ARLO ULTRA MOTION RECORDING "GOES TO SLEEP"

[HazzMatt]

I've spent hours per day over the last week trying to figure out why some of my Arlo Ultra Cameras stopped recording on motion.  I have two different Ultra systems on two different accounts in two different states and both systems have this problem. Symptoms are:  Arlo app shows last activity hours ago on some cameras, when I know there was activity during this time that should have been recorded.  No recordings in the library for those certain cameras either, no surprise there.  I've spent hours resetting batteries in cameras, rebooting the base station and even factory reset the base station and then rebuilding my cameras from scratch. The problem re-appears and it isn't always a specific camera that stops recording. The problem moves to different cameras. I do have some cameras that have a weaker signal that the others, but it isn't the weakest camera that always goes to sleep.  Sometimes the weaker one will stay working but the stronger cameras can also be the one that goes to sleep instead. The only way to "wake up the camera" seems to be to either remove and resync the camera or reboot the base station. Despite a short restoral period, the problem appears again.  After hours with Arlo Chat, going through the painful processes they must ask you to do or try - nothing got fixed. I finally got escalated to Level 2 support. Finally I was informed that the Ultra Base station received a firmware update on July 29th -the "exact day" that my problems started.  My fault for not checking the Arlo website for a list of recent updates - it was there, Arlo Ultra Base update on July 29th.  Unfortunately, Arlo cannot revert to the previous firmware version.  At present, they don't know what came out in that update that "broke things".  Anyway, I hope this report helps others to avoid the painful amount of wasted time troubleshooting that I've spent.  Oh, another thing - I also have Arlo Pro cameras at the same location and they all work fine, they don't have this problem.    Last thing: I've seen many claim that the Arlo Ultra systems don't have the range to cameras that the Arlo Pro has/had.  I also have seen this.  An Arlo Level 2 technician told me today that is absolutely not possible or true. If the power and sensitivity isn't less, the antenna pattern must be different. The result -not as good of range.  I hope this helps at least one person! Take care and Good Luck!   Matt

[Mjbeuke]

it appears there are quite a few people having this issue since the last Base station update....

Can you please help us out here? I would contact support as you would recommend - but what’s the point? I have a ticket in for my Pro 2 Base station for nearly 2 months that I’ve called to inquire on a update for - and have never been updated from the team even upon my asking. And this is “Tier 2 support” that I wasted a ton of time running around taking pictures and uploading them as requested.... I never even heard back! Talk about gasoline on the fire....

I really want to get this resolved - it completely crippled and ruins the ultra system which until now I’ve had very few issues with.

[Mjbeuke]

Oh I know that I’m in for a lifetime of stupid issues with this system....

Don’t hold your breath on the base station being the problem - it’s 95% certainly a firmware issue - as, like you, mine worked like a champ until the 7/29 update and now is doing the same thing where the Ultras won’t sense motion and record unless the base is rebooted. And even then it’s only good for an hour or so before doing it again.

[HazzMatt]

Oh, I agree. I don't expect the different base station to fix the problem either. They told me it's a different batch that's not in the market. I'm sure it's the 7/29 update as well. Arlo claims they can't go back or release another update that does the same thing as go back. At least I know that I'm not alone and the issue known now. I sure could use some inspiration from Arlo Moderators that are supposedly here with us. Nothing yet.

[Mjbeuke]

It’s also important to note - I have 2 Ultras and 5 Pro 2’s connected to the SmartHub.

The Ultras are doing this crap, the Pro 2’s are not.... so it’s certainly something related specifically to the SmartHub, and the connection with the Ultra cameras.

I also saw another thread on this same issue and asked @JamesC if he could look into this for us. He’s always been the most helpful of the Mods on Arlo’s site!!

[HazzMatt]

What is the title (or link) of the other thread please. I looked for one before I posted mine and I could only find similar posts that were from May or older - not since,7/29 when the bad update came out.

[Mjbeuke]

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Ultra/Arlo-Ultra-no-notifications-no-recordings-but-motion-detect...

Here it is. Not as detailed of a description as what you had initially brought to light - but it appears to be the exact same issue.

[HazzMatt]

There it is indeed! Thanks for sharing

[JamesC]

This issue has been escalated to the development team. I will provide an update as soon as I know more.

JamesC

[n1976jmk]

Hi LandJS, do you use the outdoor AC power cords with your Ultra cameras?

Thanks,

[n1976jmk]

Hi Mjbeuke, do you use the outdoor AC power cords with your Ultra cameras?

Thanks,

[LandJS]

I don't leave them plugged in.  I do have a 25ft.  outdoor I use for charging them but will be buying enough to run all of them plugged in when I travel for longer periods.  Will just run them near an outlet where I can just plug them in without having to climb a ladder.

[Mjbeuke]

Yes I have 25’ outdoor power cables powering both of mine. They both remain 100% charged and show the lightning bolt charging symbol at all times.

I did remove power from both to see if the issue still happen on battery power - and it does - so I’ve tested for this both with and without AC power and in both instances it happening.

[n1976jmk]

Thanks for answering Mjbeuke.

When this happens and no motion clips are recorded or push notifications are not working.

Two questions-

When you go to the ‘mode’ section does it show ‘armed’ or ‘getting information’?

Also- when you are experiencing the issues and you are on your devices section. Does it show the battery charging signs below the cameras or nothing about them at all?

Because when my 2 cameras don’t record or notify me of motion then the mode isn’t armed it only shows ‘getting information’ and on the devices page it shows no battery icons at all below my two cameras.

I’ll attach a screenshot of what I’m talking about.

I have reboot the base station via the app to temporarily fix it.

[n1976jmk]

Hi SuperZwu! I am also having this similar issue and working with Arlo support since mid July.

Curious, when this ill behavior is happening and you go to the mode section, does it show ‘armed’ or ‘getting information’?

My mode shows ‘getting information’ (screenshot attached) and I have to reboot the base station via the app to get it back to ‘armed’ mode so it’ll notify me via push app notifications and record the motion events to the library. This only works for a few hours then I have to reboot the base station again.

[HazzMatt]

I've had the Getting Status or Offline Issue in the mode tab for a long while. Logging out of my account and back in brings it back. I don't like this solution but Arlo has never been able to address it. That problem is only in my Android. The iPhone doesn't have that problem. ** However ** This isn't the problem my post is about. My post is about cameras not recording for motion after the Ultra Base station update on July 29th. Problems prior to July 29 are different.

[n1976jmk]

But it seems related actually.

When I have ‘getting information’ in my mode than none of the push app notifications work and no motion clips are being recorded to my library until I get it back to showing armed.

If there is actual truly motion at my cameras and my mode is stuck at ‘getting information’ at the time the time of the motion than Arlo app won’t send push notifications and never record the motion clip to the library.

[BenAU]

I am having the same issues with my Ultra system. All three of my cameras were working perfectly for weeks without issue. In the past few days, the cameras have stopped detecting motion. Sometimes all three would stop, other times just one. I have two at the front of my house about 10 meters apart. One will record motion and the other does not. (they usually record for the same motion) Swapped camera locations to see if it was the camera that was the issue, it was not the camera. All cameras have two out of three bars for signal strength. But then out of the blue it will record motion for a short time then stop again. 

Occasionally when this occurs the base station will flash amber, other times the solid blue light remains on.

The system is armed and set to record for all motion. The firmware is up to date. (I am not sure when I updated the firmware last, so cannot comment if that is the issue)

I have removed cameras from the base station and reinstalled them. The only thing I have yet to try is a full reset of the base station. 

[Jdubbs4131]

I unplugged my base station, my router, and my cable modem. I rebooted them both in reverse order and motion detection has been good since. But both Ultra cameras have terrible audio quality. The rest of the cameras are fine.

[SuperZwu]

Maybe we are mixing up different issues here ... my base station is showing "Armed" as it should and also the motion detection and the recording is working.

The "only" thing that isn't working is the notification system and the recordings don't show up in the library on my mobile app!

The support has not yet replied to my eMail but I will do a factory reset soon and will update this thread here once I have news for you 🙂

[HazzMatt]

If the issue you're having started on or right after July 29, then your problem is the same as mine and others. If any of your cameras are not recording on motion, which also means the recordings are not showing up in the library, but you can still view live video and manually record to the library - same problem.

[SuperZwu]

Do you see the video files on your SD card too?

[HazzMatt]

Another thing I'll add, if my Android app shows getting status or offline, that should only be the app that's affected at that time. I can logout of my app completely, but motion recordings, if working, should still be going to the library even if my having logged out prevents me from seeing motion triggered notifications. There are indeed some intertwined issues here but again, the one I'm focusing on started when the July 29 Ultra base station firmware update came out. Good Luck to us all.

[SuperZwu]

Short update here:

Since the Arlo support still has not reached out to me except an eMail that I have to re-write all of my problem description in german I've reset my base-station to factory settings today.

I did all the initial stuff that's required, paired all my cams again to it and after about 30 minutes got everything back to my previous state BUT STILL NO NOTIFICATIONS are working!

I even tried to enable the eMail-Notifications but they don't work either.

Now I'm totally out of options and I'm think it is more than very likely that this is a software bug of the latest firmware version of the base-station!

[HazzMatt]

I have a different post on here with the Titled ARLO MOTION RECORDING "GOES TO SLEEP". You might want to read that. In that post I had mentioned that I also did a factory reset of the Ultra base station and then resynced all my cameras. I have a 6 cam Ultra system and also a 4 cam system. Please read those details and symptoms, all of which didn't start occuring for me until Arlo pushed out the July 29 base station firmware change.

[HazzMatt]

I was just told by Arlo Level 2 support that this issue has actually now been identified. Hopefully a proper firmware update will fix this problem!!