Huge lags in audio & video with Ultra system

[firefox73]

Hi all

I wonder if anyone can help before I return my Ultra 4K 4 cam kit to BestBuys. There is so much to like about this model, YET disappointingly there appear to be issues that just makes this redundant and not fit for purpose. Hopefully, some of you experts may be able to restore my faith in this kit.

I am currently testing this with just 2 cameras. The 1st shows 3/3 bars on the signal strength, the 2nd 2/3 bars. The big issue is the lag. My internet is running at 35 - 40Mbps, so not shabby, yet the delay I get between live action and the displayed picture and audio is 20 - 25s. Therefore there is zero chance of having a live chat with the person being viewed on the camera. I found reducing the display to 1080 improved this slightly by a few seconds but still unusable.

That is my greatest issue and any help gratefully received.

My second issue is relating to the quality of 4K that appears only fractionally better than the 1080. Has anyone else noticed the minimal improvement or is yours like night and day difference? I have trialled this next to a Ring floodlight and the difference appears negligible albeit the Ultra FOV at 180 degrees is an improvement over the Ultra.

My heart wants to keep this system due to it not requiring mains electricity supply but the lack of continual recording (even with solar backup) and alert areas when not wired is significant letdown and leads my head to think the Ring system has it beat, despite Ring requiring mains electricity.

[TomMac]

Well, the Ultra requires 4Mbs up and you prob cover that ( don't forget other items using the data feed ).

I don't see the lag your talking about tho I do see a startup lag of about 3-5 secs. Don't have any ideas except make sure the FW is the latest versions.

As to talking , no issues here as no real lag.

For 4K, make sure the device your using supports 4k, you will see it on local network and the 4K/"home" icon will show.

As to 4K, also check your mem card backup if the 4K is turned on... to the cloud it does require the special option for 4K.

[firefox73]

Thanks Tom for the swift reply. My reply is in BLUE below.

Well, the Ultra requires 4Mbs up and you prob cover that ( don't forget other items using the data feed ).  Definitely, it’s actually a faster line than that but that is the Speedtest.net readings in the locations of the cameras.

I don't see the lag your talking about tho I do see a startup lag of about 3-5 secs. Don't have any ideas except make sure the FW is the latest versions. Yes, totally up-to-date FW. It’s just out the box 48hrs ago and each device updated on connecting to the internet.

As to talking , no issues here as no real lag. Hmmm, something’s definitely not right then either with my system, setup or location.

For 4K, make sure the device your using supports 4k, you will see it on local network and the 4K/"home" icon will show. Yes, 4K showing in the top left of recordings but the picture is still pretty pixelated when zooming in to try and identify a face at about 20m. If they were strangers, I’d be able to make out their approx weight but I wouldn’t be able to pick out their identity in a police identity parade if all wearing the same clothing. This I thought 4K would achieve, to help capture criminals.

As to 4K, also check your mem card backup if the 4K is turned on... to the cloud it does require the special option for 4K. Yes, the above is also selected.

Could the distance from the Hub have anything to do with it. The indications are as mentioned 2/3 and 3/3 but we do have brick walls. It would be handy if we could use the current setup of WiFi extenders to really boost the signal but my undrstanding is that the signal is directly between the cameras and the Arlo base stations own signal. Maybe Arlo will improve that side of things with a later FW.

Still really disappointed by what is a very expensive system but would love for it to perform as well as my expectations and others experiences. Maybe someone will have a fix?.....

[TomMac]

Sorry , don't have any more... but can say my Ultra runs at 2 / 3 bars with out problem,  would think something else is going on.

PS... didn't see you mentioned... are you running on a phone app or pc ?

most of my testing is done with Fire Fox on a win 10 machine...

[firefox73]

Good point Tom.

Im using 2 x Android devices and 2 x iPads. I’ll check when I get home late tomorrow with a home PC what the lag is like. I doubt it will be any different but it is definitely worth a try, to rule out any conflictions.

kind regards 

[Edron]

I’m also having the same trouble with my newly installed Arlo Ultra 4k (4 cameras kit:
The live streaming has a lag of over 45 seconds, and therefore I can’t have a conversation with other party.

My internet speed is 50MBs. Please let me know how to solve this.

[catemp]

My system is generally 3-4 seconds slow from real time. That alone makes audio about useless as it takes 3 seconds for my voice to go through and 3 seconds for the answer to come back and makes real time conversation useless.

If you can get your money back it's a no brainer. Internet bandwidth should be a non issue in local streaming I would think. But perhaps it runs to the cloud and back.

[firefox73]

To wrap up my personal experience, I returned my set of 4 for a full refund.

Yes for some people this device in its present form is passable and when it appears to work it’s as good as the other rivals......BUT it still comes at a cost.

Whether that cost be:

- the addition subscription costs required to actually view 4K on your 4 cameras remotely,

- whether that be a joke of speaker which my infants toys make more noise than (so forgot the siren if your interested in that feature),

- the very limited range before lag sets in (it should use your home hubs routers, instead of the weak and expensive proprietary base station by Arlo.

- the fairly uninspiring colour night view that really has a range of about 25’. I would prefer something with a range of 60’+ so you don’t miss what’s going on in the dark background. e.g. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SFS7sdcCr_M (admittedly these are slightly cheating by using the car headlights to supplement but you get the idea).

- having to plug in the cameras to a domestic power source (not solar) to get some of the functionality. I had purchased these solely because of their self sufficiency, not to have to trail wires around the garden to the house,

All in all I can see that with further updates his has potential to be post things for most people. However, that’s IF Arlo pull their finger out and invest further in this product. I think I will revisit this in 2020 to see if they’ve improved...if I haven’t already brought a home camera system from someone else by then.

My biggest issue was the ridiculous lag on a fibre optic provided internet system. I get some good speeds on my home WiFi, together with using a number of repeaters to boost the signal everywhere, including the garden. So to be waiting 10 - 40 seconds to view what’s happening around the house is just a non-starter. Yes, I have brick interior walls but if I can get 3 out of 4 bars of signal on the Arlo devices, either they’re over reading or the device is good for nothing.

Finally the the prices for using the subscriptions are way excessive in my opinion. I’d pay 50% - 75% if the app and the streaming were slick and almost instantaneous (tried iOS, Android and Windows). However the app taking about 10 seconds to boot to the choice of cameras home page just showed how redundant the device would be. That’s without the 10 - 40 second lag that then follows when clicking on a camera! If someone were to knock at the door, they’d be in their car and down the block before I could view anything from the camera.

Arlo rushed this to market and then had to stop sales for a couple of months originally while they worked on the firmwares to make them useable. I believe that this update was the bare minimum to make them useable but really I think they should have delayed a couple more months to really get a polished user experience and iron out all the gremlins. In not doing so, they’ve tarnished their reputation and I know a couple of others that went to Ring and said how much better the setup is from an end users perspective.

So that’s where I end my round-up of my experience. Naturally, do your own research BUT most importantly, if you are going to buy an Ultra, buy from a source that will allow you a full refund if you are in dissatisfied by the product after trialling it.

Good luck.

[catemp]

Your pretty much spot on. I was willing to live with some of it, but customer support was the last straw. I'll ride it out for a bit and then dump arlo. I've been playing with nest and to your point other vendors are now more economical and work better.

[PPP-001]

The problem may come from WIFI interference.At least , try to position you smart hub away from the internet router at least 1.8meter as manual by buying the new lan cable to extend the gap between 2 system .For my house , i use 200/100 Mbps cable ,it still slightly lag when we use live 4k but it is ok to use.Even it said require 4Mbps/camera but if you power up all 4 cam ,it mean at lease you require 16Mbps of internet which does not include your normal use for the other devices in your home.May be first , try to extend gap between two system first ,if it does not work ,you may consider to up speed of your internet.

[firefox73]

That could help BUT if this were the case, why doesn't Arlo explain that and also include a cable that is say 20' long to avoid interferrence? Ultimately, I have had so many different devices including wirefree cameras and I've never had an issue with them and all of them have plugged into the router like the Arlo base station.

I think that Arlo just didn't do enough testing and released this product without resolving all the issues or they designed it incorrectly in the first place and it was prohibitively expensive to correct....so they didn't and are just ignoring those that complain about the lag. I for one only set up two cameras of the 5 I brought. I was that disappointed with the two, that I didn't even bother with the last three. Regarding the through put/bandwidth cause, when I first set it up, I only had one camera connected to the base unit. It still had the huge lag then. So the number of cameras didn't make a difference.

Nice idea though and there must be a fundamental cause for this issue.

Speaking of ideas, does any one know of any other product on the market or soon to be released that should improve on the Arlo Ultra? Until Arlo deal with the lag and other issues raised above, unfortunately I can not give them my money. However, I be very interested to know what is coming to market that can improve on this system, if it were working properly.

[PPP-001]

Manual
https://www.arlo.com › en-usPDF


Arlo Ultra User Manual


They suppose to emphasize user to check out their manual.😒😒😒 A bit weird Arlo company