Firmware upgrade again to 1.12.2.1_2798, causing the image or video downgrade, lower the resolu

[dsiu2902]

Firmware upgrade again to 1.12.2.1_2798, causing the live streaming, image or recorded video downgrade, lower the resolution, is everyone having the same problem yet. the Firmware upgrade was yesterday midnight (May 21, 2019).

[parsrgood]

@dsiu2902 

Maybe in the future we leave ShayneS out of our comments. At this point he is being directed as to what he can say and do. He's following protocal and long story short can no longer be trusted as a moderator on this thread. As I mentioned earlier, the next person we need to hear from is @ JamesC. He is the one who releases the APP and Firmware Updates. This thread has gone to the bad side with a couple of contributors that are actually defending Arlo, even though they know a problem exists. Their title  as Guru, Strato Guru or whatever Vudu status they have means more to them than our concerns. Earlier in this thread one of the arlo heroes posted one of his videos that he was happy with. It was horrible. That in itself should let you know that his honorary badge means more to him than owning a solid, trustworthy security system. As for myself, I'm at the point that this product failure is more than just a glitch. Maybe a shout out to our local TV network consumer complaints departments will work. All major networks have a tech Guru looking for a story. And they love to investigate.

[jguerdat]

Go for it. I got no dog in this hunt.

FWIW, JamesC doesn't release anything other than the release notes supplied to him. You're jumping to conclusions with no facts.

[parsrgood]

@jguerdat . Cool your jets and read  my post again. It states nothing more than JamesC is the one who posts the updates. But , congrats on your 3009th post.

[ruthannie]

We are still having this same problem of poor video quality. My husband called Support and basically was told to “restore factory settings” and go back to the way it shipped. No idea how to do that. I deleted everything and rebooted, set up the base station and cameras again. Of course the base station automatically updates firmware. Same issue with the video. Any solutions yet? I’m going to call Support myself after work tomorrow. Very frustrating.

[mamarcac]

The status on these forums of Tutor, Guide etc are given purely off of post count. @jguerdat has been helpful in other threads I have read so it is unfortunate he is coming off as an Arlo shill on this one (and he is). Not everyone needs to be told to reboot or reset a base station, some of us are quite tech savvy.

Arlo needs to fix this in a real way. I agree @ShayneS is basically reading a script but stop making excuses. If you take the job as a forum moderator then at some point the people who bought the products that literally fund your paycheck might get a bit testy when all you offer is canned responses.

[Broje]

I have 2 seperate systems and both are experiencing the same issue.

[Broje]

Amen. If this keeps up, They will lose me as a customer. Too many other options out there. I like (d) my cameras until this happened to me. They are  little value to me now.

[jguerdat]

---

@mamarcac wrote:

Not everyone needs to be told to reboot or reset a base station, some of us are quite tech savvy.

---

The problem is, like any Internet communication, there's frequently no way to tell if someone is joking or has technical expertise. Regardless of whether you think I'm a shill we all have to start with the basics unless shown otherwise. Even then, there's only so many responses that can be made - reboot, resync cameras, system reset and open a case with support are about all that can usually be offered.

I'd be happy to have all of you with the expertise help others. That could make these threads much more useful. Unfortunately, since these are user forums, official support/answers usually have to be obtained by official resources generated by opening cases. There's a lot of complaining here but how many folks have actually opened cases to raise the metrics? I used to deal with this when I was working - "drive-by" support isn't logged for either the problem or resolution. Help us all by helping each other.

ANd, yes, I'm painfully aware of all the issues you and others have brought forth. Like you, I have no control and can only raise the issue officially.

[bzentner]

Does anyone know if changing the base station to VMB4000 will improve the situation.  I found 1 on ebay for $39.

[parsrgood]

@bzentner . Sorry I can’t answer that for you. But since there are obvious problems with the product I would hesitate to buy a used base. The moderator of this thread did say that arlo’s engineers are working on the issue. So.... if they are in fact doing so, that moderator should advise you to hold off until they repair the faulty update. Good luck with that. Unfortunately Arlo’s support team flip flops on acknowledging a problem. My guess would be that if the VMB4000 base received the same firmware update related to this forum it would automatically update to the faulty version. 

[dsiu2902]

@bzentner . I have a VMB4000 (Pro base station) and still the same Issue.

Don't buy VMB4000, you will eventually throw it away.

A good feature (VMB4000) will give you is only USB storage and

compared to the VMB3500 or VMB3000, the wifi signal is slightly stronger.

This morning, my entire system was disconnected from Arlo, all the connections were lost, and everything disappeared.

Only two videos of 1:48 am were recorded. So, I think they upgrade the firmware  again with the fixed.

I was so happy until the set up is finished, my dream was broken,

everything still the same issue, and the video or live streaming is worse than before.

[mamarcac]

@bzentner Just to echo what @dsiu2902 said, don't bother with changing the base station. I have the VMB4000.

This is 100% a firmware issue and I feel sorry for anyone who wasted time being told to remove/re-sync/reset. That was bad advice and people should think twice before suggesting people go through all those steps.

[dsiu2902]

jguerdat, first of all, we must say "Thank you" for all your (retirement) time to help / support each each.

But I am sorry to say that if there is no "Automatic firmware upgarde" function existed in the first place,

we don't have to ask question in this forum. You have more time to go on vacation.

This whole mess started with Arlo firmware, I am 58 years old and also retired three years ago, I was very satified with  Arlo product until this nonsense with Arlo, making my retirement so suffering.

I know that ShayneS is being instructed what he can say and do, but let him tell his company that they have violated the law of breaking and entering / tresspassing.

I was so fed up with this mess, I have already filed a complaint with BBB of Ca, and I consulted my attorney last night,

he told me that they have violated the law of breaking and entering / tresspassing without knowing it. 

Here is the message for Arlo:

we purchased the entire system from your distributor.
We own the system, they are not a rental equipment. 
You are not authorized for you to enter our equipment without our/consumer consent. 
You are breaking in someone's property. 
You have violated the law of breaking and entering / tresspassing. 

Roll the firmware back to 1.12.0.1_27940 and stay away from my property or the equipment.

[MikeBravo]

I decided that while we were all sitting around watching our blurry cameras as Arlo laughs all the way to the bank, to tell my continuing tale of woe to drive home the point to the moderators that this new outrage is not the ONLY unbearable issue.

This tale of woe involves one of our three expensive Arlo Pro cameras. 

After the battery showing 15% for more than a month, it finally gave up the ghost. So, I dragged out the ladder, climbed up and retrieved it. On this particular battery, labeled No. 3 of four, the charge lasted about two months with only a moderate number of recordings. So, basically I got one month out of 85% of the battery and one month out of 15%. 

Go figure.

Anyway, I cleaned the camera and skin up, inspected the inside of the camera and noted that somehow some dirt got past the skin and the gasket on the battery door. This I found out to my disgust is typical of all the Arlos, basic and Pro. So I put a new battery in and checked on my PC seeing the camera reading 100% battery life.

Then the fun began.

Brought the camera out into the garage and then spent the next few minutes connecting on my powerful Google Pixel 2 phone. Okay, good. I walk out to the ladder no more than twenty feet away and by the time I'm climbing the ladder to mount the camera, the live image freezes. Typical of the several months ago Android app update that basically reduced the apps usability by 75%. Some update. 

I mount the camera eyeballing it and then descend down the ladder. Arlo disconnects. I reconnect and then climb back up the ladder. Reaching the camera the image freezes again. I adjust using the last frozen image as a guide and then go back down the ladder again. Arlo disconnects but this time I have to walk back to the garage before it reconnects. I walk back and by time I reach the ladder the image has frozen again. 

Up the ladder to repeat the process, almost got it right, and so then back down.

This time after disconnecting, I have to spin like a top on my head, recite the Gettysburg address backward while the Arlo Pro base is perched on my head and then it finally reconnects-----where I see the past five minutes of video roll by before I see the final live image. 

It's not quite right, but I have to give up as I am mildly exhausted and ready to smash all of it to bits. 

Arlo, even getting most of my equipment from Costco on closeout sales (should have been my first clue) it still has cost me over eight hundred dollars considers the extra batteries, mounts, and skins none of which are very effective.

I don't want hear, be patient. I don't want to hear, we're working on it. 

Just fix it. All of it.

[MikeBravo]

---

@jguerdat wrote:

---

@mamarcac wrote:

Not everyone needs to be told to reboot or reset a base station, some of us are quite tech savvy.

---

The problem is, like any Internet communication, there's frequently no way to tell if someone is joking or has technical expertise. Regardless of whether you think I'm a shill we all have to start with the basics unless shown otherwise. Even then, there's only so many responses that can be made - reboot, resync cameras, system reset and open a case with support are about all that can usually be offered.

I'd be happy to have all of you with the expertise help others. That could make these threads much more useful. Unfortunately, since these are user forums, official support/answers usually have to be obtained by official resources generated by opening cases. There's a lot of complaining here but how many folks have actually opened cases to raise the metrics? I used to deal with this when I was working - "drive-by" support isn't logged for either the problem or resolution. Help us all by helping each other.

ANd, yes, I'm painfully aware of all the issues you and others have brought forth. Like you, I have no control and can only raise the issue officially.

---

I'm sorry to disagree, but urging folks to open a case is a waste of time and unintentionally cruel considering how useless and aggravating it is. Like Dell, Comcast, and others, the people who handle phone support for Arlo are low level, script readers and are specifically trained to deflect, deny, delay, and discourage. There are many definitive exposes such through Consumer Reports that verify this.

I fear that not much will change unless and if eventually a class action law suit is filed.

That worked somewhat with Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Comcast among others.

[dsiu2902]

Today, I have 63 recorded video files (they are all 120 seconds, set to the best video), only one file is decent thru entire video and the rest are bad. Even the one is decent, but still no way near the quality (HD) what we usually get.

File size comparison:

Before firmware upgrade: 10,481 kb

After firmware upgrade:  (1 decent file): 5,908 kb

(All 62 files): between 1,074 to 1,274 kb.

I know that the decoder/compression software is inside the base station and has nothing to do with cloud storage,

Can someone tell me why? How can this happen?

Maybe some IT / or programmers can tell us?

Even the software fails, why are they not doing the same thing every time? why are they having a gap?

[Ferraz]

Same issue here, when streaming live, also notice that recorded videos looks much better that live ones but also notice degradations on both

[dsiu2902]

Ferraz, when did your problem start? Is it between May 22nd - June 4th, and your base firmware is 1.12.2.1_2798, then I'm 100% sure that it is firmware problem, don't factory reset your base, wait for the fix, which 7 days, then 7 days and so on. But if you want to do factory reset, there is nothing wrong with it, but don't put your hope so high.

In the previous post, I meant "If the problem lies in compression/decoding software, why are the video files inconsistent eachy time? why do they have gaps? why is one of 63 files better than the other? I am confuse.

The second question, there are a lot of compression/decoding software on the market,  maybe Arlo have to change it back to the original compression/decoding software? what compression / decoding software do they use?

[Ferraz]

Agreed

The issue is consistent with the dates that firmware was released

Also the thing get worst after the downtime arlo experience some days ago

[ShayneS]

We are aware of reports that some customers with Arlo wire-free camera model VMC3030 may be experiencing degraded/pixelated quality of video clips in their libraries. Our team is working to address the degradation/pixelated video quality.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We will provide an update on this issue by 3PM PT/June 6, 2019.

Thank you,

Arlo Team

[dsiu2902]

Hi, just before his reply 30 minutes ago,  I received an email from BBB of CA, stating that they submitted a complaint request to the Arlo headquarter today. No matter what. This is a good news for all of us.

I will not close my case with BBB, until this "automatic firmware upgrade" is permanent removed, if not, I want my money back.

[dsiu2902]

MikeBravo, Battery Experiment:

They are 2 groups of 2 batteries - 2 front and 2 rear.
The two front are connected in series, and two rear also connected in series.

Front line carries 6 Volts and rear line also carries 6 volts. The two lines are connected in parallel.

The camera requires 6 volts to work. If the front line is used, you have 50% capacity, if the rear line is used, you also have 50% capacity, If both lines are used together, then you have 100% capacity.

I did some battery experiment using four (4) new batteries.

They start at 100%, then drain to 61%, then drain to 11%, until the battery is completely exhausted.

During each step, I remove the battery and measure each battery voltage to see which one will drain out faster.

At the end of the test, I found that only two batteries were completely exhausted,

while the other two batteries still had 90% remaining.

The weird thing is that the fully depleted battery is not in front pair or rear pair.

It is on the upper right and lower left batteries (fully depleted battery).

The question is:

Since the front or rear pairs are connected in series,

they should be discharged together at the same time, but they are not.

Maybe some electrical engineering can explain it to me? How can this happen?

So now, you know which battery to save. I hope this helps others.

[Tjbvp2117]

The degraded/pixelated quality of video is not just the library,  but on all live video viewing.  Please do not make a mistake on this. The system has become worthless and would think Arlo is taking this serious enough to have a fix sooner than later.  This has been going on far too long with loss of security for our property with a shoddy firmware update. Arlo is losing credibility and with that, I’m sure market share as a result.  

[blipmode]

First post here so I hope it's helpful.

I had a Firmware update on one of my 5 cameras this morning (1.3.319).

Somehow it appears to have corrected the pixelation on all 5 cameras.

The basestation Firmware is still set at 1.12.2.1_2798.

blip

[Bjoern64]

I restarted the system and was asked to update the cameras with the new firmware (1.3.319).
I still experience some pixelation, but not nearby as before.