Arlo Pro Two Way Audio Delay

[DayDad]

Hello,

i was was wondering if anyone else has been experiencing two way audio lag when using the talk feature. It seems that when the person on the other end starts to talk after I let go of the button, the microphone isn't quick enough to switch over to pick up what they're saying. So half the time I miss what the person says and I have to get them to repeat themselves. It's very frustrating to have such a bad lag that you can't really have a normal conversation over the unit if needed. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?  

Also even connecting to live view seems to take 5-10 seconds to do sometimes. This happens both using wifi and LTE.

[lov2krz]

I just installed my Arlo Pro on my existing Base Station.  There is a lag of upto 12 seconds on some connections which isn't as advertized.  I tried call technical support but got disconnected on three separte calls in 2 days with wait times over 45 minutes.

I might return my unit and go with the Ring Doorbell!

[jguerdat]

The issue is likely due to the need to run everything through the servers although signal strength between the base and cameras can be an issue, too.  Also, what are your transfer rates, up and down, as measured by speedtest.net?

[DayDad]

Well for me I have 150Mbps download and up to 150Mbps upload service at home. Actual speed test is 140-160Mbps download and closer to 130Mbps up average. So I don't think my home internet speeds are an issue. It's more of an issue with the Arlo servers not being able to handle the bandwidth of everyone's system? I mean I almost get instant notification of motion or sound being detected sent to my phone and I can see that it's recording when I'm in the app. But when I go into Live View it's painfully slow to even get into the device to view the image. Plus like I said there's a lag with the two way audio that makes me sometimes miss what the person at the door is saying and I have to get them to repeat things. I'm hoping this is just a temporary server or app issue.

My brother has the Ring Pro which actually gives a better view of someone at the door because of the height in which it's installed. The disadvantage of the Arlo as a front door camera is that if you're tight on space at the front the angle you get will not be the greatest. This is mainly if you install it higher up to avoid it getting stolen. Not to say someone can't steal or mess with the Ring Pro but they do have a free replacement offer if it does happen which is kind of nice. It would be nice if Arlo had something similar in terms of replacement if someone steals the camera. It wouldn't be hard for the company to permanently disable the camera from being used in that event since they have the serial numbers logged in the app anyway.

[Johnny290]

I also have this lag problem

[jguerdat]

I don't think it's a server issue but the server location. I'm in Rochester, NY and my server is in Ireland. Two transcontinental trips, over and back, per query adds up quickly.

[DayDad]

How do you check which server you are on? Are there any North American servers? Is there any way to change it at all? I agree, that it's kind of silly to have the server so far away.

[jguerdat]

I use tracert.exe from a command window in Windows. The usual command is traceroute in most other OSes.

tracert or
traceroute Arlo.netgear.com

It's a little art to interpret the output so post it here. Don't worry about any failures - that's normal.

[lov2krz]

I have a very robust WiFi setup using an Airport Extreme 6th Generation unit with two Ethernet connected Access Points (AP). My cable modem speeds are 67Mbps download and 5.78Mbps upload speed.

OSX 10.12.2, Fully charged battery and full bars of wifi.

My point is if Ring can provide near instant two way talk so should Arlo Pro

I get the server transfer issues but that's not the customers problem.

[Johnny290]

I have a Samsumg smart cam and experience no delays why is it that Arlo

Pro has these delays.

[jonarnaldo]

What I've observed is that while at home on the same network there is a 2 second lag in audio from my android phone but a few millisecond lag from my computer.

[Shrick]

Yes, ive also noticed this. Android also breaks up die audio, it stutters. The IOS app also has much more responsive and clear audio communication. Theres issues with the android app around using the mic.

[lov2krz]

I'm still finding that it is very difficult to connect to the camera quickly even when I'm at home.  In most cases my wife will have already connected with the Ring device and carrying on a conversation before I even get connected through the app.  When it finally connects the volume on the camera is so low people standing 3 feet away on my porch can not hear me clearly.  I get a lot of "could you repeat that", I can hear them well, but the volume on the camera side is weak.

When it comes to connecting while I am out and about I now use the ring which will connect within 15 seconds or less.  In most cases connecting with Arlo they have already left or my wife has already addressed them via the Ring.

Had I known how poorly connectivity is with this system I would have gone solely with Ring whose devices can operate on battery power.  I'm using an iPhone 6S running the latest iOS and the Arlo was last update a few months back.  I have not had any notices of new firmware for the camera's or receiver connected to my router.

[DayDad]

Sorry to bring up an older thread but are people still having a major audio delay with two way audio/talk. This is still a big issue for me as it seems useless to have when I can't have a normal quick conversation with the person on the other end.

[lov2krz]

Yep, connection delay is still unacceptable, my wife can connect and speak to someone at my front door through Ring than I can connect with my Arlo Pro camera in the same location.

I'll get notifications from both Arlo and Ring for motion or audio but actually connecting is another story.

You should get notifications for firmware when the home page first loads.

[DayDad]

Such a shame. I had high hopes for the Arlo Pro system. It's been almost a year since I first got the system and they still haven't improved the live stream connection issues and two way audio lag. I may just have to add a Ring Pro after all.

[emichel6888]

Just bought the Pro 2 and immediately noticed the same problem. This feature was one of the main reasons I bought this system, now I am seriously considering if I should just return it. I did a fair amount of research and did not find any complaints about this until I experienced it first hand and searched specifically for it, and even then it is only here. I plan to rectifiy this situation, people should know ahead of time that one of the main features is practically useless.

[Duckdonald]

I have the same issue. I am going to return it.

[JeffWang]

Same here. I received the system a few days ago and the two way audio has been pretty much useless. There was a 10+ sec delay. Or for many times, it does not send the audio out at all.

I am very surprised for how bad it could be.  Considering on returning it.

[Rpatter]

The Arlo Pro push to talk does not work either, when it does work there is 20sec delay or more. QVC sales people do not tell you this or any other issues. Ex. when monitoring camera's there is a 10 to 15 second delay also. My camera's are no father than 30ft one is 10ft away.

[pc2k17]

No delay issues for me. Takes 5 seconds to activate the microphone and 1-2 seconds for my voice to be heard from the camera speaker. In my testing, it works perfect 80%-90% of the time. Out of ten tries 1 or 2 times my voice gets cut off and I don't hear what I said. It's not perfect, but works fine for me.

Phone: Samsung S8

Andriod 8.0.0

Arlo app 2.4.12

ATT 4G LTE

(did not test on home wifi since I never connect my phone to wifi)