Answering a doorbell ring with no video or audio.

[dg_sticks]

Hello,

I just bought and installed my Arlo video doorbell. The install went smoothly and the live streaming is great. However, the biggest issue is that I have no video or audio when I answer a video call from the doorbell. A gray screen pops up with an endlessly spinning circle. I can speak to the other party, but I can not see or speak with them. Ironically I can just quit the call and open up the livestream to start speaking with them so I know it's something from Arlo's end. This really defeats the whole purpose of the device and I have made a lot of attempts to solve this issue:

• I have the latest firmware.
• I have the latest iOS app and version of iOS on an iPhone 8+.
• I have all permissions enabled for the Arlo app.
• I have restarted the video doorbell multiple times.
• I have changed the video quality multiple times.
• I have restarted my modem and router even though I have full bars on the doorbell with gigabit service.

Honestly I feel pretty annoyed to drop a decent amount of money on this device without the main function working at all. It looks like other have had this issue as well with zero response from Arlo since mid-December.

Please advise on the status of this issue and how to fix it. Thanks in advance. 

[JamesC]

dg_sticks,

This could be a bandwidth issue with initiating the SIP call when the doorbell button is pressed. Try reducing the video resolution in the doorbell settings and test again to see if that allows the video to come through when accepting the call.

Take a look here for more information on how to do this: How do I adjust the video settings on my Arlo Video Doorbell?

JamesC

[dg_sticks]

Hi JamesC,

I will do that again, but like I said in my original post I have changed the resolution a few times and tested it with no luck.

What other steps can I take to troubleshoot this problem that I haven't already tried? Please refer to my original post with what I have done previously. Thanks in advance.

[JamesC]

dg_sticks,

I'm working with the development team to gather information on reports of this issue. If changing the resolution doesn't result in any different behavior, I will reach out to you in a private message to gather more details.

JamesC

[Ray_S]

I do not think this is a bandwidth issue. This appears to be a product design issue or a bug in the Arlo App. The flow follows:

1. Arlo Video Doorbell senses person walking towards it
2. Arlo Video Doorbell sends enriched push notification with image
3. Person rings Arlo Video Doorbell
4. Phone “Rings” claiming full focus (thereby hiding any notification banners)
5. The “Ring” Has a big empty space with zero preview, zero video, and zero audio. The user intuitively assumes there should be a rich preview at the minimum here if not live muted video. 
6. The user is expected to “Answer” the doorbell to make the connection to the live video stream. 

This flow is not intuitive at best.

[dg_sticks · Accepted solution]

I have solved my issue, but would consider this a bug as I know others who use 1.1.1.1 with competing products with no issues.

After being private messaged by JamesC, he gave me some instructions on testing. However, I wanted to see if my 1.1.1.1 app (DNS encryption that is forced through a VPN on both wifi and LTE) was maybe causing this issue. Sure enough, after disabling the app I could answer the video calls both on Wifi and LTE at whatever video quality I wanted.

So my issue has been solved, but I do think that Arlo may want to note that any sort of VPN seems to not play nicely while answering and that this may be a bug.

[JamesC]

dg_sticks,

Thank you for the very detailed information! I will be sure to pass this along feedback along to the dev team.

JamesC

[Fertigulator]

I am having similar issues. Even my notifications are lacking. I dont see a picture with my notification. Not all notifications come through with motion sensing. I don't get a video when the doorbell is pressed either.

[JamesC]

Fertigulator,

Check your phones settings to make sure the correct permissions are enabled: 

For iOS:
Navigate to phone “Settings”
Scroll down to “Privacy”
Select “Camera”
Ensure that the Arlo app has permissions enabled
                Select “Microphone”
                Ensure that the Arlo app has permissions enabled
 
For Android:
Navigate to phone “Settings”
Select “Apps”
Scroll down to “Arlo”
Ensure that the Arlo app has “Camera”, “Microphone” and “Phone” permissions granted

JamesC

[Danielito]

JamesC,

Not sure why Arlo would need access to the phone camera; the video on a call is one-way from the bell to the phone, not from the phone. Case in point: under Settings>Privacy>Camera the Arlo app doesn't show up.

On another note though, all my wifi is connected through Eero and with all this VPN talk I'm thinking that perhaps there is some conflict here? Eero not allowing the video feed through?

Thanks!

[Ray_S]

Agreed - it doesn't matter if the camera is granted access or not (nor should it... the video doorbell can't display a video anyway). 

I'm still stuck with the event processing race condition. I get rich previews on my watch and phone for motion detections... but those are rendered useless when the doorbell is pressed and the "phone call" takes over. I can't see who's standing there to see if I care or not. 

[Danielito]

Yes and that means that it has nothing to do with the WiFi (my second question); video *is* coming through, to the app, just not to the video call; so it's an issue with the app and the os/native video call app.

Arlo, your move!