Camera Only Intermittently Connects/Records After 4 Weeks of Petfect Operation

[Mkword]

Not 100% sure what my model is. Base is HW# VMB3010.

Initial setup went easy and problem-free.

About first four weeks of use the system worked perfectly with fast connections and flawless recording. Hitting "Live" button brought up live image within 10-15 seconds.

Then one day the system started getting hung up all the time. Eventually camera went out of sync. Have you executed all the basic recommended steps. Power cycle, re-sync cameras and system would come back, but it's never bee th same since. Camera will sometimes connect and provide image, but usually requires many tries using "live" button. Connection to base actually seems fine as when it is armed, motion detector almost always immediately detects motion. The counter will add a new item to Library right away. But only 3 out of 10 times will there actually be a video recording in the library for that alert. I.e. Walk in front of camera, motion detector detects motion and sends alert to base and to phone almost instantly. But only about 33% of the time a video is actually recorded.

Again, also, camera will be synced, but getting a live image from camera is extremely intermittent and typically requires several attempts using "live" button.

Again, first few weeks of operation was flawless. And there have been no known changes in the wifi status in home. Speed test.net indicates download speed of 11mbps and upload of 4.5mbps. There have no added wifi devices in home during this time. (Though we have plenty of wifi devices ... all were in place and working when Arlo was setup and initially used during problem-free weeks.)

Wifi setup has main router at one end of house with an extender about halfway through house. Arlo camera is at front of house. Like I said, this setup worked perfectly for about a month and then just suddenly crapped out. Batteries have been changed to new ones just to make sure. All other devices that use the signal from wifi extender work fine. As speedtest showed, there are not inherent problems with wifi signal.

I have noticed that some people have indicated in recent past that they believe a firmware upgrade may be the culprit in their own lack of connectivity issues. Or that there was a possible Arlo cloud server problem. I have no idea. All I know is the system worked flawlessly for about a month and is now very spotty.

I believe I have my account set for auto updates and that I have latest firmware. However, when I go through my settings I cannot find where one selects auto updates and/or can view the status of the firmware.

Any suggestions or thoughts will obviously be much appreciated.

[jguerdat]

Sounds like you've hit all the troubleshooting suggestions. I'd try moving the base to the router just to rule out the extender. I'd also open a trouble ticket since it seems that the base would be the most likely problem area.

As for trying to ensure that firmware updates are enabled, there's now no choice. It's permanently enabled.

[Mkword]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was thinking of moving the base as that's the last basic troubleshoot item I haven't performed. But a couple things concern me: 1) Everything worked beautifully the first few weeks of use. Don't see how a different base location would help. 2) Even if moving the base helps, my extender is really in the most optimal location for wifi coverage in the house so I don't really have the option to move that part of the system.

Is it feasible to use TWO wifi extenders? Or does that just weaken the signal too much?

Otherwise, I guess I can try the super long Ethernet cable trick. Though I was hoping to add a camera in the back of the house and right now the base is almost exactly halfway between front and back doors.

As for a faulty base unit ... is that really likely? I only got the whole system 7 weeks ago and first 5 weeks it worked perfectly.

But if that's a real possibility I guess I should contact Netgear.

[jguerdat]

It could be the Ethernet port on the extender or just something that doesn't show up under most conditions.  Could even be the cable - have you tried switching?  

As for 2 extenders, I don't see why that wouldn't work but I can't say for sure - I only have one.  You might wanna Google "multiple wifi extenders" to look for possible issues.

[4metoo]

I have the same problem and mine started with the update.  Check your version and see if you have the latest update, mine shows an old version so am assuming it didn't update correctly and after several weeks with Netgear support they haven't been able to correct the problem.  Hope you have better luck than I'm having. 

[Mkword]

Thanks for the input! What's especially baffling about the problem is that he system worked perfectly for about 5 weeks. That's why moving the base, switching out cables, etc is low on my list of trouble-shooting. And that's why my number one suspect right now is a firmware update. Will look into this and any info I get, I'll post here. That is, if I get any info.

[JamesC]

Mkword,

Are you seeing this behavior on multiple cameras or is it isolated to just a single camera (or do you have just one)? I am with jguerdat on the suggestion to try setting up directly to the router to rule out any issues the extenders may be causing. You might consider that just as a temporary test to see if you get the same results.

JamesC

[Mkword]

Just one camera.

If I do this test you are suggesting ... you are talking about moving the base so that it connects directly to the WiFi router?  That would mean the camera will then be twice the distance from the WiFi Router.  Wouldn't that possibly negate the enhanced connectivity being directly tied into Router?

If I do the test, and the issues go away ... my next step would be ... ?   Get a new extender?  (This is the 3rd I've bought in a year and its performed the best so far in my home.)  Or try to move the Extender closer to the camera?  (This will become problematic for my other devices as the extender is currently halfway from Router to the far side of our house.)   Also, I was just about to get Camera #2 for the back of the home.

Again, the whole system worked perfectly for five weeks after initial set-up.  I would assume either interference or a firmware update would be the more likely culprits.  

I'll try some of these other suggestions and see what happens.

[jguerdat]

Yes, connect the base to the router physically.  You can use a long Ethernet cable to do this without moving the base or move the base to be close to the router.  The distance to the camera may or may not be an issue, depending on what obstacles are involved.  Since you're in troubleshooting mode, I'd try leaving the camera alone but if connection problems are evident placing the camera near the base is a valid next step.

If the problem does indeed indicate the extender, I'd seriously consider going through the pain of running a long cable to the router.  You could also place a cheap switch somplace convenient if that makes running cables more palatable.  Replacing the extender that otherwise works fine is certainly an option but keeps running up the cost and doesn't necessarily fix the problem.  If interference is the cause, hard-wiring may help or not, depending on what is causing the interference, where it's located and what it's interfering with (camera connection or WiFi between the router and extender).

How much distance are we talking in the current case as well as if the base is moved?  What obstacles (walls, ceilings, ducts, wiring, etc.) would be in the way?  Have you tried just moving or rotating the base in its current position?  If you use a WiFi finder app, what do you see as far as channels in use, relative strength, number of sources, etc.?  Something may pop out...

[Mkword]

I am confused as to why suddenly I would have interference issues when I had none for the first 5 weeks of operation.  

After going through the complete power cycle several times, there is zero change.

All other non-Arlo WiFi devices are using the signal from the extender with no problems at all.

One option that does not work for me is running a super long ethernet cable from the original WiFi Router to the Arlo base.  Since the Router sits in my wife's office at the far end of the house, the cable would have to run from her office, through a bedroom, out into a central hallway that has provides access to most of the rooms in the house.  A cable running across all these floors would be glaring and people would be walking on it and likely tripping over it from time to time.

Where the interference is coming from is the big question.  I believe it is between the camera and the base.  The Base is hard-wired into the Extender.  There is never a delay or disconnect when I send instructions to the base from the mobile app.  

If we look at the whole system, what I find is the camera's motion detector communicates perfectly with the base and to the app.  When motion detector is triggered, I receive an alrt on my app within 2 seconds.  I will also see the number counter display click up one for the motion detection, indicating that a recording has been made and is sitting in my library.  When I go to the library, about 30% of the time there is no video recorded at all.  The video that does get recorded is extremely broken up, pixelated, green washed.

Also, during several camera re-syncs, I tested the system with the camera sitting right next to the base.  And unfortunately this does not solve the connection/signal issue.

All through this time, my WiFi signal remains at the same strength it had when I first installed system and it worked perfectly for 5 weeks.  11mbps down/4.5mbps up.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.  I've entered a ticket with support.  So far they have suggested all the same suggestions I am getting here.

[costapet]

I'm having the same problem with one of my cameras. I have a total of 5 cameras (4 wire free and 1 Arlo Q) and only 1 of the wire free cameras is playing up. It intermittently works, but most of the time it says "Your device is not connected. Make sure it's connected to your router and has a working Internet connection."

I tried the same troubleshooting steps listed above and still having problems.

I think I will be oening a ticket with the support folks as well. 

[costapet]

to add to my last post, I've been using my arlo cameras for almost a year now and up until recently, they all worked fine.

[Mkword]

Just to update my own situation ...

I was given a number of troubleshooting steps to take.  Most of them boiled down to pwer cycling and finally the full hard reset of the base and router.

I did the full reset twice and did not experience improvement.  However, I tried a 3rd reset and about 3 hours later, I noticed that my Arlo system was working almost 100%.  

It has stayed full operational with fast and full linkage of camera video to base and to smartphone for at least 3 weeks now.  Maybe a little more.

Yesterday, the base went offline for some unknown reason.  I did not bother with a hard reset and simply reset the base thru the phone app.

2 hours later the whole system was back to working without problems.

Maybe ... just maybe ... doing the full reset will work if you do it enough.  But I have no empirical evidence that would tell me exactly what cured or fixed the connection issues I was having.

[Schorschi]

When your system is offline, what do the three lights on the base station show? If the second light from the left is off or amber it indicates that there is something wrong with your Internet connection.

What if it is your Internet provider messing up your connection every once in a while?

Just the other day my service was out for two hours or so in the middle of the night.

[Mkword]

My issues were not about the system being offline.

That just happened the other night and I mentioned it because it was the only disruption I've had in a while.

I have not looked at the base when the system was offline because that has not been my main issue.

My problem was ... after 4-5 weeks of perfect running ... I started to have a hard time getting the camera and base to connect.  

My internet service provider has never been an issue for me.  Whenever the camera and base had trouble connecting, I would always

check the internet and router first.  The wifi and internet provider were never the issue, though.  It was always about the base and camera 

having trouble connecting and streaming video or recording video.

After three hard full resets ... (about 3 hours after the 3rd reset) ... the system started working fine again.  Quick and full connection between camera and base. 

Video streams and records from camera without pixelation or interruptions.

So my system is running fine now.  I just had that one glitch when the Arlo system went offline at night for a couple hours.  I did the reset on the phone app (not the hard reset on the base) and it did not work.  But when I checked back in a couple hours later, everything was linked, synced and working fine again.