Base station gets knocked offline when new video is trying to post

[Jaesparza]

 Hello hopefully someone can provide assistance:  my Arlo base station(s) get knocked offline (Amber light) when a new video posts. 

Configuration:  4 cams on Base-A; 4 cams on Base-B; 2 cams on Base-C.  All cams Arlo.  

Most common failing scenario:  notification of motion on Cam-1 Base-B.  Log into app to view.  Notice the red "1" indicating new video to post,  but new video does not post..at all!  Next if I view devices I notice the base station Base-B is offline, hence all cams offline.  I wait a few mins and the base station Base-B will then come back online.   Wait maybe a few mins, or maybe a few hours, exact same problem with exact same cam/base, again Base-B offline,and repeat.   

Some other common factors:  

1)I cannot force the issue by walking in front of cam, seems to record fine.  

2) It seems to be related to what I perceive as a false positive on this cam:  reason , once in a while the base stays online, the clips is uploaded but no real issue. 

3) the base gets knocked offline as soon as motion notification sent.  I observed scenario where app "chimes" to inform me off new video.  I immediately looked at base station and saw the Internet light turn Amber.  And of course new video does not upload to cloud, and base station reports offline.

4) The problem seems to be happen the mostly at night. A few times during daylight, but mostly at night.  

5) The cams installed in Aug of this year and did not have this problem until past month or so.  (Affected by cold?)

6) moving base to a different switch within the house had no effect.

7) issue is largely, but not exclusively, with Cam-1 Base-B

Other info maybe helpful:  original configuration was 5 cams on Base-A,  5 on Base-B.   Had this problem w Cam 5 on Base-A.   Installed 3rd Base (C), moved Cam 5 from Base-A to Base-C.   Problem dramatically decreased.   However still on occasion, Cam-4 Base-A will experience same issue.  

Thank you you for any assist and sorry for the long dissertation

[TomMac]

How close are the 3 bases to each other?

[jguerdat]

Since the base is going offline (amber LED), it would seem that perhaps your upload speed could be the issue with streaming the video.  Have you tested it with speedtest.net?  How much upload traffic is normal?

A possible workaround is to use QOS (Quality Of Service) settings in the router.  I've reserved a small amount of upload bandwidth to resolve streaming issues in the past.

[Jaesparza]

Hi jguerdat,  I have tested the upload & download speed w tech spt on phone.   I know I have 50mb download, don't recall upload.  10mb I think.  None the less tech spt stated speeds were ok

[Jaesparza]

In the original 2 base config, one was on 2nd floor SW part of house, other base was on 1st floor NE part of house.   Linear distance perhaps 50-60 ft.

in current configuration, those two remain,  however 3rd base is in room next to 2nd floor SW.  Linear distance  perhaps 25 ft. 

[Jaesparza]

In the original 2 base config, one was on 2nd floor SW part of house, other base was on 1st floor NE part of house.   Linear distance perhaps 50-60 ft.  In current configuration, those two remain,  however 3rd base is in room next to 2nd floor SW.  Linear distance  perhaps 25 ft. 

[jguerdat]

Maybe try powering off your modem, router and all bases.  Start them back up in that order, waiting for each to completely start before moving on to the next.  Any chance you have a different router you could try?

Sorry - just grasping at straws here...

[Jaesparza]

Jguerdat,  in reference to complete power cycle of all routers etc., it may have to come to that.   I note that you indicated  modification to the QOS settings.  Can you advise or recommend which.  As an FYI I happen to have a Netgear nighthawk R7000.   Would it be the Upstream. QOS?  

As as an aside,  the problem now occurring on two routers.  Mostly via a specific cam on each router.  

[jguerdat]

Yes, I was referring to the upstream QOS. I used that on my R7k when I had only 1Mbs uploads - I set it to leave about a 10% limit so other things could work when uploading various things. I've "upgraded" to 2Mbs and it seems to work OK without QOS but I may not have run into the right situation yet.

[Jaesparza]

Hi jguerdat,  an update to earlier request.  Speed test download :  59.1M,  upload 5.6M.  Went to Netgear R7K Qos,  did setup Qos for upload this morning.  Odd, the displayed max value was 6.5 mg.  Dont know where they got that.  Ran the bandwidth test earlier in the morning before setting Qos, so maybe it got that value from bandwidth test.  

None the less, had Qos for upload, and thought for most of the day that maybe that solved the problem.  Did not get any "missed" posts as per symptoms of earlier.  Was so optimistic, was almost ready to declare victory.  Almost. 

A few mins ago, let the dogs out which always trigger the cams.  No pop up messages on iphone.  I look over at base station..amber light.  Go to iphone app, offline messages on both Base-A and Base-B.   Base-C, newest base, was still online. 

As an aside, made a tweak for problem isolation:    the one camera on Base-B that was causing all the issues, moved it to a different location occupied by other camera, basically swapped locations between two cams.   Turns out that same camera was exhaustive today popping up motion messages, and all false positives, from what I could see.  But...all the clips made it to the cloud, which is the reason for the early optimism. 

[jguerdat]

Tres odd.  I have no idea if it's something about your relatively complex setup (is it possible that there's such a thing as too many bases?) bad equipment or the phase of the moon.  I suppose you could try eliminating one base to see what happens but that would mean that the physical layout supports that.

I'm a bit confused by your last paragraph - swapping cameras.  It would seem that you may have a bad camera if it was constantly sending false positives.  I wonder if it's somehow possible that a camera could cause a base to go offline (swamping it with bad data?)...

[Jaesparza]

Regarding swapping cameras, what I should have stated was I took camera 1 (Base A), and moved it to location of camera 2 (Base A).  Subsequently moved camera 2 to the prior location of camera 1. 

Regarding removing a base station, original configuration did have 5 cameras per base, only 2 base stations.  The problem was persistent in that configuration.  I took a camera off Base A and Base B, moved them to Base C.     Problem still persists, but almost entirely with Base A and Base B.  Rarely with Base C.  Not entirely devoid of the problem, but have seen Base C go offline only once within last few weeks.  

Which raises a "hmmmmm"..

May try to move one more camera onto Base C, so config will be 3 cams on Base C, 3 cams on Base B, 4 cams on Base A.   Perhaps try to more evenly distribute the load. 

Will update. 

[jguerdat]

Since it seems to be related to base A, perhaps that's the root cause.  PITA but swapping bases could be useful to determine if the issue follows the base.

[Jaesparza]

Will give it a try.  Interesting common factor,  two base stations (A & B) seem to always have the problem, the 3rd does not.  Bought the 3rd station about 10 days after first two, and in a different state.  So will swap base C with B and see where that takes me.   Thx.