Video Pixelation after firmware update Pro/VMB4000r3 (1.16.1.1_3348_facf74c)

[Ordinary1]

Hi All.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Since the early hours of yesterday morning (25th April) UK time all of my Arlo Pro cameras have been suffering from extreme pixelation in both live view and motion detection recordings. The location of the cameras and base station have not changed for months.

The base station is VMB4000r3 on firmware 1.16.1.1_3348_facf74c

The four cameras are version H8 1.092.0.25_24_986

The pixelated video is also present on local USB storage suggesting a local issue.

I have checked WiFi strength using an analyser and all is good. All cameras have three bars in the Arlo app.

One of the cameras is within ten feet of the base station with no obstructions and is suffering the same.

I have noticed that a camera firmware update was issued in the last few days. Are there any known problems that could have caused such a drastic change in system performance?

[MJNL]

I was on the phone with tech support today and they told me “this is not a common problem.” I said with hundreds of complaints posted since April it absolutely must be a relatively common problem. No resolution yet.

[tibert]

Not common?  Well if they are relying on phone-ins, folks probably aren't interested in paying $ if outside 90 days.  Within 1 year of purchase?  Log a case.  Otherwise perhaps the online may work?  It is interesting that we get a fixed amount of support, but they are free to mess with the devices later causing future problems.

[Quidge]

Recently, I'm not sure exactly when, but I've noticed all my videos are very pixelated and low quality. I've rebooted the hub but no improvement. I have 3 cameras - all the same problem.

A downloaded video shows that the bitrate is only 427kbps. 

I havent changed any system settings recently, so not sure what has caused this?

[CCNE37]

Absolutely. My Pro 2 cameras are 15 months old, so I am not eligible for any support, so because I haven't logged a call (and I am in Australia, which makes calling a little harder) the problem isn't there ????

Seems a bit like playing hide and seek with a 2 year old - they cover their eyes and because they can't see themselves no-one can see them either.

Perhaps they should read there own multi-page support forum threads - 128 posts here from (probably) a number of various countries, and a multitude of different internet provider / modem / router / switch / base station / camera setups, and all with a common problem - things turned to custard after a firmware update.

Mmmmmm

[tibert]

Seems like they have an online chat available.  Has anyone tried this avenue that has been greater than 1 year since their last purchase?  Seems like it has been getting use (queue was 15 last time I checked a few min ago).

[CVMITCH]

I've noticed the same thing lately.  After an issue earlier this year that took a very long time to be rectified, I am becoming more and more disappointed in Arlo.  

[Retired_Member]

Besides the poor video quality you will notice changing video quality has no effect whatsoever since the update. This damn update destroyed my $800 setup

[silverado44]

Wife left for work today front door camera pick her up she was maybe 10ft from the camera and I couldn't tell it was her as the picture was so fuzzy.
I like how the mods, admins, employees like shane, Jessica etc all never reply to a thread like this and if they do they want you to contact support what a joke support is. Where is the CEO?

FIX YOUR SYSTEM ARLO!          THEY WILL DELETE THIS REPLY LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO.

[Ordinary1]

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone that has contributed so far to this thread To follow up on a couple of questions recently posted:

tibert - Yes you can use online chat for free regardless of how old you purchase is. I have reported this twice via online chat, have had three tickets raised for some unknown reason and still have had no contact from Arlo in over two weeks. My experience with online chat was so bad I honestly felt like I was conversing with a Bot. However, if you talk to them they will raise a ticket and hopefully someone in their support management team is looking at open tickets, more tickets may mean more traction...

NJML - I was also told that this was not a previously reported problem. That was over two weeks ago and I also pointed them directly at this thread.

For info, I also PM'd @JamesC in a last ditch attempt to get some response from an Arlo 48 hours ago and, again, I have not had a response even though there has been activity on other threads.

My patience has worn, I am reporting this to UK Trading Standards over the weekend with a full copy of this thread, the May 2019 firmware update thread, copies of all of my support correspondence, example files from pre May 2019, post May 2019, Post Oct 2019 and Post April 2020. 

My one star review will hit Amazon today.

[Retired_Member]

Forgot about amazon review.

[ChowHound]

I'm located in the U.S. and have seen the same issue in the past few weeks.  We're using VMB4000r3 base station with three ArloPro cameras (HW version H8; firmware 1.092.0.25_24_98).  The pixelization has become terrible.  My neighbor had their car broken into and my camera recorded the thief but you cannot discern any details because of the low quality.  Maybe 20% of the video is crisp but the rest is has bad mosaic. I've had these for several years, the batteries are full, I have the same set up and same location as I've had for years. It is only the past few weeks where I've seen this issue and it's with all three cameras, day or night, windy or not, different outside temperatures, etc.  It all seems to be after an automatic firmware update. 

[Retired_Member]

i have this setup in 3 buildings all just over a year. all hit by the same bug after the same update.

video footage is now useless. 

Arlo support useless.

I have now decided to "upgrade" and get normal ip cameras. this is literally going in the garbage. lesson learned.

[MJNL]

I have spent the better part of my day on the phone with Arlo “tech support” trying to resolve these poor resolution problems. The rep “consulted with the level 2 team” and determined that there is “too much traffic” on my WiFi channel, and that I need to tell Verizon to “change the channel” of my router. I explained several times that the camera images were fine until suddenly sometime in April they all became pixilated, and from what I understand, many many Arlo customers are experiencing the same problem. Arlo’s excuse is extremely sketchy and I am sure the problem is not with my WiFi router.

[ralfyguy1]

Yeah, the shameless lies they come up with are simply mind blowing. Either that or they are really THAT incompetent.

[alchemist50]

Arlo, it seems there is an easy way to check your claim this is a WiFi problem.  Roll the firmware back to the previous version for the Pro and Pro 2 cameras, and the base station(s).  Then listen to your customers.  If the problem goes away, you have your answer.   Please try this or something similar soon.  Two nights ago, a wandering cat triggered one of my Pro cameras.  After a couple of seconds, the video became so pixelated that the cat's image literally blended into the background and disappeared.  By the time the video cleared up about 10 seconds later, the cat was gone.  This NEVER happened before.

[Manolo86]

Yeah, that's BS. I have my router set to automatically choose the best channel. I've used a WiFi analyzer to confirm that it's not on a congested channel. You can download one for your phone through the app store and check yourself. Plus, I never have problems with any other devices on my network. That approach is the same approach that Spectrum uses with their customers, and (with me) it's always their problem.

[Ozphoenix]

We have two of these cameras and they weren't cheap. We're having endless problems with the cameras failing to activate, and the picture being so pixelated we can't tell much of what is going on. They are pretty useless and I would not recommend them to anyone. They're wireless. 

The Good-

Not much. Easy to check them from anywhere through the app on your phone. 

Pretty easy to set-up.

The Bad-

We've had many incidents where we needed them to work, and thats what they were put in for, and they haven't recorded anything. 

Checking footage on your phone means buffering becomes your new favourite word, it is slow. 

They activate if a leaf falls off a tree or a shrub across the road blows in the wind - they'll activate every few seconds and drive you insane deleting footage of nothing, but if you are being harassed by someone RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM, and you need that footage for the police, they won't start up.  

The picture has also become so pixelated, we can't read the plates of a car parked right in front of it. They're worse than useless. The latest updates are installed, nothing has changed with the wireless internet, it's just suddenly become impossible to see details for anything anymore. 

Don't rely on them because they will let you down. Buy something else. 

[MrMarkMan]

Ditto to what everyone else has stated. Reported ticket to ARLO and worked with Ravi. They were responsive at first and suggested all the steps everyone else has mentioned. Last request was to remove my 5 cameras, reset base station, move cameras closer to the router... Seriously ARLO... LISTEN TO YOU CUSTOMERS! QUIT STALLING AND "GET ER DONE!" Response from ARLO stopped after my request to escalate the ticket and provide me with contact to level 3. I've updated my ticket daily and still no further response. If anyone is filing the Class Action, sign me up.

[LP79]

I have the same/similar problems and it is getting pretty frustrating. For one, is anyone else noticing that for the last few months, when the camera recording triggers in night mode, the IR sensor don't come on until a second or two after the recording starts to basically you have a black screen at the beginning or your night recordings, then flashes very bright then comes to normal levels? This never used to happen. I also have issues where motion detection stops working on a camera and will nto work until i go up the ladder and remove the battery from the camera to reboot it. Then I have SERIOUS pixelation issues. The videos start out okayish (but lower quality than they used to be) but then after a few seconds its full on pixel mania and you can barely make anything out...then after a few seconds fades back to what I would call barely acceptable and nowhere near what the camera advertising, instructions and packaging promised. Take note arlo of my careful word choices because by cutting corners with bandwidth and compression, you are opening yourself up to a class action lawsuit so big that we will literally wipe you off the map. My box says right on it 720p video recording and the system wasn't cheap. ARLO is defenseless and if you do not get your act together, you will be refunding 100% of the cost of those systems to every single person who ever bought one and be bankrupt and defunct. I can prove definitively that even with the camera right next to the base in an area with 0 interference, that video is not near the quality advertised. Not to mention you're selling very sophisticated and capable camera sensors, but why!!!??? I mean you cant throughput 480p and you think i'm going to buy a 4k cam from you? ARLO infrastructure cant support the throughput of a $5 Chinese webcam. (which btw has better quality than my ARLO cameras now).  ARLO is also completely negligent and frankly, moronic with product sales. When I bought these cameras, after a week i bought a smart subscription, as soon as i turned on the smart subscription, notifications no longer work correctly (they take 15-20 minutes) which was the last time i was complaining here. You never even attempted to resolve the issue. I ended up having to cancel the monthly fee I paid to you just so i could have working cameras. How stupid is that!!?? Maybe if the smart subscription didn't break the cameras, you'd have some more income to spend on bandwidth?

So it finally happened after 2 years last night. I caught what i think is a coyote walking through my backyard on the arlo. This is what my expensive ARLO security camera recorded:

And....ARLO forum for security cameras cant even embed a video correctly. Man you guys are a disaster. Heres a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD3ieWZ25-U 

This is beyond unacceptable and you should be ashamed. 400Mbps down, 20Mbps up internet speed tests, arlo cameras with full battery showing full wifi signal bars...30 feet from the base station. Every video on all three cameras looks like this. Why would i even buy another product from ARLO again, yet alone not begin the process of recovering financial loses from ARLO? This is on the newer firmware too

cameras 1.092.0.25_24_986

base 1.16.1.3_3394_1a608c1

[PeterNelson]

"Arlo, it seems there is an easy way to check your claim this is a WiFi problem."

Where does WiFi come unto this?    My base station is connected to my network via Cat-5/ethernet. 

Anyway we're all having the same problem but we all need to  COMMIT to taking this to the next level.  Kudos to those members who have already done this!!

EACH ONE OF US, who hasn't done it already, should COMMIT to call tech support on Monday and open a ticket.  Save the ticket number, so we can share and organise.   If we don't get satisfaction we need to COMMIT to filing a complaint with either the local consumer authorities in our country, state or province, or with the BBB. 

BTW, I've archived all 144 messages in the current thread as of this posting, in case messages get deleted.

[TerryHoss]

I’ve been having the same issues with poor quality video and pixelation on my 5 camera Pro system. It wasn’t like this 3 weeks ago or so. My usb local storage drive videos from April are much better quality on all cameras then what I’m getting now. At this point the quality of video recordings I’m getting would be useless to identify a person that committed a crime on my property. I paid for 720p quality video when I bought this system and I’m sure not getting it now.

[Manolo86]

Is anyone else here also having a hard time with their hub recognizing the USB storage and remembering port forwarding settings? Local storage used to work, but since a couple updates ago it's been flaky.

[Andy91]

They don’t care they are not gonna do anything until we start blasting how their product is right now. we need to start a Facebook page or something or Start writing bad reviews everywhere because they clearly don’t care I don’t know how many times I’ve talk to them and still nothing has changed

[silverado44]

---

@silverado44 wrote:

Wife left for work today front door camera pick her up she was maybe 10ft from the camera and I couldn't tell it was her as the picture was so fuzzy.
I like how the mods, admins, employees like shane, Jessica etc all never reply to a thread like this and if they do they want you to contact support what a joke support is. Where is the CEO?

FIX YOUR SYSTEM ARLO!          THEY WILL DELETE THIS REPLY LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO.

---

This my reply but I have the pro 2 cameras with 1.16.1.3_3394_1a608c1 update and its bad as I said above.

[Ozphoenix]

I have worked out what is going wrong with the camera. 

As posted in other threads on this forum, the horrible pixelation is the result of the latest Arlo update which has screwed over anyone who owns the earlier models like we do. The update was made in late April (25?). There was free cloud storage for up to 5 cameras on the older models, and they have kept the cloud storage but have now reduced the resolution on the cameras, to save on storage costs I guess.  Looks like the only way to get a usable picture again is to pay for the subscription. That's a very low blow, Arlo. Not happy. 

See thread - Video Pixelation after firmware update Pro/VMB4000r3(1.13.1.1_3348_facf74c)