Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

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maharrm
Tutor
Tutor

I recently started to experience the error, “Videos stored on Base Station are not available. Please check connection settings.” when trying to access locally stored videos in the Library (I have a VMB5000r5 base station recording to a microSD card). 

I have previously been able to access videos with Port Forwarding enabled and also without Port Forwarding when connected to my home network. 

I have again disabled Port Forwarding and am connected on my home network, but still receive the same error.

 

i can see from the storage setting info that my microSD card appears to be saving videos as the amount of space used is increasing.

 

Anyone else experiencing this error recently? Thanks. 

Best answers
  • ShayneS
    Arlo Moderator
    Arlo Moderator

    Thank you for the feedback, the development team is investing these reports and I will be updating the thread with more information as soon as I receive it. 

183 REPLIES 183
StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@Pan523 wrote:

I am a new user. After added the smarthub in app and connected camera to smarthub, i got so issue as below

  • I cannot find any section to view the record
  • I cannot find the setup button for setup port forward setting
  • I cannot receive any notification even motion detected and recording from camera 

I have read the manual but still. Cannot find related function in my app. Any people can give me some hints? Thanks!!!


There are two user interfaces at the moment.  The older one shows "Library" as a menu option, the newer one (used with the Pro 5s camera) shows "Feed" and "Dashboard".  The controls you are looking for depend on which interface you have.  (Note that the app supports both interfaces). 

 

I'm assuming "Feed" and "Dashboard" - let me know if you see "Library" instead.  FWIW, if you do see "Library" you either did something wrong in the setup, or you don't actually have a Pro 5s camera.

 

When you have a subscription for cloud recording (including the trial) the cloud recordings show up in "Feed". 

 

Local recordings aren't shown there - instead you need to 

  • go to the devices screen
  • select the smarthub
  • select storage settings

Local recordings are there, as well as the controls for port forwarding. You have to use the app (phone or tablet) for this.  Local recordings can not be seen in the web browser.  More information on local storage is here:

 

Note there is an issue that a lot of users are reporting now - port forwarding doesn't seem to be working on iPhones.  Using a VPN does work (but requires a VPN server in your router).

 

On the notifications, make sure the system is armed.  Go to the dashboard screen, and make sure "Armed Away" is selected, and see if that works.  More information on the three modes (and how to customize them) is here:

KenC
Apprentice
Apprentice

Appears to be issue only on iOS as it worked on my Android tablet.

oneyellowlab
Tutor
Tutor

I’m having the same problem! I’ve spent hours troubleshooting with my modem, I went and bought a new router but that’s not working so I suspect this is an Arlo issue. My next step is to reset the base station but I really don’t want to have to do that if I don’t have to. Does anyone know if Arlo is working on this issue?

oneyellowlab
Tutor
Tutor

I’m having the same issue, I’ve wasted hours troubleshooting as I thought the problem was on my end but it is Arlo’s issue. I use IOS , does anyone know if they are fixing this?

cccs
Aspirant
Aspirant

I have two smart hubs, both 4540.

I have a mesh network with 2 routers connecting to 2 smart hubs separately.

Doing the same setting, only one works.

Any thing I can do?

When setting up, both works. But after a while, only one remains.

zoopy
Aspirant
Aspirant

just waiting patiently not being able to look at stored files when away from home.. sucks to not know what's going on..

rpn830
Aspirant
Aspirant

I'm in the same boat. I had previously successfully set up port forwarding and was able to access local videos away from home and off my home network. But recently, the port forwarding doesn't work anymore and says "not available" in the app. I tried refreshing the port and updating it in my router settings but it still doesn't work. 

 

I hope it really is just a matter of the app update being bad so that a future update could fix this on its own...

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@cccs wrote:

I have two smart hubs, both 4540.

I have a mesh network with 2 routers connecting to 2 smart hubs separately.

 


Two independent routers???

Or one mesh router system, with the smarthubs connected to different mesh elements???

 

What mesh system do you have (manufacturer and model)?

 


@cccs wrote:

Doing the same setting, only one works.

 


What do you mean by "the same setting".

  1. Both smarthubs should have their local IP addresses assigned in the router, so those addresses won't change when the router or the smarthubs restart.
  2. The ports used for each smarthub of course need to be different, and the ports need to be forwarded to the correct smarthub in the router settings.

Note there is a bug at the moment - many users are saying that port forwarding doesn't work at all with their iPhones.  No reports on this with Android.

Pan523
Aspirant
Aspirant

Thank you for your reply.

 

After i reset the hub and camera. I can receive the notification now.

 

However, I still can not view the record from the App.

In my App, I found "Feed" and "Dashboard".

I also follow the instruction to visit the hub and storage setting. but i cannot get any video record

There are 4 information under Local Storage Setting

  • Storage Status : Good
  • Available storage: 247.00 MB used of 115.33....
  • Best Local Recording: Off
  • Overwrite Automatically: On

What can I do for direct access to view record under the App outside?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

zoopy
Aspirant
Aspirant

Port forwarding is not available anymore after iOS 4.14 update. Was working just fine with previous but is still not fixed. Ports are open and is available through canyouseeme.org but when outside of home network, unable to watch local storage videos. Port Forwarding says Enabled but status "Not Available"  @BrookeN please look into this.

bradu2
Aspirant
Aspirant

Dear Arlo team and users,

I'm glad to have found this conversation in Google, literally after hours trying to fix my modem. The "Port Forwarding" section has stopped to work also for me, I'm not allowed to see recordings out of home.

Ports on my modem are correctly opened, and I'm using iOs 17.5.1 (with Arlo WMB4540)

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@Pan523 wrote:

 

After i reset the hub and camera. I can receive the notification now.

However, I still can not view the record from the App.

 


Is your phone connected to your home wifi?

 

 

cccs
Aspirant
Aspirant


Two independent routers???

Or one mesh router system, with the smarthubs connected to different mesh elements???


For the two routers connecting to two different smart hubs, i have tried both methods as below.

1) one mesh network

2) one using repeater mode

the result is the same: only one can work; sometimes it is A; sometimes it is B.

 

 

What do you mean by "the same setting".

  1. Both smarthubs should have their local IP addresses assigned in the router, so those addresses won't change when the router or the smarthubs restart.
  2. The ports used for each smarthub of course need to be different, and the ports need to be forwarded to the correct smarthub in the router settings.

Note there is a bug at the moment - many users are saying that port forwarding doesn't work at all with their iPhones.  No reports on this with Android.


For your questions,

both local IP and the port number are input correctly for each smart hub in the port forwarding setting.

 

Thanks for your help!

btw I am an Android user.

 

Pan523
Aspirant
Aspirant

Yes , i am connected to home WiFi 

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@cccs wrote:


Two independent routers???

Or one mesh router system, with the smarthubs connected to different mesh elements???


For the two routers connecting to two different smart hubs, i have tried both methods as below.

1) one mesh network

2) one using repeater mode

the result is the same: only one can work; sometimes it is A; sometimes it is B.


Can you tell us what these two routers are?  I am thinking your network might not be set up correctly.

 

The normal setup is that only one device is acting as a router - that is the one with the WAN connection to your internet service provider.

 

The other device is normally acting as an access point (connected to the router with ethernet) or as a wifi extender (connecting to the router over wifi).

 

FWIW, usually when people say "mesh" they are talking routers+satellites that are designed to work together seamlessly.  Examples include the Netgear Orbi, TP-Link Deco, Amazon Eero, Google Nest WiFi (there are several others). 

Pan523
Aspirant
Aspirant

Yes I am using same WiFi

gbweir
Guide
Guide

There was an app update to Version 4.14.5 today

Did not fix the problem.

christerlind
Aspirant
Aspirant

I have the same problem after the latest update  Worked perfect before the update and yes I have the liberary set for the smart hub 

 

KrisBatchelor54
Aspirant
Aspirant

Try checking the app settings to ensure it's configured to access local videos on your Arlo hub.

cammerz
Guide
Guide

How’s that done?

I have view recordings enabled

Port forwarding enabled

Record locally enabled

The ports are open I’ve checked them, the status just says not available. I’ve also tried setting the ports up again. Seemingly, like everyone else is experiencing it’s with the new app

oneyellowlab
Tutor
Tutor

Hi,

I have an update on this issue.  The interesting thing is that the port forwarding failing is specific to my iPhone model.  We have one Arlo account that we both log into. On my iPhone 11 running IOS 17.5.1 the port forwarding stopped working.  My husband has an iPhone Xr running IOS 17.5.1 and his port forwarding works.  I spent over an hour on the phone with Arlo tech support and they were trying to say it was my Internet service provider's port forwarding that was failing but I could prove that it worked because we I could show that on one phone it worked while on the other phone it didn't.  They are looking into the issue and hopefully they will get it fixed.  If anyone else is having port forwarding issues and using a different iPhone model than the 11 you will want to call in and try and get them to trouble shoot the issue as they don't seem to think they have a problem.  

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@cammerz wrote:

 

I have view recordings enabled

Port forwarding enabled

Record locally enabled

The ports are open I’ve checked them, the status just says not available. I’ve also tried setting the ports up again. Seemingly, like everyone else is experiencing it’s with the new app


Can you access the local recordings when the phone is connected to your home wifi?

cammerz
Guide
Guide

Yep, it’s just when I’m off the wifi I can’t access them. It says port forwarding status not available, even though I have everything enabled and have checked the ports are open

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@cammerz wrote:

Yep, it’s just when I’m off the wifi I can’t access them. It says port forwarding status not available, even though I have everything enabled and have checked the ports are open


Several folks have reported that with their iPhones - I haven't seen any solution for port forwarding.  But if your router has a VPN server (many high-end routers do), then you can use that.

cammerz
Guide
Guide

Unfortunately I don’t think mine will but I’ll have a look. Wish I just went with a different brand after the amount of trouble I’ve had with Arlo