Arlo doorbell AVD2001 won't finish setup

[MauroE]

Hi I have an arlo doorbell AVD2001 which was working fine until I changed broadband provider and router. I'm now trying to connect to a PLume Superpod. 

So, I've activated iot onboarding mode on the pod, which forces the network to accept 2.4ghz connections. 

I've done all the setup from the arlo app. I get the chime. The arlo is pulsating white like it shoud. Then I see the arlo on the pod connections, correctly at 2.4ghz and I can see the doorbell data data like model, mac address or serial number. 

At that point I was expecting the process to be over, but instead the app on the phone keeps telling me it's looking for the arlo, the lights on the arlo keep flashing and nothing happens. After maybe 5 minutes the arlo stops flashing, whereas the app continues to look forever for the arlo and never throws the error message. 

As a result I can see the doorbell on the pod, but the arlo app is still convinced there's no camera on the network. But the camera doesn't seem to communicate with the pod as no data is exchanged. 

I followed every guide, I've tried resetting the camera several times. I've tried 2 different phones. NOthing helps

Any ideas?

Thank you very much

Mauro  

[StephenB]

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@MauroE wrote:

So, I've activated iot onboarding mode on the pod, which forces the network to accept 2.4ghz connections. 

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Is there a separate iot network?  If there is, your phone also needs to be on it.  Also if there is a VPN on the phone, then it needs to be turned off.

I'm not seeing a useful manual for the superpod, but I don't think you actually need to use that mode.  It is possible that "iot mode" isolates the doorbell from other devices on your home network.  If it does that, then onboarding won't work because the Plume is blocking discovery of the doorbell by the app.

The tech specs say that the pod manages 2.4 ghz+5ghz (+ 6 ghz if you have the WiFi 6e pod) using a single SSID.  My orbi mesh (like many routers) does that also, and I can onboard Arlo cameras and doorbells without disabling 5 ghz.

[MauroE]

Hi the phone is on the same network as the doorbell. No vpn. 

The iot mode is necessary as without it the phone will go on 5ghz and the pod won't allow th doorbell to use the 2.4 and the connection will fail. That's documented by plume and I've tried myself and can confirm that without it at the moment of connection the doorbell will flash red a few times and the phone will throw a conenction error straight away. 

Thank you anyway for trying. Not sure what to do with my arlo now

[StephenB]

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@MauroE wrote:

The iot mode is necessary as without it the phone will go on 5ghz and the pod won't allow th doorbell to use the 2.4 and the connection will fail. That's documented by plume

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An unusual decision on Plume's part.  I can't find any real documentation on their site, just a simple installation guide.

Is "iot mode" creating an iot network (with its own network name and password)?  Or is it perhaps using the MAC address of the camera to whitelist it for the 2.4 ghz connection???

[MauroE]

No iot mode can only get enabled on a device that's already connected at 5ghz, in this case the phone, and it momentarily forces the connection to run at 2.4. that's all it does. 

[StephenB]

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@MauroE wrote:

No iot mode can only get enabled on a device that's already connected at 5ghz, in this case the phone, and it momentarily forces the connection to run at 2.4. that's all it does. 

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Ok.  So the doorbell can connect at 2.4 ghz with no problem?

[MauroE]

yes and no. I see the doorbell on the plume pod, but the arlo app doesn't see that so in effect it's like it's not connected

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Strange approach by Plume forcing clients to use 5 GHz WiFi. Anyway, this para may be of interest to you: 

" Contact Plume Support by phone if you are having issues connecting your mobile phone to the network using the method above. We may be able to force your mobile device to temporarily connect on 2.4 GHz, so you complete the IoT device setup."

It may be that you should temporarily connect to 2.4 GHz, rather than use the IoT mode on your Plume in order to complete the installation.

 https://support.plume.com/s/article/Connecting-a-2-4GHz-only-device-to-HomePass?language=en_US

[MauroE]

Hi it's the same thing. forcing to temporarily connect at 2.4ghz = iot mode. That's what they call it. 

[MauroE]

But as I said, the doorbell connects at 2.4. THat is not the issue. The issue is that the arlo app doens't detect it therefore rendering it useless. But I do get a successful connection on the router.  

[StephenB]

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@MauroE wrote:

But as I said, the doorbell connects at 2.4. THat is not the issue. The issue is that the arlo app doens't detect it therefore rendering it useless. But I do get a successful connection on the router.  

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I agree that the app discovery is the problem, and not the connection itself.  Plume might be blocking traffic (perhaps having a policy to isolate iot devices from other devices on the network).

It might be worth trying again with the phone connected only do wifi (not mobile data).  Maybe do a hardware reset of the doorbell before doing this (using the release pin method here):

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062346/How-do-I-reset-my-Arlo-Essential-Video-Doorbell

The hot spot approach should work, so the problem is a bit of a puzzle.

[MauroE]

Hi Stephen, thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately I've tried resetting the doorbell many times and my phone doesn't have a sim, so effectively that's what I've been doing so far. 

One thing I haven't tried is to remove the doorbell from the arlo app. I've only tried to change network. 

I'll try that too and let you know

thanks

[MauroE]

ah, I forgot why I didnt remove it. It's provided by Verisure and the app won't let me. I guess I have to talk to them then

[MauroE]

Fyi I've spoken to verisure and all they said was to try and add a new device (even if it was already there), instead of change the network, and it worked straight away.  Thanks everyone