VMB5000 showing on router, can ping device, but won't discover in My Arlo! Already removed device.

[Catwhisperer]

This is getting a bit ridiculous. Twice in the past two weeks the base station goes offline. After flights of stairs and a ladder, I check the ethernet cable, do a factory reset on the router, verify that it is blue before I close the protective box. I get to the computer, the VMB5000 shows up at the correct IP address on the network, I can ping the VMB5000 but the damn thing will not connect to my Arlo account. I've already removed the device and it still won't connect. I've spent hours on it today to not have working security cameras by dark. Any ideas would be helpful.

As it stands, this is not a system I can recommend to any homeowner unless this kind of recurring issue gets resolved... 

[jguerdat]

Have you used the Contact Support link at the bottom here for a possible hardware issue?

[Tony_McAdama]

I am having the same issue. The base station shows up on my list of available networks but will not connect and says the password is incorrect. I have had it hooked up for over a year with no issues. There never has been a password. Why now and how do I fix it?

[Catwhisperer]

I had several problems, but the important ones were network related rather than VBM5000 related. I had to spend almost a $100 dollars on tools, though, to fix it. My setup, however, is rather unusual. I have a Xfinity router hard wired to an access point that connects to an extender that is hard wired to the to the VMB5000. There is a long story as to why, but lets just say the building is 'geriatric', big, and hard to access.

My problems were:

1. A U bend followed by a perpendicular 90 degree on solid copper CAT5E DIY cable, with the mechanical and thermal stress repeatedly breaking the cable (it's outside in a plastic industrial junction box).
2. Bad plugs on both sides of the Ethernet cable.
3. Bad WIFI extender positioning
4. And dirty AC power.

I resolved it by rebuilding the cable ends, and doing a nice soft swoop (solid copper doesn't like mechanical stress) to the Ethernet jack on the VBM5000. I built a raised platform for the WIFI extender to get it to an opening in the plaster and lathe, and added a small UPS to the extender so it doesn't loose connectivity at an inopportune time (like in the middle of an base station update) due to a power glitch.

The tools were $30 bucks for the low end Klein cable tester, and $50 for the higher end Klein Ethernet cable crimper tool, and a few bucks for pass-thru CAT6 Ethernet plugs. As a very last resort, factory reset the base station and remove it from the account. I had to do that, but that was because of operator error. I've had it apparently loose connectivity again, to reboot the access point and resolve the problem. The moral of the story is check power and Ethernet first, in that order, and test Ethernet dynamically after checking statically. Just because the tester measures continuity, doesn't mean it's hanging by a copper crystal. I climbed the ladder several times to the box in a mental WTF state, and I've 40 years experience in the electronics industry and work as a systems administrator now... 🙄🤣

[LandJS]

Tony, are you saying your trying to connect to arlo on the computers wi-fi list ?  To my knowledge it's not something you can do.  It shows but it's not a network you can access.  Just as some of the other networks around you will show, without their password you can't connect.  Arlo isn't one you can, it's network is between it and the cameras and anything sent to the cloud is through your router.  You then access it through the portal on your computer or through your phone app using your account and account password.