Poor connectivity (Ultra 2) range issue

[DCP4971]

So, just updated from Pro 2 to Ultra 2..

VMB5000r4 base is in the same location as the old VMB4000, but cameras in the same locations as the Pro 2s, in particular the furthest located has far worse connectivity - showing a red dot rather than 2 or 3 bars of connection in the app, or worse, not connected at all.

I'd upgraded expecting better connectivity, not worse..

I can see the base wifi is often choosing the same channels as the 2.4GHz wifi on my Orbi router, which seems nuts. Why can't I choose the wifi channel for Arlo to use?

Why is the same location with 5 year newer kit delivering better connectivity, not far, far worse?

I'm tech savvy, and done all troubleshooting I can think of - per the Arlo support site, but, bitterly disappointed, considering returning it and finding a different product all-together..

[jguerdat]

A potential issue is that the 4k Ultras require more bandwidth compared to your older 1080p cameras. You may need to reposition the hub for better connectivity to all cameras. An appropriate (re)positioning of one of your Orbi satellites may help for the hub to to connect to.

The use of the same channel by the hub compared to your router is intentional to reduce the interference of close-by devices using different channels. If you want the hub to use a different channel, you may need to use a longer Ethernet cable to physically separate the devices.

[DCP4971]

Thanks, needing more bandwidth than the old cameras makes sense - though, I've got 1gig download and 100mbps upload, which far exceeds the minimum requirements. But, I guess maybe it's more the internal bandwidth between the base and cameras we are talking here and associated interference.

Have had a bit of a play with moving the Orbi around and found a spot where the closest Arlo cam is 3 bars, but the furthers, which is only about 10m away from the base, is 2 or 1 bar still. I can't move the Orbi much further as this compromises the distance between the router and satellites.

I may be able to lay my hands on a powerline adapter, which could give me more scope to place the Arlo base in other places (and further away from the Orbi), but I'm not sure how well powerlines will work (though, I'd imagine still be well over the 3mbps that they specify as minimum), so will need to play with that to try to force a different channel from Arlo to Orbi. I've noticed today that the Arlo does seem to be using different channels for once, but there are still other wifi SSIDs using the 2.4GHz channel..

Have raised an incident with Arlo, but not holding my breath..I'd just like to be able to manage the channel myself, I bought the flippin' thing, let me troubleshoot it myself a bit..hey ho.

Any ideas if there are any diagnostics that the base or cameras can capture to see what they are doing?

Cheers

[StephenB]

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@DCP4971 wrote:

Any ideas if there are any diagnostics that the base or cameras can capture to see what they are doing?

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No.

But one thing you could try is connecting the Ultra 2 to your old VMB4000 base.  The VMB5000 is dual-band, and it's possible that the Ultra 2 is trying to use the 5 ghz radio.  The VMB4000 only has 2.4 ghz, so that would force the Ultra to connect on 2.4.

[DCP4971]

That's a great suggestion, thanks. That seems to have made a world of difference.

I was being a bit bloody-minded, determined to make the 5000 work or nothing (and had been beating my head against the wall with Arlo support) and had it all boxed up ready to return and thought, actually, let's just give this a whirl and have found a spot where we appear to get full signal on all cameras.

Going to leave it a while and see if we get any fluctuations - it does seem that there is a really narrow sweet spot around the strength of my home network & neighbouring wifi, but have a cupboard in that right place where I can run a lan cable.

Have had to disappoint someone on eBay where the base was listed, but, I'll be lobbing the 5000 on there in due course and getting more for that, being brand new.

Thanks again!

[Jcapache41]

Having this same issue had my ultra 2 camera in the same spot since November and was flawless. 24/7 recoding no problems at all anything I wanted to check was always there,  I have had the same router also. Verizon service. All of a sudden since Saturday I have pauses on my cvr timeline. Stuff I’m going back to check does not record cvr plays for a few seconds and stops then I have to scroll 2 minutes later and missed what I wanted to see on camera, any advice what to do and why all of a sudden the cvr is not working properly?