Arlo Video Doorbell | activity zones

[sukh]

I have a wireless Arlo Doorbell that was purchased in April 2022.  All was working fine up to 25th July 2022.  Since then no motion is being detected in return no video is being recorded.  Also I cannot setup activity zones, all I get is a pinning green circle that times out after a period of time, followed by a message  "an unexpected error has occurred, please try again".  Whilst the green spinning wheel is spinning I just see a purple background on the screen (should actually be showing the video area where you can select the area for the activity zones). I did all the usual troubleshooting below.

Reset (remove battery for 30 seconds and replace)

Reset the device using the little pin on back of camera

Resync'ed the device

Reinstalled the app on Android

Checked via Arlo Secure Web Page

Rest the SmartHub

Remove the Doorbell and added again.

After 1-2 weeks of troubleshooting with support a new doorbell was sent.  This was delivered within 2 working days.

However the issue still persists.  I'm back with support troubleshooting, first they said it was a known issue, then said they checked the list of 100 known issues (100 known issues is shocking) and now they will be escalating the case.

I have 4 Ultra 2 cameras that continue to work without any issues, seems to be specific to the doorbell.

I have trawled many posts, and tried various suggestions in addition to what has already been done above.

Wondering if any other members have this issue in the recent weeks and if there's any other suggestions ?

[sukh]

Further update

This appears to be a bug. Another symptom is that the battery will be drained rapidly from 100% to 0% within 24 hours. It appears that once you select activity zones, the video is constantly running in live mode, thus draining the battery.

[jguerdat]

Not true - activity zones have nothing to do with battery use although they don't preclude the recording of motion to determine whether it's in-zone. 

Rapid draining of the battery sounds like an issue with your transformer and/or wiring. Have you checked that?

[sukh]

It's a wirless doorbell so no wiring or transformer in play.

As for activity zones and possible draining of the battery. When you initially setup the activity zone it "plays" a live feed of the camera for yoou to be able to select the zone. It is as here the green circle is spinning constantly and remains at that stage, even if you exit the app. Similar to pushing the live button, this will consume more battery if you leave continiously watch a live stream, if that makes sense.

Thanks for the respponse.

[jguerdat]

Coupla things:

1) It's my experience that setting an activity zone simply creates a new snapshot, not a live stream. 

2) It's also my experience that leaving the screen cancels the action but I would try force closing the app and reopen to verify.

[sukh]

Thanks again. I have tried this several times on multiple devices and on a PC, the issue remains.

[jguerdat]

What happens if you bring the doorbell close to your hub for testing? Does it do the same thing if you connect to WiFi?

[sukh]

I have the same problem 😕

[sukh]

After weeks of troubleshooting and Arlo support closing the case.  I powered off the SmartHub and powered off again.  This resolved the issue for me with Activity zones and wireless doorbell being drained.

Hope this helps others.