New Arlo Pro camera not staying connected

[morganhighley]

Bought a new 2 camera system to try it out. One camera has worked well but the other camera has been nothing but problems.

At first, it refused to sync. Would never go into sync mode regardless of battery charge status. Tried with battery only, battery plus power supply and power supply only. Would always wait at least 30 seconds before re-applying any power source (battery or USB). 

Since I purchased the system, the problem camera has let me enable sync mode on it three times out of countless attempts.

• The first time, which took about an hour of attempts, it needed a firmware update but rejected it multiple times. It took about 30 tries before I could get the alternating blue/amber light. Even then, the update failed and the camera stayed in that mode for 3 hours.
• The second time it synced was while I was talking to phone support and going through repeating the same troubleshooting steps over and over again. It also took many attempts to even get it to connect and multiple attempts to get into the update mode. The only reason it came out of update mode that time was because I pulled the battery. After re-applying power, it connected and indicated that the firmware was current but it was still dropping connection after just a few minutes.
• The third time it synced was after trying even more redundent troubleshooting steps provided by Tier 2 support via email. Still dropping connection.

I have restarted and reset the base station multiple times. Removed and re-added devices from my account multiple times. Both cameras are in the same room since I'm just evaluating the system and are about 6ft apart, but have tried them in other rooms as well. The issue is not location or distance. 

I have had a horrible time with Netgear support on getting this resolved. Tier 2 support was supposed to contact me about getting a replacement but instead sent more troubleshooting steps (none of which worked) and has yet to respond to any of my followup messages. Since I am evaluting this system, I can say that this is not the level of products and support I would have expected and am strongly considering returning the system and purchasing another brand. I really need someone to contact me about a fix or replacement. My case # is 27909099.

[jguerdat]

Swap the system at the store.

[morganhighley]

I would if they had another in stock.

[jguerdat]

Not knowing where you are or what store, can you use the same store but a different location? What about asking the store to expedite an order? Or return this one for money back and order from Amazon or similar?  

[morganhighley]

It's Best Buy and the next closest store is 95 miles away. Since I'm looking for a long-term solution, I'm starting to think Netgear is not the company to go with. Their support is horrible. They aren't even responding to support requests. I think I'll just pack everything up and return it this weekend.

[JamesC]

morganhighley,

I have reviewed your support case and it appears the agent working on the case has issued an RMA . Please refer to your open support case for more details.

JamesC

[morganhighley]

Perfect example of their service. Posted the issue 4 days ago and just now getting a reply from Netgear.

Additionally, the camera was bad out of the box but I have to pay to ship it to Netgear.

I'm returning the system. Product shows potential but Netgear is a horrible company to deal with.