Activity zones still not working

[n1976jmk]

Hi JamesC and other Arlo moderators.

James replies to a few post about motion activity issues and activity zones not working and their engineers are aware and working on it.

But it’s been 2-3 days with no updates?

When can I expect my security to function normally again?


Thank you,

[n1976jmk]

Please @JamesC any update would be appreciated?

[n1976jmk]

@StephenB 

Can you please possibly help to answer everyone's activity zones not working on the Ultra cameras since the Dec 4 Base station firmware update?

[n1976jmk]

How about @jguerdat.

Could you please possibly help to answer how to resolve the issue with the activity zones not working since the Dec 4 Ultra base station firmware update?  And motion activity is reporting 100's a day since then since it is detection motion on the entire field of view of the cameras.

Thank you!

[n1976jmk]

@st_shaw 

Any help would be greatly appreciated?  We are desperate.  

[n1976jmk]

@Streak2

hi Streak, any chance you could help us with the activity zones not working since the Dec 4 firmware update for the Arlo ultra base station?

We are in desperate need.

Thank you!

[n1976jmk]

Hi Alex @ArloAlex

Could you please possibly help to answer how to resolve the issue with the activity zones not working since the Dec 4 Ultra base station firmware update?  And motion activity is reporting 100's a day since then since it is detection motion on the entire field of view of the cameras.

Thank you!

[n1976jmk]

Hi @Mjbeuke 

I know we worked together in the past.

Are you also having this issue with the Ultra cameras and reporting 100's of motion notification since the Dec 4th Ultra basestation firmware update?  Since activity zones are ignored and the system reports motion detections from the entire field of view from all the cameras?

thanks!

[53Crusher]

JamesC - You are the only person trying to help this community, I thank you for what you do, but this is a plea to you for help!

I was one of the very first owners of the Arlo Ultra system and am well versed in it and previous firmware updates/problems. This is my current system.

Base Station VMB500r4 Firmware 1.15.0.1_244_c345a43

4 Ultra Cameras H6 Firmware 1.070.50.0_197_09137a0

Audio Doorbell HW version 1.2 Firmware 1.2.0.0_309_283

Chime HW version 1.2 Firmware 1.2.0.0_297_266

Android Arlo App 2.12.0_26090 released 12/13/19

All cameras have constant AC power cables

The above is just to show that my $1500 Arlo Ultra system is completely up to date for firmware/software and is still completely non-functional. Although I did NOT want to spend 1/2 of my weekend troubleshooting Arlo equipment, I felt it was my duty to try and be part of the solution and not just complain. I did NOT want to go down this road, but I did. 

Got out my ladder, physically removed all four Ultra cameras, audio doorbell and chime. Within the Arlo desktop app, I removed the chime, bell, four cameras and then base. Pressed sync button on chime 10 seconds to reset it. Pressed sync button on doorbell 10 seconds to reset it. Removed the batteries from all four cameras. Pressed reset on the base station for 10 seconds. Took the additional steps of deleting all video in my cloud storage library. Bought a brand new 64Gb SD card for the base station. Deleted the cache for my Arlo Android app and then deleted the app. Restarted cell phone and re-installed Arlo app. 

At this point, I believe I had created the equivalent of a new out of box experience. Plugged Ethernet cable into my SmartHub and applied power. Light went to a solid blue. Used my newly installed Android app to add the SmartHub to my account. To be extra safe, I gave it a different name than before. Inserted brand new 64 GB SD card and reformatted with the Arlo Android app. One at a time, I installed the camera batteries and added them using my Android app. To be extra cautious, all cameras received a new name. 

Finally, I added the audio doorbell (with new name), and associated it to a camera. Lastly, added the Arlo chime (with new name). All synced well and everything went as it should have. 

Physically reinstalled all devices back to where they belong. Verified that I could do a "live view" on all cameras. Doorbell and Chime behaved as expected. 

THIS IS WHERE I BELIEVE THE PROBLEM LIES.........

Tried to set up activity zones with my Android app as well as Desktop app. All four cameras are automatically zoomed to either the upper left 1/4 of the live view screen, or they are even zoomed into a 12"x 12" area in the upper left quadrant. There is no way for me to change this. As a result, I can NOT set an activity zone and they really only trigger when something happens in this small area. 

Although Arlo hasn't paid me to be a beta tester for their system over the last year, that is EXACTLY what I have had to do to protect my $1500 investment. I REALLY hope you will forward this to your engineers. There is NOTHING I can do to make this better. The problem lies with the firmware update of 12/2. Instead of focusing on new features, Arlo should make sure that basic functionality exists first. I am starting to regret my purchase last year. 

Certainly i could call tech support and let them take me through their pre-written scripts, but as you can see I have meticulously done what they would have me do and my system is still no better than a door stop.  The problem lies with ARLO.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT TO DO!

[Streak2]

@n1976jmk  what firmware is your base running?

There is a new version that was being tested that is supposed to address the zooming to the top left corner issue.

There are also a huge number of other bug fixes. I am not in a position to say when this will be rolling out.

I see that @Louis_ArloPM  has responded in this thread https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Ultra/Irresponsible-firmware-updates/m-p/1744097#M8742 earlier today. He is well positioned to investigate this and to escalate if need be.

[n1976jmk]

Thank you @Streak2 my Ultra base is running firmware version - 1.15.0.1_244_c345a43 presently

Louis @Louis_ArloPM can I please have your help with my case number 41318764 from December 9 regarding receiving motion alerts from the entire field of view from my 2 Ultra cameras since the December 4 Ultra base station firmware update.  My case # has all the pertinent details and up to date contact information that aligns with my Arlo account but the issue still has not been resolved.  In short, I have been receiving a lot of motion alerts since I live on a semi-busy street and both my cameras have the street within their view and since the cameras do not follow the activity zones that were programmed any longer.  Additionally, my issue seems about the exact same as Johnny290 on the other thread you were posting on earlier today.  My two Ultra cameras are also plugged into AC power using the Arlo outdoor 25 foot power cords and I have the CVR plan for both cameras.  Lastly, I keep getting reports for motion detection outside of my activity zones during the day even.  Everything was working good on my system prior to the Dec 4 Ultra base FW update and I did not change anything on my end.  I even followed the 'camera positioning' very closely on both my cameras to make sure the street was out of view on both the cameras when I set the system up this past April.  Again, I only started receiving motion detection notifications from cars driving on the street since the Dec 4 Ultra base FW update.

Myself and other users from this Arlo user community have been tweeting the Arlo CEO the last few days and he actually tweeted tonight to acknowledge our issue affecting the Ultra cameras and he asked us to DM our base station serial number (which I have done already) but whatever else you can do to help resolve this for everyone affected would be more than appreciated!

thank you very much in advance!

[JamesC]

The engineering team is working hard to resolve the issues being reported here with Activity Zones, SmartHubs falling offline etc. I don't have a solution to provide at this time but will post again here as soon as I receive more information from the team.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience while we work to resolve these issues.

JamesC

[n1976jmk]

Thank you @JamesC for checking and acknowledging the problems.

But just curious, why won't Arlo be more transparent when there are problems.  It save everyone involved a lot of time, including Arlo support and customers.

To that word, why wouldn't the Arlo system status page not be updated.  It is does not reflect the current status because everything is not operating.  If this was always updated then it would save a lot of support calls/emails/chats.

https://status.arlo.com 

Thanks @JamesC for listening. 

[Louis_ArloPM]

Thanks for writing. We're actually collecting more inputs from users who are willing to help us through this time right now. I'll send this case to the L3 engineer whose leading the effort. Would you be willing to provide any additional time as our engineers are continuing to troubleshoot? I can Private Message you. 

thanks

[surfer1000]

Roll the Bloody Firmware back!

[JamesC]

The development team is hard at work to resolve these reported issues. I do not have an ETA for a fix to be released but will provide an update as soon as I have more information.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience while we work to resolve these issues.

JamesC

[Mjbeuke]

@Louis_ArloPM please PM me... I’ve helped @JamesC by submitting diagnostics and thorough testing in the past....

Although I think you guys need to get me on the damn Payroll - the amount of time I put into this stupid system since April 2019 I could have sold 10 more houses and doubled my income....

Sarcasm is my way of venting - and with the total frustration I’ve experienced in 10 months it’s the only way I can wrap my head somewhat level through this sea of frustration.

Anyways I digress and am seriously interested in helping. I’ve also got a whole thread on the Pro 2’s not functioning correctly on AC power and need some level 3 support on that.... no resolution in 4 months despite my submitting everything and countless users complaining.

Let’s get this mess resolved boys

[JamesC]

We are aware of a small number of users who have been negatively impacted due to recent Ultra FW releases. This resulted in false motion detection events, inconsistent activity zone behavior and SmartHub devices dropping offline. The development team is actively testing a firmware fix to address these concerns. Arlo would like to thank the users who have been working with our engineering team to provide field data to help us better understand what users are experiencing.

We will continue to update you on the progress and appreciate your patience while we work to deliver the fixes.

JamesC

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

The major issues being discussed in this thread have been resolved with the most recent Ultra Camera and SmartHub firmware updates. Please check here to make sure your systems automatically updated to the latest versions:

Arlo Ultra VMC5040 - 1.070.50.2_205_0c7c8e1 - 19th December 2019

Arlo SmartHub VMB5000 - 1.15.0.4_297_aa40f04 - 18th December 2019

If you're having a different issue, please open a new thread here in the community, reach out to me in a private message directly or contact support to further investigate: Arlo Support Team

A big thanks to the community for helping our engineering team troubleshoot these issues and thank you for your patience while we worked to release these updates.

JamesC