Timeline not being displayed,cvr not recording,ultra camera

[justmatt]

Hi ,I recently bought an ultra camera system,3 camera + base station.

I've subscribed to the CVR on 1 camera which is permanently powered.I've had a couple of attempts to unsubscribing and re subscribing....but it keeps failing when trying to view the timeline,which after a few days disappears to a black void on the timeline

This problem is on my iphone x and laptop

Is there any solution to this ongoing problem with the CVR  timeline dissappearing?

Thanks

[heypresto]

I have experienced the same problem on and off over last couple of weeks. Sometimes I got CVR working by deactivating and activating the CVR camera. Strange when when timeline display is restored it always starts at 12am, works for a day or so and then I see the blank CVR timeline. Please Arlo tell us whats happening with your cloud recording and fix this ongoing issue.

[Bluestreak20]

Exactly the same issue here. iOS app on iPhone XS Max. It worked fine for the first day or two. I tried cam power recycling and remove/reinstall cam on hub. Tried the same for the CVR plan and ended up getting double billed. I have CS looking into the issue. Seems to be a common issue as I've seen several like threads here.

[heypresto]

My CVR  timeline recordings came back to life shortly after I turned off camera power adaptor for several minutes and turned back on again. This power cycling worked sometimes for me in the past but CVR would stop working after a day or so. This time, I noticed that the camera battery indicator showed 100% when CVR was dead but now shows 85% now that CVR timeline is back working after the power cycle. I recalled that under AC power the battery level was supposed to show 80% (from another thread) Arlo, Is there a link between this battery charged levels and CVR behaving erratically? I  won’t be surprised this time tomorrow the CVR will die on me again. Will update later.

[justmatt]

Hi Heypresto,

My battery seems to be stuck on 85% as well...I've just turned off my camera and restarted it ,and all of a sudden my timeline appeared (from midnight).

I'm sure that I'll look later and it will be gone.
Pretty disappointing system ,I've spent countless hours on talking to their technician in the Philippines.....turn off -turn on ,,,,unsubscribe -re subscribe,,,it 's been a pain for over a month now.

I always seem to get a brown banner on my phone saying"your request has timed out.....

I thought I was paying top dollar for a high end system---obviously not

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

[Corymiiller]

Agreed. I am approaching 3 weeks without my system working correctly. Countless issues. Including the CVR problem. $10 per camera is a lot to pay for something that doesn't work. 

[heypresto]

CVR timeline dead again this morning as I expected following my previous post. Now AC power cycling didn’t fix it or trying everything else that’s been done by others before. This intermittent problem started after the last base station and camera in Dec. I’m sick and tired of calling Arlo support... the hardware is good but software totally unreliable. Listen Arlo, when you finally fix this issue (and don’t create another problem) I want to have the option of staying with a current working firmware version and not have bug ridden upgrades forced down my throat!

[heypresto]

Tried to restore  CVR timeline operation today with AC power cycle but no success like yesterday. I just see the brown banner ‘ the request timed out’. as reported earlier. I decided to log out from my account on iPhone and iPad and logged back in on both devices as a last resort. Still getting the empty black CVR timeline on my iPad but miraculously the CVR display appeared on my iPhone (IOS 13 with latest camera system Dec firmware and Arlo App). iPad mini2 had IOS12 and older App version). I don’t believe this will fix my CVR problem for good.  Arlo owes us all an explanation of these erratic CVR  behaviours and come up with a long overdue solution.

[robot-monster]

The CVR for our one camera subscribed has been spotty since the Dec 2019 firmware update debacle. At least it has been stable the last 8 days. It will be fine for a few days, then disappear (when I need it most, like when the police show up yet again at a neighbor's house) for a day, then back. I have lost a few days of CVR here and there. 

I usually have to reset the camera (climb up on the ladder, pull out the battery, put it back in, etc) about once a week. The battery is typically around 85-88%, after I set it up with the power cord and subbed to CVR. 

December was rough so I was particularly sensitive about the CVR being spotty, on top of the other firmware issues (motion detection, etc). However, I will say the other CVR issue (heavily pixelated video) is a rare occurrence now. 

I access the CVR timeline on the Android app. One trick I found is that sometimes I have to either scroll left to right to get the current day's timeline to appear, or go back a day, then come back to the current day, in order for the timeline to populate. However, there are a few days where the timeline for a complete day are completely blank, and I've had to write those off. 

[heypresto]

Thanks for the tip robotmonster, tapping a few times on a previous date on CVR timeline restored the display from midnight but no recordings of any of previous 30 days. Have to do this action everytime you open the app! This procedure causes my iPhone battery level plunging from 95 to 51% in about 3mins! I have installed much cheaper wireless HD camera systems from Reolink over the years without any problem. This Arlo product is an absolute joke for the price they charge.

[Maz4]

I am having the same problem. We need this fixed Arlo!! Also customer service sucks . Bring back customer service in America. I have called numerous times and nothing they say works

[Bluestreak20]

I've been dealing with this for several weeks. Tech support has reached out many times asking for screen shots, videos, logs, etc on my open case. They are aware this is a widespread issue. My concern was they'd tell me I was an isolated case.

So far when using the iOS app I've been able to access timeline data by opening the timeline. Waiting for it to connect. Go to prior dates. If there are green dots under the dates you have recording. If not wait some more. Close and re open seems to help too. I've noticed there is never same day timeline recordings. Only prior calendar dates.

[noyfb]

Also having similar issues with my Arlo Ultra. I cannot skip to any position on the timeline. When I scroll to a certain time, the play button shows up. When I click it, it goes back to live. Occasionally it will say "loading" and then show a still image from some random time, but no moving image.

Seriously bummed I paid for this extra service that is absolutely worthless.

Can anyone recommend other camera products/services that actually work?

[GSerr33]

I am having the same exact issue. I have been told to unsubscribe to CVR and add it again. I have spent a total of $103 in two months re-subscribing and that's just for two cameras. The camera doesn't record more than it does. Every time I have to review it during a certain time- just a blacked out timeline and it jumps to LIVE. I'm so tired of this. I've called and written tech support constantly and nothing. 

[Bluestreak20]

Mine has worked perfectly for a while. Then suddenly after an iOS app update its been back down and hadn’t been usable for a month. The only reason why I haven’t canceled is I know it’s recording to the cloud. I’m able to at least go to the website and see the CVR footage there if there was ever a problem. Not ideal but cheap insurance. IMO the problem is with the iOS app. It’s a disaster. For example: If I get a notification for motion, I’m no longer able to see a clip inside of the notification much less play the video.

[noyfb]

I'm using the Android app with very similar problems as described above, so doesn't seem to be just an iOS issue.

The website version of the playback is not great imo, it's laggy and slownto respond, but at least it seems to work unlike the app...

[jimmylee]

I am having similar problems as described above for CVR timeline using my Iphone XMax and also on web version using my desktop. Whenever I attempt to look at any CVR on the timeline I get a gray or black with a PLAY button when I hit PLAY it goes to LIVE. 

[MNBVCX]

I purchased a CVR plan, followed all the instructions to set it up and my timeline is not recording consistently. When I review the timeline, it appears to randomly record certain small time blocks but most of the timeline is blank with nothing recorded. I contacted customer service and after turning on/off the camera, base station etc with no success they said to try another camera. I did, with the same results. They then had me remove the device (the camera) which deleted all my stored/archived data and I set the camera up as a new camera but the results are the same. Is this common and is there a solution that allows the CVR plan to continually record 24/7 as designed? I need to know I can depend on the camera and CVR plan to record without fail.    

[Marc625]

Everyone is having the same issues, they don't tell you that you NEED to be plugged into ac power in order for the CVR to work, once you hardwire the cameras they all have time gaps where the cameras don't record anywhere from 5 minutes up to 5 hours. Once you finally get to talk to customer service after almost two hours of waiting they tell you that its because your internet speed is not fast enough, that each camera requires a minimum of 2mbps of upload in order to continuously record, even though it doesn't tell you that anywhere on the website. I was on the Xfinity 200 Mbps download plan and 10 Mbps upload, they tell me it's not enough because of the 2 Mbps per camera and that I need to change my upload channel from 1 to 6 or 11 ....I changed the channels and I upgraded my internet to 1000mbps download and 35 Mbps upload.... I'm still getting time gaps in all my CVR recordings. We need to all get together and start some type of class action lawsuit if there isn't one out already against these people. 

[UltraGuy]

Buggy. What works for me is to "wake up" CVR by going to Timeline and letting it go Live for a few moments. Going Live on CVR seems to kick-start recording again. I do this in the AM with coffee...and PM with a Jack on Rocks.😁