Brand New Camera Live Stream and Position Mode Not Working

[Kea1228]

After the first camera I bought stopped working after a short three months, I used the product guarantee to return it and get a new camera. This camera is even worse than the first one!

1. The position mode doesn't work. I get that "thinking" icon while it is supposed to be connecting. I have tried using the position mode to set up my camera from both my iphone and my computer. It doesn't work. The screen just gets stuck on gray. I have absolutely no images of the area I am trying to capture. The camera is showing as linked to the base station, and my internet connection is perfect. There are no issues with wifi connection between the camera and base station or my iphone and computer.

2. The live view/live stream mode also doesn't work. Same exact issues as number 1. I think this camera is a dud, but considering that this is now two in a row, I'm beginning to think these products are a total waste of money. They don't work at all. I've wasted so much time over the past year trying to make this work, and thus far customer service has not been remotely helpful or able to resolve my issues.

3. If my camera ever decides to work, I have issues with the rule function - it completely disappeared. I have no way to set the length of the videos that will be recorded. I don't want hundreds of one minute-long videos for 10 seconds of motion.

I have several screen shots I can share. They all show a gray screen while trying to connet to live mode or position mode. What an enormous waste of valuable time. 

[jguerdat]

It may be as "simple" as the WiFi connection. Try the camera in a different location and see if that works. Distance, walls, other obstructions or even wireless interference can be at play here.

[GaWd]

To me, this all sounds like a simple wifi/connection issue.

I'd suggest bringing the camera in, near your access point, and experiment with it. Move it further out until you discover the bad behavior, and then look at what's in between the camera and the base station.

[Kea1228]

The camera is about 10 feet above the base station looking outside. It's not a WiFi issue.

[Kea1228]

This camera is also not catching motion - to include me walking into and out of my own house. The video is extremely choppy, and the videos are less than 10 seconds.

[GaWd]

Actually, not only do the cameras need a good connection to the base station, but the base station needs a good connection to the Arlo servers. Video "streamed" from Arlo needs to make that round trip:

Camera --> Base station --> Cloud --> Device (computer/phone). 

I'd still suspect network performance, but you know your local net better than me.

As for motion detection, Arlo cameras need to be placed strategically for traffic to walk across the field of vision for modect. It is often suggested that you have one camera placed in such a way that it detects motion across the FOV, so that it can trigger another camera to begin recording. 

In my situation, I have one camera over a long walkway from the side, so that people walking up to the door camera will trigger the door camera to roll.

[jguerdat]

Choppy, short videos tend to imply WiFi issues. The best way to tell is to swap cameras (if you have another that's working well) or to move the camera temporarily.