There was a problem establishing a connection to the media server

[aripa]

My Arlo Pro camera is giving me this message(There was a problem establishing a connection to the media server) when I try to view live video through my web browser. On my phone using the app it just doesn't connect(show the rotating busy icon) and I am not getting any of the recordings during motion detection. It appears to be recording because I am still getting notifications on my phone when it detects motion. I've tried restarting the base station. I have also tried removing my camera as a device from the base station. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

[jguerdat]

Open a case with support:

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[aripa]

Check out the post titled "Arlo is no longer recording to my library . LIVE view failures".   Someone on there suggested changing the settings on your router to fix this issue.  I made the change rebooted the base station and everything seems to working like normal again.  I also returned my settings on my network router back to normal and my arlo camera appears to be working still.  Annoying that an end user would have to go through this to fix an update that they pushed out.  

[ependi_ependi]

This morning April 22, 2019 at 3:00 am, out of curiosity I tried to re-set all the camera arlo pro and base station. Starting from removing the Base station and camera settings, and starting from the beginning (as from new purchases) and formatting the local USB storage.
Surprisingly all devices become offline ( not function normally ):
1. Local USB storage cannot write
2. Motion & sound detection not working (Error)
3. Live View / Play become offline
4. Cloud storage become offline

Please help, is this a sign of the Arlo Base Station Error?

Thank You

[aripa]

---

@BryceD wrote:
Allowing ICMP outbound (plus the related inbound reply) presents a negligible security risk.
You can argue that allowing ping requests to the external interface of your gateway is some risk, but just allowing your internal hosts to successfully ping out is incredibly minor.

While I agree this shouldn't be necessary, (if you can resolve DNS, you don't need to ping the same DNS server???) the workaround isn't worth fretting over.

Again for those that didn't see and are skimming the thread...

Remedy:
1. Configure your firewall to allow ICMP outbound request (type 😎 to 8.8.8.8 and the related inbound reply (type 0).
(Thanks blah8 for the correction)
2. Reboot base station

---

Thanks Bryce I found this worked for me as well.  After changing the configs in my router and verifing the fix was valid, I restored my original router settings and the arlo camera is still functioning as expected.  

[Frustratedbarry]

Where is this post.

[Frustratedbarry]

I have mo answer

[piedmoose]

I just did another power cycle of the base station and it rebooted itself after the first power up. After that point, it seems to be running firmware 1.12.0.1_27940, which I believe is different (older?) than before. It seems to be working again.

[angel_no]

I got mine to work. I turned off the Base Station then I rebooted my Router. Waited for the Router to come back up and then turned on the Base Station. I can now see Live Feeds and it's recording again. I didn't have to change any settings or add firewall settings to my router.

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

On Friday 4/19/19 we released firmware for base station models – VMB4000, VMB3500 and VMB3000. Some customers have reported seeing error messages when live streaming and issues receiving motion recordings. Due to these reports, we are rolling back this release to the previous firmware version (1.12.0.1_27940) while we investigate these issues.

If you begin experiencing one or more of these symptoms, please power cycle your base station and confirm that your firmware has reverted to v1.12.0.1_27940 – found under Device settings. To power cycle, choose the ‘restart’ option under your Device settings within the Arlo app or by unplugging and re-plugging power to your base station.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please let us know if you are still experiencing these issues.

Thank you,

Arlo Team

[LJ66]

After seeing the last post #27, performed another base station reboot.  The Arlo app was then indicating that a firmware update was required, which I did.  Version of the firmware is now 1.12.0.1-27940.  Now the live view and notifications are working as expected. 

[RupertBare]

That worked for me!!

Had to do it 3 times but it worked!

[GusLopez]

Tried rebooting countless times, still stuck in endless "update base station" loop. I never even recived the new update, i'm assuming it's trying to update to a version that's already currently installed?

[RupertBare]

I went to the add new wireless camera, it forces the hub to search for a firmware update. Third time it updated and allowed me to instal the non existent camera. I’m 8 time zones away from home so impressed that it worked!!

[GusLopez]

Thanks for the tip, I clicked add new devices and got a message updating firmware. But after about 5 minutes it ended  with "Firmware could not be updated."     "Try again"  i'll try it again see if I get better luck.

[GusLopez]

Tried rebooting several more times, kept getting same messages, but then system randomly went offline for 10min and came back and everything is up and running again..

[mgbnet]

Looks like it might be fixed. The live view of the cameras is now working and it is not prompting me to update the firmware anymore...

[JeanID]

This morning I saw the solution from James C. My system had actually corrected itself yesterday and was working fine.  Evidently during the night the revised firmware update must have come in, but my system didn't update to it and everything shut down again. I went to the settings menu and tried the base restart from there, but it didn't work.  I finally unplugged the base power cord and waited about 5 minutes just to be sure.  When I plugged it back in, it started the rebooting process and finally updated to the needed firmware version.  Everything working now.  So I caution everyone to fully check their systems today, because it seems the updates don't always load automatically.  I hope Arlo will make sure this problem does not happen again!  

[JamesC]

The engineering team is investigating the cause of these issues. For those of you who experienced issues with the previous firmware version, we'd like to know the following:

-Your internet service provider (Verizon, AT&T U-verse, Cox Cable, etc.)
-Details about your network setup (Firewalls, non-standard router configurations, etc.)
-Router/Modem make and model (NETGEAR Nighthawk R7000, etc.)

More details the better! Please let us know.

Thank you,
JamesC

[CBADZ]

-Your internet service provider - COMCAST/Xfinity

-Details about your network setup  - nothing special - I hook directly from the Comcast modem into my Wifi Router
-Router/Modem make and model  - NetGear R6900

[abarlo]

I unplugged and then replugged my Arlo and the system is functioning now. I also checked the Device Info for all the cameras and the firmware is 1.3.314. Should it still be this version of the firmware?  The system did not revert to the previous firmware.

[JeanID]

I think it is the firmware of the base unit that is at issue.  You can check it just like the cameras under device info.

[bramanpriest]

This only partially resolved the problem. I am back to where I was prior to this update/outage.

My problem actually started 2-3 months back, live view became very slow/intermittent/choppy on one and then the other camera. Images would still update and video would still record on motion/audio detection.

Got to the point where i could not stream the live video at all.

System is nearly a year old and work perfectly up until 2-3 months ago.

I have reset the base station, it is on the previous firmware, re-synced the cameras, rebooted hub, router...all multiple times.

I get time outs, unable to connect media server, etc on both cams.

Was there another update around 2-3, maybe 4 months back that caused problems?

Didn't pay much attention at the time because alerts continued to record and send, now wish I would have.

Nothing has changed in network architecture.

I think the initial event where this started to occur after was when i needed to plug in one of the cameras to re-charge the battery, never worked right after that. The other continued to work fine until that one was recharged.

Is there a way to go back to older version of firmware? Not sure if this is a camera or base station issue.

Spent good money on these cameras for them to work less than a year.

Currently, everything updated, resynced, rebooted, cameras sitting right next to base station, solid green lights on base station...cannot live stream cameras.

?

[ependi_ependi]

On April 20, 2019 I also got the same problem with my Arlo Pro System, and I spent 2 days and 2 nights fixing it, starting from dumping the settings, reformatting the local USB drive and getting rid of the Androit smartphone application and installing it like I just returned .. but it was increasingly frustrating and really wasted my energy and mind ...
But automatically yesterday the 22nd at noon, I tried restarting my system via my smartphone from the office and.... walahhhh.... My Arlo pro system went back to normal until today is still ok ...
My suggestion is that if you get a problem like this again, you don't have to bother trying to fix it because this problem is from a firmware update bug or from System central Arlo there ... just turn off the auto update facility if you feel the system is quite normal and running satisfactorily.

thank you

[bramanpriest]

I was just in the middle of "Dropping you a line", sending an email from the contact support page, when the page reloaded, email gone, option to send an email is gone, now live chat that wouldn't work. Still having problems with my system, the rollback to the previous firmware did not work for me. see below, this the last post on this topic from yesterday. Cameras are back to not connecting, timing out, unable to connect to media server, will not refresh last image, will not record video. they do send alerts on motion/sound detection. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: There was a problem establishing a connection to the media server This only partially resolved the problem. I am back to where I was prior to this update/outage. My problem actually started 2-3 months back, live view became very slow/intermittent/choppy on one and then the other camera. Images would still update and video would still record on motion/audio detection. Got to the point where i could not stream the live video at all. System is nearly a year old and work perfectly up until 2-3 months ago. I have reset the base station, it is on the previous firmware, re-synced the cameras, rebooted hub, router...all multiple times. I get time outs, unable to connect media server, etc on both cams. Was there another update around 2-3, maybe 4 months back that caused problems? Didn't pay much attention at the time because alerts continued to record and send, now wish I would have. Nothing has changed in network architecture. I think the initial event where this started to occur after was when i needed to plug in one of the cameras to re-charge the battery, never worked right after that. The other continued to work fine until that one was recharged. Is there a way to go back to older version of firmware? Not sure if this is a camera or base station issue. Spent good money on these cameras for them to work less than a year. Currently, everything updated, resynced, rebooted, cameras sitting right next to base station, solid green lights on base station...cannot live stream cameras. ? Model: VMB4000 | Arlo Pro/Pro2 Base Station Message 97 of 98

[JamesC]

The engineering team has new field trial firmware available. We're seeking testers for this field trial with the best candidates being those of you who experienced issues with the last firmware release before we rolled back.

If you would like to help test the newest field trial release, please send me a private message with your email address and a confirmation and I will add you to the field trial.

Thank you,

JamesC