Reconnection to internet 'Limitation' of the product

[angiepange]

Having been through a lengthly Chat this morning with one of the Netgear agents about why my base station does not automatically reconnect to the internet. I was finally told 'This is a limitation of the product'.

Absolutly shocking. Every other product I own can automatically reconnect to the internet during a power outage or internet disruption. Can't beleive that NETGEAR think this is acceptable for a secuirty system.

Until I unearthed this fault I was singing the praises of the product, now I wish I have brought the Nest. At least I would have peice of mind when not at home that my security was still enabled. If this is going to be a requirement for you with your security I recommend avoiding the Arlo product.

[angiepange]

I like to make sure Im quoting correctly here is the copy of the exact response from Netgear.

"it is a product limitation. They only way to reconnect the Base station to the Internet when the router fails to get it back online is to physically power cycle it."

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[TomMac]

The above is true at times.... but it also depends on you power outages and it does not happen all the time.

It depends a lot on how long the power is out.

As to power outages , if you have a UPS for your computer ( or are using the camera in a vac home ) you can plug the base into it to totally eliminate the issue ( providing the power doesn't go out for a long time of course )

Or other have simply added a Wemo outlet which can be turned off/off remotely by phone ( as long as wifi works )

[angiepange]

Hi TomMac, that maybe the case but the issue isn't with a power loss or power outage. The problem I have is the internet connection drops and when the internet is re established the base station will not reconnect. No point during this does the power drop to my router or my base station.

[angiepange]

The wemo is a good idea and we could try that. What would be useful is if the app could notify me when the device is offline so I know it's happened. Otherwise I'll only know when I physically check the status.
All that said, this is trying to find a work around for a poorly designed system which is not fit for purpose. If the router is updated overnight which is often the case my security system is then off when I need it the most and I'll be completely unaware.

[surfer1000]

Believe me, Nest Cam Outdoor is not all its cracked up to be, I use one as a back up to my Arlo Pros as I'm out my back alot with dog and sometimes forget to re-arm arlos, Nest loses connection to my home wifi many times in a given day, Arlo never seems to lose it.

I didn't think routers got upgrades that often to cause a major problem

[drgdelr]

Yes this is definitely a problem with this product. If I had known that the Arlo would go offline and not automatically reconnect every time my internet connection blinked I would not have bought this product. Any way I can get get my money back?

[Lweldin]

Reset manually twice and then it won't work at all now.

[jguerdat]

Define reset. Remove all devices in Settings, My Devices. Start fresh.

[migman_2001]

What is your base unit plugged into?

Almost sounds like a modem/router/switch issue. I have rarely/never had an issue with the system coming back online after a power outage. I have had my base plugged into both an Apple Airport router and currently a Google router. My internet is fiber. Never have to manually restart Arlo base or cameras after a power outage.

[angiepange]

I can understand after a power outage you not having to reset the Arlo assuming that the internet connection was reinstated before the Arlo base station connection timed out.

The problem I have explained is that the internet drops and is reinstated but the Arlo never loses power so this doesn't force a reconnection. When arlo remains powered and the internet is dropped the only way to get it reconnected is to power cycle Arlo.

[angiepange]

its plugged directly into my Virgin router.

Virgin have a nasty habit of dropping the network connecting regularly in my area at the moment. Which whilst I understand is the reason that Arlo looses connection so often. I would still exepect Arlo to reconnect when the internet is back up without needed a reboot just like all my other connected products.

[drgdelr]

@angiepange - my sentiments exactly. I'm returning my system ASAP. Who ever heard of a video security system that was offline more than it is online?

[pc2k17]

Who ever heard of an internet provider whos system is so bad that it constantly drops your internet connection. This is 2017, that shouldn't happen unless you have problems with the actual cable coming into the house, cable inside the house, or an issue out on the pole. Like many other products, in this day and age, the products assume an "always on" connection, so many companies don't waste time programming there product to constantly check if the internet is up or down. I'd drop your isp and get another if you can.

[angiepange]

It's Virgin media and there is a fault in our area which they haven't been able to fix for over 1 month. I am on to them about it. But I have to completely disagree with you every other system
I have come across has the ability to reconnect to the internet when a signal is found. Phones, laptops, hard drives. Speakers , TVs., sockets .... this feature is fundamental!

[pc2k17]

I've never heard of Virgin Media. When I had an ongoing problem like yours 10 years ago on Time Warner I demanded to speak with a level 3 engineer and finally I did. Being an engineer myself, we were able to find the problem on a pole down the street from my house and it was fixed within days. See if you can talk to a real engineer, not the call center rep.

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree....
Let me give you some perspective from an engineer’s point of view. With a traditional gas engine car, a "limitation" of the car is that it needs gas to run. Without gas it doesn't work. If you run out of gas you don't blame the car because it has a "limitation". Similar, in your situation you're blaming netgear/arlo for a "limitation", when the real issue is that you don't have a reliable internet connection. The problem is the car is out of gas, not that the car needs gas. The problem with your cameras is that your connection drops, not that the cameras don't have a certain feature.

When a product is being developed, the R&D engineers and devs may have a list of 50 features that they want in the product when it goes to market. After timelines, budgets, supply chains, etc are all factored in maybe 10 of those features actually make it to the final product. The Arlo Pro is in its first version and more than likely an auto-reconnect when internet drops feature was axed for more important features. The features that make it to market at first are going to benefit the largest audience, and something like a connection dropping issue probably affects less than 5% of the market, so it's not a priority and probably why it was left out. So technically, to the people developing the product, an auto-reconnect when internet drops isn't really fundamental. However it is understandable that to you it is fundamental.

Other products may have this feature, but those products, for example smart TV's, have been around for 10-15 years and progressed with features when each new version came out. Arlo is fairly new to the market and will need time and money to add more features in future versions.

Now all that said I can give you some suggestions.....
1) You could try a smart outlet and plug the arlo base into that. A smart outlet will allow you to turn the power off/on from anywhere in the world from your smartphone. This will power cycle the base and bring back your connection.

2) Plug a USB thumb drive into the base. My understanding is even when the internet is down the cameras will still record to the USB drive, so you won't miss any motion detected events. I realize people think cameras are a security system, but by themselves that's not really accurate. They enhance security and will record motion of a would be intruder and that video can then be used to give to the police in their investigation. They do act as a deterrent, but a real professional thief will just disable the camera and go about their business. For real security you should use an alarm system that's monitored by an external company. (I use simplisafe)

3) You can go with different cameras. POE (power over ethernet) cameras would work well for what you want. These are connected directly to a recording device using an ethernet connection. So if your connection drops as soon as it comes back your back up and running because you’re hard wired. One problem with this setup is the cost. A buddy of mine just did his house with 4 POE cameras and it cost him about $2000. Also these cameras can't integrate with home automation system like smartthings, which arlo cameras can.

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to provide you with as much information as possible so that knee jerk reactions due to frustration can be minimized. I hope this helps.

[WillAstro]

I have the same issue with my arlo pro - it will not reconnect automatically after it lost signal. My other smart devices such as Hue... connects automatically back to the internet. I'm disappointed with the product. Lost or dropped connection is also an issue even here in Toronto. As such I expect really good product engineering to have some margin for such limitation as well.

[1BigRich]

I do believe that yes this is a huge issue and I would hope that netgear will have a fix??? 

So untill the rocket scientist at netgear fix this I am connecting the power to a WiFi connected switch so I can via remote control power cycle the Base Unit,,,,,

[angiepange]

I was starting to think I was the only one who found this issue unbelievable.

We have a smart swtich now but it still means we have to periodically check the cameras for connetion when we are away from home as there doesn't seem to be any notification I could set to tell me connection has been lost. Its not ideal. We were on holiday last week and our internet dropped 3 times (that I know of) so we didn't have them online for a while. The £20 switch managed to reconnect but the £500 Arlo system didn't. What a joke!

[pc2k17]

Suggestions.........

As mentioned already........ UPS, smart switches.

These are some ideas they may help others getting things setup they way they want...........

Since I'm not sure it's the best idea to rely on cameras alone for home security I have a Simplisafe alarm system. This system has a battery backup that lasts about 24 hours and is connected to the monitoring company via cellular connection. If the power at my house goes out, Simplisafe will send me a notification telling me the power is out and also tells me when the power comes back on. So for power outages, this system is my notification.

I also use SmartThings. If the internet goes out, as long as the SmartThings hub has power, it has the ability to send me a notification that the SmartThings hub is offline, which tells me the internet is out. I also use a "Notify Me" smart app in SmartThings app that monitors a switch that is always on. If that switch turns off, and I still have power and internet due to my UPS, then SmartThings will notify me that that switch turned off and that tells me the power went out. For internet outage this is my notification system and a back up power outage notification as well.

Lastly, for anyone having their internet connection drop more than a few times a year, and it's not due to weather or a major outage, you may want to call your ISP and have them check out your connection at the house or in the neighborhood. Now-a-days internet dropping not due to weather or a major outage event just shouldn't really happen. If I lose internet more than 2-3 times a year that is a lot for me. Once about 10 years ago my internet was dropping all the time. I had the ISP run all brand new wires from the pole to my house and inside my house and that fixed the issue.

[Lweldin]

The reset timeout is not sufficient time for the modem to reset.  Why not have an infinite time to reset whenever the modem comes back on line.  I have included a battery back up for the 120v on both the arlo base and the internet modem.  Hopefully power interuptions won't be a problem.

Why not update the firmware in the base to allow for internet interuptions?  I would think that would be desireable.  I know engineers can accomplish amazing things once they find the need.  So go for it. 

[WillAstro]

When I bought the arlo pro it was not specified that I should buy a UPS or wemo switch or any other smart stuff. Otherwise I will not buy it as it will shoot up my cost of having it. I agree that it is not meant to be a perfect security system but I still believe it should have taken certain "LIMITATION" seriously into consideration. We are in this arlo support community to help one another and at the same time provide arlo our issues - small or big in order for them to resolve the issue maybe not immediately but in the near future but should be taken with serious consideration. We are not here to defend arlo's limitation neither here to put them down. Mine is a constructive criticism to propel better system for their users. A better system will have more satisfied customers and more revenue for arlo. Win-win.