"There was a problem establishing a connection to the media server"

[cyberjunkyfreak]

Frequently get the above message when attempting to connect to any of the wireless cameras, and I can't find anything about this message online.  There is no rhyme or reason as to which camera(s) get this message at any time.  I have to re-attempt in order to connect, sometimes it connects and sometimes it does not, it fails to connect more often (failure rate is about 75 percent if I had to guess).  Sometimes I'll just get a "please wait" message that 

I have 4 cameras and 1 base station, brand new batteries (just installed the system yesterday).  The system appears to have the latest firmware installed:

Base:  

FW Version

1.4.2627

HW Version

VMB3010r2

All 4 cameras are same:

HardwareVMC3030

Firmware1.1.2074

I have done a hard reset of the base and resync'ed the cameras and same issue occurs.  Sometimes it appears to be connected to a live stream however if I walk in front of a camera it does pick up the movement (as if the video is paused - although it does not show as paused in the web browser).  This does not give me a good feeling when I will be monitoring remote! 

The furthest camera is less than 40 feet from the station (between a couple walls).  All 4 cameras show as full Wifi bars and full battery life when viewing in the web browser.  I'm viewing on a Mac with Yosemite (10.10.4) and Safari (8.0.7).  I have re-installed latest version of Adobe Flash... no help.    I don't suspect any Wifi interference issues (I live in a very rural area).  The base station is set for channel 7 (not sure if I can change this? I haven't been able to figure that out yet) and is hard wired to the router.  The router has it's Wifi channel set for channel 1 (it was set at 6, i changed it 1 as part of my troubleshooting, no difference).  

One thing I do notice is the beacon interval for the base station is reportedly set at 31?  Does this sound right?

I'm wondering if it's a network issue outside of my network (ie, is the message "problem establishing a connection to the media server" refer to the cloud?).  However, I would think if this were the case, more people would be reporting the issue.  I've been troubleshooting these connectivity issues for 6 straight hours now and am running out of ideas.  I really want to like this product, however these connectivity issues have me resting uneasy at the moment.  I don't want to go thru the hassle of returning it, if there's a fix to get stable streaming connections to the cameras, perhaps a firmware update???

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[cyberjunkyfreak]

So it appears the cameras do not have the latest firmware installed, so I'm trying to figure out how to update them and hopefully that will solve the issues.  So far, I've tried opening and closing the camera battery doors, no change.  I've rebooted the base station by the power button (confirmed that Auto firmware updates are on) and still no change.

How do I update the firmware on the cameras?   

[TomMac]

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How do I update the firmware on the cameras?   

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Usu to force a camera update is to open the battery door for about 5 secs then reclose...

DO NOT reopen door until the camera leds in front have stopped blinking... Usu first it will re-sync and then possible update.

If after a good while it does not update, make sure your 'auto-update" is turn on and reboot the base via the power button... base takes a couple mins to fully reboot and then cameras may update.

[cyberjunkyfreak]

Thank you, I have already tried those great suggestions without any success.  I've now opened a case with support, and am waiting to hear back from them.  Thanks again! 

[TomMac]

CyberJ... just so you know, most updates and housekeeping do occur at night... time will tell

[cyberjunkyfreak]

Ahh, thanks, that's good to know.  I set the system up last night, and I had turned off the "Auto update" feature (as I don't like going blind into firmware updates).  When I had time to actually play with the system this morning, that's when I realized all the connectivity issues.  I turned on the Auto update feature today as part of my troubleshooting, guess I'll have to wait it out and see what happens overnight.  Thanks again!

[RobertRosal]

Is your Arlo base station connected directly to your Providers router?

I know my buddy was having all kinds of connectivity problems and we figured it out.  He as 2 routers,  a Verizon router (provider) and a second one that he had the Arlo connected to.

His reasoning for having 2 routers was that he wanted a primary and guest network.  For some reason he would have connectivity issues when the Arlo base was plugged in the 2nd router, but if he plugged it directly to his Verizon router, all was good.

I don't know if this is the same case with you but thought it would be good to bring this up here.

[jguerdat]

My guess would be two DHCP servers. Make sure you disable the server in the second router (I.e. make it effectively a switch).

[cyberjunkyfreak]

The base is connected to the router, and the router is connected to the cable modem.  All 4 of my cameras did update to the 1.2.2545 on their own overnight, however the connectivity issues continue.  From reading other posts in the forum, I'm guessing the issue may be related to the base firmware update?  

And as I'm writing this post, USPS just showed up at my door step, on a Sunday morning of a holiday weekend, with my 5th Arlo camera that I had just ordered from Amazon on Friday!  🙂

I've got a case opened with support, and I'm hopeful that they will resolve the connectivity issues soon.

[Showguy]

Sorry to say that if your base station is running sw version 1.4.2627 you are probably going to have this problem until Netgear wakes up and realizes that this new software version is bricking their customers systems. I had a perfectly working system until this update was forced to me three days ago. I am experiencing the same problems as you and than some. Take a look at the big post about this issue in this forum

[TomMac]

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Showguy wrote:

Sorry to say that if your base station is running sw version 1.4.2627 you are probably going to have this problem until Netgear wakes up and realizes that this new software version is bricking their customers systems. I had a perfectly working system until this update was forced to me three days ago. I am experiencing the same problems as you and than some. Take a look at the big post about this issue in this forum

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It must be known by now re problems... there is a another version in the works as it's on my system as a pre-release.  I've not seen the major problems others have but have noticed the system is still a bit off ( even with the newer version  running here ).... just seems a bit sluggish. 

I have noticed that the motion detect has been improved very slightly ( as a good note )

[Showguy]

Tom Mac: I had purchased 2 4 pack systems. As a result I have a spare base.  I am very tempted to swap out the base and run it on the old firmware installed on it until Netgear figures this out.  The only problem is I would be on a ladder for hours pulling cameras down to re-sync to the new base.  It's either that or hope Netgear gets their act together quickly.

[Mage99]

I am having this problem as well and it's frequent when I press the Play symbol to view Live footage. It's been doing this lately since a firmware update. 

Base Station: 

FW Version

1.4.2695

Cameras: 

Firmware: 1.2.2688

As you can see on the upper left hand corner a message pops up the request timed out. This has been happenning lately and no changes in my network. Any solutions? Thanks in advance.

[TomMac]

As Mage99 mentioned...

 the new version has now gone out after 2-3 days...

The BASE = 1.4.2695

the Cams  = 1.2.2688

hopefully this may solve some problems as it gets fully released

[Mage99]

Hello TomMac, 

                   Unfortunately, this new firmwares may be contributing to the problem. I have not seen these errors before prior to these latest updates. Also, the sensitivity and the response time of the camera have been degraded. When it picks up motion, I usually get the e-mail with the screen shot and the subject in the middle. Now, I have no subject in the middle until I play the actual footage and find the tail end of the event. I don't think these new firmware are good at all. Hopefully a new one will be rolled out.

Thanks for your assistance. 

Ed

[cyberjunkyfreak]

I'm not able to view Mage99's image, however if I understand age99's post correctly, it mentions that Mage99 is already at these newer firmware levels and problem still persists?  Maybe a reboot of the system is required after the firmware update?  Or problem still persists?

Right now my system is at:

Base  1.4.2627

Cameras 1.2.2545

And still getting the connectivity issues...

[Mage99]

Yes that is true I'm on the latest firmware for the Cameras and the Base Station. The problem started with this new firmware. Rebooted cameras and Base Station and it's still the same issue. Hopefully I can post this picture in here of my latest errors.  Just in case you can't see the phone. The error on my one camera says "Error 5011: The camera failed to connect. Please try again" Less than 30 feet to the Base Station, Full Signal and good batteries. My other Camera states the error as discussed in this forum. This is somewhat frustrating. Thank you all.  

[Rudy]

Hi I have the same issue, happened after the most recent firmware update. I have been using the cameras for months and they were working fine. Without this issue.

Firmware camers is 1.2.2545

Firmware basestation: 1.4.2627 (released may 14th 2015)

I believe the issue is caused by the base station firmware, I do hope Netgear fixes this quickly as it effects the sending of recorded video as well, and that becomes a secuirty issue.

[cyberjunkyfreak]

Could somebody please point me to the release notes for the firmwares?  Thanks!

[JPC]

How i wish they let us have access to the firmware and can go back to the less buggy firmware.. This way it can save us and arlo support the pressure, headache and frustrations we all are having.. As of now.. I will turn off this update on my machine until they get this working right.. This is getting out hand

[Showguy]

This crap has got to stop now. 5 days in a row I wake up to my system rebooting to default settings, can't stream cameras. I have $1,200 bucks invested in something that worked fine until a software update killed it.

[Rudy]

It may not be the actual firmware but the software that's running.

They released the app version 1.9.0rc8.659_9183 on 5-07-2015

Right around the same time they updated the firmware, this is getting ridiculous.I hope they fix it soon, starting to regret my investment in this product as well.

[TomMac]

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Rudy wrote:

It may not be the actual firmware but the software that's running.

They released the app version 1.9.0rc8.659_9183 on 5-07-2015

snipped

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I'm just not seeing the major problems that Showguy is seeing... I don't believe anyone else is having the 'reboot' problem like him too.

Leads me to think in the direction of maybe a hardware problem.

[Showguy]

Tom Mac. Maybe hardware in regard to the reboots. But the other factors are the same issues as everyone else. I will trade a reboot for a bricked system. Unless I hear different from Netgear ( Oh God that's funny) I will take my spare base, activate it, and go through the pain staking task of re syncing 10 not so easy to get to cameras. The reboot problem may go away but I'm pretty sure the rest of the issues will remain. On a side note, is it normal that if you restart the base station that all your settings ( except for camera names) go back to default. I have a 5 day old pending support ticket asking that very question with no response.

[cyberjunkyfreak]

I'm not aware of any reboot, however I'm not constantly sitting in front of the base to check LEDs either.  Is there any way to check the 'uptime' of the base in the web GUI or other method?  If not then a "base station has rebooted" push alert or email could be a nice feature (for the end user).   I'm still getting the intermittent connectivity issues on my cameras though 😞 

If a hardware issue is suspected for the reboots, then pull the power cord for 5 minutes, check that the on/off button is not in some sort of transient position, and then if it still continues to reboot after re-applying power hold in the reset button in the back while it's powered on to reset the base (this will require a resync of your cameras though, so keep that in mind if some of them are in hard to reach places).