Arlo Pro mount issue weak magnet

[dane]

Just got my new Arlo Pro yesterday and noticed that the magnet seems to be weak or the battery might be heavier as it keeps slipping or moving down on the mount and does not hold position. Anyone else notice this or have this problem?

twice I have set it up and it seems it just slips down, does not fall off but does not stay in position. It is a bit heavier than the first generation arlo and wonder if that is the reason. 

[dane]

Same here waiting for a solution but seems none yet for the half mount. Defeats the whole purpose of half mounts as intended to use them with the system.

[prof57]

Just received a new set of the hemispherical mounts from Netgear. I can definitely state that the slippage problem is not solved, although it appears that it now takes longer for the cameras to loose their pointing accuracy. I will try the balloon solution and see if that works. I am also calling customer service. It seems that the magnet size was not engineered properly for the weight of this camera.

[jguerdat]

I'm kinda wondering if it's the surface on the camera. I haven't compared them but yesterday I had a Pro down for resetting and thought the indented surface wasn't particularly tacky but seemed smooth.

[Zandex]

I got the replacement mounts for the Arlo Pro, but notice that the problem still exist. Basically, the camera drops in position over time. I placed a marker to observe the behavior and after three days it just dropped. They sent me the replacement on Monday, and installation was done around Tuesday. It is now Saturday, and the cameras are back to the same old position. In other words, it is not staying put!

[plasmo]

OK-

I bought the Arlo Pro 4-camera Pack.  NONE of the cameras had any magnet issues.

I added one more camera by purchasing an Arlo Pro single Add-on camera... and THIS ONE has magnet issues!  

Over several days, the camera angle starts drooping down.  It is slow, but I have already had to adjust the angle once.

Unfortunately this particular camera is located very high and I need to get on a very tall ladder... I may need to swap this camera for one of my other ones if this is an ongoing problem.

[TheKoman]

I have the same issue.  The half mount has less of noticible issue as the camera can only drop so far and mine are hung up high so the point down anywayz. I bought a arlo official ceiling mount and for sure it doesnt hold its position.  I tried the balloon thing without success.  Dont think arlo has a fix yet.  I believe its the magnet and arlo needs to fix this issue. 

Then it occured to me that may be able to self fix this sooner.  From what I remember from my college physics days Magnets seem to be cummulative and transfer part their magnitism to metal objects. Also, two magnets are stronger than one but not exactly additive, and they attract each other For example, the wall mount is not a magnet and doesnt attract a paper clip. If you attach the arlo pro camer to the mount, then the metal wall mount has some magnetic properties and can attract smaller obects, but with less force. The additive part can be seen if trying to pull a paper clip off a magnet vs trying to pull another magnet off the same magnet that was attached to the paper clip.

I think if you find another strong magnet to attach to the inside (or possibly outside) of the wall or ceiling mount, it would case the mount to have partial magnetic properities and may help hold the arlo pro camera.  I havent tried this yet but I plan to this coming week.  I found some magnets at the container store online and am planning to drop by a store and pick some up to see how strong they are and if this works. 

http://www.containerstore.com/s/office/message-boards-accessories/mighty-magnets/12d?productId=10007...

They seem even small enough to put inside the screw hole of the wall mount, you might just have to be carefull the magnet goes in the right direction so it doesnt repel the arlo pro camera magnet. I suggest putting the camera on the mount first then dropping the small magnet into the wall mount cavity.

If someone tries this before me, please post results

If this works, would be quick easy fix until alro upgrades their own magnet..... and arlo should pay me, or give me some free cameras or service if it does work....=)  Hope this works. Good luck guys, I'll let you know once I try it

[jguerdat]

Try a piece of balloon. Also, open a case to see if you can get new mounts.

[JayAdams]

---

jguerdat wrote:
Try a piece of balloon. Also, open a case to see if you can get new mounts.

---

Ugh, I'm tired of hearing this solution...it's a bandaid to a problem that should never have happened. For this kind of money there is no way i'm going to start cutting up balloons and putting them on the mounts. ARLO should replace these mag mounts with the threaded type if they can't resolve it.  The problem is that the magnet is in the camera, so increasing its strength would require a recall. If it was just changing a magnet in a mount that would be easy to reissue on recall...but this is a huge issue for them to fix ASAP.  What good are security cameras if they don't point where you aim them?

[jguerdat]

It's a combination of magnet strength and the surfaces on both the camera and mounts. I believe there are new mounts with a different surface now being made available - have you opened a case to get a set sent to you?

To everyone - if you have a problem, feel free to ask here but without a case being opened all any of us can do is make suggestions.

[JayAdams]

---

jguerdat wrote:

It's a combination of magnet strength and the surfaces on both the camera and mounts. I believe there are new mounts with a different surface now being made available - have you opened a case to get a set sent to you?

---

Yes, a case has been opened. I informed them that I have 4 cameras installed, two of which are using the ball/mag mounts. I have purchased a total of 9 cameras and had planned to install the balance this weekend. Netgear service, instead of sending me out a couple of the new "rougher" mounts (which apparently are hit-and-miss on this forum for solving the issue), sent me an RMA to return one of the two cameras. No other comment. I've asked for clarification of why they want the camera back and so far no response.  I wonder if they intend to replace the magnet in the camera, or replace the camera with a new one that has a stronger magnet.  Quite frustrating for something at this price point to have such a simple failure.

I may put a rare-earth neodynium magnet into one of the ball mounts (you can but these little suckers in volume for pennies) and see if I can align the polarity such that it pulls the camera harder onto the mount and see if that helps rather than returning the cameras.

[TheKoman]

I did the small magnets and it seems to work. Need a few of them thou. Balloons didn't help me. I haven't opened a case yet cuz no point cuz they haven't found a fix yet. No point them sending me another mount or whatever without a real fix.

[TheKoman]

Correcting above post. I tried piece of nitrile glove from a medical clinic and it did not work. I'll have to try the ballon idea or latex gloves next.

[Tlpollock]

I just tried some sandpaper and roughed up the rubber smooth surface on the camera side of the mount and it has stayed in place now for two days. This is with the new mounts they sent me a few weeks ago. Maybe it may work for you guys too.

[jguerdat]

OOhh!  Nice trick!  I thought the plastic insert was probably the real issue so I may try that next time I pull them down.  Thanks!

[Tlpollock]

I noticed the rubber was shiny and really smooth, I basically knocked that glossy coating off the rubber socket with some fine sandpaper. It's now three days and still in position. I will take my other camera down and do the same to it also when I have time.

[schuess60]

I contacted Netgear Support and they first sent me new magnetic mounts which didn't work. They followed up and I let them know it didn't work. They then sent me screw on wall mounts as replacements. No more slippage problems. Netgears support has been responsive and friendly. Thanks for the great support!

[Tlpollock]

I roughed up my other camera's rubber socket last night and it is still in position this morning. So I have not tried this with the original mounts that came with it, but the half ball mounts that Netgear sent me plus lightly sanding the rubber socket in the camera has stopped my slippage problem so far.

[mcracken]

Yes same issue mine keeps pointing to the ground and wont stay in spot also just got the 4 pro setup and 1 cam is garbage out of the box and support is a joke they suck if they don't issue a new cam junk going back for refund 

[Tlpollock]

Support has been pretty good for me so far. I opened a case and I would get on the link they sent me and comment on my case every few days, they always answered back and sent me new screw in outside mounts free of charge. Roughing up the rubber sockets on the cameras with fine sandpaper has pretty much solved the cameras dropping position for me.

[jguerdat]

I just installed two cameras from an unrelated RMA and it appears that the contact patch on the back of the camera has been revised.  Touching/rubbing the plastic piece seemed to have a slightly different feel and the end result is that they haven't slipped.  Seems like a running change has been made for the cameras.

[Maalouf]

HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS IS SOLVED?

This is a terrible issue that has left me puzzled and ready to return the items to best buy. Netgear..you need to step it up here. I am the Director of IT for a large medical company and I use your products across many of our office platforms. I vouched for your camera system and so far it has done nothing but cause me a bit of embarrassment. The cameras are too heave. Period. Send us screw mounts or create better wall mounts for us but something must be done. 

[JayAdams]

I ended up going the rare earth magnet route, and it has resolved my issue.  The replacements that Netgear sent out to me didn't do anything to fix my problem at all. So, I bought a sleeve of round rare earth Neodynium magnets, making sure they would slide into the back of the mount, and by placing one into each mount the increased magnetic attraction has resolved my issue. How in the world they didn't discover this issue in prototyping of the Pro cameras I don't know, and it's fairly disappointing that I had to fix my own issue, but on a positive note the cost was negligable.

And before anyone bombs my reply, know that I'm aware it shouldn't be up to US as a community to fix these types of known issues. I just needed to get these very expensive cameras working and didn't have time to fark around any longer with support from Netgear to get it done.

[Maalouf]

Thank you for your reply. I can understand the urgency and I am also prepared to make some modifications to make this work. Can you tell me where is cam purchase the magnets your ended up using?

[Tlpollock]

Maalouf, get some fine sandpaper and rough up the rubber socket in the camera. Very simple fix that has worked well for me. Very easy to do.