Arlo Wireless stopped working

[asvan1w]

With thanks to this forum, I was able to get my system working in late November when I purchased it.  I was having problems with its exterior location dropping out from time to time.  Though I thought, because it worked most of the time, that it was in range of the wifi extender I had, it was suggested that I was asking too much range and so I did relocate the extender to a less convenient but closer location and all seemed well...for a few weeks.

Then one morning the system stopped working - no pix.  Changed the batteries on the camera.  No help.  Rebooted the router and resync'd to the exterder.  No help.  Resync'd base & camera umpteen times.  Still nothing.  Moved the extender within a few feet of the router and retried everything.  Nothing;  Eliminated extender and ran the ethernet cable dirctly to the router and re sync'd everything; rebooted & resync'd.  Nothing.  Neither my computer nor my iPhone app can find the devices.

So I bought a new ethernet cable.  No Help.  My exterder had been the cheapest plug into the wall extender Netgear made so I ordered a Netgear 7000.  Still won't get recognized by computer or phone.  When I sync the camera to the base, I will see the multiplicity of little red lghts in the front face of the camera and then frIom time to time just a single faint LED blink in the lens when there is movement.  I have deleted the ARLO app from my phone and reinstalled a new one from the app store.  When using the computer, I use a refreshed page.  I have done the factory reset on the base (reset button plus sync depress for 10 seconds) routine etc.  All the correct LEDs on the base are correctly lit.  All the correct lights on my router and extender are lit.  Am at a loss to what to try next.

Am thinking my base has for some reason died even though it still has working LEDs.  And yes, everything is hooked to the same wifi signal or at least I think so.  All the signals shown on my computer are shown as "secured" and I've done all the connecting via the WPS button (which worked before).

Experts - 2 questions   1)  any suggestions and 2) is this system even reliable when working?  My intent is to have this in use when I travel.  If I'm thousands of miles away, I cannot even physically try all the things I've described above.  I have no intentions of buying more cameras if I can't get ONE to work flawlessly for even a month.

Thank you

[TomMac]

The fact you mention the WPS button an your running a 7000 seems to me your setting things up wrong

The 7000 router no longer supports the Arlo cams directly... They must connect thru a base unit

So the best thing I can think of is clearing all out and starting over. Go to settings and use remove device to clear cams, then do a full reset of the base by holding in the reset button for about 10 secs till front LEDs flash. Resync th cam back as if new to the base unit

[jguerdat]

Also, you mention an extender. That has no effect whatsoever on an Arlo wireless camera itself since the WiFi is soley between the base and camera.  The use of an extender is to allow you to more easily position the base (plugged into the extender) so the base-camera connection is maximized.

As Tom noted, your reset process is flawed - you're trying to use the original process which hasn't been used for over a year.  Use only the reset button until the LEDs flash amber. A simpler method is to just remove all devices, including the base, from Settings, My Devices.  Removing the base from your account is supposed to reset the base without the need to use the button.  You could verify this by watching the LEDs on the base when you complete the removal process - they should flash like when you first installed the system and end up with only the power and Internet LEDs being on and green.

[asvan1w]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.   Perhaps I wasn't clear.  Using the WPS button is an option for having the router find the extender.  The instructions provide a manual method should the auto find feature fail.  If one is to believe the indicator lights on brand new devices,  the extender  indicates that there is good connection to the router.  On my laptop, I clearly see the router 2GEXT and 5GEXT signals and can on my computer connect to the router signal or the two EXT signals.  The base shows a connection to the wifi signal via the green LED for "internet".  I will also point out that the system was up and functional for a bit more than 2 full weeks and then just quit.  In the 3 weeks since, I have tried everything I can think of, from reboots, resets, buying and installing a new extender and new ethernet cabling..  But neither my laptop nor my phone app can find the base station or camera.  Per ARLO app, I have no devices and I can't figure out why I had two devices found one minute (base and camera) with images sent to the app everytime a deer, bear  or wolf goes by and the next minute nothing seems to connect even though LED burn bright and my internet and router work for my other devices.  It seems to my feeble brain that the only answer is that the base has stopped transmitting?????  Not sure where you read that I was connecting the cam to the router directly.  I'm too old and too tech illiterate to even know that one could or can do that?  I bought a system, installed it as per mfr directions, had it working and it failed.  I replaced the extender and cable components with more expensive ones and that didn't help which seems to leave me to believe it is a failure of the ARLO product or something that I'm missing - which is why I've tried to, in detail, describe what steps I've taken.  I have done all the 'clearing' you suggest.  I've removed apps and reinstalled from scratch.  I've done suggested resets on the base, on the router.  I've disabled the camera by pulling the batteries and replacing.    I've written ARLO support via email and though I've gotten the automated we've opened a ticket reply, I haven't gotten a substantive reply.  I expect that a product not fail within the space of 3 weeks - especially one that is static.  It is not as though it is subjected to moving, bumps, submerssion and the like.  You set it up and it just sits there doing its thing.  It fails and item by item, process by process you try to isolate the issue.  The mfr is silent.    I'm just asking what I am missing before I pull the plug

I never knew that the 7000 extender or any other at one time might have directly supported the camera.  I bought a system that included the base and camera and installed per instructions.  With an extender interfaced, the systme worked for a few weeks, then stopped and has been 'on vacation' since.

Regarding the base reset - Actually, the factory instructions for my unit instruct me that a factory reset of the base is done by depressing the reset button SIMULTANEOUSLY with the sync button for 10 seconds.  Perhaps my unit is different than yours?????

[asvan1w]

Jgeuradat Thank you as well for responding.  Re your description of the function of an extender, roger that,  however I give as complete a description of my setup so that those of you who know more than I, can visualize where potential problems are.  Whether those are problems or not, I don't know. I bought and located my first cheap extender at the suggestion of this forum and followed the forum instructions by connecting the base ethernet cable to the extender and it all worked.  In fact until sensitiveity was dialed down a bit, it would send me a pic when a mosquito flew by :).  The point is it stopped working and my app on the computer and on the iPhone no longer see ANY devices and nothing I do as described in some detail in these posts seems to work.  The apps continue to fail to find the base and of course, therefore, the camera.  Must be, based on my sense of logic, that the base is no longer sending whatever signal it is supposed to send to the ARLO app and my question, I think, is whether there is something that can be done to the base to tell it to start sending a signal again or do I just trash this system and tell everyone I ever meet that might ask my opinion that ARLO doesn't work and that though the community responds to issues, Netgear doesn't give a crap.

My reset process is told to me in the material Netgear furnished.  I just bought the system in November 2016 so I assume that the instructions packed therein were correct and up to date????  When I reset, all the base station lights are first amber followed by, as you face the base, the first 3 (power, internet, camera) turning green and staying green.  The left two LEDs turn off and apparently, based on a lack of identification even in Netgear's instructions, those left two are of no consequence.  I assure you that I have been through the routine of disconnecting the entire system and putting it back together in the order dictated by Netgear - a number of times!  Based on what I've experienced so far, a better reset process for this product would be a sledgehammer.  Though I am not a millenial techie, I am not dumb however I no longer have the capacity to express my frustration with Netgear.

Al

[asvan1w]

In my last post, I meant the "right two" LEDs not turning green, NOT the "right" two.  sorry!

[TomMac]

Regarding the base reset - Actually, the factory instructions for my unit instruct me that a factory reset of the base is done by depressing the reset button SIMULTANEOUSLY with the sync button for 10 seconds.  Perhaps my unit is different than yours?????

I have bases going back to the first beta issued ones...

the bases be it Arlo OR Arlo PRO now all reset by PRESSING THE RESET BUTTON ONLY

This change was done in the SW of the bases some time early in 2016... what you have is old instructions not a different base unit.

from ONLINE FAQs

How can I reset my Arlo base station to the default values?

Performing a factory reset returns your base station values to the default settings. It also removes the serial number from your Arlo account.

To perform a factory reset on your base station:

1. Use a pen or a straightened paperclip to press and hold the Reset button on the back of the base station for about 10 seconds.
   
   When the base station reset completes, the LEDs on the front of the base station flash amber. When the LEDs stop flashing amber, your base station reboots. Resetting the base station also removes it from your Arlo account.
   
   
2. When the Power and Internet LEDs are both solid green, tap the Arlo icon on your mobile device and log in to your Arlo account.
   
   You can also enter netgear.com in the address bar of a browser.
   
   
3. Click or tap New System Setup.
   
   
4. Follow the setup instructions.
   
   If your wire-free cameras were synced to the base station, you might need to sync the cameras to the base station again.

[TomMac]

Performing a factory reset returns your base station values to the default settings. It also removes the serial number from your Arlo account.

To perform a factory reset on your base station:

1. Use a pen or a straightened paperclip to press and hold the Reset button on the back of the base station for about 10 seconds.
   
   When the base station reset completes, the LEDs on the front of the base station flash amber. When the LEDs stop flashing amber, your base station reboots. Resetting the base station also removes it from your Arlo account.
   
   
2. When the Power and Internet LEDs are both solid green, tap the Arlo icon on your mobile device and log in to your Arlo account.
   
   You can also enter netgear.com in the address bar of a browser.
   
   
3. Click or tap New System Setup.
   
   
4. Follow the setup instructions.
   
   If your wire-free cameras were synced to the base station, you might need to sync the cameras to the base station again.

[asvan1w]

Well I just got an email from the Community Forum

Subject: Date: From: To:

Did you get the answer you needed?

Thu, 19 Jan 2017 00:35:14 -0800 (PST)

NETGEAR community <community@netgear.com>

asvan1w@gmail.com

Hello ${recipient.login},

A reply to a topic you are following has been accepted as a solution!

Topic:	${thread.topicMessage.subject}
Author:	${thread.topicMessage.author.login} (${thread.topicMessage.author.ranking.name})
Date:	2017-01-11 01:40 PM

The answer is a HUGE "no".  I have not gotten the answer I needed..  My ARLO system is still a useless paperweight. The above email also seems to indicate that I've 'accepted some reply as a solution!'  I don't think I did.  There has been zero solution.  If there has been some "acceptance as a solution" it must have been via a Russian hacker.

I have also been in email contact with Netgear Customer (non) support for the past 2+ weeks.  I've discovered another problem - not the problem with my system but the problem with communicating with Netgear.  In my zealous attempt to thoroughly describe the problem and to then similarly describe all the steps I've taken to try to solve the problem, my writing is too long and exceeds the limits of the reader to read.  And so I get suggestions and or comments that I've tried before or aren't on point.

There has been a fair amount of exchange.  I haven't rec'd one suggestion of something more to try.  One email to me was addressed to me as "Kathleen"!  My name is "Al" and I've never had any desire to change into "Kathleen".  Email questions I get from Customer (non) Support are "provide your email address", "provide the serial #" "date of purchase" etc. 

Last I looked I couldn't get to Netgear Support without registering my product and in doing so I had to provide all the above information.  So why the most substantive replies have been a repetition of the same questions is unclear to me.  Surely their system has my real name and I know they already have my email address in that the email asking for my email address was actually sent to my email address. duh.

I've gotten SEVEN emails telling me that their engineers are working on it and/or they need a few days.  In fact, the last 4 emails in a row have been the "Sorry it's taking so long" variety.  The ONLY substantive question I've been asked was to say that an extender has to be functioning at an upload speed of 1mbps or more and "What is yours?"  That is something I monitor and I responded that it averages 30mbps and generally ranges between 28-34mbps. 

In short, this system stopped working two weeks into its life and has been dead weight now for over 6 weeks and I'm absolutely no closer to getting a working system. I have tried to be patient, tried to explain what is going on in detail and tried extremely hard to accomodate Netgear's gender reassignment attempt and maintain good humor throughout.  But I want what I paid for.  It is advertised as a system that works and as a easy 'wire free' system to install.  Corporate warranties surely include performance for more than 2 weeks and surely a Customer (non)Service Mission Statement would include something like solving a problem in less time than the working life of the product.  Their base is dead.  It is not sending a signal to wherever it needs to such that the ARLO app or the myArlo website will find it.

In summary, I have not accepted anything in the forum as a solution as it has not been solved.  Likewise for Netgear's Customer (non)Service.  Amazon has been emailing for a product review.  I haven't answered to now.  Does the forum think it is time for me to post my review???

[JamesC]

asvan1w,

I have reviewed your case and it appears the issue has been resolved. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist with.

JamesC