2k Video Doorbell recording blank videos with audio

[MarcusAntonius]

New 2K Video doorbell. Wired setup. Full bars on WiFi connection. Connected to smart hub. Multiple other devices also connected to smarthubs. Only 3-4 devices per smarthub. For some reason, about one of every 10 recordings or so are blank with audio only. I know it is not a internet strength connection because there is another arlo device with a view of the same area that consistently records without this issue ever happening. and i know it's not a bandwidth problem because we have high-speed internet and the doorbell is actually closer to the smarthub than the camera that doesnt have any issues. I tried resetting the doorbell and restarting smarthub. All products with updated firmware. Please help. Why is the doorbell recording blank videos intermittently???!

[jguerdat]

It could just be a faulty doorbell but try a reset first:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062934/How-do-I-reset-my-Arlo-Video-Doorbell-Arlo-Secure-4-0

[MarcusAntonius]

So I made some progress figuring out the issue with a chat agent, but got disconnected and then couldn't reconnect. Seems the issue is that for some reason, occasionally videos recorded from the doorbell are not playable on iOs devices (Macbook, iPhone Arlo app), but the videos play fine on Windows desktop. So it seems that some of the recordings made by the doorbell aren't playable by iOs devices...all firmware uptodate, and about half the videos do play without issue, so I think it is a glitch where the recordings are sometimes made in a format not playable by iOs...also why does the language for the support community change to German when I log in????!

[StephenB]

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@MarcusAntonius wrote:

why does the language for the support community change to German when I log in????!

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It should default to the language you have set in your browser.

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@MarcusAntonius wrote:

Seems the issue is that for some reason, occasionally videos recorded from the doorbell are not playable on iOs devices (Macbook, iPhone Arlo app), but the videos play fine on Windows desktop.

iOS devices are all capable of playing the recordings.  This symptom generally means that the recording has gotten corrupted - usually because some of the video never made it to the Arlo Cloud due to packet loss.  Another possible cause is that the compression hardware in the doorbell isn't working correctly.

Playback of these damaged videos is very different on different devices.   Sometimes the video freezes - never displayed if the problem happens at the start of the recording.  Sometimes it plays, but has odd colors or other artifacts (streaks, etc).

Often software decoders (for instance the VLC media player) are much better at playing through the damaged parts than hardware decoders (which are used in mobile devices because they use a lot less power).

If this is happening a lot, then it would be good to take a closer look at the wifi signal quality at the doorbell.  I don't trust the bars in the app all that much myself.  Another way to check it is to install the free Ookla speedtest app on your phone.  Turn off mobile data, and measure the speed right near the doorbell.  The upload speed is more important than download speed - also look for any reported packet loss.

[MarcusAntonius]

The WiFi connection strong, camera about 15 feet from smart hub, and other Arlo cameras further away have no issue. Sounds like maybe a problem with the doorbell itself then, where it is sometimes producing corrupted video files? How do I fix this?

[StephenB]

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@MarcusAntonius wrote:

The WiFi connection strong, camera about 15 feet from smart hub, and other Arlo cameras further away have no issue. Sounds like maybe a problem with the doorbell itself then, where it is sometimes producing corrupted video files? How do I fix this?

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You could try removing it from the account and doing a hardware reset.  Then add it back.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062934/How-do-I-reset-my-Arlo-Video-Doorbell-Arlo-Secure-4-0

[MarcusAntonius]

So I figured out the issue. Seems to be a bug when 2nd gen doorbell connected to smarthub, which I know is a newly available feature. despite wifi router being located in same room as smarthub, when i switched the doorbell to wifi instead of smart hub, all videos showing normally now. it would seem they still have some bugs to work out re: using 2nd gen doorbell with smarthubs.