Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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Tried charging 2 cameras but blinking amber LED and cannot get live feed. Can't connect to hub.

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zippityz
Tutor
Tutor

This is really frustrating.

 

Two things going on:

 

1.  I have a three camera system that I bought from Costco about 18 months ago, and everything was working fine until a few months ago.  I tried to charge two of the cameras and noticed that although the amber light blinked when I plugged them in, the blue light never went on to show that they were fully charged.  I didn't think much of it at the time because we were moving and I wasn't going to put them back outside until after we moved.  

 

Fast forward to yesterday, and I installed the base station and camera 3 at the new house without issue.  However, in the Arlo app both cameras 1 and 2 were giving me the notice that it was time to charge them.  They both showed 11% battery.  When I plugged each one in, the amber lights flashed but I couldn't get a live feed to show in the app.  I pulled the batteries out, swapped them, got a flashing blue light when I inserted the battery, etc., but no video feed.  I then thought I would disconnect them from the hub and re-sync.  But when I held down the sync button on either camera nothing happened.  

 

I left one of them plugged in overnight but still no blue light, and they still wouldn't sync.  So I figured I would factory reset the hub and start from scratch . . . . . .

 

2.  But now I can't connect to my hub.  I've done two factory resets, and all three green lights are lit, but the app can't locate the hub.  My router shows that the hub is connected ("unknown device") so no issue there.  And just to really fry my bacon, when the app is trying to connect to the hub and asks me "Is the search taking too long?" and gives me the option to manually connect, the "Manually Pair Device" link won't respond when I click on it.  

 

So that's where I'm at.  I'm pretty tech savvy but I have no idea where to go from here.  Help!

3 REPLIES 3
zippityz
Tutor
Tutor

Update:  I remembered that I had an extra brand new battery from the Costco package I purchased.  I plugged that into each of the cameras and viola, it'll sync now.  That's the good news; the bad news is that two of the three batteries that were new 18 months ago have failed since then, which is pretty poor reliability (but probably helps Arlo print money from folks having to buy new batteries. . . .).  

 

So the only real issue is the hub not connecting.  And I'll also take a few more batteries if someone from Arlo reads this.  

zippityz
Tutor
Tutor

Second update:  just got done with a support chat and he had me hold down the reset button on the base station for 60 secs, instead of the 10 secs that I've seen elsewhere.  That worked.  

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

First, I believe that the camera should blink the blue LED when plugged in (I haven't done this in a while so I could be off). I kinda suspect that the batteries are dead, hence the lack of activity. However, plugging the camera in should at least run the camera. Are you using the Arlo charger that supplies both 5v and 9v outputs? Have you tried another charger from a recent phone that supplies those voltages? Have you tried using AC power with the battery removed? If the batteries are dead, there's an FAQ here that details how to revive them - basically, you'll have to plug them in for a while, unplug and repeat for 6 times to get enough charge in them to accept a full charge.

 

As for the reset, apparently you didn't fully perform the process. The fact that all 3 LEDs are green means the base still thinks it's connected. Start by removing all devices in Settings, My Devices. Hold the reset button until the LEDs flash amber. Let the base reboot and claim it normally. Sync the cameras.