Base Station Offline...Will only allow me to "Deactivate"

[JypseaRose]

So about a week and a half ago (less than 30 days of operation), my system went "offline". I searched the community forums for help and learned that *maybe* a power outage knocked the base station offline...it will need to be rebooted. 

Ok. Why would this system not have the capability to reboot itself and bring itself back online properly? Its a common enough problem. Every other single network device I own (Tivo, Apple routers, CableOne modem, thermostat, etc) has this capability figured out.

Since I'm gone and am scheduled to be gone till after Christmas, I asked a friend to go by and "reboot" my system. She did and....nothing.

Base Station still reads "Offline".

There are 2 options: "Restart" (which is grayed out and inoperable) and "Deactivate" (which IS operable).

And by the way, my friend told me that all the clocks on my wall ovens, microwave and stove are still functioning, not registering "Power Failure" so I can rule out this was due to a power outage. My base station just up and decided it had had enough and quit on me.

I got hold of Arlo Support on my Elite subscription and was advised that I will need to Deactivate the system and then reactivate it from scratch...INCLUDING resynching the cameras.

I explained to Arlo "Hey! I'm 4 states away! How am I supposed to do this? Since your system was not designed to be able to do this remotely?"

Arlo: "Can you get your friend to go back and do it for you? I'll list the steps for you and you can guide her!"

Yeah. Let's do that. Let me call my friend--who has a full time job, is married, and a 2 year old, to just jot on by the house and together, we'll just deactivate and then reactivate this system (10 cameras) together!!! Fun!!! Because she has nothing better to do with her time than worry about the $1500 I've spent on this system.

Am I the only one who has had this happen? How could such a cool idea for security have this one huge blind spot that the system can and WILL fail and the only solution is to return to your house....interuppt a vacation, leave a work assignment you had to travel to, or whatever...and Deactivate/Reactivate/Resynch system from scratch??? Because remote control is just a silly idea and no one will want to be able to do that from wherever they are that they needed cameras in their house to begin with??

(How much is an airplane ticket so I can return home & fix this, Arlo? Oh...$1200.00 this time of year. Bringing the grand total of my "security" camera system to a whopping $2700.00-if I choose to go back and fix this. Thanks, Arlo/NetGear. The wired camera system I looked at first was quoted at $3100.00. Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda.)

One HUGE blind spot. Fix this, NetGear. 

I've changed my rating for you on Amazon from 5 down to 1 star. My system did not even work properly for 30 days. By my estimation...this system worked for *about* 18 +/- days before crashing.

Signed,

Bitterly Dissappointed** 

**Emphasis on the Bitter

[ChristineT]

Good afternoon JypseaRose,

I am very sorry to learn about your experience! We take your feedback and product review very seriously. I would love an opportunity to work with you directly to see if there is an alternate way to resolve the issue(s) you are facing being so far away from the location. I will also be sure to raise your concerns to our Product Management team.

I'll send you a private message with further instructions.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with the community. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Christine

NETGEAR Community

[JypseaRose]

Thanks, Christine. As per our private messages, we'll take care of this when I return and I appreciate your attention to this very, very much!

Talk later!

[JypseaRose]

pursuant to convo with Christine, I had a friend go over to my house & move the base station.

All my connectivity utilities (cable, Internet, phone, etc) come into my house thru a data port. This is where you connect the modem which then disperses the service thruout the house so all I have to do in any given room is plug in either a CAT5 or coax cable into a wall plate. This should have connected my base station directly to the modem for Internet, but something went wrong.

I had my friend disconnect it from the wall & reconnect it to my Apple AirPort Extreme (my router). 

This changed the settings on my Arlo app, giving me control again. The "Restart" button became active again, I did do a "Restart" & my base station came back to life & functioning as it's supposed to.

I do have 3 cameras that are "Offline" but I'm not surprised...in that part of the house, my wifi is spotty to nonexistent & I have a smaller Apple Airport in that part to extend the network. 

So we're good again. I will go & update all reviews online!

Thanks, Christine!

[JCBMJB]

I've had my Arlo for less than a week and mine just went offline. With no way to remotely reboot. Similar problem since this is a vacation rental house that is 3 hours away. I need to monitor snow levels, cleaning crew, and tenant entry. I got this recently for a very critical need and then not being able to return for several weeks at a time. I do not have issues with wifi. If the power did go out it should be able to turn itself back on. Just spent $500 for a 4-camera system that will essentially be useless if this type of glitch is not fixable remotely. I was excited to have this product but now I'm pretty ticked off. Same exact problem as previous person posted.

Disappointed II

[JypseaRose]

I don't want to step on an Arlo tech's expertise here, but the problem with mine ended up being the way my base station was plugged into the network. I have a data port where cable/internet comes into the house. This is where my ISP modem is connected. The house is wired from the data port to wall outlets thruout the house. 

I had orginally plugged my base station into an Ethernet wall outlet-which worked for about a month. To fix this, I unplugged it from the wall & plugged it into an Apple router....(that is plugged into a wall Ethernet outlet). My station came back online and has been running without problems since. Why my base station had a problem with the wall outlet but not the Apple router I do not know, but putting something in between the wall outlet & the base station seems to have fixed it.

Good luck to you, I hope you get this fixed.

P.S. I do have to say, Ms. Christine from Arlo **really, really, really** stepped up to help. It sucked the system went down but Arlo does care about their product. That went a long way for me so don't give up hope. Even tho...I totally get the frustration you're feeling right now. I was 4 states away.

[JCBMJB]

Thank you for your response. I need to see if I have this straight since I'm not super high-tech. I am currently plugging my Arlo Ethernet cable into the wifi router that comes with my cable company. I do have an Apple router that I'm not using. Are you saying that I should plug the apple router into a cable outlet so it is independent from other wifi? Then plug Ethernet cable into that? It still seems that the Arlo system would still be connected in the same manner but this time into an apple wifi.
I am hoping that somehow I will be able to get someone to reset the base station and then I will be able to have the system reset but figure I may have to squeeze in a trip that I wasn't planning. I also got suckered into pushing the deactivate button thinking that would cause the restart button to work but all it did was shut down everything. Wish I was in the area to play around with the Arlo but unfortunately the remote part is what I really need. Thanks again.

[JCBMJB]

Just looked at my Apple Airport router, forgot how it worked. There is no cable inlet. Just an Ethernet outlet. I guess I need to go on-line to see how this thing will help me.

[JypseaRose]

I reccommend talking to someone from Arlo, I'm not authorized to give tech support...I'm only sharing what worked for me, and after speaking with Arlo Support.

That said, you're right, it would still be on the same network, and I don't understand it either as to why having the Apple router in between my base station and my ISP modem worked, just so far it has worked. I tried resetting while it was still plugged into the Ethernet wall outlet but no joy until I moved it & plugged it into the Apple....that is plugged into an Ethernet wall outlet. Weird is all I know.

It sounds like since you deactivated, you'll have to either make a trip back to Reactivate it (live & learn) or trust a proxy to download the app & Reactivate it for you that way.

Personally...I highly recommend you *not* trust a 3rd party with reactivating your system, but security is my business. Giving 3rd party acces--account passwords, app control of system, etc defeats the purpose. 

[JypseaRose]

You should have an "In" Ethernet cable port & at least one "Out" Ethernet cable port. 

The "In" looks like a circle with lines radiation get outward. The "Out" port(s) look like horizontal line with arrows on either end.

if this solution works, connect your ISP modem to your Apple router via the "In" port.

Then connect your base station to your Apple via one of the "Out" ports.

But....ummmmmm....not to add to your troubles.....but do check that the Apple router still works, if it is indeed one that has been "laying around". We're retired military, now DOD civilians & move every 3 years. I have found that I have to replace my Apple routers as they don't survive being moved every 3 years. Conversely, I set my dad's wi-fi system up about 5-6 years ago & his is working perfectly. He's never moved, tho. Just check before you go.

[JCBMJB]

Thanks again. It's an apple airport express, like 1st generation. Probably works but can't remember how I set it up. Maybe I can find a manual but only one Ethernet outlet and a USB. Hmmmm...
I appreciate your time. Maybe I'll get a response from Arlo after the holidays. In the interim, I gotta figure out when I can get back to the cabin. Thanks a bunch! Merry Christmas!

[arlolosangeles]

I've been having major issues with my Arlo basestation for almost a week. Also traveling so can't work on it while away. Part of why it going down now is such a huge issue. But from the research I've done it sounds like it could be a port issue caused by a firmware update pushed to the Motorola router from the ISP. Sounds like plugining into a router that is not the one the ISP sent could be the key. I'm hoping to not have to invest in yet another piece of hardware, but it's sounding like the solution here, of plugging into the apple device could be causing the needed ports 80 and 443 to be opened?

Good luck!

[JypseaRose]

Oh, you're welcome!

Best of luck getting your system back up and Merry Christmas!!

[j1stealth]

Hi,

Can you help explain more in details?  I have apple extreme router as well and my cameras have been going offline constantly recently.  I can restart my system and it will work for a few hours and then go offline again.  Thanks in ADVANCE>

[jguerdat]

A couple of things to try:

- Use a different browser or the app, as appropriate. If one is working but not another it's something about your system.

- Try logging out and back in. That sometimes helps.

[arlolosangeles]

After about 10 days mine is now back up.

Here's what I did:

- Factory reset my netgear base station (hold down reset on the back and sync button)

- Power cycled both my netgear base station and modem (unplug power cable from unit for 15 seconds - plug modem back in 1st, wait for it to be fully up and then plug in netgear)

- Restart base station

- Deactivated base station from myarlo browser login (not mobile app)

- Reactivate base station from browser login

- power down wireless camera (remove and re-insert batteries)

- Resync camera with base station

Not working 100%

Hope this helps someone!

Still no clue what happened. But grateful to be back up and running.