My Camera Has Poor Or Weak Signal

[saliperti]

have my (4) camera system for now 3 month and finding that the cameras are slow in responding and not catching the alert till the very end and sometimes not at all.. i noticed all the signal are very week, i have the wireless unit hard wired to my router and the arlo wire is on the same floor to all the cameras and they are about the most 50' way. i removed and restarted and reinstalled and have the same condition. any suggestions.. my firmware is 1.2.21616 my serial numbers for the cameras are as follows 1-5ex183sg0a252 hardware h7 2-5ex183sf0a4e9 hardware h7 3-5ex183s20c197 hardware h7 4-5ex183st0ad77 hardware h7 sal

[Streak2]

Sometimes the base can suffer from interference from nearby devices.

Try repositioning it even if only a few feet. You could also run a longer Ethernet cable to get it further away from the router.

[Rafke77]

Hello,
I am having a very similar issue. I'll start with my internet service. I have Sprint at my home with the "magic box" which is an extreme signal booster. I have a Sprint hotspot linked to a plug in Linksys AC750 Boost WiFi range extender. I plugged the ethernet cable which came with the Arlo pro. It gives me about 8' or so distance from the WiFi extender to the Arlo base. 2 of my cameras are inside approximate 15 feet from the base, the third is also inside about 30 feet from the base.
When I check camera signal from my phone it's poor, it doesn't register at all. The sound comes in and out, the screen is just still shots in live mood. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[jguerdat]

As I've been suggesting here for a while now, use the WiFi indication on the Devices tab for each camera rather than the indication in the Camera Positioning section of  camera settings, which always reads Poor.

[Rafke77]

Sorry....I just got this yesterday and am still learning on how to navigate the community section so I didn't find all your other suggestions...

The instructions which came with the Arlo Pro are extremely limited and did not contain a section on what to do if the camera reception was poor. I'm not even sure what you mean by on the devices tab.

[Rafke77]

And why does the camera reception in device positioning section always read poor?

[jguerdat]

You have Mode, Devices and Library tabs at the top of the Arlo interface. Devices shows you the cameras and various indicators.

And I have no idea why the Positioning indication always reports poor. I've never bothered to use that for positioning my cameras so don't know when that may have happened.

[Rafke77]

Ok, thank you. I'm not a fan of something that's supposed to be working and doesn't, referring to device utilities, camera positioning.

I attached a couple screenshots. One is what I believe is the section you are referring too, with the signal, I circled it, am I correct?

The other is I think it's just my cell service WiFi which does not provide enough data flow. The other screenshots is what I found on the specifications of Sprint and what Arlo needs.
I wish this would have been more readily found as to exact standards on the box and/or more knowledgeable employees at Best Buy.

[Rafke77]

[Rafke77]

[jguerdat]

Yes, that's the WiFi indicator I was referring to. 

As for the low speeds for the hotspot, I'm amazed it's that slow these days. You can try to maximize the bandwidth utilization but using Optimized or Best Battery Life in the camera settings under Video Settings if you have issues with poor quality and/or truncated videos.

[Rafke77]

Thanks a lot for your help, I tried changing those settings as well as disconnecting all the cameras but 1. I barely noticed an improvement, unfortunately I think it comes down to the very slow hotspot speeds.
I've searched through the forums and found a few people got it to work... But I don't understand how they're accepting the results. Oddly enough I can watch recorded videos without issues, I'm assuming that's because it's not a live feed.

[Rafke77]

I wanted to do a speed test, and I know this is pathetic but it is still at the minimum requirement of at least 1 Mbps.

I'm honestly lost here, I used the Sensorly app on my phone and connected to the WiFi to do that test. I've attached the screenshot from the test.

[jguerdat]

Your speed results, while low, should be fine for most situations. The only issue that may occur is if multiple cameras are streaming at once.

[Rafke77]

I'm going to call customer support today to see if they have an answer. I've tried virtually every configuration as to moving the base and cameras to different locations. I've tried running just one camera.
When I view it from my phone I will get about 3 seconds of continuing l continuous sound followed by a half second of sounds maybe every 7 seconds or so. The video is delayed by minutes, and when it plays, like the sound, it's a half second of movement followed by a 5-10 second pause. And if I were to zoom in on things in the video they are extremely pixilated.
Oddly I've streamed tv from the same WiFi. I'll play continuously with an occasional pixelation. But, that's all downloaded data. Regardless, the speed test still shows it's meeting the requirements.
I'll post what I'm told by customer support.

[Rafke77]

Update..
So I subscribed to a local high-speed internet, it's called fourway. Basically I have a dish on my house that's aimed at a tower about 2 miles away, is visible from where it's mounted on my house with no obstructions.
Now my cameras all work... For the most part. I have great video, sound isn't a 100%, but it's working. Sidenote, anyone else experience a "cricket chirping" sound on their audio? I noticed this, and there's no crickets out here currently.
Anywho, so I did a speed test of my new high speed internet, and this I'm really confused on and if there is any internet/data guru that might be able to explain this, PLEASE do! I'll attach screenshots. When I had the Sprint setup like I explained in my previous message, even with the minimum required up data, my video and sound were awful. But now with SLIGHTLY better signal it comes in perfect. However, now, without my network extender, Sprint's signal is coming in stronger.

[Rafke77]

Sprint mobile hotspot right now

[Rafke77]

WiFi extender hooked to Sprint mobile hotspot

[pizmobob]

I had 2 cameras one in the backyard and one dowstairs in the sunroon. They both had one dot not a full bar. I set up a second arlo 3030 base to my account. I plugged it into my WiFi Linksys AC750.  Went to my account to add devises and added the 3030 base unit. I then deleted the 2 low signal cameras from my 4030 pro base and then re-added them to the 3030 base. Now the 2 weak cameras now have 3 bars.  Great improvement.

[Rafke77]

Are you referring to the signal pyramid on the left that has only the dot?
If so, the person that responded to me several responses ago said it always like that, which I have a problem with.. not his response, but that is always like that.
I don't know why switching bases would create a better signal... Unfortunately I don't have that option currently.

[Jbtopps]

Mine has poor reach even though less than 30’ away. They will literally let you walk up to the door & not start till all you see is the top of their head. They have time to see the camera above the front door & turn around to get the side of their head. At the same time they pick up a leaf or shadow moving. There is NO setting that works. I have 3 across the front of my home & my wife can literally drive up the driveway & all you get is the trunk going in the garage. Yet they catch the car in the street that you cannot even see in the frame or the headlights shining on my truck from the side they record. Craziest thing Ever. It’s either pick up leaves & shadows & cars not even in the frame or walk across the drive in front of 2 then the 3rd above the front door & all you get is partial glimpse of them already passed by or turned around. Here’s a few. I’ve sent several showing this.

[jguerdat]

It's al about positioning and sensitivity. Have you read the FAQ here on camera positioning? Post a screenshot of the camera's view.

[pizmobob]

Log into your account.  Then click on devices then click on the setup icon on the right corner.  Open Device Utilities. Then Open Motion detection. I have most of my cameras set to 80 which works well for me.  This should help.  You can also set up a video zone.  I have a car cover that sets off the camera when the wind blows so I set a zone that just stops before the car cover. Now the camera does not record when the car cover moves.

[jguerdat]

The motion detection test just gives you a number to put into your modes and rules. The test doesn't save - you have to enter the number into the camera rules and save.

[Jbtopps]

That’s good information to let everyone know. It took me a little tine to figure it out. I would set a number then go back to look & it changed back or never changed is the better way it should be said.