Motion detection working unpredictably

[alcat]

Hello Ever since the difficult firmware upgrade to 1.2.21616 I have been having one issue after another with my cameras. I am close to giving up on Arlo.

Right now the only thing reliable is I can manually start a camera and view realtime stream. Motion detection and recording are highly problematic.

Issues I am having

1 - Motion detection works unpredictably. Sometimes a camera works and sometimes it does not. Majority of the times they do not and a few cameras have stopped working on motion detection altogether.

2 - Scheduled modes stop working at midnight. Everynight cameras that did record on motion detection stop on all cameras. I even walk up to the camera and wave at it and still no recording from a camera that worked 10 minutes before midnight. Recording resumes when the after midnight schedule mode resumes

3 - Image downloads are unpredictable. Even when I see that a camera is recording no image ever appears. Which camera will work and when it records is unpredictable.

ALL of this started after the firmware 1.2.21616 upgrade. I have Remove/ReAdded all cameras to the base. Remove/Reinserted all batteries. Changed/Tweeked motion sensitivity settings.

Below you will find my Arlo environment specs

Base HW Version VMB3010r2 Base firmware 1.10.0.8_22190 10 Wireless Arlo Camera hardware H7 Camera firmware 1.2.21616

Anyone else in this situation?

Thanks Al

[Wklovelace3]

Yes. Motion detection hit or miss for me too. Also have the issue of the man turning orange for no reason. Even when camera is disarmed he turns orange sometimes. Clearly they havent got the firmware right yet

[alcat]

I decided to bite the bullet and did  a Factory Reset on my Base. I re-added all 10 cameras,  re-added all Modes, changed every setting and rule to put things back as I need them.

I then tested each camera and combinations of cameras to see if motion sensing works.

So far so good ... BUT the real test is the next few nights to see that the system is behaving.

Since I have now upgraded and reset every piece of arlo hardware I will be at a dead end if this does not work

I will post back the results

[alcat]

The results of this test were disappointing. Only 1 of 5 cameras that should have recorded motion did. 

With that said I played around and found I could increase frequecy of motion being detected by setting sensivtity to 98% and 99%. This was never an issue before firmware 1.2.21616.

There seems to be something odd with scheduling where after midnight switching seems to stop all recording. But that is a test for later. I will manually set the mode for the night before I go to bed.

I won't throw out Arlo and I will continue testing however; I will start looking at other vendors. Once my testing is complete and if I cannot rely on Arlo reliabily I will need to switch.

Netgear please ... fix this, It was almost a perfect system for me before firmware 1.2.21616

[Wklovelace3]

And thats the weird part. How cqn you go from a flawless system to more issues you can count on one hand. Did we switch from netgear engineers to arlo engineers? How in the world can this system be that screwed up and nobody knows how to fix it? How??????

[docpadds]

Having all the same issues here, since this update the cameras have become next to useless.  4 cameras did not record a UPS truck backing into driveway, driver getting out and delivering package to front door, that has a camera above it. 

Its never missed recordings like this.

[alcat]

Since firmware 1.2.21616 I have done numerous tests changing number of cameras, recording length, motion sensitivity, and schedules. Plus I did a reset of the base.

Here is what I found – If I set the motion sensitivity to 95 or above I experience almost the same reliability as  pre-1.2.21616.

Two cameras need to have their battery latch opened/closed daily to reset or wake up the camera. Otherwise they never record.

What I have not tested yet was using a schedule that spans over midnight.  I want to see if after midnight recording is still an issue.

I will report back the findings.

I am still very disappointed in Arlo and how much my system disintegrated after firmware 1.2.21616. I am now very suspicious of using Arlo as a long term solution.

[Wklovelace3]

Garbage firmware. I have 12 videos today all less than 15 seconds and have lost 5%. NOT ACCEPTABLE

[PetashLUL]

Same trash here. Just missed a FedEx delivery this morning and realized that my door camera wasnt recording anything via Motion. My backdoor camera also not working on motion.

Odd timing to cause this is my first post here and as I was confirming my email I got the email that Arlo is spinning out as its own company... 

I've cranked up my motion sensitivity and will report back if that changes anything...

[alcat]

Odd results from overnight scheduled testing. 

Schedule is 

Mode 01 midnight to 6:00am - uses ARMED mode all cameras

Mode 02 6:00am to 10:30pm - subset of cameras

Mode  03 10:30pm to midnight - uses ARMED mode all cameras

I want all cameras armed overnight

I see recordings from 10:30pm thru midnight. We have cats so heavy cat activity recorded.

Exactly at midnight all recording stop. This is now a repeatable issue with scheduling. 

My next test is to introduce an empty mode from midnight to 12:10am and 11:50 pm to midnight. Hoping the changing in scheduled before/after midnight jars the system backk into recording. 

I will open a call with Suppport on this one. 

But this current round of issue since the firmware upgrade has me in serious review of other vendors. 

[docpadds]

Sadly I am looking for a replacement by this point, I cant have my equipment etc sitting unprotected.

[alcat]

I was able to recordusing ARMED mode in a schedule after midnight. The work-around was introducing a new 10-minute mode at midnight.

to recap

The below schedule stops recording activity at midnight

Midnight to 6:00am - Uses ARMED mode

6:00am to 10:30pm - Uses mode with a subset of cameras

10:30pm to Midnight - Uses ARMED mode

The below schedule allows recording activity at midnight 

Midnight to 12:10am - Uses mode with a subset of cameras

12:10am to 6:00am - Uses ARMED mode

6:00am to 10:30pm - Uses mode with a subset of cameras

10:30pm to 11:50pm - Uses ARMED mode

11:50pm to midnight - Uses mode with a subset of cameras

As best I can tell and mode other than ARMED will record starting at midnight.

I am convinced this is related to the list of issues introduced by  firmware 1.2.21616.

[alcat]

Well ... it's been a long battle but I now give up. My arlo system is essentially useless since firmware 1.2.21616. I rebuilt my system multiple times and completed numerous controlled tests; Arlo is no longer reliable or consistent in its behavior,

 The only reliable thing I can do is manually start a camera and view the stream in real-time. 

 Arlo is no longer a reliable security system. Motion sensing is at best less than 50% reliable. Daily intervention of resetting cameras required for this minimal reliability.

I am now actively looking to replace Arlo.

So for now it is a race between me finding a replacement system and Arlo sending out a fix.

Good luck everyone

[Laster]

When spiders and moths can trip the motion detection but a person jumping up and down, moving all around, back and forth, and even putting their hand in front of a camera can't get a response it is time to consider another system. It is too bad as the system worked fairly well for about a year. This latest round of frimware just went off the rails and there seems to be no recovery. I have two base stations and five cameras. No amount of resets, configuration rebuilds, battery changes, base station swapping, or lens cleaning can get the system back on track. It so sad that a company as large as Netgear can't hire halfway competent coders. When I worked in the IT industry no project manager would allow these kinds of issues to just drag on. We would have been on the carpet then out the door. I have tried to wait it out but I can't afford a security system I can't count on. Even when cameras overlap coverage there is no reliable motion detection. SIGH.

[alcat]

100% agree. That is exactly my experience. I also have a 40 year IT / Computer industry experience. This would have been an  unacceptable release and no one would have a weekend or holiday off until it was fixed.