Many false audio trips starting today on all cameras? Did new firmware get released or :-?

[rustygearhead]

I have a four-camera Arlo pro system it has been working fine several months ...

All of a sudden earlier today all of the cameras started generating a high rate of false audio alarms.

I don't quite understand it....

I'm wondering if new firmware / software was recently pushed?

Has anybody else had this issue?

Thanks,

Jim

[Vaskier]

Same her
For the last two nights, my arlo pro were triggers by the audio noise ... but no noise at all at 1am in the morning 😞

[ravenlp]

I performed some testing last night with my devices that i figured I would relay here for anyone following along. I also contacted support again last night and reported what I'd tested, they told me they are investigating and to expect a follow up in 1-2 days.

A quick summary of my situation: 3 cameras all started spewing false audio notifications after the firmware update. The audio detection setting on all 3 cameras was set to level 3, and has been since first setting them up. This detection level worked well, we'd get audio notifcations for real sound and no false triggers. We also would rarely to never get triggers from nature, say wind, though rain would occiasionally trigger. It worked well. Post firmware update I was getting audio notifications on my camera that is inside the house, during the day when no one was home. I know it was silent in the house and should not have triggered.

I reset both the base station and cameras by removing power and/or the batteries - this had no impact

I unpaired one of my impacted cameras and re-synced it with the base station - this had no impact

I tried turning off the microphone and leaving my audio detection at the same level (3) - this had no impact

I confirmed that turning audio triggers off entierly does stop the contstant triggering - so this could be a work around for people still receiving notifications

I also confirmed that reducing my audio detection level (to 2) has stopped the back to back audio triggers. - this is my current work around, I have set all my cameras to 2.

That said, I'm still seeing inconsistent results with the audio level set to 2. When I was physically testing the camera, I had to practically yell at it to get it to trigger on level 2, which isn't ideal. However, since putting the cameras back up and leaving them set to 2, I've gotten a few real world audio triggers from the cameras that appeared to be triggered by wind noise. This leads me to believe it's still a bit too sensitive. I haven't completely drawn my conclusions yet about the audio setting level in its current state (wether it is too sensitive or not sensitive enough) HOWEVER, based on my experiences prior to the firmware update (audio detection level 3) and now needing to change this to level 2 to stop constant audio trigger alert spam, I'm confident that something changed here.

[NeoNaya]

I have now set the audio level to 2 and that did stop the constant audio triggers. However, like you mentioned the sensitivity at level "2" is pathetic at the best. Seems by solving the IR continous trigger issue in the latest firmware, Netgear overlooked something which is now causing the contious audio triggers.

[jguerdat]

Just for clarity, we need to refrain from using "reset" when really only power cycling. It makes diagnosis and suggestions more difficult since there's a physical reset button, making us question which process was used. The steps a couple of posts above uses "reset" but then goes on to say it was a power cycle. At least that's clear.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[rustygearhead]

JG:

What actually happens when you RESET the base station - does it go back to "out of box" profile (forgetting all paired cameras) but retaining it's current level of firmware?

Thanks,

Jim

For the record I have only power cycled mine not reset it and that simple step "appeared" to fix my issues .............

[Chillmiester]

I found after the last update when I listen to the false audio detection there is a noise that sounds like heavy wind hitting my camera even on the lowest setting of 1. It seems to be a bug that got sent to the base update and synced to the camera.  I had to resync my camera a few times to get a proper sync. There is no more noise coming from the camera on audio setting 2 and seems to be working fine.

[BPRocket]

I have the same problem since the firmware update on 1 of 4 Arlo Pro cameras giving false audio alerts; however, only in geofencing mode. I have power cycled the base and removed the camera battery multiple times. I have changed the audio sensitivity and have even deselected audio triggers. Still I get false audio alarms. The only solution I have that works is to turn off the camera in settings or to change the mode out of geofencing mode to regular alarm mode. Not a permanent solution!

[jguerdat]

---

rustygearhead wrote:

JG:

What actually happens when you RESET the base station - does it go back to "out of box" profile (forgetting all paired cameras) but retaining it's current level of firmware?

---

You got it.  Power cycling simply clears memory and starts clean while maintaining all configurations.

[Dtheis]

I be unplugged the base station. Reset the router and cameras. Still false audio alerts nonstop. Hope they fix this soon. Did a live chat with a rep and they told me it's a firmware problem. Then they basically told me to reinstall everything but that it wasn't guaranteed.... I guess I'll have to keep it all off till they get this firmware fixed.

[jguerdat]

Power cycling the base and resetting are two VERY different things.  A power cycle does not reset, it just clears memeory and reloads the existing config.  A reset clears eveything and you start fresh after removing all devic es in Settings, My Devices.  Which did you actually do?

[BPRocket]

Please let us know if a reset fixes your problem. A full reset is a pain unless it is really a fix.

[Chillmiester]

Resync the camera to fix the false audio alert.

[BPRocket]

Finally, I removed the camera from the network (remove option under device settings), re-synced, and problem of false audio seems to be resolved. Note, this one camera had a low battery during the firmware update, and I wonder if this is the reason this one camera era the only one to have false alerts.

[rustygearhead]

did you check the firmware level that was installed via the app?

If I were netgear I would have a "safety check" in the firmware update code that says if the battery has less than XX% charge we are NOT going to upgrade the firmware ... because we don't want any chance of this camera being "bricked" ... 😉

[BPRocket]

No I didn't check the camera firmware. I should have checked prior to the re-sync. It is 11504 as are my others. Base station is 11528. So I'm not sure if it was a firmware issue on that camera.

[jguerdat]

The firmware won't attempt to install if the battery level is too low. I forget the percentage but it may be 25 percent.

[mikeb82]

We just bought our Pro system on 3/29. We installed 3/30. I was prompted to install an update as soon as I connected it up. It has been triggering audio alerts anywhere from 1 to 8 times in a SECOND! It also does not record movement when it should and half of the videos in the library are green blocked so we see nothing! How will this help us if someone breaks into our garage? This is not a good way to start. I'm going to return this system to the store and buy a different brand that does not have these issues.

[jguerdat]

Did you check your firmware versions to see if updates are available?  Some folks have said that removing the cameras from Settings, My Devices and resyncing cures the audio trigger issues.

[Olddog828]

Have done everything I have seen in this thread, re-boot base, take battery out of camera and resync, remove camera from base, and last reset base and started fresh.  All have failed to change anything and still get the false audio.  Have removed audio detection from all six of my cameras and at least that has removed the constant alerts.  Will wait an see if any fix comes otherwise may try resolving thru warranty.

[rustygearhead]

I had posted earlier that my problem was resolved by rebooting the base station.

Well my problem is back with a vengence ... 100's of false audio trips.

It seems one recommended solution (you could probably do the steps in a different order, but the order below seems "safest") would be to:

1) Delete all cameras from registration with the base station

2) Remove the batteries from all cameras

3) RESET the base station (small yellow button - NOT simply a reboot)

4) Allow basestation to come back on line

5) reinsert batteries in cameras and re-pair them one at a time with the basestation.

I'm not excited about getting out the ladder and wasting an hour or so doing this if it is not a real fix.

Has anyone had success with this approach?  Or is it hit-and-miss as well?

In other words do we just wait for Netgear to come up with a REAL solution?

Thanks,

Jim

[MarcoLam]

I also have a similar issue. Two of my cameras are giving me non-stop audio alerts since my preset schedule turn on last. Restarting the base, reducing the mic & speaker to 50%, removing the cameras and bringing back the camera still the same problem!

[henrymcleodiii]

Same Issue. My Cameras arrived a month ago with H8 firmware, but the false audio trips just appeared a few days ago. Turned sensitivity down to 2 last night but that did not help. 

Tried to call NetGear, but after a 30 minute wait, I gave up. Tried live chat, but no one ever came on line. I have three days left to return the system to Amazon. I hope a fix shows up before that.

[ravenlp]

I've had the best luck with chat support. It appears that the system can be funky though if they're busy. When I was attempting the other day (during the day)  the window would say "click here for chat" and then the new window would fail out saying no one was available. I would close the newley opened chat window and leave the other window open (the one that starts the chats). It would refresh on its own and after a few minutes gave me the button to click to chat again. I just kept trying this and eventually got to a chat representative. Probably about 15-20 minutes. Not ideal, but I'd suggest to keep trying if you can.

[rustygearhead]

This problem appears to be quite pervasive....

We can all call in or start chat sessions and overwhelm the support team,

but it seems pretty clear that we need a "global" fix ... and should have to try to address this issue one-at-a-time.

Either new firmware ...  a reset procedure or ... ???  I don't know what ......................

[henrymcleodiii]

Yes, support seems clueless. Had an extensive chat session today where the tech went through his or her notebook but none of the suggestions were helpful. They acted in ware there are extensive comments on this. A supervisor will call me in the morning.