Lost connection with all cameras

[cubeSquared]

After a year of solid performance, the entire system began to degrade a month or so ago, and now has completely dropped out. Connectivity to all (4) cameras is minimal. Although the system recognizes the cameras, it can't handle a live feed, and has ceased to record on movement. Have rebooted and resynced the cameras/base station multiple times, and repositioned the base system. Not sure what triggered this fail, since nothing in the setup has been changed. All cameras have new batteries and show a strong wifi signal...

Base Model VMB3010r2, firmware 1.7.8_7427

[jguerdat]

There seems to be a rash of issues like this since the last firmware update for some reason.  One person found he had to reboot the base multiple times (3x) before things started working.  Others have had to resync cameras or even reset the whole system.  I'd try more power cycles on the base and, failing that, do a reset using the reset button until the LEDs flash amber.  While it's rebooting, remove all devices under Settings, My Devices after noting settings and modes that you'll need to recreate.  Once the base is back up with two green LEDs (power and Internet), use the Add Device button on the Cameras tab to add the base back in and sync the cameras.  If this brute force method doesn't work, use the Support link above to open a case for more help.

[JamesC]

cubeSquared,

It sounds like you could be experiencing an issue with your cameras being offline due to not receiving the most recent camera firmware update.

For troubleshooting information on this topic, please take a look at this article: My Arlo camera is offline since the release of the recent firmware update; what do I do?

If you are still experiencing this issue, please let us know or feel free to private message me, I would be happy to help.

JamesC

[cubeSquared]

Thanks for the advice - after countless reboots, setting aside a dedicatd IP for the hub on my router, and removing/re-adding the hub (twice), I finally got the system to recognize the cameras again. It appears the firmware updated. However, they still won't record or allow for a live feed. They do seem to recognize a motion event - they just record nothing, or a few seconds of garbled video.

As luck would have it, my garage was broken into tonight, would have been nice if this system was actually working at the time...

[JamesC]

cubeSquared,

When attempting to live stream the camera, do you get any error messages? Is the issue of not being able to live stream intermittent or are you never able to live stream any of the cameras?

JamesC

[cubeSquared]

Only error I get is that the video is unable to play at this time. I am currently not able to view a frame of video. The cameras do trigger when sensing a motion event, but no video get recorded at all.

[JamesC]

cubeSquared,

What is the WiFi signal strength like for the affected cameras? It sounds the cameras are struggling to maintain a connection with the base station and they connection is dropping.

As a test, bring one of the affected cameras close to the base station and attempt to live stream to see if you get the same behavior.

JamesC

[cubeSquared]

The wifi strength was strong on all the cameras, which have varying distance to the base station. I'm assuming the cameras are connected to the hub, and not the wifi router? In any case, I grew weary of the constant troubleshooting, and bought a replacement base station. This seems to have solved the problem, so I'm chalking this up to a hardware fail.

[jguerdat]

Don't forget the 1 year hardware warranty.

[cubeSquared]

I'm past the 1-year warranty. And although the new base station was working for a couple days, I'm suddenly right back to where I started - can't view live feeds, and the system either only records a few seconds, or records a few seconds of distorted video. Helps if I stick the camera right next to the base staion, but anything over 20 feet away is a loss.

[jguerdat]

I'd reset the base, remove all devices and start fresh.  The 20 foot distance and odd recording times kinda sounds like wireless (2.4GHz) interference.  Try placing the base somewhere else temporarily to see if that helps.