19_2622  Firmware on the base is: 1.12.0.1_27940  Nothing has changed w/ my internet service or signal.  I've contacted support but they haven't been much help.

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do here. Has anyone had this issue and is there a fix for it??

[jguerdat]

Swap the working camera and a problem one. See if the problem follows the camera or location.

[Kate416]

Good call, didn't think of that.  I'll do it tomorrow as all need a step ladder to get to all of them and it's dark out now.

I'll let you know.  

Thanks you!

[Kate416]

For ease of explanation, I'll number the cameras:

Camera 1 - Back deck (first camera to have this issue and the worst of the three)

Camera 2 - Front street (second camera to have this issue, works fine about 20% of the time)

Camera 3 - Front door - never developed this issue, has worked as it should the whole time.

I swapped all three cameras today.  Camera 3 is now where Camera 1 was and so far it's working just fine.  Camera 1 is where Camera 2 was and it isn't working.  It triggers when there's motion but what it records isn't usable. Video is non existant however the audio is just fine.  Camera 2 is where Camera 1 was and that is also still having the problem, though less frequently than Camera 3.

So, TLDR - swapping the cameras didn't fix anything.  It seems to me to be a camera issue, not a hub/internet issue.

[jguerdat]

I agree, it sounds like a hardware problem. Before going any further, try camera 3 where the original location for camera 2 was to rule that out as a location issue. If still no good, open a case with support:

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[Kate416]

Will do! 

Thank you for your help, I appreciate it!

[Kate416]

I take back my earlier statement.... all 3 cameras are having the issue now.

For about 5 hours yesterday, all three cameras were working perfectly. I set them all to the same sensativity (high, so they'd go off) and the same record time (1 minute).  All three were actually working how they should be.

This morning however, all three are having the problem now.  I can tell when it happens b/c the record time is over (sometimes well over) 1 minute.  

So... base station/internet issue?  Nothing has changed as far as my internet provider goes and every other wireless device connected to it works just fine.  I power cycled the base station again, didn't seem to help.

Any suggestions?

[jguerdat]

2 things:

1) What are your upload and download speeds as well as the latency noted by speedtest.net?

2) Contact support for a possible faulty base:

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[Kate416]

Speedtest.net gave me these results:

Download: 71.23 Mbps
Upload:61.28 Mbps

I have a support case opened but I haven't heard from them in 4 days now.  Which is why I took to the forums. I'll contact them again though.  Thanks!

[jguerdat]

Every few days reply to your case so it doesn't automatically close and to keep pressure on it. How did you open a case? DId you get a case number?

[Kate416]

I opened it via a chat session w/ them b/c apparently calling them they charge you?  It's: Arlo Support Case # 40763647

I just opened another chat w/ them. We'll see where this goes.

[jguerdat]

There's currently no charge for support, period. Use of the phone call costs nothing other than time.