Failure adding cameras

[dsgintx]

Needed to remove and then add back some cameras to my base station(s).  Removing works, of course, but adding back is failing.  Cameras are older vintage, Arlo Pro 2 type.  Base stations are VMB 4000 and VMB 4500.  

What I try and what I see:

1. Put the base station in pairing mode (thru app, via button, or thru my arlo website): base station LED blinks as expected.
2. Put the camera within 3 feet of base station and put battery in.  LED flashes after that, as expected.
3. Press sync button to put camera in pairing mode.  Camera LED blinks slowly as expected.
4. After a moment, the camera LED begins flashing quickly.  Base station LED goes to solid.
5. Camera LED stops flashing.

Fast flashing is supposed to mean device is pairing, but after it stops, there is no change, no new device added.  If using the phone app, it eventually stops searching and fails.

What I have checked:

• Battery on the camera: fully charged.
• Firmware on base station: up to date
• Wifi: there is a 2.4 Ghz network available (a 5 Ghz network is also available).  There are still 3 cameras paired to the base station and operating fine.
• Second base station: is turned off while I am trying to pair.
• Have tried each base station.  Second base station has no paired devices, and I am able to add or remove it.  Second base station (VMB 4500) factory reset has also been done and no change in results.  Afraid to remove/add back the first base station because if I still can't add cameras to the system then the three I have working will not even give me that much coverage.
• Wifi router: restart done.  All Arlo devices have been powered down for at least 5 minutes before retrying.  Same result.
• Different distances between pairing camera and base station have also been tried (very close to about 3 feet away) but same result.
• Have tried adding device on phone app, adding device using my arlo site on laptop, and adding without app using the sync buttons on the base and the camera.  Have tried quick button presses and 2 second button presses.  Again, result is always the same: acts like it is pairing but does not show up in devices in app or on my arlo.
• Base station LEDs are showing device is on, connected to internet, etc.  I can see the base stations in the list of devices on the router as well.  Base station mode is Armed. 
• There is network switch connected to my internet provider's router (ran out of ports).  It has been powered down and restarted as well, multiple times.  Connections are wired, from provider router to switch to base stations.

[dsgintx]

I now suspect the cameras to be the problem.  I have an Arlo Essential spotlight camera that was not in use and charged it up and added to the VMB4000 base successfully.

[ShayneS]

Hi @dsgintx 

Thank you for the detailed information, I provided this to the support team and someone will be reaching out as soon as possible.

[dsgintx]

Hi @ShayneS 

Thank you for opening the case for me.  I provided information to the support team and they wanted to have a call with me to further investigate the issue (I assume).  I unfortunately missed the call.  They sent an email to have me update the case and although I could reach the case yesterday, today I can't.  When I click the link in the email it takes me to my.arlo.com and shows me my Arlo devices.  I have tried a lot of searching and every time I try to find or open my case, I get redirected back to my devices screen.  It's extremely frustrating to say the least.  I have a request to contact support and at this point I have no way to contact them at all.

[dsgintx]

@ShayneS it looks like you created a case for me that I don't have access to.  At this point, support is waiting for me to update the ticket.  Since the ticket is unreachable by me, it will likely expire due to lack of response, I'll get an automated email and that will be it.

I think the problem with the case being unreachable is that I don't have a subscription.  I have never had one, the cameras and base station (until the above problem) worked fine for me.  Now they don't.  I had a long frustrating chat with the chatbot on the support page but everything it suggested fails.  The my.arlo.com and the arlo secure app work differently if you don't have a subscription.  No support center link appears so there is no way for me to access my request.  You thoughtfully created a request for me but it appears I am not entitled to support.

Not sure how that was not detected before but that seems to be where we are right now.

[ShayneS]

@dsgintx 

I escalated this to another team that should be reaching out to help resolve this. The escalations number is: 44387532

Thanks for letting me know. 

[Jonesy221985]

Having the EXACT same problem as dsgintx.  Base Station and camera behavior says synced, but cannot see camera in devices list.

Also, can't add Base Station to Widgets.

[dsgintx]

I did eventually get support so the theory that you need a subscription is bogus. But nothing we tried changed the results. Support determined that my cameras are faulty and they offered a discount.  The fact that it happens with all of my Arlo Pro 2 cameras makes me suspect there is a change in base station firmware that prevents them working.  And since they are all old and out of warranty there is not a big incentive to fix it. If you have a Pro2 camera that is paired I wouldn’t dare  unpair it.

[Jonesy221985]

That's kind of where I was headed with the whole thing after hours of troubleshooting.  Base and cameras all indicate normal connectivity accept for the dang video feed.  I knew the day was coming but it would have been nice to be advised ahead of time instead of just being instantly cut off.  I'm sure someone at Arlo knows the full story. 

Thanks for the effort and insight!!

[Edinburgh_lad1]

@dsgintx that would be a case of leading to misselling: I doubt there is anything wrong with your cameras, especially that it doesn't seem to affect just one, and support offering you a discount to get a set of different ones, arguing that the existing ones are faulty: on what basis anyway. If you buy it from them in this situation, it'll be misselling.

There was a big case here in the UK where banks sold PPI policies. It cost them billions in the end to compensate consumers, as it was ruled that it was a case of misselling,  and it shows that private companies are not immune to being held accountable.

So, stand your ground and get the support to look into this again. We all know that the stocking point for Arlo is the legacy products but my argument is that they knew about their existence when they separated from Netgear, so there is not much to do but to swallow the bitterness. 

[dsgintx · Accepted solution]

I chose Arlo because I didn't need to have a subscription.  There are things I don't like about the system (e.g. camera delays, etc.) but on balance it was a decent setup and it worked for me without a subscription.  But if you move up to later cameras, you pretty much need a subscription to get the same value as you would from the earlier system.  I get why that is, the video is higher res and takes up more space, but I have been willing to sacrifice a bit of resolution for ease of use and no monthly fee.

If I have to get a subscription, then it's likely it won't be an Arlo system.  Not because I'm cranky about the service, but because if we're going that way then I'll be looking harder at the things I don't care for with Arlo.

I'm not convinced this is a planned obsolescence thing, by the way.  Spent many years in IT work and this smells like a testing failure.  Someone made changes in the code for one bit and it feels like they didn't verify that the old gear was compatible.  I'd suspect that the firmware for Pro2 cameras seldom gets touched anymore but the hubs have a lot of forward compatibility.  Each time I reset a hub while troubleshooting, it definitely did a firmware update.  And as far as support goes, they have limits, especially for gear that is out of warranty and no longer available.  When you get to the end of things to try, the answer is "well, I guess it's broken."

If they really want to retire the Pro2 and earlier gear, they could/should just say so: after x date, these things won't work anymore and we're not updating firmware, etc.  If a no-sub guy like me then decides to choose a different product, it's zero impact on their revenue--I already bought my gear and I'm not paying anything to their support costs either.

If this is a new thing and happens more often, maybe they'll do an update to camera firmware or figure the problem out.