Arlo Ultra and Smarthub Offline

[halatacus01]

Arlo devices offline

I have gone through all the troubleshooting tips that were available online but have had no luck so far.

I have also raised the case with support case number (42179198) in December but have not had any reply or help.

I have a 2 arlo ultra camera system.

My smarthub is connected to a netgear orbit mesh wifi with internet supplied by 5G with speeds of 300mb download and 20mb upload.  The Smarthub is 17 feet away from the wifi access point and one camera is 5ft away with 3bars and second camera is 30ft away with 2bars.

Several times an hour the base station will flash orange for about a minute before returning to solid blue.  During this time if I try to log in on my iPhone or web browser I get the message across both camera screens and hub that the device is offline, so cannot view anything.

I Have A Cvr Subscription For Both Cameras. Even Though When I Log In To The App And It Says My Devices Are All Offline The Cvr Recording Is Not Effected At All, There Are No Gaps In The Timeline, So The Cameras, Hub And Internet Connection Are Still Working.

Also When I Log In And The Warning Graphic That My Devices Are Offline, I Can Still Select My Timeline Option Which Takes Me To The Timeline Screen. On This Screen I Can Connect To The Live View But It Has Been Obscured By The Same Warning Graphic Saying That My Drive Is Offline.

Today My Arlo App Has Updated With The 6 January Release. This Seems To Have Removed The Warning Graphic On The Timeline Screen, Which Is Great.

I Am Still Getting The Initial Offline Warning A Few Times An Hour When I Log In To The App But If This Happens I Can Go To The Timeline Function And See The Live View There.

This Is A Bit Of A Workaround But Does Rely On My Cameras Having Cvr. It Would Be Good That Whatever Is Allowing The Live View To Work In Cvr To Also Be Used For The Main Page So That We Do Not Get The Devices Offline Issue

Thanks

[jguerdat]

The flashing amber LED means a camera is having issues remaining connected.

https://kb.arlo.com/000039100/What-do-the-LEDs-on-my-Arlo-SmartHub-or-base-station-mean

This can be due to various reasons but it's likely signal strength and/or quality. Move that distant camera closer to see if that makes a difference (or move the hub to be m ore centrally located).

[halatacus01]

Hi,

I have literally tried everything in these forums without success including repositioning the hub and cameras so that they have both got 3 bars of wifi, and their video bandwidth is coming up strong on both.

As mentioned they remain connected the whole time and I can see the live feed in the CVR timeline page but on the main page I get the error graphic say the device is offline.

This workaround only helps me with the two cameras I have mains power and cvr to.  I have another 6 cameras that are only battery powered and are useless because of these issues and are sitting in a cupboard gathering dust.

Not getting a reply from Arlo support doesn't help either.

[JessicaP]

Hi halatacus01,

Let me reach out to you via private message to gather more information from you in regards to your experience with the support team.

[hwcheng]

I had similar issue with a similar configuration to yours: 5G router, but with no mesh router attached. It's so frustrated that the Smarthub disconnects itself and reconnects every 5 or so minutes. That makes the system useless!

Help from the support is near to useless as that repeated what you can find here and in their FAQs.

I am a bit lucky that I could return the goods. Really disappointing with such an attractive design. Video recorded are in fact awesome. What a shame!

[halatacus01]

Yes, very frustrating experience so far.  The only good thing is that the system is ok if you have a CVR plan on the cameras. I can at least get a live view through the timeline that is working 100% of the time.  Otherwise you are correct, it would be a totally useless system.

I maybe naïve but do hope support can fix the issues with the base station offline.  It has been a month since I raised it with support and even though I have been told the case has been escalated I have not heard from them since.

[halatacus01]

Hi Jessica,

Since you messaged me the other week, I have been contacted by support and details were taken but no solution, was told they would escalate the case as well.  I have not heard anything for a week so no closer to solving these issues.

thanks

[hwcheng]

The timeline works of course when the hub back online. What concerns me that it doesn't do the only one critical job to provide real-time notification to prevent something bad from happening... To me, it is just a hardware upgrade of the camera from Pro 3 to Ultra. There should be minimal work to do with the firmware/software. I simply don't understand what really has caused the trouble?

[halatacus01]

The funny thing for me is that the timeline works all the time.  I have no drops or gaps at all, you would expect gaps in the timeline if the base station actually lost connection properly it's just the main page with the devices screens is telling me all my devices are offline.

The issue for me is that it relies on the cameras to be mains powered and pay for the cvr feature, fine for the two that I have up and running, but have another six cameras that are battery powered and gathering dust.

I was considering getting a video doorbell, but am thinking of going with another manufacturer if I cant rely on Arlo, or at least get help from their support to resolve issues.

Can I ask when you returned your Arlo system did you get another brand and has that been good?  Like you said when the Arlo works the quality is excellent which is why I would love to keep it.

[hwcheng]

Ah, yes, I guess then there may be a direct link to the server from the camera. What I gathered from the community is that the video we see on the app is transferred back from the server, not really a direct view, and thus a longer response time than other brands.

I dare not to downgrade the kit and went for another brand, after the return. I may come back when the community shows more positive entries. Yes, people usually are encountering problems when they reach this place. That's no big deal as some moderator commented. But as a customer, we'd love to see a timely solution instead of all-the-time of slow response and no solution.