Arlo Pro - Video freezes a few seconds into recording 30-40% of the time

[trippingwalrus]

I recently got a system, (2 cameras but only using 1 camera right now), and sometimes when it detects motion and records, I will go to the video and it will show 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds (whatever I had it set for at that time) recorded, but when I go to play, it will play 1 - 3 seconds and then the video will just freeze for the remainder of the clip. 

My base station and camera are about 20 feet from each other. Anyone have any suggestions? So far I like it when it works, but the fact that almost half the time the video does not get recorded is a huge problem. Thank you.

[Johnny290]

Server problems happens 2 me 2

[TomMac]

As mentioned... more like server or flash problems on your end..

First thing is to change browser if on a PC... for me Fire Fox seems to work the best right now.

The distance of the cameras to the base have no bearing on play back on the local computer.

Playback comes from Netgears servers to you local machine and then just play.

If you are having trouble trying to fiq out if the video is damage or not, Download the video and then play it ( all local then ). 

A very good open source player for free is VLC at  http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[Johnny290]

When I first got the system I thought it was a great thing. But after having many pixelation problems buffering distorted videos I'm finding out that this system is really not that great. I have a Samsung SmartCam that connects right away and hasn't none of these problems. Maybe future updates will make things work better.

[BansheeRider]

I really wish the support here would stop blaming the customer and their equipment for issues with this system. As a consumer of many years, this system is the buggiest piece of HW/SW I have ever experienced. So unless Arlo drops the price of these significantly, I really hope Arlo engineers are working tirelessly to make this product better. 

I have experinced the same as the OP but then randomly everything works fine again. Then a couple days later another bug will pop up. For the price I don't feel I got my value worth, but I am keeping it as some surveillance is better than none. Please Arlo....wake up and pay attention to the feedback here.

[Johnny290]

I couldn't agree more

[trippingwalrus]

The issue isn't with the browser, it is with the encoding. I've done the playback on my phone, and on several browsers, and they all show the same thing, so the video was recorded / encoded wrong. TomMac, it appears you didn't really read my original post. I am not having a "how do I play these videos?" problem. 

I think at this point I am just going to return the system and get a plugged in IP camera.

[Johnny290]

I believe the problem is with their servers. As I previously mentioned I have a Samsung SmartCam and they connect in about 2 seconds no pixelation no buffering. The Samsung cam also uploads video to Google so I can instantly watch. Unfortunately I'm past my return window so I'm stuck with this system it's not that I hate it it is just very buggy

[manofice]

I get this now and then. I chalk it up to their infrastructure or firmware encoding glitch. Both should be correctable in the future hopefully. Being in IT, I know how important a good infrastructure is... specially rolling out something like VDI. If your infrastructure isn't up to par it will cause so many issues. It could simply be caused by slow storage at their data center....

[jguerdat]

I just wish my servers wouldn't always resolve to Ireland while I'm in the US.  Transcontinental data transfers can open up all kinds of issues.

[manofice]

Interesting...how do we tell what servers we are sending to? That could be a huge issue and the root of a lot of issues. (Pixalation, Lag, etc).

[jguerdat]

A quick che k could be to use the ping or nslookup commands in a command window to Arlo.netgear.com and use the response of the DNS name to see where it is. I happen to use trace route (tracert in Windows-speak) so I can check the whole connection for slowdowns - anything with triple digit millisecond response times is an issue. It depends on how savvy you are for discerning where the server is. You chantry one of the following commands and just post the response here for me or us to look up:

ping Arlo.netgear.com

nslookup Arlo.netgear.com

traceroute (or tracert) Arlo.netgear.com

[Johnny290]

Wherever There Server is, it doesn't work well

[Tish86]

Same issue here, I get a lot of pixelation and freezing when I watch viedos on my phone, laptop, iPad or even download directly from their website. Has anyone tried to view content from local sotrage off their Pro base station with interenet connection removed? 

[manofice]

My tracert is full of triple digit ms, and timeouts. It slows down at Telia.net servers, which looks like Sweden. No freaking wonder we have pixalation and other issues. Use freaking American data centers netgear!!

[manofice]

Their of course using load balancers going through AWS servers but since it's going over seas, it doesn't appear to help much.

[jguerdat]

I've talked to an engineer who told me that the EU has different/stricter privacy rules than the US so the use of EU servers is to keep that in check.  However, I don't see how that applies to a system installed in the US except to minimize the number of servers in use so default to the lowest common denominator.

I'd love to see the difference when connected to a US-based server.

[Johnny290]

Thanks for info

[FamilyInFla]

I have had a similar experience with Netgear defaulting to user error.  I purchased a 4 camera system last July and so far have had to return 2 cameras for defects.  I purchased the Arlo Pro with audio last December and now it is malfunctioning and will most likely need to be replaced as well.

The system is great, when it works, but not even a year old and already having issues makes me regret purchasing this system.

[jguerdat]

You do realize that the system has a one year warranty, right?