The camera failed to connect. Please try again. CONSTANTLY

[patscan]

I use the Arlo Q as a baby monitor. I'll have it on a second monitor (macbook pro, os x, on chrome) while I work. Ever since I've had it, after some length of the time it kicks me off, saying my session has expired, and I'll have to reload the page. (Maybe 1-2 hrs?) That's not ideal - actually very annoying behavior - but at least consistently would come back on. (Note, this happened every time.)

More recently, rather than working upon reload (I can usually get a connection for a while..), the web app  fails to connect with  the following error message: "The camera failed to connect. Please try again." Sometimes the mobile app will work - sometimes my wife's phone will work - frequently, neither of us can connect. Confirmed that this has been happening literally about 2 weeks in a row, every day.

Update- Aha, after 20 minutes of reloading, now the mobile app and browser are working again. Great? 

P.S. - I have the Arlo motion detector cameras and they have been fine - I've told several people to buy them, limitations and all. The issues have been much more present with the Q - we were having problems monitoring throughout the house, so I got a wifi extender - but even with a strong internet connection throughout the house, I'm having intermittent connections with surprise interruptions, and then the inability to reconnect. Again, can't retiterate enough - if it's not a STEADY, RELIABLE stream, it's not a useful device.

-- An extremely disappointed customer.

[nick00001]

Arlo Systems do not work as advertised especially the Arlo Q. I called a few days back and they told me that they had lots of people with the same issue . The camera kicking people off and the sound button freezing and also getting an orange screens with lots of letters. And also does not show the number and we're it shows the number of views it shows Zero and does not recording. They told me that they were working on solving those issues and they were going to release a new software version yesterday and when I called today to see if they were going to release the new software version to fix all the issues . They had me on the phone for about 30 Minutes then they told me they were going to call me back which they did 30 minutes later to tell me that there was no update and there nothing they can do at this time . What a great customer service . First the lie about the software update and the there really nothing they can do.

[patscan]

Thanks for the reply - anyone from Netgear who can comment on this?

[JamesC]

patscan,

It sounds like interference could be causing the issue you're describing. Make sure your Arlo Q has the best possible signal strength so it does not struggle to maintain a connection with your router. Relocate/limit the number of any other nearby wireless devices that could be causing interference. If you're still having trouble, consider relocating your router closer to the Arlo Q to ensure better signal.

JamesC

[nick00001]

It has full signal. It keeps kicking me out when I am going to open a camera to view, it's not recording, it marks zero when it had a counter that said the times the camera was view per day . The Arlo Q was launch premature with out testing typical with netgear. Again it has full strength on the signal the problem is the software and software developers did not tested the system or the batteries as my batteries when I bought my system which I regret .

[jguerdat]

Huh?  The Q camera has no batteries.  You have to tell us exactly what you're doing and with what. Ranting doesn't help. We may not be able to help but you have to be exact in your descriptions for us to even have a chance.

[nick00001]

I know the. Q camera has no batteries . I have the 4 wireless and 1 Q camera .The first day was working ok with delay and now is worthless . The counter does not work, when I open the program it gives me an orange screen with letters , sometimes does not recognize the base and the Q and it logs me out when I try to open the Q camera the sound has a big delay talking or listening when I have 100 mbps on my system.

[JamesC]

nick00001,

We are aware of the issue with the alert counter and hope to have a resolution very soon.

Can you provide a screenshot of the "orange screen with letters" so we can better understand the issue you are seeing?

The error message referring to the base station that you are seeing could be a browser related issue. Do you see this behavior when using the mobile app as well? What browser/app are you using when you see this error? Does it always behave this way or is it intermittent?

JamesC

[patscan]

In response to JamesC's comment - I actually have the ArloQ about 10 feet apart from the router, in the neighboring room. It looks like the specs state a 300 foot range should be fine. There is nothing so close to the camera as to cause interference (no other wireless devices in that room), and the router is picked up elsewhere in the house well beyond the range of the camera. 

Any chance it doesn't like my old Linksys 802.11g router? I am actually replacing it with a newer model, and can report back to see if a router with 802.11n is any better.

I should also note, in settings > My Devices > (The selected camera), I am unable to restart the device - I receive a message saying the camera is busy and cannot restart. (I may have the exact verbiage wrong - it just inermittently came back after trying for 20-odd minutes so I can't reproduce the error message).

[jguerdat]

I guess it's possible there's some sort of incompatibility with an old router but that would take some putzing about to figure out. Since you have a new one on the way, it's prolly not worth the effort.

As for the "Busy" indication, that may be a symptom of your basic issue.  If the signal between the camera and router is the issue, all bets are off.  How soon before you install the new router?  While there's no guarantee the router will fix it, it's a good next step.  Let us know.

[patscan · Accepted solution]

I've installed the new router just now, and so far results are very positive. Connecting each time. I'm going to continue to monitor in a browser window and still see if I have an issue with it being intermmitent. So far, my wireless speeds are MUCH higher throughout the house - so I think this may have been the culprit. Been very happy with the arlo products otherwise, and if this indeed "solves" it, I will go ahead and write the glowing Amazon reviews I've been meaning to!

[kurtk]

I have the same problem. Except I still get alerts and the camera uploads video, so it's not a router/connection problem. It's a bad software problem.

[JamesC]

kurtk,

This could be an interference issue. Consider relocating your router or the Arlo Q closer together and be sure there are no other wireless devices nearby.

JamesC

[kurtk]

The Q is about 12 feet from my router, and as I said, the camera still uploads motion captures fine. Everything is working fine today, I didn't change anything. It's frustrating that this occurs intermittently.

[patscan]

Not solved, this problem has reared its ugly head again.

I can't connect the Arlo Q, at all, at this point, for the last 24 hours. Have restarted it. Changed wifi networks. 

Sadly, this is just not a reliable product right now. 

Any tips?

[jguerdat]

Create a trouble ticket.  Could be a bad camera or something wrong in your setup.  SSID and passwords need to have no special characters and are both case-sensitive.

[patscan]

Thanks, can you send me a link to submit the ticket?

I was able to get things working again by completely deleting the camera from my arlo account and reconnecting it as if new. Hopefully stays stable this time...

[jguerdat]

Glad you got it working.  Support of various sorts is done by clicking on the Support link at the top of these pages and then Contact Support on the right.  You'll get a list of choices there.

[Jordandawg05]

we tried to sue the Q as a baby monitor and it has been OK but an inconvenicne because it times out often which defeats the purpose of having it as a monitor.  I also have a nest and i switched the nest in the baby room as that was more reliable from a live long time monitoring of baby when he's asleep.  i had the Q in the same room as the router so not sure why it was timing out.  my 2 cents

[JamesC]

Jordandawg05,

When you say "timing out", what was the error message you were receiving? Were you getting this when trying to live stream? Do you notice this across multiple browsers (Chrome, IE, FireFox) and the app? Or does it only occur when using a specific browser/app.

JamesC

[kamason208]

I have had the same problem for the past couple weeks.  My router and Arlo are right next to each other AND I have a new router.  What's the best way to fix this?  I have only had the cameras for about 2 months.

[jguerdat]

Two things may help:

1) ensure the router's SSID and passphrase have no special characters in them. They're also case-sensitive on both.

2) reset the camera with the reset button and try again.

Detail the steps taken.

[patscan]

Thanks for the advice. Luckily, I have had much better success lately, and I think I may have finalyl diagnosed the problem.

My arlo q was actually placed inside the crib, its base wedged between the mattress and the crib frame. This wasn't giving the camera much room to "breathe" - I think this may have caused it to overheat -- or perhaps it was just in a place of poor reception due to its location. I now have it elevated on a shelf above, and have found it to be much more stable. 

[Dallas2]

I was told that my lindky router was not syrong enough to run the 2camera solo pack and that is why my 2nd camera would not sync. So after talking with a support worker in the Phillipines (for around 40mins) we agreed to up grade from adsl to vdsl ...today I tried to sync the 2nd camera with the new router and it synced then told me it was offline 1 hour later that message had gone and now I have a red triangle and exclamation mark against that camera with a blank live screen. I have changed the battery's ...😩 to tell you the truth I would not recommend this product to any of my friends...

[jguerdat]

Camera syncing has nothing to do with the router - it's just establishing a WiFi connection between the base and camera.  Once synced, the router/modem upload speeds come into play with the recommendation of at least 1Mbs upload speeds.  What are your speeds?  I use speedtest.net to test this.  

As for the lack of display, what are the LEDs on the base showing? There should be 3 green ones, all on the left.  If the middle one is amber, your Internet connection is the issue.  I don't have any experience or knowledge about Phillipines Internet access and ISPs - maybe someone else can chime in?