Ultra Hub starts flashing red in the evenings

[pinkoos]

Hi, My new Ultra hub and camera can’t seem to keep a good connection. When the connection is decent, the WiFi symbol shows 2 bars. However, I’ve noticed that in the evenings the Hub starts flashing red and the WiFi is down to a single “dot” of reception. I resynced the camera to the hub yesterday evening and it kept the two bars of WiFi signal until this evening at which time it went back to one dot of signal. Granted I only have 2 days of data collected, but my first thought is something is going on in the evenings to cause this problem. The hub is plugged directly into an Ethernet switch and I even played around with the positioning of it yesterday, finally putting it high up on a shelf to try and improve reception. Firmware for the hub and the cam is showing as being up to date. I have a Pro 2 and didn’t run into reception issues like the Ultra has had. Kind of disappointed at this point.

[jguerdat]

Since it happens only at night (so far) it sounds like interference from some 2.4GHz device that gets turned on/used only at night. Could be something in your house or a neighbor's. A WiFi analyzer app may be useful to detect whether it's a WiFi-induced issue (check both during the day and at night) but non-WiFi devices won't show up so detective work would be needed.

[pinkoos]

I decided to not pull out the ladder last night to resync it (ridiculous to have to do this) and just left it alone. This morning, the base station is still flashing red (or is it orange, who knows?) and the wifi signal to that cam is still one "dot." So, not sure if the evening thing is real or was just purely coincidental. Regardless, it seems the Ultra base station can't push a consistent signal to the cam.

[JamesC]

pinkoos,

How far from the SmartHub is the Ultra camera? It's tough to compare the Pro 2 cameras to Ultra regarding signal strength as the Ultra camera requires more bandwidth and may not perform the same as Pro 2 in every environment.

If possible, try to locate your SmartHub as close as you can to the Ultra camera, even minor changes in location can have a big impact on signal strength.

JamesC

[pinkoos]

It's definitely within the 300 ft limit, though I haven't measured it exactly I don't have any way to move the base station closer to the camera - it's already at the closest possible point that has a CAT5 and/or switch

[jguerdat]

300 feet is a theoretical, never attainable distance in the real world. Any WiFi device will advertise that distance but real world usae is much different. It depends on walls, house construction, what's in/on the walls, RF interference, etc., etc. In some situations less than 20 feet may be attainable. This is the reason I suggested what I did - you have to analyze your environment and maximize signal strength. Relocating the base may be needed if the camera is in the only possible location to get what you need.

[pinkoos]

Relocating the cam is not an option - it's purpose is to monitor our driveway and garage door, so there's no other place to put it to achieve that purpose And, as mentioned, the base is as close as possible to the cam that has ethernet and/or a switch available

[jguerdat]

You can use a WiFi or powerline extender to reposition the base more optimally.

[pinkoos]

I unplugged the base station last night, waited 10 seconds and plugged it back in. Wifi signal to the camera went back to 2 bars and has been on that since then. I'll continue to monitor to see when it drops back down to a single dot.

[pinkoos]

Back to one dot of signal again this morning, for no apparent reason

[st_shaw]

You haven't shared any information yet that would help determine if the behavior is normal or if there is a problem with your camera.  Move your camera closer to the hub temporarily and see if the problem goes away.  If it does, then the camera is too far from the hub, or there are too many walls between.  Elevating the hub will usually help also. If not, then you would need an extender to move the hub closer, as already suggested.

My farthest Ultra camera is 180 feet from the hub and has one orange bar. I would never consider moving it further away than that. A Pro in the same spot gets two bars.

[Teddles]

I have a similar issue!

The hub indicator is green for a few hrs, but then starts flasshing orange until I reboot it! The camera is within 12 feet of the hub (in my office connected directly to the internet hub). The camera is on the outside of an exterior wall (modern house nothing special), yet I see the wifi only showing 2 bars, and if I try to view live then it works for about 30 seconds and then goes off-line!

I purchased this only a few days ago, and I have to say I am getting very concerned after paying a huge price for this supposedly superior item!

I note now that the internet seem littered with complaints about the Ultra. What are Netgear doing about this... 

NOT HAPPY!

[JamesC]

Teddles,

Try elevating your SmartHub. Even small adjustments like this can go a long way in improving the signal strength.

JamesC

[Teddles]

Well it seems that Arlo have a bit of a problem with eithger the sware or the components in these systems because I decided to reboot the hub, then remove the cameras (again), and resync them..... Surprise -surprise, the hub has now behaved for the last 2 days, the signal strength I was getting on one camera only 12 feet away on the other side of an outside wall jumped to 'strong', and the problem with no recordings...... all went away!

...but for how long!

I cant help feeling this equipment is somewhat unpredictable, and just a little bit flakey! NOT something I would expect at the pricepoint I paid!

Having run an international IT Sware company for 35 years, this brings back memories of one very important mantra we adhered to... and that Arlo should take heed of: 

DO NOT TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE GUINEA PIGS when launching a new product! You are very likely to regret it!

[jguerdat]

Before getting your exercise by leaping to conclusions, you have to know WHY the change in base position made a difference. You would need to know what is on or inside your walls that the signal has to pass through as well as any other blockage or interference from 2.4GHz wireless devices may be present. It may not be possibkle to investigate all these possibilities so trying other things such as repositioning the base may be your only solution.

[Teddles]

jguerdat, The hub was/is on a top shelf in the office, and I moved it there after finding that the camera within 12 feet was only showing an orange dot, not even one bar, yet it seemed to be performing OK apart from no recording on triggering! I unplugged and moved to the top shelf because of this problem, hoping the signal would be stronger after restarting, but no, it remained the same until a day later I decided to delete and then resync the camera from the hub (again), and then the recordings started to work, and wifi signal showing as 'strong'.

The strange thing is that I had moved the other camera to the rear of the house (internal + external wall/kitchen etc etc) and all the way to the bottom of my garden, so maybe 150mtrs all in, and the signal is still showing two bars - a whole lot better (apparently) than the camera 4 mtrs away before reconnecting! BUT I also noticed that the Garden Cam became very sluggish (live) detecting and orientation change showing no change of the view for at least 15 seconds before it recognised I had moved it) so it is possible that the wifi signal indicators tell porkies maybe! I am now going to experiment by deleting/resyncing this second camera to see if the wifi indicator changes. 

[Dave1Law]

I have the same problem.   I only get one bar on both my Ultra Cams and they are both only about 75 feet from my Smarthub.  The Smarthub constantly flashes Amber as if it is disconnected (but it usually is not disconnected).   I did not have this issue with my Pro 2 cameras or the previous Arlo base, which was set up in the same locations as my new Ultra Smarthub and Cameras.  I am really disappointed in the reception from the new Smarthub.   The only sollution for me is to get a second Smarthub since my two cameras are located on opposite ends of my property and relocating the Smarthub will increase reception to one camera and then lose connection to the other.   To make things worse, you currently cannot even buy a standalone Smarthub.     

[Teddles]

After a poor start from support (they apparently lost my email?) today I have received a replacement camera, so will update this thread once I have commissioned it.

[superbit]

I have the same issue with new Arlo Ultra. Red Flashing light on Ultra Hub. I could not relocate front door camera so I relocated the hub with a long ethernet cable and new power outlet.  My arlo pro worked with three bars from front door to hub in same orginal location as new arlo ultra hub. My ultra hub was next to my older hub. The ultra hub was only 16 feet (through a rendered external wall) from the camera and only had one dot. I moved it a further 8 foot closer now I have two bars. My other cameras are 30 feet away and 45 feet away they have two bars also. I feel it's the new ultra front door camerma. I have left all my older arlo pro's on old hub as these all have two bars one 60 feet away.