Arlo Wire Free - Firmware Update 1.3.319 degraded picture

[mgbnet]

Looks like JamesC posted on the big thread about the firmware issues, saying there was a new update and then locked the thread from further replies.

I have two questions:

1 - Why don't I see this update? I still only see 1.12.2.1_2798 from April as the available update for my base station. See attached image.

2 - The relase notes for the new firmware (1.3.319 - weird numbering, looks like a step backwards number-wise) say that it fixes the pixelation issue, but nothing that says it fixes the failure to update firmware issue that many of us are seeing with the 1.12.2.1_2798 firmware update.

[parsrgood]

@sfdfg  I couldn’t agree more. I’m sure there are many,many Arlo camera owners experiencing the same product degradation. Unfortunately at this point it is apparent that  Arlo’s executives, engineers and support could care less about their customers or the quality of their products. Like you, we have artificial grass and where before you could see the individual blades, now it’s a green haze. I can go back to images from before 5/22/19 when Arlo’s engineers released their fatal update  and they are crystal clear HD quality. Today’s images and videos are blurred with jerky motions just as you stated, if anyone is reading this please leave a comment and open a case with Arlo’s robotic support team. Maybe one day Arlo’s management will wake up and do the right thing and fix this mess. 

[mamarcac]

If my videos from last night are HD 720p then my TVs must be 400k in comparison. This is absurd.

Congrats Arlo you've made yourself into a meme at this point.

[sfdfg]

@parsrgood - it's quite shocking when you compare the standard of images. Just before I posted my last comment I flicked into the video settings tab and the image it showed was obviously cached from the last time I went into that screen. After a few seconds it updated (either to show the current view or a snapshot of the most recent recording, not sure which) and the difference was immense. As you say, it went from a beautiful, crisp, clear picture in which you can clearly see individual blades of grass to a green blur.

The worrying thing is this camera is newer than my other ones (H16 rather than H11) and didn't seem to be particularly affected by the problems impacting the others. It certainly is now though, so it seems Arlo are intent on making things worse instead of better!!!!

[jgatto]

In my line of work I learned a long time ago that setting expectations can make or break a transaction or a company as a whole. For example, let’s say you had a doctors appointment at 10:15 am. They are running behind and know all their parents are going to get pushed back a half hour to 45 minutes. You show up at 10:00, sign in and someone tells you to have a seat and someone will be with you shortly. 10:20 comes, then 10:30. Now it’s 10:45, no one has said anything to you and how your starting to get pissed off. Maybe you get up and leave or maybe you sit there stewing about it. Either way you’re angry. Now imagine the same scenario but when you arrive the person at the counter where you sign in says, “Mr/Mrs Smith, we apologize but some patients this morning needed a little extra attention and we want to make sure all our patients get the service and treatment they need. We’re running a little behind an the doctor may not be able to see you for another half hour to 45 minutes.” You may still be annoyed but not nearly as on fire as sitting, waiting and wondering what the hell is going on. I bought these cameras with the intention of being able to monitor the exterior of my home which also means being able to identify the face of someone at my front door (about 8-10 ft from the camera). If there is a problem going on with firmware/software whatever the case, a reputable company will publicly address the issue and give an expected timeframe of when we should expect a fix. On another note. I’ve been looking at Amcrest cameras and while they are no where near as discrete and convenient as wireless cameras, they have 12x the zoom and can read a warning in a can of paint from 50 plus feet away. Maybe it’s worth running poe cameras and just being done with the whole bouncing around trying to find reliable, clear surveillance. Just a thought.

[MikeBravo]

We agree with you guys and add that it is disturbing and disheartening to discover recently that they pushed another partial upate (1.092.0.23_32920) which didn't go out to all cameras and which didn't seem to affect anything. 

So, what? Was it a test? An experiment? The question, Arlo, is what is it that we did that provoked you folks into treating us this way? Didn't spend enough on your stuff? Or are you just a lousy company with a great idea you don't know how to properly manage? 

jgatto's comment hits the nail right on the head. Even if you ARE unable to figure out what went wrong and haven't been able to fix it, your loyal customers at least deserve to have some kind of explanation and genuine estimate as to when or if you will be able to resolve it.

What concerns us most is that as an owner of a Netgear Nighthawk router which so many of its users are irate over the botched firmware updates Netgear has pushed out over the years and Netgear still controls Arlo, Arlo might not be able to solve its own problems as Netgear still has its fingers securely attached to the controls.

Sort of like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Deedee2]

VMS3430 will not connect to my modem the base won't connect it looks like the cameras are connected to the base but nothing shows up in my app uninstalled it reinstalled it and it still does not work then trying this now for over 6 months I'm so tired of trying it please help me

[jguerdat]

We need a lot more details like what the LEDs on the base are showing, what you've tried and what you see. Did you follow the directions to claim the base and then sync the cameras? What have you tried with the Q? Have you reset the base (until the LEDs flash amber) and the Q (until the camera clicks and the LED flashes amber)?

[parsrgood]

@jguerdat 

@ShayneS 

This is real. As you can see you have customers that have spent a lot of money on a product that your engineers ruined. Please put a muzzle on your wanna be Arlo tech who now uses the word we, as if he were in your employ. Do the right thing by letting us know you understand a problem still exists and you are working on it. And just a heads up Super User. If you’re looking for badges join the Boy Scouts. You come off as a pest and we don’t need your advise. We’ve all jumped through Arlo support hoops and we don’t need to hear from you. I would understand if this were a new issue and you were trying to help. That’s not the case and I would hope that you know that. Feel free to chime in if you are experiencing the same problems as everyone else in this thread. Sorry for being mean. But those of us involved in this thread need answers not generic robotic support. 

[GaryBoisseau]

Same issue with degraded video plus my Pro 2 is going through batteries faster than a. Seriously, battery life sucks, video quality is not nearly where it was 6 months ago, and I keep missing motion recordings.

[jguerdat]

@parsrgood I'm sorry you feel put upon - that's not my goal. I don't give a rat's behind about badges or even my "superuser" rating which means I've spent WAY too many hours/days on this forum trying to help with reasonable success. As for the problem being stated here, you also have to realize that this isn't a system-wide problem. While the various threads are large, they are populated by a pretty small number of users compared to the installed user base. That, of course, doesn't help when you're the one affected but I can't help when my system isn't affected meaning I haven't gone through any troubleshooting steps. Also, many users jump into existing threads without having read them so any suggested steps haven't been tried.

All you can do is work with official support, regardless of how poor it is (I happen to agree). A user forum isn't likely to fix anything since it's populated with users, not Arlo support. The mods can only do so much - it's the support cases that cause things to actually be addressed. I'm retired IT and am quite aware of how support metrics are tracked. If all of you don't stay on support, opening new cases if needed, it doesn't percolate to a level of importance. Besides, they're the ones with the logs and internal info which none of us users have access to, including superusers.

I hope you understand where I'm coming from...

[mamarcac]

You can't assume it isn't a wide spread issue just because we aren't seeing more people participate here or call Support. For a long time I sat silent waiting for updates to fix issues. I bet almost everyone has the same degraded picture but they either aren't aware because (1) some folks just don't get into the details to notice, or (2) are aware and waiting quietly for a fix.

[MikeBravo]

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@mamarcac wrote:
You can't assume it isn't a wide spread issue just because we aren't seeing more people participate here or call Support. For a long time I sat silent waiting for updates to fix issues. I bet almost everyone has the same degraded picture but they either aren't aware because (1) some folks just don't get into the details to notice, or (2) are aware and waiting quietly for a fix.

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This is a very good point and we believe it bears upon why Arlo isn't breaking its back to resolve things faster (at least it appears so or else they just aren't technically capable of doing so).

Until someone posted it, we had no idea that Arlo suffered a major outage in other parts of the world and you can bet they didn't dally about getting that fixed. So, just because those of here in the forums are limited, it doesn't necessarily mean the problem is narrowly focused.

Secondly, I generally have to help others around me who I recommeded Arlo to (you can bet I've taken a beating on that) some of whom when they began suffering this problem merely dumped their stuff and now live without it or went out and bought something else like Blink. Just like the fact that I suck as a carpenter, we'd be willing to bet that there are scores of folks who bought into Arlo owing to the ability to install it anywhere without wires and then merely threw up their hands in defeat when things like poor motion capture, erratic battery life, and degraded video began to plague their installations.

Finally, we have lived with Comcast Cable forever owing to it having our local monopoly and the fact that FIOS doesn't offer much of an alternative. We know for a fact having participated in several class action complaints against it that over the years they have covered up more than a few botched technical issues insisting until the bitter end that it was us not them only to eventually be forced to admit their culpability-----all to avoid paying compensation to its customers for lost\degraded service.

As I have noted previously, Arlo was created by Netgear who prior to Arlo has been for years incurring the wrath of its other communications products customers such as those using their routers garnering hundreds upon hundreds of complaints about their faulty firmware updates.

Just as Microsoft since its inception NEVER admitted to any gaffs, don't expect Arlo too either.

[jguerdat]

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@mamarcac wrote:
You can't assume it isn't a wide spread issue just because we aren't seeing more people participate here or call Support. For a long time I sat silent waiting for updates to fix issues. I bet almost everyone has the same degraded picture but they either aren't aware because (1) some folks just don't get into the details to notice, or (2) are aware and waiting quietly for a fix.

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In addition, the converse may also be true - a large spectrum of users are not having issues and only a relative few are. I don't discount either scenario since I/we truly have no idea how widespread the issue is as well as what causes it for however many users are affected.

I agree that it seems to take far too long to fix the issues but then I'm not privy to inside information that could explain it. I understand the frustration but can't do a thing about it, regardless of whether it's 10 or 10 million users affected.

[parsrgood]

@jguerdat 

Thanks for the acknowledgment and I hope you now understand that this is a issue. Very cool that your cameras are up and running without problems. But every time you chime in this thread expressing that very few are effected you come across as the voice of Arlo and therefore mislead those who came across this forum because they indeed have issues. We’re just asking you to cool your jets and let those who are having problems post their issues without you making it sound like this is a isolated instance. We want to hear from @ShayneS  or @JamesC . They indeed work for Arlo and know this is real. Hopefully  they will acknowledge this once again and let us know they are working on it. 

[Fun-Girl]

I'm one of those silently waiting for the fix. 1. Pixelating video, poor video, and the brand spanking new batteries in my 3030 went from 78% overnight to 4% then up to 8%then 0% the next day (did they recharge themselves?)
My Pro has been missing lots if recordings. The 3030 runs on an IFTTT from the Pro since it no longer detects at all. When the pro missed vehicles and people, the 3030 doesnt capture it either. Now that the batteries are dead it captures nothing anyway. I am away. That's why I HAVE cameras. I can't run out and resync everytime an update is pushed thru that screws everything up. Yesterday, "MODE" just disappeared from my app and I was unable to get in and change my audio settings to keep the camera from picking up on fireworks in the neighborhood. That took a toll on the Pro battery. And just like that, it reappeared! I have someone taking batteries for the 3030 tomorrow. If they go to dead in a week, that's $80on batteries in 3 months. They're suppose to last 3-4months per change. I intend to be away for another month. I sure cant monitor my property, the ONLY reason for the cameras in the first place.

[MikeBravo]

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@Fun-Girl wrote:
I'm one of those silently waiting for the fix. 1. Pixelating video, poor video, and the brand spanking new batteries in my 3030 went from 78% overnight to 4% then up to 8%then 0% the next day (did they recharge themselves?)
My Pro has been missing lots if recordings. The 3030 runs on an IFTTT from the Pro since it no longer detects at all. When the pro missed vehicles and people, the 3030 doesnt capture it either. Now that the batteries are dead it captures nothing anyway. I am away. That's why I HAVE cameras. I can't run out and resync everytime an update is pushed thru that screws everything up. Yesterday, "MODE" just disappeared from my app and I was unable to get in and change my audio settings to keep the camera from picking up on fireworks in the neighborhood. That took a toll on the Pro battery. And just like that, it reappeared! I have someone taking batteries for the 3030 tomorrow. If they go to dead in a week, that's $80on batteries in 3 months. They're suppose to last 3-4months per change. I intend to be away for another month. I sure cant monitor my property, the ONLY reason for the cameras in the first place.

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Its heartening for us to see someon else acknowledge the strange situation where a camera battery charge goes from 80% overnight to 10% or less and then the next day up to 15%.  Clearly the issue is systemic and not localized.

Also, we too recently after one of the newest updates have begun to experience lost recordings on one of our Arlo Pros.

Although our battery draining isn't as dramatic as many of those posting here, we still notice that they are draining faster than they have in the past and it can't be because they are recording more as we are not getting as many recordings as we should.

[nothyme]

I've had Arlos for years. I assumed the significant decrease in quality was due to my cameras. Not all are too old but I never imagined that many of most people were experiencing this issue. I'm the past I could easily read licence plates and faces from a distance, not anymore. I have a harassing neighbor and I brought a copy of some videos to the detectives in the force and they were impressed with the quality. Not anymote. I can't read licence plates anymore and facial recognition is severely diminished. I did not think to come to the forums about the situation. I have recommended Arlos to many and also own a couple of other models. Such a shame.

[nothyme]

I didn't see the posts on batteries. All at once 5 cameras lost all battery chrarge about 5 weeks ago. Very expensive fix. 

[MikeBravo]

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@nothyme wrote:

I've had Arlos for years. I assumed the significant decrease in quality was due to my cameras. Not all are too old but I never imagined that many of most people were experiencing this issue. I'm the past I could easily read licence plates and faces from a distance, not anymore. I have a harassing neighbor and I brought a copy of some videos to the detectives in the force and they were impressed with the quality. Not anymote. I can't read licence plates anymore and facial recognition is severely diminished. I did not think to come to the forums about the situation. I have recommended Arlos to many and also own a couple of other models. Such a shame.

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We share your angst. We got our Arlo system almost entirely due to a new neighbor who moved in behind us adjacent to a vacant lot we own and promptly built a kennel filling it with a half dozen constantly howling dogs. When we complained he came to our house irate. 

Up until the fateful firmware debacle we also could read license plates and got clear shots of faces. 

Now its like trying to read without my glasses.

[MikeBravo]

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@nothyme wrote:

I didn't see the posts on batteries. All at once 5 cameras lost all battery chrarge about 5 weeks ago. Very expensive fix. 

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There's plenty of posts coverning the many battery issues. You just have to dig into the several forums and you'll find plenty.

[Retired_Member]

Since this issue is clearly NOT resolved, can the moderators change the status from Solved to unresolved?

[mamarcac]

@jguerdat Gosh man just stop it, seriously. You're enabling Arlo to avoid fixing problems.

[jguerdat]

This part of the conversation was over 3 days ago. Why are you reviving it?

[Retired_Member]

Because the Degraded/Pixelated Video quality is NOT resolved and therefore the thread should not be marked "Solved" until it is. Nothing is being revived, it was never fixed.

[Retired_Member]

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