Arlo Pro Nightvision Issue

[arlobro]

Hi,

Having an issue with Nightvision.

During the day, live view works just fine.

During the night, when using live view, it works fine..but after shutting down the live view - I get about 4 or 5 alerts in a row right after using live view that motion was detected (and it records for 20 seconds each -as I have it set to do)

Tested by turning Nightvision off, live view works, and when closed, no motion detected.

It seems like the camera is detecting its own Nightvision light as motion for some reason.. Bug? anyone else have this issue?

I have the latest base and camera firmware installed.

Thanks.

[TheFivePack]

Has there been a solution to this issue? I had 2 cameras with the issue and Amazon replaced both. Fixed the problem. Added 2 more cameras to my system, both continually record motion on night vision after live view or a motion triggers them. One for 4-5 more clips but the other won't stop recording clips until I turn it off then back on. Unless Netgear has a solution I don't see in this thread it looks like I need to exchange both cameras.

[AndyForReal]

Finally got swapped out my 2 replacement cameras out of the original 4-pack from Best Buy.

New hardware model is H8.  Mine looked new.

One of the new replacements still had the same problem, although only 1 false alert.

I was playing around with the sensitivity and brought it down to 1% and tested it worked fine.

Brought it back up to 80% and so far its been working fine.

No ticking.

[manofice]

How can they send these out with the issue still present! It's so easy to replicate...I just don't get it...

[arlobro]

To answers the previous question about manufacturer - both H7 and H8 hardware versions are "Made in Vietnam"

I'm not sure why they send out ones that still have issues.  I have the feeling even though they appear new, they are definately opened and checked or reflashed -- whatever they do with returned cameras.  Issues are not checked for.

I also thought they looked brand new but look at the magnetic mounts that came with them .. all H8's had scratches on the mounts -like they were previous holding a camera.  The ones that came with my 4 cam system were and still are pristine.

In order to fully test for ticking sound it must be very quiet.. hardly any ambient noise.  (dead of night, or indoor w/everything off) 

I sent back 4 test cams they sent me, exchanging one of my originals with an H8, I kept one that has the ticking sound, because I couldn't take the multiple motion alerts any longer and it was eating the battery alive.  All 4 were sent back for engineers to look at and try and figure it out.  I also sent them sample vids with the ticking sound in my case.

Hopefully they figure it out, and get rid of effected cams from their inventory so I can get 2 good working cams without either of the issues.

I have 5 cams now (1 new one purchased from Amazon, no issues whatsoever, same exact location as others that had all these problems)

I still have 2 that have some form of these two issues: one has ticking & does 1 false motion alert occasionally after live view or motion event at night (H8 I kept), and one that has no ticking, but false motions 4-5x after an event or live view...I demoted this cam to IFTTT duty so it does not use its PIR, until I get a good one from Netgear.

It's not the location, because putting any of my good cams in the exact mount, same direction .. no issue.  The good cams are also at 100% motion detection level right now, and no false alerts.

Battery staying full ..still near 100% on all active cams. I tried the 80% 50% 10%,etc motion detection level to test. It's not that. if the cam is bad it will tick, false alert and eat the battery much more quickly then good cams.

[Carnage74]

JamesC,

I purchased the Arlo Pro 3 camera system and have had them outside for three nights now and have been getting multiple false motion activations, very frustrating. Similar to all of the other posts regarding this issue I would like to stay updated on the resolution that the engineers come up with. Contact me if necessary.

[foxfly]

Arlobro, did Netgear provide you return shipping labels or you paid out of your pocket?

I just realized I still have this issue with 3 cameras if I set sensitivity higher than 90-95%. More interestingly, very often I got false motion alerts for those 3 cameras as soon as I logged in the app or through the web interface even without viewing them. The cameras must receive some signals from the app or the web interface telling them to be ready, and those signals trigger the montion sensors. This also only happens with night vison on, although it seems to be something different. I saw there is another thread talking about this. Now I only have one perfect camera...

JamesC, is this normal that when sensitivity is higher than 90-95% the motion sensors are sometimes triggered by launching the app or web interface?

[foxfly]

did a quick search and found false alerts after logging in is reported by some users: 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo/False-triggers-after-loging-in/td-p/1060696

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Features/Every-time-I-log-in-web-app-one-camera-starts-recording/m-...

[Watrous]

I've got the same issue with one of my four cameras also purchased at Best Buy, Ugh.  Can I return the single broken camera to BB for a replacement or do I need to return all 4 as a set and start over?  

[DeadPixel81]

Same issue here - many false alerts at night time (works fine during day time) in my garage. I guess I will try exchanging the system when I can. It was purchased at best buy.

[arlobro]

I did not pay to return the cameras, return labels were provided by my support contact.

All my cameras are at 100% motion - and do not trigger unless there is true motion (person, squirrel, cat, rabbit - whatever) sets them off.

Still in the same situation, 2 of my 5 cameras have one of the two issues --- every replacement cam sent to me either had the ticking, or repeated motion events (just one repeat, or multiple up to 5) after a true motion event or live viewing as the triggering event @nighttime with NightVIsion on.  All work fine during the day (except the tickers still tick if its very quiet out)

I sent back 4 cameras that have these issues and engineers are supposedly looking at them.

Hope you did not receive one of them as a replacement 🙂

What's the chances that the replacement cameras all had these issues?

I can just guess at this point.

Either they weren't truely unused (ex. someone elses return because of a problem either ticking or repeated motion events), poor manufacturing in vietnam, or a major hardware/design flaw (batch of bad components?)

your guesses are as good as mine ..all I want are working cams.  They should figure out the issue and remove these cams from the replacement inventory and just throw them out.

All replacement cams from Netgear are H8 hardware version.  I was told this is the latest hardware revision. Has anyone purchased cams with H8? My suspicions are H8 is factory refurbished/returned previously until someone posts that they purchased a brand new H8 hardware version from a retail store (factory sealed)

A brand new camera not sourced from Netgear is working just fine .. (H7 hardware version)

Just recently requested a follow up to find out any new information. Waiting.

[Watrous]

ARLO-  Are you reading this?  Please take care of us, we have spend a lot of money on these cameras (close to $800 for a 4 pack and extra mounts).  Thank you!

[foxfly]

arlobro, is your sensitivity set at 100% for all the cameras? Did you try lower sensitivity like 90%? At 93%-100%, only one of my 4 cameras works fine, but at 90% or lower they all seems to work fine. I bet not many people set sensitivity above 90%, so they are probably not aware of this. If this is the case, Netgear probably needs to temporarily rescale sensitivity to block 90%-100%, until they find a solution, but this seems to be a hardware issue. The components are squeezed in such a compact space, which makes they interfere with each other easily.

[arlobro]

Yes. All 100%, but not by accident:

When I first got the system I ran it at the default 80% that it comes set at.. then lowered it over and over 75..70.65.. etc

didn't matter.  the cams were just bad out of the box and exihibiting the behavior in the 2 locations they were in.

Once I got mostly working cams by keeping one from Netgear, and swapping a brand new one I purchased into the spot (exact same spots, exact same permanant mount/and direction) I jacked them all up to 100%, no issues, no false motion triggers at all..

The false motion triggers I'm talking about happen after an actual motion event or live view.. no matter what the sesitivity is (on the bad cams).

I was just testing them at 100% - just to see the behavior with known working cams that don't have the issues.   so far I've just left it at 100% because battery is NOT draining, and no false motions..  only 1 cam which ticks and will occasionally trip once after a motion or live view (a replacement from netgear)

My other cam that has repeated motion events was demoted to IFTT duty (motion detection off) until Netgear figures this out and can send me 2 good cams that don't tick, and don't trigger false motions

[greenweenie]

I for one would not want the sensitivity block - I have a night mode set on 2 cameras to 100% - Never a false but picks up raccoons, possums, and cats like magic. When at 80% because of the distance they walk right by without triggering.

[TheFivePack]

I agree, I don't want the sensitivity block. I had to exchange my cameras to fix the problem on the ones that were having it but I like to be able to set my sensitivity where I need it.

[arlobro]

That is exactly why I have it at 100% - I want to see the critters that are walking around at night 🙂

Works well.

What I did on my driveway cam I focused it mostly downward without getting any of the street in view, because passing cars would set it off at 100% even though they are far out of the specified range.

Once it was set mostly downward at just the actual driveway / front area I set it to 100%..  no issues. people and critters set it off only. So far battery is holding strong.

The demoted cam with the motion triggering issue is inside house temporarily, facing out the front window for a whole street view. I have IFTTT set up to start recording from the indoor demoted cam if there is motion on the driveway cam.  So I get 2 clips in the Library, one downward facing driveway/front, and one full wide street view.  Since the demoted cam is relying on the good cams motion, no issue so far - but I still would like a 100% working cam.

So when Netgear gets this sorted out -- either firmware or hardware, they will send me 2 good cams .. I must of tested these things for quite a while, should give me a bonus cam!

[TheFivePack]

Question, why use IFTTT instead of just setting up the indoor cam to record off motion in the driveway within the Arlo modes? I've only had mine a few weeks and hadn't tried this but it seems like you can use any camera to trigger another.

[InsaneDiego]

I want to heap on the pile also. My driveway camera has this issue. Once it senses motion it will record 2-3 back to back clips. Fortunately it stops though. I figured that in my case it was my security light causing it. For all I know it still might be but this thread has given me some food for thought. I'll be waiting to see if there is an actual solution short of an RMA.

[AndyForReal]

I would just try getting it RMA'd.  All my cameras are working perfectly now after replacing the 2 faulty ones.

[Tish86]

I too just got the Arlo Pro 4 pack and one camera kept giving false alerts with back to back recordings, I exchanged one camera and now a different camera is doing the same thing after I synced a new camera. My guess is the issues in the hub and not the camera. 

[ysu]

I just got my 4-camera Pro kit from Bestbuy over the weekend and had the same issue on first night. At least one of the backyard cameras send 5-10 false notifications after a live view or legit motion under night vision mode. Haven't had a chance to swap hardware to isolate the problem. Will try in the next couple days. I saw the forum is literally flooded with same complaints from different users. Hope they have a good solution, preferably with software/firmware update if possible, than just asking people to exchange hardware and "see if it works". Thanks. 

[jguerdat]

It's not a "flood" here but there certainly are issues. I had both of my Pro cameras replaced which fixed the issue, just as many others here have. I have the older hardware version and they're working fine now.

It's not the base, it's a hardware issue that we simply can't solve here. As suggested many times already, your choices are to swap at the store or open a case with support.

[ysu]

Thank you. In 2 pages I found at least 4-5 threads talking about this so I assumed it's quite common.

Anyway, I'm contacting netgear support. I can also bring back to best buy to swap but how do I know if the new cameras will work? They probably have the same batch?

FYI all my 4 cameras are doing false alarms in night vision. The one above garage is slightly better as it stops after 2-3 notifications. Others send ~10 false positive notifications after live view.

[jguerdat]

No way of knowing that any replacement cameras will work, whether of the same batch or not. It's likely that a new setup will work fine but there's no guarantee.

[Retired_Member]

Looks like I'm late to the party on this thread, but somewhat comforting that it's a common issue so hopefully the engineers are busy working on it. Anyway I've sent 4 cameras back to Netgear already due to ticking.  Receive replacement, same problem, send back... and repeat. The support folks have been great so far but it's now with engineers and it's been a few days since I last heard anything. Someone else questioned why they can't be tested and I've been asking the same - why send out another faulty camera - fire it up in the office/lab/wherever and make sure it works first.  Replacement cams have all been hardware version H8 and I've also got the false motion, 3 or 4 alerts after live view at night but since this camera will again be going back at some point I guess we'll just see what happens with replacement number 5!