Ultra Cameras don't seem to want to stay connected

[Jeremyinsf]

Rare for me to buy something on 'day 1' but I've been waiting for these Ultra cameras for a while.

Anyway, I picked up today and want this to be a success - but I can't seem to get the cameras to stay connected, even when they are within a few feet of the base station.  Both the 'regular' live view and view to position the camera time out all the time... constantly.  The message I get is "The request timed out" or more often, "This Arlo device is offline

Please make sure it is connected to the Internet. Visit support.arlo.com for help." 

My Internet is fine.  Other stuff all working fine.  If I move the camera or even touch it, that seems to make it worse.  Seems to be the same issue if I try to view on web or on mobile App.  No indication that the base station is going offline.  

I allowed all the latest firmware to update on the Base and the two camera's I'm currently testing with, and it has no effect.  Camera is H6 v 1.060.20.8_30046.  Power management is "optimized".

I tried 10ft from Base and then maybe 75 feet.  Same thing.

Thoughts?  I really don't want to return them 😞

[EON07]

I thought the same. Thanks for the heads up!

[Helloall]

I too am still having connection issues. Everything is fine for a few hours and my cameras and/ or base station goes offline. No other products in our home is affected. Very frustrating! My Arlo Pro 2 system had no issues...

[JamesC]

Helloall,

I will reach out to you in a private message to gather some more information on what you're seeing.

JamesC

[KGSRETIRED]

Very cold this morning, learning that these cameras don't work in below zero weather. The cameras say they need to warn up. Probably not good for the northern states.

[michaelkenward]

Probably the battery. Very temperature dependent.

It might still work if plugged into the mains.

[KGSRETIRED]

That could be, but the hub is flashing amber. I restarted but no difference.

[adammiarka]

Actually, the batteries won’t even charge below freezing, even if wired.   Currently all my Ultras are offline as we are at -12 here in Indianapolis.   

https://kb.arlo.com/000051490/How-do-I-keep-my-Arlo-batteries-charged-in-cold-weather

[chrisngrod]

Unfortunately that is not something new and historically an issue that all Arlo cameras have been subject too.

I'm getting tired of the blue light on the hub but it getting stuck saying "getting information".. I have my hub on a smart plug so I can reset it remotely now.

[michaelkenward]

Do they need to charge when plugged in?

[jguerdat]

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@KGSRETIRED wrote:
Very cold this morning, learning that these cameras don't work in below zero weather. The cameras say they need to warn up. Probably not good for the northern states.

That could be, but the hub is flashing amber. I restarted but no difference.

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Two very different issues. As noted above, this has always been true of the Pro cameras and now the Ultra - the specs clearly state a -4F/-20C temperature as the minimum. I'm in Rochester, NY and have only had the issue once or twice. Other states (and countries) get colder so have more issues around this.  I do note that my Ultra is AC powered and warms sufficiently to even be able to keep the battery charged at ~0F - we'll see in the next two nights when it get well below 0F as to how it reacts.

As to the hub, it's not temperature - it's either the connection to the server or it somehow needs to be reclaimed. If a power cycle of the router and base doesn't clear the issue, I would try the claiming process again.

[Ronnie4946]

A couple of weeks ago I purchased an Arlo Pro base and 3 cameras. I really like them and have gotten used to the constant lag associated with uploading to the cloud first. No wires make it an ideal setup for random camera placement. I really dont mind that the lag is so bad, your voice cannot be heard on the cameras. I just want to be able to monitor around my property when I'm away from home. My internet speed, both download and upload are well within the operating paramaters. My only wish is that with the Pro, they offered an outside alarm, which they dont. So yesterday, I ordered an ultra and a smart hub on Amazon. But after seeing this thread and all the complaints about the Ultra cameras, and lack of knowledgeable support, I canceled my order. Perhaps they should have worked out the bugs within the previous models before releasing an updated bug infested new version. After all, negativity from these threads cant be good for Arlo. I will stick with the ones I have as they seem to be the ones with the least amount of problems. 

[brh]

@Ronnie4946 

I have two Ultra cameras and the Ultra base and while there are still a couple of minor bugs remaining, I would have no qualms in purchasing a couple of cameras more. Mine are working sufficiently well enough to be a great addition to my Arlo system

Brian

[KGSRETIRED]

I agree with Brian , I have a 4 camera system and I think they have come a long way since the new firmware updates. I really like the pan and zoom feature. I just hope that they can fix the subscription problem. I'm not willing to get a whole new email and account just so I can get the free year.

[Ronnie4946]

Thank you Brian. I’m just worried about the trigger issues. Would I also be giving up the indoor siren if I switch to an Uktra base or can I keep the base connected to the system?
Thanks

[michaelkenward]

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@Ronnie4946 wrote:
Would I also be giving up the indoor siren if I switch to an Uktra base or can I keep the base connected to the system?

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I have asked that one before but got no response.

I gather that the two Arlo hubs can pass messages between each other with the right rules, but it isn't clear to me that an Ultra hub can trigger a Pro alarm.

[brh]

@michaelkenward 

You bring up a very interesting point and I am not sure Arlo has completely thought this through yet. Currently, my Arlo cameras are not on the same account as my main account that works with Smartthings, so I can not completely answer that. I do know that one can have more than one base/siren per account and the Pro sirens are activated through the base, while the Ultras are activated per each camera. Interestingly, on the Ultra account's website, when I click on the blue bell icon a banner pops up asking which ultra siren I wish to activate, but on my IOS app only one siren is listed with no name to it. Until I combine all the cameras and bases into my main account I won't be able to answer.

In Smartthings I can create a scene to activate whichever or all the Pro sirens, but the Ultra does not currently work with Smartthings, so I don't know how that will work out until the Ultra can be integrated with Smartthings.

Brian

[grossman]

So I decided to bite the bullet and bought one of the new arlo ultra hubs with 3 cameras. 

Two of the cameras are working great and i am loving the quality of the video as well as the responsiveness. I am not seeing any lag time. However, one of the cameras is saying that it cannot be managed although it is connecting to the hub. The problem presents itself when I get to the screen where it says to position the camera next to a good wifi source. It tells me that there is no connection although it is right next to my router and the other two cameras connected fine in the same location. I would update the camera to the latest firmware but it wont allow me to because it thinks there is no connection.

The other problem I am running into is not being able to use the microsd card slot on the hub. I purchased a Samsung 256GB 100MB/s (U3) MicroSDXC EVO Select Memory Card to use with the hub and put the microsd in the slot but the app is telling me "Format Required" with a warning sign (triangle with lightening bolt). I looked on the microsd card and there is nothing on the card so its not like there is something that needs to be erased. Is this a known problem? And how do I format the card to the smarthub's liking?

Thanks all!

[brh]

@grossman 

I am not sure about your first problem, but the first thing I would do is to power cycle the base. If that doesn't fix it then remove the camera from the system. Then when on the device page when you go to Add Device and the selection comes up try using the "Wire Free" option.

As for the second problem, will it let you format the card in the Storage section? You might have to humor the system and try formatting it there anyway.

Remember that not all the bugs are out of the system yet.

Brian

[jguerdat]

The format is required to be FAT32. It's very likley that the format on the card from the factory is NOT FAT32 but maybe exFAT, NTFS or ext4 due to the card capacity. It's actually hard to format FAT32 on a computer with a card that size so let the base do it.

[grossman]

I would gladly let the base dow it but HOW do I get the base to do it? I see no option for that

[brh]

@grossman 

In your app, go to Settings > My Devices and select the base. On the Device Settings page scroll down to Storage Settings and select that. On the Storage Settings Page scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the red button that says Format SD Card.

Brian

[grossman]

See attached file. I cannot find the red button you described.

[brh]

@grossman 

I see your problem. You are missing the whole bottom portion of that page. Although the base seems to see your card, it appears that it does not recognize it. We will look to find other ways to Format your card to FAT32. I am going to google it.

Brian

[grossman]

Wait! I loaded up the portal on my desktop and was able to find the format button. It is formatting now. Thanks everybody for all your help. For some reason the format button does not show up on the Iphone App. Note to the Arlo programmers lol. 

[michaelkenward]

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@grossman wrote:

For some reason the format button does not show up on the Iphone App. Note to the Arlo programmers lol. 

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Support at both Arlo and Netgear problems with iPhone apps.