Arlo Base Station Won't Stay In Smart Things Mode

[mike_pace]

Hello.  I have two different Arlo wire-free systems.  One hub has four wire-free cameras, the other has three.  I have been using these as part of my Smartthings system, but lately I have noticed that I cannot keep the two systems in Smartthings mode.  They keep going back to "Disarmed" mode.  All of the cameras are connected, and I can bring up video on each one.  What gives?

[brh]

@mike_pace

It seems that the Smartthings Mode has been messed up for quite some time. What I do is to leave the cameras in the Armed Mode and use Smartthings Routines to activate/deactivate the cameras. This way acts like turning each cameras on/off slider switch on and off, but the nice thing about Smartthings Routines is that you can activate/deactivate the cameras in groups instead of individually. I quit using the Smartthings Mode a long time ago. This way works so much better. You can use the Goodbye routine to activate all of your cameras and the I'm Back routine to deactivate them all.  You can use the Good Night routine to activate only the outside cameras if you so desire. You can create custom routines to activate/deactivate whatever groups of cameras you want. You can also set up Scenes to only turn on certain cameras if the need arises.

Brian

[mike_pace]

Thanks Brian. At this point, I set the mode to “Armed” on both base units, but one of them still reverts back to “Disabled”.  Did you remove the ST mode altogether? 

[brh]

@mike_pace

Yes, I removed it. The Arlo Connect Smart App will create the Smartthings Mode, but after that, you no longer need it. Are you using a schedule? I know the Arlo Schedule Mode has a bug in it that causes your symptoms.

Brian

[brh]

@mike_pace

Several things might be happening here if you continue to have this problem.

1) Check that the phone app and the IDE on a laptop or computer are in sync with each other.

2) What app are you using, (ios or android)?

3) When this happens look at the individual cameras in both the app and IDE and record their state.

4) Double check whatever you are using in Smartthings to trigger the cameras, but I know of nothing in Smartthings that can change the Arlo Modes. (Unless you are using the Arlopilot app in Smartthings).

Brian

[mike_pace]

I removed the ST mode and cleared out the schedule (which I wasn’t even using, but did have an old schedule still in it). After several reboot cycles, I still cannot get one of the base units to show all cameras online and show the mode. Oddly enough, this is the base that was maintaining “Armed” status before removing the ST mode. Now in the Mode tab, this base just shows “Getting information”. After this reboot, however, I can see all four cameras. The last few reboots, one or another camera would remain offline. I never used to have any of these troubles. 

[mike_pace · Accepted solution]

Finally, after a three minute power cord removal and reboot, everything is up and running again. I’ll know by tomorrow if stuff stays working. If it doesn’t, I will start with the items in your last post. Thank you, Brian, for the help. 

Mike