Cameras no longer working

[r4nd0m]

I just noticed that none of my cameras is working anymore, apart from my Arlo Baby which obviously is directly connected without a basestation. I have 4 Arlo Pros which as far as I can see worked perfectly until the 18th as per portal which shows the last recording, I am not sure if they worked longer but today neither of them is working.

I have rebooted the basestation, which seems so boot just fine but none of the cameras will sync to it. I have removed a camera for testing purposes but even within 1m of the basestation it will not sync to it.

The base station, also responds to reboot requests initiated from the portal.

Not sure what else I can try. Any suggestions?

[r4nd0m]

I have just performed an entire factory reset - the basestation will come back but none of the cameras will sync to it - pretty much as previously 😡

[r4nd0m]

and please no suggestions to contact support apparently that is not possible - unless I get a support plan. 

Why would I get a support plan if the system is in a non-functional state.

[StephenB]

@r4nd0m - have you tried the push-button sync method to add back your cameras? Briefly press sync on the base and then press sync on the cameras. Arlo says the cameras should be about 1-3 meters from the base when you do this.

[r4nd0m]

@StephenB 

I indeed have, I did a factory reset on the bridge, and tried the app as well as manual, my assumption is the wifi module in the bridge has failed, tried to sniff the WPS handshake but didn't see anything - unfortunately no other methods for troubleshooting as the bridge does not have an interface to do so

its a real shame, as the cameras seem far superior as anything they have released since when it comes to battery life

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

You should see the base wifi SSID on your PC and phone - if you don't see that, then likely the wifi in the base has failed. The base of course can be replaced - if you do that, the VMB4540 is a reasonable replacement. Since it is a smarthub, it would let you access local storage in the app.

[r4nd0m]

@StephenB 

as I said, it is not emitting anything so my conclusion was the same as yours. will have a look at the VMB4540 (thanks for the hint) or build my own base and as such convert the cameras to RTSP only or invest more into my unifi setup. Only 6 years operational time is really nothing I consider impressive in this space, especially running 24/7.

[r4nd0m]

@StephenB 

just did a final test, interestingly now the cameras seem to sync to the basestation (3rd led goes solid after the first one has connected) but they dont populate in the app or the web interface - I wonder if this is not hardware but service related 🙄

perfectly observable, 3 times now in succession, sync button, blue light, on/off, add, led on basestation blinks, network shows activity, camera blue light blinks quickly, network seems to do more activity and I see increased packets on my firewall passing, basestation goes into linked mode with cameras connected led being solid but the cameras never fully provision. 

[StephenB]

Sounds like there is an Arlo wifi network then, otherwise the cameras could not connect to the base. Maybe try turning off your firewall and see if that allows the cameras to complete the provisioning. As fair as building your own base goes, that is not possible. The base connects into the Arlo cloud, and there is no way to duplicate what it does in a DIY build.

[r4nd0m]

on the firewall, the base station is already "excluded" from any enforcement and DNS inspection so it is bypassing, I can see the requests to "registration.arloxcld.com" when I sync the camera.

on rebuilding, as mentioned I have meanwhile built something that reduces the cameras solely down to RTSP - I have it working already - needs another NVR then obviously.

[r4nd0m]

there seems to be a lot of reports on issues on alternative platforms as well

[r4nd0m]

@StephenB 

and here is the bummer, no changes whatsoever, tried to connect the hub/cameras again and all works all of a sudden - so the service status they publish must be completely wrong, else this couldnt have happened

[StephenB]

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@r4nd0m wrote:

@StephenB 

and here is the bummer, no changes whatsoever, tried to connect the hub/cameras again and all works all of a sudden - so the service status they publish must be completely wrong, else this couldnt have happened

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I agree the service status isn't very complete, and unfortunately they don't have any published lists of issues.