Video lag

[ricardof]

I am experiencing a significant lag in the video (about 10 seconds) when using live view and when answering calls after someone rings the doorbell, which makes this function almost unusable. Wifi and connection speeds should not be an issue, as I have enough bandwidth and the doorbell is well within range of my mesh router. I have tried changing the video settings but that doesn't seem to reduce the lag. Is anyone else experiencing this or know of a fix? Thanks in advance.

[JamesC]

ricardof,

What does the signal strength icon show for your doorbell?

JamesC

[ricardof]

It is showing full strength. For reference, running a speed test on my phone from the same location I am getting about 73Mbps down and 10Mbps up.

[ScottandRachel]

I'm having the exact same issues. 

[ricardof]

It doesn’t sound like there’s a fix for this since I did not really get a response.

[Robodo]

Same issue. Infuriating.

[JamesC]

A small delay in the live stream is expected. If you feel the delay is longer than it should be, it may take more in-depth troubleshooting to find the cause. I encourage you to reach out to the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[Robodo]

Have you

[Robodo]

ever tried to

[Robodo]

have a con...

[Robodo]

versation with a 

[Robodo]

10 send lag. I hope this thread illustrates my point. 

[Robodo]

If a lag of at least 10 seconds is acceptable to arlo, you guys have some serious issues. I right now have a ring first generation and an arlo in the same location on the same network, and RING alerts me 10 seconds before arlo. 

[TheFalconer]

I initially set up the Video Doorbell (Hardware 1.2 with Firmware 1.14.3.0_557_7a263ee_58d...) with my VMB4000r3 (part of Costco Pro camera package) running firmware 1.16.2.4_3505_f4757f1  The lag was really bad. About 7 seconds when ringing the doorbell and during a live call. Too much lag to have a useful conversation. I figured out since the very positive product reviews didn’t use the SmartHub, I should try connecting using just wi-fi instead of through the SmartHub. Now the latency for viewing from the camera is 4 seconds pressing play from devices and 1 second for video calls. Previously the audio lagged a lot and now it’s almost real-time. Huge improvement for me. I don’t know if there is something wrong with my SmartHub, but for me it works MUCH better now and aligns with what my expectation was when I bought it. I know I won’t get the benefit of local storage as an option (sounds like that has challenges anyway) or free 7 day storage. I have an Orbi RBR50 mesh wi-fi with 2 satellites. Standard settings. I hope this is helpful to those who can use this. 

[Pro-666]

---

@TheFalconer wrote:

I initially set up the Video Doorbell (Hardware 1.2 with Firmware 1.14.3.0_557_7a263ee_58d...) with my VMB4000r3 (part of Costco Pro camera package) running firmware 1.16.2.4_3505_f4757f1  The lag was really bad. About 7 seconds when ringing the doorbell and during a live call. Too much lag to have a useful conversation. I figured out since the very positive product reviews didn’t use the SmartHub, I should try connecting using just wi-fi instead of through the SmartHub. Now the latency for viewing from the camera is 4 seconds pressing play from devices and 1 second for video calls. Previously the audio lagged a lot and now it’s almost real-time. Huge improvement for me. I don’t know if there is something wrong with my SmartHub, but for me it works MUCH better now and aligns with what my expectation was when I bought it. I know I won’t get the benefit of local storage as an option (sounds like that has challenges anyway) or free 7 day storage. I have an Orbi RBR50 mesh wi-fi with 2 satellites. Standard settings. I hope this is helpful to those who can use this. 

---

Ackk. So the Smart Hubs don't provide any speed or enhancements over connecting directly?

I currently own a Ring with massive delays, about 10-15 seconds to my cell and instant to my local Chime. I'm investigating if Arlo local recording will gain me any speed advantages over Ring's "cloud" recording. I've had Ring for 3 years now, and it's still lagged and problem-some. I want to cut out as many point of failures as possible.

With Ring's "cloud" recording, I cannot view a recent event until their servers process it. The longer the video was, the longer I have to wait for their servers to process it so I can click on it to view it. Most frustrating when I'm sitting there refreshing my Event list every 2 seconds and clicking on it to see if it's ready yet.

I would like all the processing and internet serving to take place on MY internet. I want to cut out the "middle man" who always seems to be delayed and busy with other requests. When you're paying hundreds of dollars for a system, I want that system to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Why do they have to make this process as complicated as possible.

Camera at home records locally, and has a fast text connection to the base web server. Phone app is connected to the base web server to find out the IP address of the local camera and has a connection to it also. Once motion or a button press is acknowledged it sends a small command to the home base web server which in turn knows where your phone is and sends a very small and fast alert to it telling it to "phone home" and watch the video. The phone app quickly contacts the local storage internet and starts receiving video. How much of a burden would this put on their system? Even if they had millions of customers. What would be the latency of such a system, 1 second maximum?

I say screw the the monthly fee if I could have something MORE reliable. I'd be willing to pay more upfront if I could have something MORE reliable than "cloud" services as they are now. So $150 for the Smart Hub is a little over 4 years of a $3 monthly subscription. Although every dollar of that $3 is profit, compared to the unknown profit from the $150 Smart Hub. Either way, if I could spend more NOW for a reliable product, I would. Make it so, number one!

[Pro-666]

Ackk. So the Smart Hubs don't provide any speed or enhancements over connecting directly?

I currently own a Ring with massive delays, about 10-15 seconds to my cell and instant to my local Chime. I'm investigating if Arlo local recording will gain me any speed advantages over Ring's "cloud" recording. I've had Ring for 3 years now, and it's still lagged and problem-some. I want to cut out as many point of failures as possible.

With Ring's "cloud" recording, I cannot view a recent event until their servers process it. The longer the video was, the longer I have to wait for their servers to process it so I can click on it to view it. Most frustrating when I'm sitting there refreshing my Event list every 2 seconds and clicking on it to see if it's ready yet.

I would like all the processing and internet serving to take place on MY internet. I want to cut out the "middle man" who always seems to be delayed and busy with other requests. When you're paying hundreds of dollars for a system, I want that system to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Why do they have to make this process as complicated as possible.

Camera at home records locally, and has a fast text connection to the base web server. Phone app is connected to the base web server to find out the IP address of the local camera and has a connection to it also. Once motion or a button press is acknowledged it sends a small command to the home base web server which in turn knows where your phone is and sends a very small and fast alert to it telling it to "phone home" and watch the video. The phone app quickly contacts the local storage internet and starts receiving video. How much of a burden would this put on their system? Even if they had millions of customers.

I say no more monthly fee if I could have something MORE reliable. I'd be willing to pay more upfront if I could have something MORE reliable than "cloud" services as they are now. So $150 for the Smart Hub is a little over 4 years of a $3 monthly subscription. Although every dollar of that $3 is profit, compared to the unknown profit from the $150 Smart Hub. Either way, if I could spend more NOW for a reliable product, I would. Make it so, number one!

[Pro-666]

Why can't I delete my own posts?

[tkpaul]

Same infuriating issue...been following every repetitive request from Support for THREE MONTHS and no improvement.

This is USELESS as a security device and certainly can't even allow a real time conversation.

[WalterAndreis]

Exactly same thing here...

One point to add: when i bought the video doorbell it used to work fine, with a minimum delay, and perfectly works as realtime conversation device... some months later, it's experiencing 10+ seconds delay, and turned into a really useless device.
I've changed from arlo smarthub to wifi directly, installed my wifi repeater (amplifi Alien wifi-6) in front of the doorbell, with maximum signal strength both on repeater and on doorbell, using a AT&T Fiber Gigabit internet at home... and it simply doesn't work... 

Then i came to this forum to find for a solution, but seems like ARLO knows it's a common issue, but they keep copying and pasting standard and useless answers... and selling as a "wonderful product"...
It's a shame.. the same for the subscription plan they've changed and preventing users from return for the plan they used to have when bought the equipment... 
My situation: bought a lot of arlo equipments (6 pro 2 cameras + doorbell + baby cam), paying more than double the price for subscription, compared to the price i had when i bought the equipments, and now having 10+ seconds of lag on door bell... just screwed up!
Looking for other brand...

[g_r_a_n_t]

Re: 10 second delay experience from Robodo - This is the funniest thing I have seen today ....and exactly my thoughts on the experience.

[Brianwidener99]

Agree with all the other posts it appears that Arlo would have to answer this in a legal forum as a security camera’s performance should be measured and 10+ seconds of lag is not performing in accordance with any standard that would help to ensure security of anything. I too had good performance when I got these Arlo Pro cameras back in 2017 and seemed to be less than 1 second lag. Now it has grown to be 4 seconds on the wired doorbell and 8 + seconds on every camera no matter if it is next to the base station /WiFi router. It would really be helpful if Arlo would release a fix that would mitigate the lag time and it is probably due to security issues I would assume why they have not been able to fix it. Would be nice to get an official response on what their expected lag time is based on their testing and specs bc I’m sure it is not real time / live like they are advertising.

[J42]

I’ve just installed a brand new camera. Signal is strong (about 10’ from my router) speed test on my iPhone: 164Mbps down, 163 up. Solid 4 second delay.  The link above just circles back to the general support page (rather than specific guidance).  I could live with 1 or 2 seconds. 4 seconds is pushing it and if what the rest of this thread says is correct 5-10 seconds! That is completely unreasonable. Has there been any progress on this matter? Has anyone found other issues when troubleshooting that would improve the lag?

[g_r_a_n_t]

Hi. Tech support just advised 10-30 seconds delay can be expected. I asked how do I return the device.

[tkpaul]

Can you believe they now want $16.50 from me to return the device and have it replaced under warranty!?!?!?

I've never had such a tremendously hard time with a support team ever...and believe me, I've dealt with some miserably inept companies.

I've spent now 8 months proving to them that I'm not a novice and have tried everything, including the ridiculous 100+ times they've asked me to "remove and reinstall the device" from my app, etc.. It's been infuriating and I do not know how they are still selling security products with 5-10 second delays (and longer) which they find to be "acceptable."

Wow.

(iOS 14.3, Orbi mesh network, dedicated channel for Arlo, ultra high speed internet, brand new wiring in home, Cat 8 cables, base within 5 feet of Arlo...you name it, we've tested/upgraded/tried it.)