All Ultra 2 Cameras Went Offline

[MrCat]

Says base station on line, cameras off line; happened early 25 Sep23.

Is Arlo down?

[JamesC]

The development team is currently investigating reports of this issue. The recent firmware release has been rolled back. Please restart your base station/SmartHub to allow your cameras to receive the previous firmware version. If you're still experiencing an issue, you may need to remove and reinsert the battery within the affected cameras to allow them to come back online.

JamesC

[JasonSTX]

Same, older Pro 2 works fine but the Ultras didn't.  I removed the camera from the app, removed the battery, added the battery and held down the sync button for 15 seconds and let it sit for a few minutes.  I was then able to sync it as a new device again.  I could then see the device as online but no video.  I went into the device and forced the firmware update and everything started working.

THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION!  

[Vosinh]

same problem, 4 out of 6 cameras no longer synchronise. Restarting the hub, even electrically, changes nothing. I've tried deleting 2 cameras and now I can't link them back to the hub.

[JP_13]

I’m having the same issue. My 3 Ultra 2s are offline but my doorbell still works fine. 

[Hasler]

Well, we've got the camera working...for the moment. We had to remove every device thought the app. When are added the base it said a firmware update was needed. We did that. Then we added the camera & again, a firmware update was needed. It's working as before but not ready to celebrate just yet. We'll see if it's still working in the morning. 

Be advised, when the camera was going through the firmware update it did 2-3 reboots. It looks like it disconnects but it's just rebooting. 

[MDB09]

Same problem. All 4 new Ultra2 cameras went offline shortly after midnight and won't reconnect.

[MDB09]

Right, the hub isn't finding the cameras.

[DickGozinya]

Brother. Thank you so much!! 🙏 Literally followed this step by step and it worked perfectly to fix all 8 of my Ultra 2s.  Really appreciate the attention to detail regarding the firmware version.  Was pretty quick between multiple base stations once I did the first two. Thank you again!

[Logan500]

Add me to the crowd.  I only have Ultra 2s, three of them, and all have been offline since this apparent firmware update.  I’ve tried everything so far short of factory resetting everything, but no dice.

I can’t even get the cameras to respond to the sync button on them.  The hardware itself seems dead since this debacle.  No lights on at all, and pushing the sync button does nothing…no flashing LED, nothing.  And I know the batteries are charged, because  one is on hardwired power and the other two are on solar.  Batteries are always at 100% (other than winter, when charging temporarily pauses during very cold temperatures).

That Arlo could push out a firmware update that causes so much havoc is mind boggling.  It should be dead simple to do pre-release testing since the universe of possible hardware that it will run on is very limited and produced entirely by them.  It’s not like Microsoft updating Windows, which has to run on an almost infinite and unknowable variety of hardware configurations.  Arlo only needs to test on a few models of cameras, a floodlight, and a couple of doorbells.  There should be no excuse for not catching problems like we are currently experiencing

Not sure what to do now.  Arlo support said they were investigating, but no communication since then, which leads me to believe they still don’t have an answer.  In the meantime, I have a 100% non-functioning system.

[Surp]

It is a hassle to do, but the factory reset worked for me and for most folks on here, from what I have read. 

[garou5016]

The factory reset worked for me, what a pain in the neck.  I wasn't home all day, so I didn't have access to my cameras all day because of this crap.  You gotta do better, Arlo.  This is the kind of buffoonery I expect from bush leaguers, not a company that I pay a premium to for their services.

[Rankled]

Arlo is getting incredibly reckless with their updates. Since about a week ago my web portal has a persistent device timeout when trying to view cameras live. Now my whole system is down for this offline crap! I tried removing a couple of the cameras and re-adding them. That did no good. This messes up my custom modes. What a waste of time and money they are becoming. Arlo better fix this stuff fast! I'm getting tired of it and Arlo has demonstrated a remarkable level of ineptitude with their updates. I paid almost $1000 for this at Costco the end of May. If this isn't fixed promptly, I guess I'll be trying out the return policy.

Arlo... Show some guts and address the issue for your customers sake. Your silence is unprofessional and maddening.

Cams: Firmware 1.070.52.1_35_1bdb65f Hardware H10

Base: Firmware 1.21.1.0_1431_9611cf3 Hardware VMB5000r6

[Dgmi]

I’ve had this set up going for about 6-8months… and today 8 out of 9 caneras went offline.

I removed the base unit in  the app, readded it and  doesn’t seem to add the cameras. I was able to connect the 1 camera, but none of the others.

I also tried a different base since I have several with same results.

Also tried dfferent batteries n the cameras.

Cameras try to light the blue light very very dim then no light at all on the front of  camera.

Has anyone run into a similar iasue? any ideas what I could try?

[Dgmi]

8 out of 9 ultra 2 stopped working for me.

when you all mention a factory reset, you’re talking about the base unit, correct?

not a factory reset on the camera itself?

I did a factory reset on the base, but can only connect 1 out of 9 cameras.

any thoughts on what I could try?

[Dionysius]

Factory reset every camera.

[AshTray900]

You have to factory reset the cameras themselves and repair every one back to the base.

Just hope it doesn’t ruin one like it did for me…

[Dgmi]

what’s the procedure to reset the ultra2 cameras?

when I press the lil black button  on the underside I used to get a very very dim blue light on front. but now nothing lights up when I press it.

Any ideas?

[AshTray900]

Assuming yours aren’t dead, hold the sync button until it blinks orange then it’ll blink blue after, pair it then.

the battery has to be good bc you can’t get to that button with it in the case

[w0000zy]

I had the same issue yesterday (noticed today)  My cameras are connected via Solar.   

I just took one down / inside and could not get it to behave.  

I plugged in to direct power and the camera was happy and showed up that it needed a firmware update.  

firmware update completed and camera is now online.  

will attempt on another.  

[AshTray900]

Just for everyone’s sake if rebooting etc doesn’t work and you have to factory reset them. Do this.

-make sure batteries have a decent charge

-remove camera from device list in Arlo app

-bring camera close to base. It helps.

-get the app ready to add the device

-put the battery in. It will blink blue for a bit, hold sync on the cam for around 15 seconds. It will blink orange a few times then start blinking blue

-immediately go to the add device from the app. The cam times out after a bit. Run through the wizard, it stalled on me a couple times, I just started the process from step one again on a camera that wouldn’t go through the setup the first time

- it may ask for firmware update, if so do this with the camera at the base (and only do one at a time)

-if the color looks off once it’s in its proper place, cover it so it shifts to night mode and the uncover and it will reset all of the shutters and settings so it will look right

-don’t forget to set the camera specific settings, activity zones etc and add back to any of your custom profiles if you have them, basically it’s treated as a new camera, I haven’t found a way to “re-link” one to an existing camera profile in device list.

I did not have to make any changes to the base, other than reboot it. 2 of 5 cameras did not foul and just allowed me to update, the rest had to be factory reset.

I lost one cameras motion capabilities permanently. No fix. It would have to be RMA’d and it probably wouldn’t even be honored since I have had them over a year. Luckily one of mine really doesn’t need it so I swapped.

hope it helps, me and one other person had a camera with motion issues, I would be curious to know if this happens to anyone else. I’m rather fed up with all the issues I’ve had since I’ve purchased them when EOL hit the old Arlo Pro 1, don’t know if it’s just ultra 2 cams that are flakey, but I have had bad luck with them and I got them due to wanting top of the line gear. But all my agitation aside, hopefully you won’t run into hardware issues or bricked cams and hope this helps anyone unfamiliar with the process

[JGonzalez029]

What is the Fix 5 of my Ultra 2’s are saying they are offline. I have removed all cameras and the base and re added them. Once I re add the camera it looks as if it is good to go and then goes offline. 

[Fulano]

This little blub was published by Arlo today (9/15/2023): "Arlo DevOps team have identified some customers may see Ultra (VMC5040) cameras going offline with a recent software update. Customers with this issue need to restart the base station to bring the Ultra cameras online. We apologize for the inconvenience!"

I have 5 cameras in two separate locations on two separate, independent wifi systems, and all 5 cameras died at the same time. Everything has been restarted. Nothing will bring them back online. Thank you Arlo! Where do I send my bill to buy 2 new systems? The dead ones are not even 1 year old.

[entuwantri]

Both of my Arlo Ultra 2 got disconnected from Homekit at the same time (From 15-Sep-2023 12MN) I don’t know why, but my Arlo Essential is still working fine. I tried to reconnect both cameras, sync manually, and even rebooted my Homekit. Does anyone here had/have the same problem? Thank you.

[darkness975]

I rebooted the base station and pulled and reinserted the batteries on the cameras.   They're still offline.  

@JamesC 

[jguerdat]

There appears to be an issue with Ultra 2s and the latest firmware. I saw a post from @JamesC indicating that a recent firmware update was being rolled back and to reboot your hub to get the cameras the firmware fix.  He also said if that doesn't work you may need to reinsert camera batteries to get them back online so they can get the update.

[jguerdat]

There appears to be an issue with Ultra 2s and the latest firmware. I saw a post from @JamesC indicating that a recent firmware update was being rolled back and to reboot your hub to get the cameras the firmware fix.  He also said if that doesn't work you may need to reinsert camera batteries to get them back online so they can get the update.