VMB5000 AU Base Station Cannot Connect

[DevNull0]

Hi,

We have a Ultra SmartHub VMB5000 AU in our office, and were having some trouble connecting new cameras to it, so I offered to help out.  I've downloaded the Android app and created an account, but the app can't find the device.  I've followed the guides about startup order (ethernet, then power) and the LED on the base station is blue, so it sounds like it has connected, but the app can't find it when I add a new base station device.  I can see an ARLO-* wifi network appear, but can't connect to it with my phone, and presumed that I wasn't supposed to.

I thought the problem might be tied to how the device and/or phone are connected.  If I leave my phone on mobile internet and try to connect to the base in the app, I get a message saying "Connect to WiFi.  Be sure that your phone is connected to the same network as your Arlo device."  What does that mean?  The base station is connected to the network via a cable patched into our local LAN; I can't connect it to the same Wifi network as my phone, and I can't plug my phone into ethernet.  The Wifi network is multiple devices with multiple different managed networks running across them; there is no "router" as such with ethernet ports for me to plug the base station into.  What do the LAN the base is plugged into and the Wifi my phone is connected to need to have in common?

[DannyBearAgain · Accepted solution]

Be aware that you cannot add an existing arlo device to another users account, you need to do this using  the original owners account credentials.

When you try adding a new device the arlo app needs to have access to the network that the arlo device is connected to, usually for a mobile device the wifi from the local router  or from a pc connected to the local Ethernet and using a web browser to access the my.arlo.com web portal.

To clarify, the base/hub requires access to the internet via the Ethernet port, usually from the local router.

The arlo app needs internet access as well as access to the network that the base/hub is using.

Your first task is to plug the hub Ethernet into the local router and have the IT admin enable it to get internet access.

[StephenB]

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@DevNull0 wrote:

I can see an ARLO-* wifi network appear, but can't connect to it with my phone, and presumed that I wasn't supposed to.

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That network is closed, and only used by the cameras.  So you don't (and can't) connect to it with your phone.

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@DevNull0 wrote:

We have a VMB5000 AU in our office, and were having some trouble connecting new cameras to it, so I offered to help out.  I've downloaded the Android app and created an account, but the app can't find the device.  

The base station is connected to the network via a cable patched into our local LAN; I can't connect it to the same Wifi network as my phone, and I can't plug my phone into ethernet.  

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When you are installing using the app, then the phone has to be on the same local network as the smarthub.  Arlo hasn't described the discovery protocol they use, but it clearly uses some form of IP broadcast packets that need to be carried between the base and the phone.

The simplest workaround is to use a PC connected to the local LAN to install the equipment.  Open a browser, and go to my.arlo.com.

[DevNull0]

"

Be aware that you cannot add an existing arlo device to another users account, you need to do this using  the original owners account credentials.

"

I think this is the real problem, thanks.  

I'm honestly a bit relieved, that some random person can't just walk up, install the app, and take over the hub.  I kept waiting for it to ask me for a password of some sort.  I'd never have thought it worked that way, except the app explicitly tells you to do it.  There's no "to connect to an existing device" vs "to connect to a new device", just "Add device" and straight to instructions for a new one.