VMB5000 will no longer connect

[Wkeith]

january 6 2023 my System recorded me leaving for work early morning, sometime mid morning is when it stopped and the amber light on the VMB5000 hub was blinking amber. So far I have rebooted by unplugging both the ethernet cable and power, did not help.   Switched ports on the router and tried new cable, did not help.  Did a reset, did not help. removed the hub from my account on the app, did not help and could not add it back.  No matter what I do the light just blinks amber.  Only 1 time was I able to reinstall the hub onto the app with a blue light, but it still did not work, went right back to blinking amber, blue light has not even flickered since.  I have done all these steps several times the last few days and nothing works.

Is the hub bricked? Arlo support isnt any help, 

I have 2 Ultra 2 cameras and 2 indoor essential cameras on this the last 1 1/2 years and has worked perfectly.

[jguerdat]

When you reset the hub did you hold the button for >15 seconds? A shorter holding may not have actually reset the hub. Also, check the power supply for proper voltage as marked on the wall wart.

[Wkeith]

I held the button in for the 15 seconds, the light went out and it started the reboot process then went back to the blinking amber.  I've done this several times just to make sure it worked.

I've tried different outlets and the router and modem are also plugged into the same one, internet and wifi function as intended.  I even plugged the hub straight to the modem to see if the router was the problem, no luck. I have fiber internet all the way to the modem so no password is needed.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Sounds like a hardware failure in the hub. Use Settings, Support, select an appropriate device for a phone number to contact support for a possible replacement.

[Wkeith]

I have assumed it was a hardware failure, just wanted someone with more knowledge and experience with these than me to make that call.  Thanks for your help.

I have contacted support but so far they only supplied me with links to the trouble shooting pages, which I already have tried multiple times.  I'll try a phone call this afternoon to see if they can help finding a replacement.

[Wkeith]

I seem to have found the problem with the hub not connecting to internet, as a last ditch test I hooked up my old Smart RG router supplied by my internet company and my hub now connects quickly.  The EERO 6 router i had been using is the issue although it had been working perfectly for weeks. Only the Smart RG router shows on the log as connected to the EERO, not the Arlo hub, if the Arlo hub is connected and shows in the EERO connections it wont work.   Any insight what is going on?

[jguerdat]

Not an Eero expert (never even seen one) so a search here may provide answers from those who have successfully connected. I think there's a security setting that can be turned off that helps but I also think someone found a different solution. Hopefully someone with knowledge will see this and join in.

[Wkeith]

Thanks, after I figured how to get the hub to connect I did a search on here looking for solutions with an EERO router. I will "guess" at this point it has something to do with how EERO uses its firewall on the eero 6 I have.  As I figure out more and hear back from eero support I'll post here just in the event someone else has this same issue.  On this eero 6 there is no reset button and no way to look at firewall settings so I may have to see about re opening specific ports for the Arlo.

For now I have the old router connected to eero and my Arlo hub connected to the old router, working fine so far, just alot of wires and boxes on the shelf now.....

[NetMD]

The eero contains many Content filtering options.  I recommend including Arlo.com to the white list and also disabling any content / application filters applied to the Network Group your Arlo Devices are contained in.  

Also make sure you have installed the latest eero Firmware version.  

If you are using web direct cameras eero Ad Blocking can cause erratic behavior when using some Global Load Balancers on Content Delivery Networks.  

• If your using wired VMBase station you only have to add it to an open policy group otherwise if your using the essential wifi direct to cloud cameras the above applies.  

[Wkeith]

This is one of the newer eero6 routers, its not very clear how to add items to the firewall or whitelist, the interface is very simplified and no clear options that I'm used to with other brands I've used in the past and truthfully I'm loosing interest in eero. Their support keeps saying its Arlo causing the problem when clearly its eero because it will work on my old slow router and worked several weeks on eero. I have read in the literature its, as best my knowledge can repeat, self learning as far as safe and not safe.

I have 2 of the web direct cameras connected to wifi and not the hub, they work perfectly. Its the hub that will not connect.

I think its time to look at a new router for home, is there one particular brand you guys recomend that is easy to use and stable?

[StephenB]

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@Wkeith wrote:

I think its time to look at a new router for home, is there one particular brand you guys recomend that is easy to use and stable?

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I've been using Orbi for quite a while - they have been working well for me.

If you have Eero Secure enabled, you might try disabling it.

[Wkeith]

I dont use eero secure, I think its called eero plus now.  Last night I tried opening ports 80 and 443 for the VMB5000 but this didnt work either.  

For now I'll keep using a second router for Arlo, which is connected to eero, as this works good.  Just cant understand why the VMB5000 worked with eero for several weeks then suddenly stopped.