Arlo Essential Doorbell: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't!

[r631w970]

This product has glitchy software!  Half the time it works, half the time it doesn't.  Thursday my wife and I were sitting in the livingroom.  We were surprised to hear someone knock on the  door.  I went to the door and there was a florist with a bouquet of flowers.  After receiving flowers I asked him if he had rung the doorbell and he said yes.  We checked our phones and we both had received silent motion notifications and the doorbell hadn't rang.  When we checked the library sure enough there  was the video of the florist standing patiently at the door.  This leads me to the second problem with this doorbell.  We turned it off but it didn't work anyway.  When the call to our phones came, the person at the door can hear us but we cant hear them.  I know the microphone works because in any video you can clearly hear everybody talking.  In one video I can hear my daughter talking as she is unloading her car.  We have run numerous tests and on the videos uploaded to the library you can hear quite well everything going on at the door.  Because half the notifications sent to our phones are silent it renders this doorbell useless.  We got it because I work 3rd shift and my wife is home alone.  If some creep came to the door and she received a silent notification while asleep what is the point.   yes I have the latest software and have deleted the apps twice and reinstalled on both phones.

[StephenB]

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@r631w970 wrote:

After receiving flowers I asked him if he had rung the doorbell and he said yes.  

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Some people mistake the camera for the button, and push on the camera.  Is it possible that this happened here?

[vbmar]

I have the same problem and ,no, it is not due to pushing the wrong part of the doorbell. I've deleted and reinstalled several times. No help. Installed it with the old doorbell wires attached to the new unit. It captures visitors fine and logs good video, and it registers on my ipad and  iphone as motion detected with a ding but no contact is available with visitor thru my phone and never any house chime. Tested the home chime by quickly shorting the contacts  of the wall unit with the main unit removed. This did ring my in home chime, so anything occuring by pushing the lit circle area should pass through and make the same contact, My conclusion is that its in the units electronics or software.  In reading the online instructions, there is a step in "device/ doorbell/  settings/ audio/ that shows my doorbell as not connected, so with my tech savvy sons help, he saw that the sliders for the first two items...microphone and one other were "on"  ,  But a third item slider that was supposed to be there according to  the set up as a slider to turn the doorbell on/ off did not appear on our screen. Of course the inability to ring the chime real time is a SEVERE detriment to effective use of the product as is the inability to talk the the visitor on iphone when notified . Is there a new level of s.w. coming or already available. 

I'd like to keep the unit if it can be made compatible with my whole home system of ARLO cameras.

[StephenB]

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@vbmar wrote:

I have the same problem

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Not sure if your problem is really "the same", or just has some similar symptoms.

@r631w970 says their chime sometimes rings, and sometimes doesn't.  It sounds like your chime never rings - is that the case? 

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@vbmar wrote:

no, it is not due to pushing the wrong part of the doorbell.

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FWIW, some posters here have discovered visitors doing that, and have added a "push here" label to their doorbell.  So it has happened in some cases.

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@vbmar wrote:

but no contact is available with visitor thru my phone and never any house chime. Tested the home chime by quickly shorting the contacts  of the wall unit with the main unit removed. This did ring my in home chime,

What chime manufacturer/model do you have?

[r631w970]

I wished I could upload a video from this doorbell because I would let you see the video from when the flower guy came to the door.  He walks up and pushes the button, you can clearly hear the sound this doorbell makes when you press the button.  He pushed the correct button.  For the reason of trying to make the post shorter I didn't post all that was said with the delivery guy.  He said the doorbell had made a sound and the lights that circle the around the edge of the button went on.  He said he encounters video doorbells every day.  I also didn't post that we have had 3 packages delivered to our porch and the camera didn't get any of them.  They now even photograph your package laying on your porch and the doorbell missed it all.  A neighbor had come over to deliver a plate of cookies for xmas when we weren't home and it didn't get that.  Yet every time I test it myself it works.  lol  It's so frustrating!  I even tried running up to the side of my porch (not on the porch) and running away and it got it and it dinged my phone.  

[StephenB]

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@r631w970 wrote:

He walks up and pushes the button, you can clearly hear the sound this doorbell makes when you press the button.  He pushed the correct button.  

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Agreed, so that possibility is ruled out.

What is the motion sensitivity set to?  Have you tried the motion detection test?

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@r631w970 wrote:

I also didn't post that we have had 3 packages delivered to our porch and the camera didn't get any of them.  

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Yes, I've seen that too.  In my case, it happens when the delivery person doesn't actually come on to the porch, and just tosses/slides the package.  (I've caught them doing that from other cameras).  But I don't think that explains the cookies.

You mentioned silent notifications - was the phone set to give you audio alerts?

[r631w970]

This doorbell has me filled with regret for  buying it.  I have drove my wife crazy trying all different things to fix it.  The part driving me nuts is every single thing I try pertaining to packages getting delivered works.  Even when I try to be a lazy delivery person and throw the package from many feet away to the door it gets it every single time! It has never failed to detect it and send audible notifications to my and my wife's phone and upload video of it. 

vbmar:  concerning the other problem of can't  hear the person at the door on the phone.  During countless test trying to figure out what the problem is I discovered if I lean over to the doorbell and scream into it you can faintly hear the person at the door on the phone.  I did another test where I took my phone into our back bedroom and closed the door and turned the fan on low so I couldn't hear anything through the walls.  My wife pushed the doorbell and the call went through and I answered, she could hear me very well.  When she spoke in normal voice I couldn't hear her but if she leaned down and practically screamed I could faintly hear what she said.  I believe that it is a software glitch, that turns the microphone volume almost off on the doorbell end of phone calls.

[StephenB]

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@r631w970 wrote:

I believe that it is a software glitch, that turns the microphone volume almost off on the doorbell end of phone calls.

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I've seen this posted before from folks with Samsung Galaxy phones.  Is that what you are using?  Also, if you have a headset, can you see if that gives you the normal volume?

[r631w970]

I answered this on my phone but it didn't show up here.  Yes we both have Galaxy phones.  S20 FE and J3.  I don't have a headset.  Is there a solution for this problem?  Is there some setting in the Galaxy phone that fixes it?

I'm really not trying to be a jerk, but I am frustrated because I really like the  quality of the uploaded videos.  I am hopeful I can get all this ironed out soon. We were hopeful to later buy a camera for our back door and deck.  

[StephenB]

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@r631w970 wrote:

I'm really not trying to be a jerk

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The doorbell should of course work as advertised, and obviously it's not working properly for you.

I use an iphone, but I don't think there is a setting (other than trying to get the phone into speakerphone mode).

FWIW, I think Arlo should provide a setting to boost the audio coming from the camera/doorbell in the phone call (or in 2-way talk).  Or provide some form of AGC (automatic gain control). But they don't have a setting like that now. 

[Mrs_LB]

I am really disappointed with this doorbell, we have exactly the same problem. I cannot hear what the caller at the door is saying, the caller struggles to hear me. Completely defeats the objective of having this system. Does anyone know what actions Arlo intend to take about this as there are so many similar posts on this problem?

[r631w970]

Well it happened again.  I was asleep and my wife was in the livingroom, and someone knocked on the door.  2 people doing a survey came to the door.  After we looked and there was a video uploaded, it showed the two people  come on the porch and pushed the doorbell ...... twice.  It never rang in the house.  It has now reached the point of comedy.  Every time it matters it doesn't work.  I don't think I mentioned this before but it is used with Chime2.