All Ultra 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

[facelvega]

Duplicate post, since Arlo is not providing any focus or assistance....

OK, I have all 10 of my U-2’s running again from two locations (2 base stations).  What I did (basically a recap of prior instructions with a few extra notes…):

1. Unplug base station from power for 30 seconds, then plug it back in.   You should get a solid orange light for around a minute, then flashing orange light for 30 seconds, then solid blue light (booted up and ready to go). 
2. IN THE MOBILE APP (not your desktop), remove all U-2 cameras (the dead camera has a black box with “Your Arlo camera appears off line” message; press the “gear” icon, them press the red “Remove Device” button)
3. In the mobile app, restart the base station; select the base station on screen, then scroll down and press the Restart button.  This may be unnecessary, but only takes a few minutes: once again, solid orange light for around a minute, then flashing orange light for 30 seconds, then solid blue light.  IIRC one of my base stations seemed to do a firmware update – if this happens you get an alternating orange/blue light for a minute or so also.
4. Pop the cameras out of their cases and bring them to the base unit.  You will spend 5-10 minutes per camera, so get a cup of coffee (or whiskey…).
5. POWER IS CRITICAL.  Whatever the idiots at Arlo did, it put the camera in a state of SUPER-power drain.  Until you are successful at loading the new firmware, it is STILL in the super-drain status.  If you check the battery with a voltmeter, you should see 4.2 volts – if not, the reset may not work.   I think that the solar or plug-in charging wires MAY NOT provide enough current to keep the camera going for the reset.  I know for sure that the AFTERMARKET batteries I have DO NOT have enough current capacity to reset the camera (Vemico).  I was able to reset everything using fully charged Arlo batteries.  The aftermarket batteries powered the camera fine AFTER the reset.   I do not think that it is possible to charge the battery in a screwed up U-2.  You will need an external charger, or an earlier camera version (Pro) to get the battery fully charged.
6. Put the fresh battery in the camera.  PRESS AND HOLD the sync button, total time will be around 30 seconds.  After holding the button in for about 15 seconds, you get an orange flash; another 10 seconds, and you get a quick blue flash, then a long blue flash; then about 10 more seconds you get a steady blue flash every 2 seconds;  it is now ready to connect to the base.
7. In the mobile app, press the “Add New Device” button, select “Camera”, “Ultra 2”, Base Station, then your base station will start looking for the camera.  Even if they are beside each other, it can take 2-3 minutes for them to find each other.  The app may ask if you want to manually pair – say yes, and make sure the camera is still doing the steady blue light flash (1 sec on, 1 sec off).  If the camera stops blue flashing, do the sync button press again until you get the steady blue flash back.
8. Once it pairs, rename it and get back to the Device screen on the app.  The status will now show “Firmware Upgrade Required”.   Do the firmware upgrade (which actually takes it back to the old version that worked).  Depending on your wifi speed, it should take about 2 minutes, and the camera light flashes alternating blue and orange.  Once it is done, your U-2 should be back to correct operation.
9. Now you have to go through all the options on the camera, and set them back to what you want: night vision, field of view, activity zones, alerts, etc., etc…  Lots of typing…

Hope this helps, thanks for all the good info here!

[AshTray900]

This is exactly what I had to do, if anyone has solved the motion sensor unresponsive problem, please post it for me.

I didn’t run into power issues as mine are wired 100 percent of the time, using Arlo batteries and Arlo brand extended chargers. Maybe if mine had just drained down I wouldn’t have had one with a dead motion sensor. I don’t know but I’m really frustrated that I have sunk into this, 5 cameras, two bases as the new ones have half the range, 5 special Arlo extended chargers, I even had another outlet installed in the attic so i could reach without extension cords in the attic, I drilled small holes in the eaves for the wires, and sealed the holes around the wires. Use high quality camera mounts not the magnets

they were flakey for at least 6th months after purchase, constantly triggering when they weren’t supposed to no matter what the settings one motion sensor died, had to RMA it, then for several months everything seemed to work fairly well (aside from the typical crappy thumbnails and that if I try to enable 4k streaming on lan it throws all on the specific base offline while streaming one)

now again a bad firmware hit, I’m willing to bet every single U2 that got it had the issue and the only ones complaining are the ones that didn’t get a successful rollback. Testing? Pathetic, camera ability to self recover failed attempt to push it, not a chance.

I know I’ve been griping my butt off but for the cost of this I could have had a professional come install 100% wired cameras that wouldn’t even need wi-fi. 😞 the cost of the good subscription could have just been spent to beef up my monitored security system. Then all failure issues I wouldn’t have to figure out on my own or just suck it up when crap burns out.

[JGonzalez029]

When will Arlo find a fix for the ARLO Ultra 2 issues?  I tried everything and several of my cameras are still not working. I reset the smart base I reset the cameras, I’m exhausted and tech support because they just keep telling me the engineering team is going to find a fix and will email me. Arlo as a company is responsible for this issue! What a disappointment! Cameras are very expensive and when you depend on these for the safety of your family this is outrageous. 

[sceppolapipa]

Hallo. I have a problem with one of my 20+ Arlo Cameras.

It's a Ultra 2 that I cannot connect to my hub VMB5000r6 (firmware 1.21.1.0_1431_9611cf3)
I tried many times to remove the camera from the hub and connect again but after giving it a name with the app on my Android Pixel 7 I always receive the same error message. I upload the screenshot of the error (code 4014)
What can I do with this camera?

[Patrick89]

Hallo

Habe mehrere Arlo Ultra 2 (VMC5040) Kameras im- und rund ums Haus. Seit Freitag 15.09.2023 sind plötzlich alle Kameras offline und können nicht mehr verbunden werden. Kameras aus App entfernt, ebenso SmartHub. SmartHub Strom/Internet ausgesteckt und neu verbunden. Diesen in App gefunden und installiert. Firmeware aktuell. Kann aber einfach diese Kameras (Akkustand ok) nicht mehr verbinden, da sie nicht erkannt werden?!!! Kann mir jemand helfen? 

[margiweno]

I went to change my outside battery and after doing so, I saw on my iOS Arlo App there was a firmware update. I updated it and bam everything went offline. All 4 cameras. I called Support and said there was an ongoing issue. I restarted my modem/router (I have fiber 500/500) and power cycled my hub just before I called them. Anyone else?

[JosiahAnt]

Yes happened to me this morning, had to change batteries on two cameras., both then had a firmware update after update both cameras were showing offline.

I had to delete both cameras from the App. Then had to go through the procedure  to find the cameras again, but there was no blue flash to sync.

I then had to do a factory reset holding down the sync button bottom of the camera for at least 15 seconds until I saw three amber lights flash.

First camera was found, but had to update firmware again, but was ok and now operational.

the second camera was not found and had to to go through the factory reset three time before it started flashing blue and then the second camera was  found, did another firmware update, but back to camera offline. I went through the procedure again, deleting the camera from the app, factory reset, firmware update again and this time it work and both cameras now in working order. This was over three hours to get them sorted. 

[JosiahAnt]

Beide meiner Kameras waren heute offline, ich habe alle Netzwerkeinstellungen usw. ausprobiert, aber ohne Erfolg.
Am Ende musste ich die beiden Kameras, die ich habe, aus der Arlo-App löschen. Habe den Vorgang durchlaufen, um die Kameras wieder zu finden, aber nichts, da das blaue Licht blinkte, habe ich dann die Werkseinstellungen zurückgesetzt, indem ich die Synchronisierungstaste an der Unterseite der Kameras 15 Sekunden lang gedrückt gehalten habe, bis drei gelbe Lichter blinkten.
Bei der ersten Kamera wurde festgestellt, dass das blaue Licht blinkt, aber zum Abschluss musste ein Firmware-Update durchgeführt werden.
arbeitet jetzt. Bei der zweiten Kamera blinkten zwar drei gelbe Lichter, aber kein blaues Licht, um sich mit der Basisstation zu synchronisieren.
Am Ende musste ich noch drei weitere Werksresets durchführen, bis das blaue Licht zu blinken begann und gefunden wurde. Firmware-Update, ging aber wieder offline. Ich musste erneut einen Werksreset und ein erneutes Firmware-Update durchführen, aber dieses Mal ging es online. Jetzt funktionieren also beide Kameras.

[Pack4now]

Here is what I did to fix the issue.

1. Remove the camera from your system via app or web browser.

2. Remove camera from case, and push and hold tge sync button for 10 seconds(or until it flashes orange)

3. Then go in app or web page and press add camera.

4. Follow instructions to re-add camera to system.

5. Re-set up any activity zones, camera order, etc. 

6.  It will probably require a firmware update after they are back on-line.

Worked for my system, however my solar panels Are not working.

[martincc]

Arlo Corp. sind sich der Probleme mit dem Ultra 2 mindestens seit dem 15. September bewusst. Das Unternehmen scheint an einer Lösung zu arbeiten, obwohl es mich nicht kontaktiert oder etwas im Community-Forum veröffentlicht hat; Ich weiß nicht, was mich erwartet und wann.

Das Problem entstand bei Arlo Corp., als dort ein neuer Firmware-Push durchgeführt wurde. diese Firmware war offensichtlich „fehlerhaft“. Ich empfehle, die Geräte nicht zu manipulieren oder Fehler zu beheben, da dies die Wiederherstellung Ihrer Kameras erschweren könnte, nachdem Arlo Abhilfe geschaffen hat.

Arlo Corp. scheint sich nie die Mühe zu machen, seine Kunden über Ausfälle oder geplante Korrekturmaßnahmen zu informieren – sie nehmen einfach weiterhin unser Geld, als ob wir ihnen dankbar sein sollten.

Ich habe gepostet: „Die Netgear- und später die Arlo-Unternehmen haben eine lange Geschichte dieser Art von Überwachungskamerasystemen mit schlechter Kundenreaktionsfähigkeit. Normalerweise sind solche Probleme in der Wirtschaft entweder auf Geld- oder Personalprobleme zurückzuführen: Ich glaube nicht, dass diese schlechte Unternehmensmentalität bei Arlo der Fall ist.“ eine Geldfrage. Führung beginnt an der Spitze mit CEO Mr. Matthew McRae; viele von uns Kunden warten darauf, etwas Führung zu sehen.“

PS: Am besten posten Sie in englischen Foren in deren englischer Sprache.

[martincc]

Lacking any meaningful communications from Arlo Corp. or their Tech Support, some Ultra 2 owners are messaging about trying this or that remedy. To date, since 15 Sept, the fixes tend not to work for long, or the set is left having other aspects (solar panel charging, etc.) compromised.

The problem originated at Arlo Corp., with a new firmware push they performed; this firmware was obviously "buggy". It may be best that we not tamper with the equipment, or doing any troubleshooting, it might complicate (if not 'brick') the recovery of your cameras after Arlo releases a remedy.

[TSWC21]

Been in contact with Arlo Support who gave me these instructions.

1. Reboot SmartHub

2. Charge camera

3. Reset camera pushing down button for 30s

4. Try to re-install camera within a meter from SmartHub.

Have tried multiple times both with this and the instructions from facelvega here without any luck.

When resetting the camera I can't get it to fast flash blue, Only a few times amber then blue and nothing.

[Dgmi]

The question is, will arlo acknowledge this issue and advise of a resolution?
doubt it, but arlo please prove me wrong

I took action into my own hands and fixed all 9 of my cameras, but they could just as easily screw them all up again in matter of minutes unannounced to us.

[darkness975]

I had to re-sync one of the cameras to get it to reconnect again.  The others I did not have to re-sync.  However I did have to charge all of them since the batteries drained to zero.

[DSmith112778]

Last week had several issues where ultra 2 system was offline.  They would come back on here and there. This weekend they went offline again. I did a reboot if base station. Now ive lost all connected cameras and everything. The app now wants me to set everything up as a new system.  Can anyone tell me what went wrong?

[pkwct]

I was finally able to get all 5 of my Arlo Ultra 2 cameras working again yesterday by rebooting the base station and then taking batteries out of each camera individually and then MANUALLY restarting each camera (hold the reset button and continue holding for at least a few seconds after the flashing yellow light comes on).  The camera will then need to perform a software update to revert to the version before the "update" that caused this problem.  One of the 5 cameras required going through this process 3 times before it successfully connected.  Also, be aware that this process totally drains the camera battery so it's a good idea to charge the battery before starting this process.  All cameras have been working fine for 24 hours now.  Thank goodness I have two older Arlo cameras and a doorbell camera that never went offline!

[martincc]

Arlo Ultra 2's went down as Arlo pushed a new firmware that they hadn't fully tested, even on prisoners. Most of us found out about the problem on our own, wasted too much time trying to diagnose what was not a problem on our end. Lacking any meaningful communications from Arlo Corp. or their Tech Support, some Ultra 2 owners have been messaging about trying this or that remedy. To date, since 15 Sept, the fixes tend not to work for long, or the set is left having other aspects (solar panel charging, etc.) compromised.

The problem originated at Arlo Corp. with that new firmware push they performed; this firmware was obviously "buggy". It may be best that we not tamper with the equipment, or doing any troubleshooting, it might complicate (if not 'brick') the recovery of your cameras after Arlo releases a remedy.

The Netgear, then later Arlo companies have a long history of this kind of security camera systems poor customer responsiveness. Usually in business these kinds of issues originate from either money or people problems: I believe this poor corporate mindset at Arlo is not a money issue. Leadership starts at the top with Mr. Matthew McRae; many of us customers are waiting to see some leadership.

[ronsmith7144]

Here is what I had to do.  

Restart the base station.

Remove all affected cameras from the base station.

One at a time, add the affected cameras back to the base station (sometimes this had to be done more than once).

Once added - update the firmware (roll back the firmware).

Test motion etc.

Place cameras back one at a time.

[Hinkman]

I feel your pain.  Arlo finally got back to me instructing me to completely delete the camera from the system and add it back in.  When I did that it did add back in but any Ultra 2 camera I add back in now says the battery is depleted even when I put a newly charged battery in.  I have 8 cameras, the 4 older ones are all working fine.  This is only with the new Ultra 2 cameras.

[brownland01]

I had the same failure to connect my Ultra2 cameras.  My old hub is working with 3 cameras active.  All 4 of my ultra2's failed to connect.  I removed the cameras and only one is now active.  When I try to connect I get a rapid flashing blue light then nothing.  

[Itezbngrn]

Noticed that some cameras (all Ultra 2) are offline. After rebooting, checking batteries, power cables and so on, I had a chat with support. They are are aware of the issue but there is no fix. All previous cameras appear to be working. Despite what the "best answer" is for the hundreds of posts on this issue, there is no fix at this time. If you remove your cameras, you lose the ability to see their warranty status and serial number from the App. 

[martincc]

Arlo Ultra 2's went down as Arlo pushed a new firmware that they hadn't fully tested, not even on prisoners. Most of us found out about the problem on our own, wasted too much time trying to diagnose what was not a problem on our end. I did reach Tech Support but they seem to either humor us with "try this...", or beta test on our gear. Lacking any meaningful communications from Arlo Corp. or their Tech Support, some Ultra 2 owners have been messaging about trying this or that remedy. To date, since 15 Sept, the fixes tend not to work for long, or the set is left having other aspects (solar panel charging, etc.) compromised.

The problem originated at Arlo Corp. with that new firmware push they performed; this firmware was obviously "buggy". It may be best that we not tamper with the equipment, or doing any troubleshooting, it might complicate (if not 'brick') the recovery of your cameras after Arlo releases a remedy.

The Netgear, then later Arlo companies have a long history of this kind of security camera systems poor customer responsiveness. Usually in business these kinds of issues originate from either money or people problems: I believe this poor corporate mindset at Arlo is not a money issue. Leadership starts at the top with Mr. Matthew McRae; many of us customers are waiting to see some leadership.

M

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

After further investigation the engineering team has determined that a camera factory reset for Arlo Ultra/Ultra 2 devices will bring these devices back online. To do a camera factory reset, follow the steps linked here: How to troubleshoot issues with Arlo Ultra Offline September 15, 2023

We know that you rely on Arlo to protect your property and loved ones, and we sincerely apologize for any frustration and inconvenience this may have caused. 

Thank you, 

Arlo Customer Care 

[Anders_DK]

Yesterday i managed to get 3 out of 4 cameras back online by doing a factory reset on theese.

The 4th camera wont show any light in the LED's on the camera (tried with different batteries and even charger attached). I can hear som "movement" in the camera optic when i hold the resetbottum down for 10-15 seconds - but no flashing blue light.

It do seem to me that this camera has an error that can not be fixed by a reset. The camera is only 2 months old.

What to do? 

[bubba56]

My two Ultra Cameras does the same. When I remove battery and reinsert the blue light will give a short fast blink. When I try reset no lights only Click sound. I try three or four times a day! 

Nether my new $200 Ultra Hubs will come online. All lights do as they are suppose to with an eventual solid blue light but will not show up on app. None of the suggestions here have worked for me. Ive had no security for my residence since Arlo shut every thing down on me. My expensive subscription continues without use.

I am very disappointed in Arlo but my hands are tied and I cant afford to invest in a new system.