Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

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Hss55
Guide
Guide

So I'm now on my 2nd Video Doorbell unit.  First one died and said the battery was dead.  This one has been working (although I did get the low battery thing once for about 30 minutes) up until a few days ago.

 

About 2-3 days ago, it just stopped recording and sending notices.  I tested the motion sensor and that works.  I can view and record manually.   Also rebooted the device.  It just doesn't seem to activate and start recording or send notices when it detects motion.     Were there any updates to the firmware that were released a few days ago?

 

Any ideas?   Getting frustrated with this.  If I have to return this one, don't know if I'll be going for a 3rd. 

43 REPLIES 43
JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

lakefever,

 

It sounds like you may be experiencing interference issues. What does the signal strength show for the doorbell?

 

eliudro,

 

For Arlo Video Doorbell recordings to be saved to the cloud, you must have an Arlo Smart subscription. For more information on Arlo Smart Subscriptions, take a look here: What are the available Arlo subscription plans and how much cloud recording is available?

 

JamesC

lakefever
Tutor
Tutor

3 bars, connected to 2.4ghz band

Dazlin1
Tutor
Tutor
Sorry. Goofed up that post. My doorbell has been a heap of problems to chime going off all the time, to capturing motion 50 feet away, not getting downloads, and since I didn’t start paying their fee, now I get motion alerts but no recordings. Maybe I have to pay for that but I refuse. My Arlo camera and audio doorbell at back door has worked perfect for over a year but this video doorbell is a mess. So my question is, do I have to do the FEE to get the recordings?
StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@Dazlin1 wrote:
 So my question is, do I have to do the FEE to get the recordings?

If you have a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000) you can connect the doorbell to it and use direct access to local storage.  https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

 

Cloud storage requires a paid subscription.

Dazlin1
Tutor
Tutor
This is crazy. I have a hub, camera, and audio doorbell and no fees or issues with storage. I get video doorbell and I have fees or go thru this which I have to figure out. I think I’m just gonna return it and check into other security programs.
Firemedic023
Tutor
Tutor
I agree. I paid a lot of money for this system. Had no issues viewing the recordings from the cameras with the app but as soon as I got the video doorbell now they want more money for a monthly subscription. Think it’s time to look at a different system from a different manufacturer.
Dazlin1
Tutor
Tutor
So I did all the above and it says my new USB is active and working but I still cannot view my recordings
sdwelling
Aspirant
Aspirant
I have my doorbell connected to my base station and have local recording selected. No video is recorded. Is the paid cloud solution the only one available for the doorbell?
Fireengine
Aspirant
Aspirant
Im having the same problem you are. Also I keep trying to set it to default to local storage but it doesn’t work and stays on cloud no matter what.
Denisedavis001
Aspirant
Aspirant
Denisedavis001
Aspirant
Aspirant
Still not recording we have an account
JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

Denisedavis001,

 

Do you have an active Smart Plan or trial plan associated with your doorbell?

 

JamesC

arlouser33
Aspirant
Aspirant

My Free subscription trial ended but I have a usb drive connected to my hub.  My understanding is that I should be able to continue to record to it (locally) without the need to purchase a subscription.  I don't want to record to the cloud.  Called Arlo Support and they told me that I need to pay for a subscription in order to be able to record to my usb drive.....Totally unfair, that is not what they advertise.  My 2 Arlo2 Cameras do record to my usb drive......

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

arlouser33

dkylep
Aspirant
Aspirant
New, wire-free doorbell AVD2001

Same thing! I get phone notifications and calls but no recordings. Free trial is still active until 3/12/2021. It’s only been on for a week.
JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

dkylep,

 

Are you using a custom mode or the default Armed mode? Is your doorbell synced to a base station/SmartHub or directly to your router?

 

JamesC

dkylep
Aspirant
Aspirant

I've only had the arlo devices for a couple weeks, so I apologize if I don't answer your questions completely.  I have 4 Arlo Pro 4 cameras and a wire-free doorbell.  they are all directly connected to my WiFi.  The wifi icons, on the device window, for all of the devices show full signal (I'm assuming that icon indicates signal strength).

 

I have not created a custom mode.  The options available for the doorbell are Armed, Disarmed, Schedule, and Geofencing.

 

I had the door bell set to Geofencing and I had the 'Away Mode' set to Armed.    It was working for about a week with no changes to the setup.  On the afternoon of the 15th it recorded motion a couple times and the last recording was of someone actually pressing the door bell.  I received a notification and a 'call'  from that door bell press.  I declined the call. After that I continued to receive notification of motion but no recordings have been saved.

 

Because I was getting notification and no video, I changed the settings last night to 'Armed' (no longer GeoFencing).  The armed settings show: if 'motion is detected' then, for the doorbell,  'record video'.  I unchecked the 'push notification' alert.

dkylep
Aspirant
Aspirant

UPDATE...

I didn't change anything and it started saving motion video yesterday....

CF0
Aspirant
Aspirant

My doorbell appeared to not be recording since the moment I installed it yesterday, but two other cameras that I installed Saturday were recording fine.

 

Eventually I logged into the web interface and found all the doorbell recordings were there - they were just not showing in my iPhone app.

 

It turns out that somehow filtering was turned on in the Library tab on the iPhone, or was otherwise just filtering out the doorbell videos for some reason. I never touched the filtering, but once I realized that I messed with the filters and filtered for All then deleted all of the individual filters and now everything is fine.

I can't say whether the interface showed that it was filtering out the doorbell initially, since I didn't realize that was the problem until after I fixed it.

mxs571
Aspirant
Aspirant

My Power went out for 60hrs.  When it came back on the doorbell had no lights and the door chime rang randomly.  I tried resetting it and no change.  I checked the voltage and 19 V AC at doorbell.   I left it connected overnight as some had said it needs to charge an internal battery.  Still no LED lights. I contacted arlo support who had me also try resetting while holding front button.  No change.  It is 1 year and 2 months ,so Arlo said - too bad.  Sorry for you inconvenience.  Why wound the doorbell have been damaged on a low voltage circuit during a power outage.  Seem to be not reliable/robust and I would not recommend it to others.