Arlo base station VMB4540 video clips garbled

[lenachang]

- Device info:

+ VMB4540r3
+ firmware: 1.17.0.0_1053_6ba79e5
+ serial number: AAD21A7EA3AE4

- Problems:

+ setup Arlo wired doorbell (AVD1001) with VMB4540 and set for
    direct storage access. There are multiple problems made this
    setup un-acceptable.

+ purchased:

- Arlo wire doorbell (AVD1001)
- Arlo Pro 4 and base station (VMB4540) bundle (from Costco)
- USB drive: SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0 256 GB

+ environment:

- hardwired ethernet:
   Comcast Xfinity router == Google Nest wifi router == switch == VMB4540

- Wifi in the house

+ Google Nest speed: download 845 Mbps, upload 18.2 Mbps
+ AVD1001 is connected to Nest wifi router
+ Arlo app running from iphone 6 plus, iphone 12 pro max

+ All video clips has problems, the recording time is not fixed length,
    instead, you can see 5 sec, 21 sec, even 1 min 12 sec. Some of
    them show garbled thumbnails, most of them when clicked on will
    not able to show a complete moving video; instead, some video will
    play for a few sec then freeze up.

+ When plug the USB drive to Windows 11 machine I can see arlo
    folders, the clip videos are in mp4 format. Examine these files
    reveal the same garbled video as seen on Arlo app.

+ I use Arlo app on iphone 6 plus and iphone 12 pro max. Both are
    identified as version 3.5.10(2888).  The iphone 6 plus one works
    fine until I switched the storage to VMB4540; more lockup screens.
    Running Arlo app on iphone 12 pro max is better, but still, the
    clips recorded freeze lots of time.

- Any recommendation please advise. Thanks.

[StephenB]

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@lenachang wrote: + AVD1001 is connected to Nest wifi router

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So you have a subscription for the doorbell?  Since it can only store on the VMB4540 if it is connected via the smarthub.

[lenachang]

Yes,  I am on Arlo trial subscription.   The VMB4540 is a separate purchase, I don't think store doorbell video on VMB4540 has anything to do with the subscription.   I am doing so because I like to see if I can rely on the smarthub later without the subscription.   So far the experience is "no".  The garbled video on the smarthub is really disappointing, hopefully it will get fix in later firmware releases.

I also have Arlo Pro 4 cameras on wifi now, they were not added to the smarthub because I could not get basic video on the doorbell right.   I have been playing around this since Nov 2021 having returned the Google Nest Camera because of 8 sec event delay (Arlo is better with 4 sec delay).

[StephenB]

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@lenachang wrote:

I don't think store doorbell video on VMB4540 has anything to do with the subscription.  

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You said the doorbell was connected to the Nest wifi router in your first post.  So I was thinking that it wasn't actually connected to the base.