Arlo SN # 48B4597CCEA39 Firmware # 1.2.11810

[graham3j]

Hi,  I have two cameras at a vacation home.  One of the cameras is offline.  The last time I was there I switched out new batteries and synced it with the base station.  It worked for several days, but now is offline again.  The same camera.  The other camera has not gone offline.  I have had the cameras for almost 2 years and they are in the same location as when I first installed them.  I've been having this problem for a little over a month now.  Thanks for your help.

[jguerdat]

Not much you can do remotely other than to restart the base via Settings. The problem could be a bad camera, something, not necessarily of your doing, that's introduced 2.4GHz interference, or phase of the moon. Have you gotten any recordings from it? Is there anyone who has access to help? You might want to consider a WiFi switch such as a WeMo to be able to remotely power cycle the base.

Be aware that if the camera has trouble talking to the base, the batteries will wear down quickly so it's possible that they're now dead. You won't be able to tell remotely.

Edit: Your firmware is old. There's a good chance that's the reason.

[graham3j]

Thanks so much for the information.  I didn't know I could restart my base remotely.  I did restart, but that one camera is still down.  How do I update my firmware since it is old?  Also, what will a WeMo do that restarting the base doesn't do?  I'm not familiar with a WeMo.

When the camera was working I was getting recordings.

Thanks again for your help.

[jguerdat]

You'll need to get the camera working before updating. Check all your firmware and compare to what's listed in the Release Noted section here. There may be more stes needed but you'll need physical access to perform them. Does anyone have access or will you need to be there?

You can Google WeMo to find out what they do. Basically, they are simply a swict that is connected to the Internet via WiFi so as long as your WiFi is up you can turn it off and back on. WeMo is far from the only such devices - just Google "wifi switch"/

[graham3j]

Sorry, but I did not see "Release Section Noted Here".  I tried to google the lastest firmware information, but it only tells me how to manually update it.  Even the working camera does not have an update option under the settings - devices - firmware.  

I do have friends going to our vacation home this weekend, but I'm not sure how to instruct them to update the firmware.  

If my system updates automatically, wouldn't I have the lastest firmware?

Again, thank you.

[jguerdat]

The Release Notes are available near the top left of this page, in the big green Quick Links section.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Firmware-Release-Notes/bd-p/arlo-release-notes

Unfortunately, there's still some legacy, outdated information available. Manual updates are no longer possible and haven't been for years. Updates should happen automatically but sometimes there needs to be a kick in the pants to get them going. A power cycle of the base and opening and closing the battery doors can help force it. There's also the issue of Internet speeds - if too low, firmware updates don't occur reliably. It would be worth knowing what your download and upload speeds are at that location.  10Mbs down, 1Mbs up should be sufficient.

A brute force method, assuming Internet speeds are adequate, is to reset the system and start fresh.  That involves removing everything from Settings, My Devices. You would then use the Add Device button on the Devices tab to add the base and sync the cameras. That obviously requires physical access and coordination with your friends.

Before even considering that, though, I would ask them to use the power button on the base to turn it off for several seconds and then back on. Opening and closing the battery door would be useful, too, so they can observe the LED on the front of the camera which should slowly blink blue and then blink blue rapidly as it reconnects with the base. A slow amber blink means dead batteries - you probably should outfit them with fresh batteries, just in case.  You can also consider swapping the cameras around for troubleshooting purposes (hey, it can be a bad camera) as well as removing the camera from Settings, My Devices and have them resync the camera by pressing the sync button on the base briefly (don't hold it) and then on the camera. The camera should blink blue slowly and then rapidly as it's discovered.