Base Station can't connect to cameras (VMB4540r3)

[MotorcycleMayor]

Firmware 1.25.1.0_1687_1f1c874

My Arlo base station has suddenly dropped all of its connections to my cameras. It had been working fine for several years.

I've confirmed the base station is connected to the internet, because I can use the iPhone app to restart the base station.

I have done the power off/wait 30 seconds/power on cycle several times. In all cases, the unit eventually goes into "flashing orange LED" mode. Which I think means there's some kind of a connection problem, but, again, the unit is connected to the internet.

What do I need to do to get my system working again?

[StephenB]

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@MotorcycleMayor wrote:

Firmware 1.25.1.0_1687_1f1c874

My Arlo base station has suddenly dropped all of its connections to my cameras. It had been working fine for several years.

I've confirmed the base station is connected to the internet, because I can use the iPhone app to restart the base station.

I have done the power off/wait 30 seconds/power on cycle several times. In all cases, the unit eventually goes into "flashing orange LED" mode. Which I think means there's some kind of a connection problem, but, again, the unit is connected to the internet.

What do I need to do to get my system working again?

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It sounds like the base station is online.  So try recharging one of the cameras (likely the battery has discharged).  If that doesn't help, then try removing that camera from the account, and adding it back again.  If that works, then do the same with the others (assuming they don't all come back on line when you re-add the first one).

If this isn't enough, let us know what cameras you have, so we can follow up with the hardware reset procedure fo the cameras.

[MotorcycleMayor]

Thanx for the quick reply, Stephen. I appreciate it... particularly because Arlo tech support -- which I've just spent the better part of two hours with, last night and this morning, are utterly useless in solving problems. Or even understanding them :).

I was able to remove and add back an Arlo Pro 3 or 4 camera to my base station last night. I had to remove the battery, re-insert it, reset the camera, and then go through the add new device process. Took some time, but it worked.

However, I still cannot get my Arlo Essential cameras (I have two of them) to reconnect, even following the same process (which also included putting my iPhone onto my 2.4GHz network and turning off Bluetooth).

What's interesting is that the pairing process for the Essentials >>seems<< to work -- the LED rapidly flashes blue on both the camera and the base station -- but it never complete; the app/base station never finds the camera.

At the risk of being pedantic, let me describe exactly what happens:

1) Get everything set up (phone on 2.4GHz, Bluetooth off, in airplane mode so no cell network access).

2) Remove the Essential from the app (it showed as being offline).

3) Start the pairing process on the app.

4) Per instructions, press and hold the sync button...but here's where things start going differently. The app instructions at this point claim you should see the camera LED flash blue after 1 or 2 seconds of pressing the sync button. In my case, the LED comes up orange and then, after a bit, flashes orange for a while. If I'm still pressing the sync button, the LED eventually flashes blue once, and shortly afterwards begins flashing blue continuously. If I've let go of the sync button during the "orange flashing phase", I have to re-press the sync button to get into the "blue flash -> blue flashing phase".

5) When the camera is in blue flashing phase, the base station is also in blue flashing phase. I think this is a good sign.

6) I go to the next step in the app, which is where searching actually takes place. Both the camera and the base station LED are still flashing blue at this point.

7) Relatively soon both the camera and the base station start rapidly flashing blue. With other Arlo cameras this generally means the base station and the camera have found each other.

😎 However, with my Essentials, eventually the camera stops flashing and the LED goes dark. Meanwhile, the base station goes back to steady blue.

9) The search function in the app eventually times out. The camera was not added.

This sure looks to me like the pairing process is >>almost<< working, but fails before it can complete.

Arlo tech support, of course, simply ignores all of this experience and claims "oh, you must have problems with your 2.4GHz wifi". Notwithstanding the fact that my router/firewall (a Ubiquity UDM Pro) shows 8 or 9 devices happily connected to the 2.4GHz network and shows the Arlo base station happily connected to the hardwired network.

Does this spark any thoughts on how to get the cameras paired again?

Frankly, I'm getting close to the point of (a) ripping out all of this Arlo crap, (b) buying a completely new system from some company that actually supports their products, and (c) smashing the Arlo equipment to rubble before mailing the debris off to their CEO with a cover letter hoping they get driven out of business shortly :).

On a more serious note, is it possible Arlo has quietly dropped support for either my Essentials (which are first generation) or my base station (which is also an early model, VMB4540r3)?

[StephenB]

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@MotorcycleMayor wrote:

On a more serious note, is it possible Arlo has quietly dropped support for either my Essentials (which are first generation) or my base station (which is also an early model, VMB4540r3)?

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No, that hasn't happened.

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@MotorcycleMayor wrote:

Arlo tech support, of course, simply ignores all of this experience and claims "oh, you must have problems with your 2.4GHz wifi". Notwithstanding the fact that my router/firewall (a Ubiquity UDM Pro) shows 8 or 9 devices happily connected to the 2.4GHz network and shows the Arlo base station happily connected to the hardwired network.

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It doesn't sound like it to me.

Did you try connecting one of the cameras to your wifi instead of to the base? (Just to see if that works).  You could also try adding it to the base from a PC (my.arlo.com).  If the PC has ethernet, then use that instead of wifi.

[MotorcycleMayor]

LOL! The pairing process is riddled with inconsistencies with documentation and with random success.

I tried your idea of trying to add the Essentials through the my.arlo website. And guess what? I was able to pair one of the two!!!

But I have so far been unable to pair the second Essential. Same failures as before "camera not found".

One thing that caught my eye, though, when the first Essential was pairing. After recognizing "the" camera, I got a screen asking me "which of these two Essentials do you want to claim?" The one I was >>trying<< to pair was listed, as was the one that I >>wasn't<< trying to pair (which was just sitting there on my desk).

I "claimed" the one that was in pairing mode (i.e., blue light flashing). As I said, it ended up being successfully paired.

But the other, "unclaimed" Essential? I cannot get the pairing process to find it. Even though I did everything exactly the same way that resulted in pairing the first Essential.

For fun, I even tried holding the sync button down long enough on the unclaimed Essential for the LED to start flashing orange. It hasn't stopped flashing orange yet, and it's been about 5 minutes. Any idea what that means? I guess I'll try pressing the sync button again to see what happens.

Arlo: a perfect way to go bald, by ripping your hair out in frustration.

[MotorcycleMayor]

Nope, failure again.

I got it out of orange flashing mode by pulling it from the charger. Got it into blue flashing mode by holding the sync button. Tried pairing through the website...and it failed again.

Suggestions? Is it time to break out the sledgehammer? 🙂