Arlo Base Station VMB5000r6 Offline Problem

[Sneakingfart]

Hi Everyone,

I am running a fairly complicated setup with a mix of Arlo Pro 3 and Ultra 2 cameras (7 total), and two of the above base stations. One is plugged directly into my router, the other is plugged directly into a second router which is taking a wireless signal and making a wired connection. I am not sure if this is relevant, but my home network setup is a Verizon gigabit connection going to a pfSense router, then a power over ethernet switch and 4 Ubiquiti access points that supply wifi to the entire house. This is a much more similar to an office or hospital type wifi system, where you can move all over the house, and your devices will seamless switch to the strongest access point, while still sharing the same connection. 

The second Arlo base is plugged into a second router running DD-WRT firmware and is basically wirelessly linked to the main wifi, and provides a wired connection to the second arlo base station, as well as our Ooma "landline" phone service that we use for emergencies. That router's connection is reliable and I've never seen it go down. 

Here's the problem. The main base station has no problems. It's always on, light is always blue, etc. The second base station is connected to 2 cameras that are too far away from the main base station (hence the 2nd one), and the light regularly blinks orange, and it's paired cameras are inaccessible. However, if I force close the arlo app and clear cache on my android phone, the light immediately turns blue and I can see the cameras again. Likewise if I log in through my PC, no issues. But within minutes of closing the app or browser, light blinks orange again.

All the basic troubleshooting has been done. Paired and repaired everything, internet connection is solid and reliable on both routers, everything is within range. Does anyone here have any ideas? It seems more that the base station loses connection to the phone app somehow. Thanks for any help.

[jguerdat]

The amber blinking can also indicate a connection issue with at least one camera:

https://kb.arlo.com/000039100/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Arlo-SmartHub-or-Base-Station-mean

Have you tried using a WiFi or power line extender for the second base?

[Sneakingfart]

Thank you for your response. The 2nd router is essentially acting as a wifi extender with a wired connection to the 2nd base. I did try the cheap range extender method, but a Linksys 1900AC router with DD-WRT firmware is far more powerful. But it's not a connectivity issue, when the Arlo base station goes down, my other devices in that router are still working fine.

I did consider the possibility that it is a camera connectivity issue, however the problem is essentialy all or none. Basically in the app, when the 2 cameras that are connected to it are "offline", going into settings and devices shows the base station offline. If I access it from the browser on my PC, everything is online ad it should be, and the light on the 2nd base immediately goes blue. Likewise If I force close the app on my Galaxy Fold 5 and reopen it, all is well again. But when I close everything, it's blinking orange within minutes. 

I should note that this 2nd base station is new. I replaced an older one that came with my original Arlo Pro 3 because of the same behavior that I wrongly attributed to a bad base station. 

[jguerdat]

I figured you were using the 2nd router as an extender but it does add some extra complexity to the network (extra settings possible in the router, etc.). 

It's acting like something is dropping the connection until the app or browser forces the connection to re-open. That's where I figure the router could be the issue. 

Also, Samsung devices recently seem to have issues with the app. Have you checked the phone settings for the app to ensure it isn't disabling the app after a short timeout? Another person here recently found that enabling the app to be on all the time fixed their problem.

[Sneakingfart]

You raised a good point, I'll look through it again when I get home. I believe I disabled all firewalls on the secondary router, but I'll make sure. I kept it as simple as possible. I have a secondary network on my access point system that is just a 20 Mhz 2.4 Ghz band that I have all of my IOT devices connect to for range and reliability, and that is also what the secondary router is linked to. But there definitely maybe something I missed. 

Just for grins, I looked into my phone settings to make sure the arlo app isn't sleeping, and although it wasn't, it's power usage was set to "optimized." I changed it to "unrestricted," maybe something, we'll see. But I agree with you, Arlo and Samsung haven't gotten along well in years. We have some iPads somewhere (pretty much only use Samsung), I'm going to play with that and see if there are any differences. 

But thank you, you definitely gave me something to look into further. I will let you know. In the meantime, any other suggestions, please share.