Motion detection has become unreliable, live feed freezing, etc.

[jmeoo3]

I'm appaled by how infrequently my camera actually works now.  I swear my camera doesn't work correctly at least 75% of the time.  When I first bought the camera the camera GENERALLY worked well.  The only issue I had was that the camera would disconnect several times a day for around 60 seconds each time.........which I learned to deal with because because I after 60 seconds I could view the live feed again.  I don't know what netgear did.....or if these updates have caused all this problems but this camera is TOTALLY unreliable.  It doesn't record when set to record for a certain amount of time, it records then freezes and only audio is present, the live feed freezes constanly, manuallly recorded videos aren't capturing motion and when they do there is there is this strange pixialtion disappearing ghost effect.  The problems go on and on and on.  How is this acceptable?  When you buy something you expect it to work.  I can't imagine going out and buying say a TV,xbox, or drill and just having these things not work at all.  A security system really needs to be reliable and unfortunately Netgear is failing miserably in my opinion.  The sad part is I don't believe the camera's are the actual problem......I think these bugged out updates are causes the issues.  I could be wrong but I'm sure I will never truely find out.  It's just shameful that so many people have a paid a lot of money to protect there homes just to have a product fail on them over and over again.  Very sad.....

[JamesC]

jmeoo3,

Some of what you're describing could be related to signal strength issues. How far away is this camera from the router? If you move it closer (just temporarily as a test) do you still experience the same issues?

JamesC

[jmeoo3]

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@JamesC wrote:

jmeoo3,

Some of what you're describing could be related to signal strength issues. How far away is this camera from the router? If you move it closer (just temporarily as a test) do you still experience the same issues?

JamesC

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Absolutely not the case.....I've been overly aware of anything that may diminish the signal.  My camera has been in the same spot since I first bought it.  I'm in a small one bed room apartment and the camera sits in the same room as the actual router.  It's probably around 10 feet away.....no walls.  Actually I did recently test moving the camera so it literally is on a shelf on top of the router literally one foot above the router and the performace has been worse.....which I don't believe has anything to do with the signal stength.  Like I said I believe something with these updates has screwed up how the camera is operating.  I also believe the Arlo app for Iphones is REALLY buggy but its not just the app causing all the problems......when I check on my laptop recorded clips/live feed the problems are still present.  The app just seems to not work without exiting several times and restarting.   I've talked to the Arlo people countless times and they made me test my speed.....always "very good" strength.  I've given up.....I don't know what else to do.  I'm frustrated obviously.    

[JamesC]

jmeoo3,

The engineering team is currently investigating recent reports of some of the issues you mention. I'll pass this topic along and provide an update when I know more.

JamesC

[png]

I am also having this issue.  I would say the camera stops working at least once an hour.  It has become so bad that I bought a smart switch that will power cycle the device every hour so that I can make sure the camera feed is working.  Unfortunately this isn't even enough because it will still not recover after a power cycle.  Please fix this.  I cannot even utilize the CVR subscription that I paid for.

[Mavrrick]

What wifi frequency are you using? 2.4ghz or 5ghz. It is amazing how many things can create conflicts on the 2.4ghz band. Especially in a apt with people all around you. I had a microwave and phone that would kill wifi on the 2.4ghz band anytime they were active. You could be literally right next to the router and it would still scramble the signal. If you can make sure it is running on the 5ghz band.

[png]

I'm using 2.4ghz with an asus router.  I used to use 5ghz but I noticed the connection would consistently drop.  I can try to use 5ghz again to see if it makes a difference.

[Mavrrick]

I would also make sure the router is on the latest firmware updates. How old is the router.

I have only used the 5ghz band on my two cameras and they have worked flawlessly so I know it should work on that band.

[png]

I will double check to make sure i'm on the latest firmware tonight.  I have 2 Arlo Q connected to the same router on 2.4ghz.  The only difference is that one camera has CVR enabled and the other one doesn't.  The one that is on the CVR plan is the one that is constantly breaking.

[Mavrrick]

CVR does add another layer of complexity to it. I have read a few reports of problems that sound similar. I also experienced the video/audio sync problem. The solution mentioned in the forums was to restart the camera every night.. I have smartthings integration setup and a smartapp that turns the camera off and back on every morning.

[png]

Yes, unfortunately i also bought a wemo switch and i had it power cycle nightly.  The problem started getting worse because It would still break even more frequently.  So bad that I have it scheduled to power cycle once an hour and it still has problems.

[Mavrrick]

At that point I would suggest getting support involved and looking for hardware replacement. A power cycle should fix anything locally for a period of time. I would tend to think with the problem progressively getting worse the way you described it is bad hardware itself.

[jmeoo3]

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@Mavrrick wrote:
What wifi frequency are you using? 2.4ghz or 5ghz. It is amazing how many things can create conflicts on the 2.4ghz band. Especially in a apt with people all around you. I had a microwave and phone that would kill wifi on the 2.4ghz band anytime they were active. You could be literally right next to the router and it would still scramble the signal. If you can make sure it is running on the 5ghz band.

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When I first got the camera I was on 2.4 but within the first week changed over to the 5......So this hasn't been the issue.  Also, my apartment doesnt actually share any walls with neighbors....I am at ground/ level with two apartments stacked above me.  So there really isnt people all around me.  There is a 87 year old woman who lives above me and I don't think she has internet or any electronics besides a microwave.  Also like I said the camera is in the same room as the router.  My microwave is in the kitchen obviously which isnt close to the camera at all.......

[png]

Another thing i noticed is that with the app, the Arlo Q that I do not have with a CVR has a screenshot pretty quickly.  The Arlo Q that is on a CVR plan will take up to 3-5 more seconds to get status of the camera.

[JamesC]

Many of the issues mentioned here have been resolved with firmware release 1.8.3.2_21995. Please check your Arlo Q firmware to be sure you have the latest version. You can view the release notes here: Release Notes - Arlo Q/Q+ FW 1.8.3.2_21995 - 7th August 2018

JamesC

[png]

I confirmed that I have the latest firmware.   I also saw that my Arlo Q CVR stopped working again at 7AM even though it power cycled at 6 AM.

[Thisisme118]

My issue is that the camera stops recording anywhere from 23 seconds to 40 seconds once motion is detected.  I have my camera on the 5GHZ channel, I have the latest firmware.  For a security camera to stop after 23 seconds when motion is detected is not very much security.

[png]

I decided to disable the CVR and the camera seems to work without issue.  Is the CVR putting on so much load that it causes it to malfunction?

[Thisisme118]

What is CVR, and how do I check to see if enabled?

[JamesC]

Thisisme118,

CVR is a subscription feature that allows for continuous video recording. If you have not subscribed to CVR, it will not be enabled.

What duration do you have set up in your rules for your camera? What is the expected duration for recordings?

JamesC

[Thisisme118]

I could not find rules for how long the camera records for in the schedule mode.  I talked with support yesterday and they told me to go to the armed mode where it will record for up to 300 seconds.  Are there rules you can setup if you have it scheduled?

[jguerdat]

Read the FAQs here on creating and modifying custom modes. The Armed mode is the default one and can be used but you don't have complete control. Create at least one custom mode so you can customize it the way you need for a particular timeframe and then schedule any/all of them.

[Thisisme118]

Thank you.  I will read the FAQ's.

[Thisisme118]

A note.  I selected the ARMED mode, and moved the slide bar to record 300 seconds.  However, it is still only recording for 19 seconds, and there is still motion when it stops.  How do I get it to record as long as there is motion?

[jguerdat]

Making a change like that also requires that you save the rule (as well as the mode if editing a custom mode). Make the change, use the Back button and then Save.