Arlo System causing WiFi stability issue

[bbates7995]

I've been using my Arlo system for about a year now.  I've had virtually no issues and really like the system, although there are a few features that need to be improved/added to make the system more ideal.

As I said, I've had the system for about a year and had no issues.  Until about a week or so ago.  I have a Netgear R8000 wifi router that sits about 1 foot from the Arlo basestation.  Recently I've been having severe slow downs with my wifi connections.  

Here is what I've done to troubleshoot my issues:

1) Rebooted cable modem and R8000 router (issues continue)

2) Called cable provider to check for network issues (issues continue)

3) Replaced network switch to verify if it was a network hardware issue (issues continue)

4) Tested ethernet connection on windows PC.  Full speed available 50/5 Mbps

5) Tested wifi connection on iPad and Macbook Pro.  Degregated speed shown 2/5 Mbps

6) Continuing to use spare network switch, I replaced the R8000 with a Ubiquiti AC AP. (issues continue)

7) Thinking that I may have an interference issue, I began shutting down devices that utilize wifi and testing.  After I unplugged the Arlo basestation my wifi speeds tested at 50/5 Mbps.

😎 I left the Arlo basestation unplugged and tested 3x per day for two days.  (issues continued to be resolved)

9) Plugged the Arlo basestation in and tested (issues continued to be resolved)

10) 12 hrs later I tested again and have degregated wifi speeds again 1/5 Mbps

It appers obvious that the basestation is causing some network interference.  What do I do at this point?

Basestation Information:

FW Version 1.6.2_4344

HW Version VMB3010r2

[jguerdat]

I'd be placing a trouble ticket posthaste. In the meantime, try positioning your base a long distance from the router via a long cable (or to that switch, if it's a room or two away from the router).  That should let the base select its own channel rather than using the router's channel.  If that's not possible, try forcing the router to use a different channel manually (if possible, use channels 1, 6 or 11).  Power down the base and restart it.  Without doing anything else to the base, return the router to its previous channel.  That will leave the base on the new channel until the next base restart.  

Perhaps, this will let you limp by.  A replacement would seem to be the ultimate resolution.

[bbates7995]

My understanding is that the Arlo basestation is designed to utilize the same channel as the AP.  This allows the AP and basestation to communicate and share the wifi frequency to improve traffic.

Not sure if this is accurate or not.

I have forced my AP to a new channel and it improved but the basestation will eventually move to the same channel as the AP and the problem will come again.  That is if sharing the same channel is inded the issue.

Ticket submitted: 

26198430

[TomMac]

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bbates7995 wrote:

My understanding is that the Arlo basestation is designed to utilize the same channel as the AP.  This allows the AP and basestation to communicate and share the wifi frequency to improve traffic.

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TMK, this is correct as per Netgear

There are alot of variables in the pot... I've tried a diff channel and found no difference. What I did find that made a difference is scanning the local channels and dropped my router on the least used for my area. Reliability seemed improved due to lack of interference

Now, My wifi/switch sit about 6 feet from the Arlo base now on the same channel

see thread;

Re: Is it possible to change the wifi channel?

‎2015-03-03 05:11 PM

Good afternoon xdreamwalker,

I have consulted with our development team and found that the Arlo base station transmits on the same channel as the router by design. Primarily, due to the base station and router (access point) being installed in relatively close proximity. So essentially, if the base station is in close proximity to the router (which is most often the case) the base station and the router need to be on the same channel to get the best performance from both.

Otherwise, if you have the base station and router in close proximity but on different channels, the out-of-band RF signals for both devices will "cross-talk" with each other's channel greatly reducing the throughput of both.

If you absolutely need to have the base station and router on a different channel you can relocate one of the devices so the distance between the base station and router is greater than 20' (feet) or in a different room.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your inquiry!

Christine

Arlo Team

[TomMac]

Good afternoon xdreamwalker,

I have consulted with our development team and found that the Arlo base station transmits on the same channel as the router by design. Primarily, due to the base station and router (access point) being installed in relatively close proximity. So essentially, if the base station is in close proximity to the router (which is most often the case) the base station and the router need to be on the same channel to get the best performance from both.

Otherwise, if you have the base station and router in close proximity but on different channels, the out-of-band RF signals for both devices will "cross-talk" with each other's channel greatly reducing the throughput of both.

If you absolutely need to have the base station and router on a different channel you can relocate one of the devices so the distance between the base station and router is greater than 20' (feet) or in a different room.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your inquiry!

Christine

Arlo Team

[bbates7995]

Thanks Tom. What I don't understand is why this issue has started all of a sudden.  

I'm to the point of I'm considering selling my system on eBay and opting for a wired camera solution.

I purchased inSSIDer software to check my location for wifi channel congestion. Even when I use the channel that the software suggests the basestation tends to move to that same channel after some time.  I can move the basestation away from the AP as you suggested but I don't feel that I should have to do this.

My frustration is pretty high at this point.

[bbates7995]

To add insult to injury, I'm using a $300 Netgear wifi router (R8000) and the basestation doesn't seem to play nice with it all of a sudden.  So, I have two Netgear products that are conflicting with one another......ugh

[Showguy]

I will through my 2 cents in. I had the same symptoms your reporting and than some. My 75/75 internet service at times slowed to a crawl. I did much of the same testing and changing as you did. Finally after many months of degrading Arlo issues net gear replaced my base station. Since than the system is near flawless and my internet speeds are at full blast every time I test. 

[ender2003]

When I loaded firmware 1.0.6.23_1.1.83 on my Nighthawk R7000, it automatically enabled ARLO on my network. I don't own any ARLO devices and will never use it, but this firmware created a brand new SSID on my router that broadcast on the SAME CHANNEL as my 2.4 Ghz network. For a networking company, this really makes me question the technical knowledge of the engineers at Netgear.

When the ARLO SSID popped up on my network, it totally killed my 2.4Ghz network because it was on the same channel. The interference made my connection to my normal SSID drop out every couple of seconds. It wasn't until I opened up a Wifi scanner that I noticed the new SSID. When I updated the firmware, I did not see any alerts that the new SSID would be set up and enabled. Looking at the Genie settings, I was unable to find the ARLO setting to turn it off. It wasn't until I logged in to the web interface of the router (isn't the Genie software supposed to make it so we don't have to do this?) that I saw the setting to turn off ARLO.

Why in the world would a networking company do something so asinine? This is making me question my purchase of this router.

And, I just noticed that the firmware update also enabled Genie Media Server, again without my input. So I have to go look for the setting to disable this as well. How about when new features like these are added, we are given a choice as to whether we want them enabled?

[jguerdat]

That's really a router forum/support thang. There's not much that the Arlo folks can do about it.