VMB5000 randomly showing offline & now cannot be discovered after factory reset

[jgreenert1]

2 weeks ago the light on the VMB5000 base station began to flicker amber and was showing offline. After a few hours, the light turned solid blue and the system worked normally. The problem persisted for several days so did a factory reset on base station. I successfully added the base station & cameras and system worked normal for a few days when same problem began again (flashing amber light & offline). The base station is hardwired directly into AT&T BGW210-700 modem using their 1G Fiber service.  A tech replaced all AT&T equipment today and Arlo worked for a several hours but connection problem returned. Reading several posts, I tried a factory reset again. This time website cannot discover the base station and the app never makes a connection and times outs. There are only 2 devices connected to the modem (PC and Arlo). The AT&T Smart Home Manager sees the base station. I have seen posts on the AT&T site regarding problems with the Pro unit and SSIDs with special characters but nothing on the newer Ultra units.  Anyone experiencing similar issues with AT&T and Arlo VMB5000 base station? 

[JessicaP]

Hey jgreenert1,

If your SmartHub keeps going offline even after a factory reset, contact the Support Team to further investigate the problem you're having. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

[jgreenert1]

Thanks for the reply. After a factory reset of the base station and several attempts to find it, I was able to reestablish connection with the base station and acquire the cameras. FYI, I tried 7 - 10 times with the website and was not able to acquire the base station. With prior resets, the website found the unit. Initially the app would not allow me to sign-in but eventually I was able to sign-in and after 4 - 6 attempts the app found the base station and I was able to reacquire the cameras. I almost gave up and closed the app when I noticed it was asking for me to name the base station.

What makes it odd is that I had done a factory reset prior to the new equipment but then had to do it again after the new equipment.  AT&T had suggested that I move the Arlo system to a 2.4GHz band rather than allow the modem to select the best band. Previously, when it was working, I did not have band steering enabled.

Oh well, 24 hours and I still have a blue light on the base station and I am able to see the cameras. I will see if I have issues during the next day or two and then move to connecting the next device to look for network conflicts.

[jgreenert1 · Accepted solution]

I found the cause of the issue, but do not understand why it is causing the problem. The source is the connection of a DirecTV Genie Mini to the HDMI 1 (STB) port of a Samsung TV located in the same room as the Arlo base station and AT&T modem.

The DirecTV receiver had been plugged into the Set-Top-Box (STB) HDMI port of the TV for years without issue. I did replace the receiver but the issue persisted with the replacement and I tracked it down to the HDMI port 1. I have moved the Genie to port 3 and the Arlo has been working without issues for 12 hours. I did change the TV to a different network (guest) but the modem in the TV has issues so it has not been connected to the internet for a year. I determined the Arlo would work with the TV streaming via a Roku. We have 3 other DirecTV receivers (wired and wireless) and they operated without causing the Arlo to disconnect. The DirecTV system is connected to the modem wirelessly.

Hopefully this helps someone with a similar issue in the future. I would be interested if anyone has any insight  as to why connection caused this issue..