Network traffic triggers motion detection notification but no recordings are made

[devotchko]

Whenever my network is congested I receive push notifications that motion was detected in one of my cameras (always the same one) but when checking the app there are no recordings for it. Camera streams OK. It only happens when my network is congested. Any ideas, Arlo?

[JamesC]

devotchko,

By congested do you mean when you have other devices in use on your network? You only see this behavior with the one camera when there is a lot of other activity on your network? Is your phone that is receiving the push notifications also connected to the network? It could be a delay due to the congestion.. Consider testing by having your phone connected to 4g/3g and then seeing if you get the same behavior when your network is congested.

JamesC

[devotchko]

"By congested do you mean when you have other devices in use on your network?"

Yes, that's what I meant by congested.

"You only see this behavior with the one camera when there is a lot of other activity on your network?"

Yes, only in one camera

"Is your phone that is receiving the push notifications also connected to the network?"

Yes.

"It could be a delay due to the congestion.."

I don't understand what you mean by "delay"; the notifications I receive during congested periods never materialize into recordings, so there is no delay since no new recordings are being made.

"Consider testing by having your phone connected to 4g/3g and then seeing if you get the same behavior when your network is congested"

I had tried this already but the results are the same.

[JamesC]

devotchko,

When the camera detects motion and starts recording it must be able to upload the recording to the cloud. If you have no issues when your network is not under strain and this only occurs when there is other activity on the network it is possible there is not enough bandwidth to upload the recording once the camera has finished detecting motion.

JamesC

[jguerdat]

Generally, downloads aren't the problem but uploads can be.  My piddly little Time Warner 1Mb/s upload speed would quickly become swamped if I was doing multiple uploads at the same time.  Don't forget that even downloading/streaming is using some upload bandwidth, too, since the servers and clients "chat" with each other.

[devotchko]

It seems the main issue is not being understood. My problem is that a congested network is triggering a "motion detected" notification erroneously, since there is no motion happening, no recording being made, and no email notification being sent. I am right next to the camera that is supposedly detecting motion and see that there is nothing going on, yet I receive notifications without reason ONLY when the network is congested. Hope this is clear.

[devotchko]

"When the camera detects motion and starts recording it must be able to upload the recording to the cloud. If you have no issues when your network is not under strain and this only occurs when there is other activity on the network it is possible there is not enough bandwidth to upload the recording once the camera has finished detecting motion.

JamesC"

Are you saying that if the system is unable to send a recording within a certain time frame (in my case because of network congestion) then the recording is never sent again altogether? The system does not have a way of knowing the recording could not be sent to the cloud successfully? It does not retry? Confused...

[jguerdat]

I know the app notifications are upon starting recording but am unsure about emails.  If the video has to complete uploading before the email is sent, that would explain why there's no video AND no email.  I'd guess (SWAG) that the inability to upload due to outgoing traffic swamping your connection is the root cause.  Does your router provide the ability to monitor  traffioc in realtime to help you figure out what's going on?  My Asus RT-N66U has such a screen which is invaluable for such issues.

[ITGuy4Life]

What I'd recommend to see if it s a chatty network thats causing this is to turn off devices on your network and only have the cameras on it. Then see if the issue continues. How were you able to tell it was a chatty network to begin with that was causing this?

[jguerdat]

I'd also run a speed test (speedtest.net) for measuring upload speeds.  You may be getting less than you think.

[devotchko]

I can control the congestion of my network without issues. What I need to know, in an official manner from Netgear, is the answer to whether or not the system gives up trying to send a recording to the cloud if for whatever reason the network is congested, or if the motion notifications are being sent in error because of the congestion (because only 1 camera out of four is doing this, and because when I receive the notifications I have watched the area live, as the notification is being received, and there is no motion, no insect activity (the camera is right next to my window) etc. to trigger the motion detection. 

The congestion is not at issue here (since my other cameras are able to detect, send notifications, and save recordings to the cloud during the same exact network congestion conditions without problems) unless Netgear confirms this is normal behavior for the system (to send notifications without sending recordings when network is congested) or if the motion detection is a false alarm that is somehow triggered when this particular camera has trouble communicating with the base at some point during its motion detection routine (what I'm beginning to suspect).

[jguerdat]

That's a twist I hadn't anticipated. Since the issue occurs during high usage, I'd start investigating 2.4GHz interference. If some/many of the devices in use are using this frequency, it could lead to your issue. Can anything be switched to the 5GHz band, assuming your router supports it? Maybe testing with the various devices in various locations could help nail it down.

I think your congestion theory is valid and is likely caused by WiFi interference.

[devotchko]

AFAIK, I have no devices transmitting at 5 GHZ. Another detail I didn't mention that also makes me suspect the issue is related to congestion and Arlo's system is that this camera (the one sending the motion detection notifications with no recordings being made and no emails being sent) is the only one that has 3 bars in the signal icon (this is because it is the farthest from the router and the base). 

[jguerdat]

The suggestion to use 5GHz band is to get rid of possible interference from the very crowded 2.4GHz band.  Not all devices, including routers, support this but it would be worth checking to see 1) if the router supports the 5GHz band and 2) what devices can be switched to that band.  It may not help but would be a useful tool.

The fact that it's the camera with the weakest signal (not that bad but it's all relative) that has the issue also could be used to support the possible 2,4GHz band interference theory.  You could try repositioning the base, including simply rotating it, to see if the signal improves.  Use of a long Ethernet cable or a WiFi extender could be used to allow the base to be more centrally located. 

Just out of curiosity, how many devices are using WiFi when this congestion happens?  How heavily are they using the network?  This may take some sleuthing to figure out (especially if teenagers are involved).  Also, what router is in use?