Email Alerts/Video Recordings - Not Getting, or Getting Very Late

[iSage]

  I really wish Netgear would address this problem that has been getting worse over the past 2 weeks...

  As I have reported several times, including just a few days ago along with several others, I am getting the Push Notifications/Alerts on my cell phone when motion is detected on any of my 3 Arlo wireless cams, but the email alerts as well as the video that is supposed to then show up in the Library is quite delayed (been taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to get email alert or video to show in Library, or not showing up at all!!). I'm still missing email alerts and videos from yesterday that never showed up at all!

  What good are my Arlo cameras if I'm not home, but get a push notification alert(s) about motion being detected, but cannot "see" exactly what is going on at that moment??

   No email message means no image to click on, and no video in Library means the same. This is absurd! I've checked and re-checked each and every setting, even deleted all previous days' videos, but there is no rhyme or reason as to why some motions show up, some show up quite late, while others don't show up at all.

  I am very disappointed and not a happy camper or customer of late at all.  In the past 2 weeks, this problem has gotten worse instead of better. My husband wants to rip the 3 cameras down at this point and literally dump them and take the $450 loss for what we paid, because he's tired of seeing me stress out and be upset over this.

  Please Netgear - PLEASE address this problem on these boards to myself as well as all your other Arlo customers with the same problem. And as I suggested in my last post from 1/29/16, it would be great if you created a 24-hr Status page to let your customers know if there are server problems, software problems, hardware problems, etc.
  Thank you in advance,
~Susan

[hackemate]

Please forward this list to the "engineering" team.

Its not just one problem.

1) video records for the max allowed time and does not resume recording a separate clip despite continuous motion in that area.

2) Email notifications are very delayed, up to 1 hour sometimes.

3) random alerts of "motion detected" but video shows nothing.

4) I get an alert that "motion is detected" but the library does not show the available clip until WAY later.

5) Tech support wants me to upload a video. When I follow the link, video is not an acceptable upload format... really?

6) when I log in to arlo.netgear.com, 2 of the cameras ALWAYS have a green screenshot. the other 2 always have OLD screenshots but atleast they are not green. Its been like this for a week. 

This is not meant to be a rant but I purchased a 4 camera kit for $500 and this product so mediocre its amazing. No disrespect, but this product should never had hit the market in this state. The commercials make it seem so flawless and easy, but my experience has felt like I am a beta tester.

[ant]

Wow, now the e-mails are coming a couple hours late!!

[Drvonkle]

Same here. I get notifications via email and iOS notification but no video recordings. It's been delayed for about 45 min - 1 hr before any videos show up. Pleas fix this issue already!

[Ghostbuster]

I'll add my experiences here as well. The issues, at first, seemed to have been few and far between and have only gotten worse every day since the update. Whatever you guys are doing it's causing the issues to multiply. The only thing I can rely on with this service is that it is unreliable.

*Alert but no email or video in library.

*2 hour delay when videos are uploaded.

*Videos missing.

*Video recordings go past set record time. I have videos that have gone for up to 9 minutes with no motion recorded.

*Motion sensor recording set off when logging into the app with my iOS device.

*App has begun crashing a couple times daily.

*Camera inaccessible for live viewing. Have had to reset the base at least twice daily to get the cameras working again.

*Video delay used to be from noon until 3pm each day but now is all day long.

[ant]

Yep, it is getting worse. 1.5 hours for me today in both iOS app and e-mail notifications. 😞

[Paltik]

Same here

[iSage]

  I'm glad you put the word "engineering team" in quotes, because I feel the same way. Either there is NO engineering team at all, or they are not trained enough to know what is wrong or how to fix it, because this has been going on for MONTHS now since the forced December 2015 updates, and gets worse and worse daily...

   And please Netgear board moderatorJamesC -- no more stock "form" replies on how the "...Arlo engineer team is working on it..."  Telling us (your paying customers who bought your product/service in good faith) that, is akin to that old saying, "Your check is in the mail" - it's nothing more than a delay tactic, an empty promise, and a cliche for a lie.  
    Totally demeaning to me and others.  I realize that you were told to tell us this, but does Netgear think we are all idiots and fools???

   IF there were truly an "engineering team" working on this, then where did they get their training and degree?  I have been complaining for weeks and weeks, as have all the others in this thread as well as other threads here, and nothing has been done to fix it at all.  It actually justs worse with each passing day. I shouldn't have to keep a log with times that I get a push alerts, to then check and see if I also got the email as well as if the video is in my library!

   I left my home at 9:34am (east coast time) this morning to go to a doctor's appointment located one state away from where I live.  Walking out of my front door and driving my car out of my garage set off the motion in two of my cameras as it should have - and believe it or not, I actually got the 2 emails and the videos appeared in my library right away.  BUT..... while on the way to the doctor's office as well as  while sitting in in the doctor's office, I got several push alerts for motion detected on all 3 of my cameras - a total of 9 push alerts!  That was around 10:30am to about 11:00am.  It is now HOURS later at 3:15pm and I still have NO IDEA WHAT SET OFF ANY OF MY 3 CAMERAS!  I still have NOT gotten ANY of the 9 emails and do not have any of those 9 videos in my library!! 

   So, HOW is this "SECURITY"??? I spent $450.00 when I didn't have to spend any money at all, to get the same results!  

    Your product does NOT perform as advertised, and you have hoodwinked anyone who has ever spent a dime on any ARLO cam.  I bought your product because a trusted company site (CNET) gave it such a good review.  I need to write to CNET now and let them know exactly what is going on, and give them a link to these boards. 

   My neighbor, who bought his ARLO cams right after I bought mine, has the best idea of all - he said maybe a class-action suit would get it fixed sooner, or at least some remediation for all of us who paid for "security" we are not getting.

[frankpgh]

Today my email alerts are over an hour late, as well as my library entries.  I'm paying for premium service that is not acceptable.  I bought a product not working as promised.  You should provide a credit to those of us paying for premium service and impacted by this problem, as we do not have much other recourse.

Also, I want a notification when you update my firmware or software.  

[jkmail]

I am having the same problem . Right now they are just expensive wall hangers. No good for srecurity. 

[Texasmorrell]

 Yes mine is doing the exact same thing. Something will trigger the camera and I will get an instant alert on my iPad but when I go to check the library there's nothing there. It usually shows up a few hours later. I'm also getting motion alerts even though there is nothing to set up the camera. My  cameras are also set up to record 10 second intervals but they will record 2 1/2 minutes or longer for no reason. Please Arlo fix this problem and stop just saying you're going to fix it. 

[singlet]

This same problem has started happening to me recently. Sometimes I get push notification and no video is recorded, or I get neither push nor video. Kinda makes the system useless. 

On a slightly different topic; Has the system sensitivity been changed recently as on one camera I am not getting recording of my dog which I used to? and yes the batteries are fully charged.

[DougL]

Same issue here... Arlo has such rave reviews. but Im very dissapointed with the reliability

[singlet]

For me this issue is relatively new. Previously I never had missing or late video's

[bbrown72212]

I too am having issues getting emails and videos.  I could see from the first page that someone was outside the house and I got a push text message.  Problem is NO VIDEO in the library.  Today is the 18th and the last video in my library is from the 1st.  That's really odd because the library should contain only 7 days.  This would be a really great system if it worked but I'm really disappointed at the performance.  I trusted this system because Netgear is associated with it but judging from the other people experiencing the same issues my trust has been misplaced.

[Z28CPA]

So about a dozen people commenting with this issue.  Mods, what is the status?

[iSage]

---

Z28CPA wrote:

So about a dozen people commenting with this issue.  Mods, what is the status?

---

   Hi Z28CPA,

    Read through this entire thread discussion, starting here: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Motion-Detection/Email-Alerts-Video-Recordings-Not-Getting-or-Getti...   - I'm the original poster. I started this thread 15 days ago on Feb. 3, 2016.

    You'll see the "form" reply that we always get from the Netgear mods, no matter what is being reported as a problem.  The same standard reply has been posted to other threads with the same reports of no emails and videos not showing up as well.  Going on for about a month now.

   And just to update with my own problems with my ARLO cams, it is now 10 hours and I'm still missing 9 emails and their videos for which I received 9 push alerts when I was away from home today.  If you could see the logs I started keeping 16 days ago (I write down the exact time I get a push alert, then I write down when and IF I get the email and video), you'll see I am missing DOZENS of emails and DOZENS of videos that never showed up at all - period!  And you'll also see how many emails and videos that I do get, arrive hours late when they arrive at all.

[Z28CPA]

Maybe this guy should know what the "engineering team" is doing:

Mark Merrill 
Chief Technology Officer
Our co-founder Mark Merrill currently serves NETGEAR as Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Mark continues to guide the emerging market efforts and work closely with the RF engineering team to ensure technical leadership of our wireless networking products. Previously, Mr. Merrill served as our Senior Vice President, Advanced Engineering from May 2013 to January 2015 and as our Chief Technology Officer from January 2003 to April 2013. From September 1999 to January 2003, he served as Vice President of Engineering and served as Director of Engineering from September 1995 to September 1999.

Mark Merrill, Netgear Incorporated mmerrill@netgear.com

Maybe a few dozen emails...

[hackemate]

I have one more day left to return this product. From my personal experience and the posts I see here, it seems like I should return this, so called "surveillance system". does anybody recommend another system out there with this concept that actually works?

[pnickel]

Obviously this is a systemic issue given the number of folks who are having problems..I have over $1000 invested in this system and $130 of annual cloud fees.  This is unacceptable.  I agree that we deserve more than the standard response and that this issue needs to elevated above our moderators level.  We should also be getting some type of notification from Netgear about the cause of this issue and its resolution timetable.  Netgear is selling alarm systems that DO NOT WORK reliably..what does this say about Netgears business model..  Let's go Netgear!  Your customers have LOTS of money on the line and invested in your technology and expect you to provide the support required to make this system work!  We had lots of choices of systems but chose your products because of your reputation..it's time you lived up to your standards!

[frankpgh]

From what I can tell, most of their business comes from Amazon.  My next stop is to find the Arlo items on Amazon and start commenting/reviewing and giving appropriate negative ratings.  That's really the only way to impact this - hit the wallet.  I suggest you all do the same.  

[Schorschi]

Ring is beginning to sell their standalone camera “stick up cam“ these days. Cloud storage is $3 per month per camera though (or $30 per year). Similar concept to Arlo, ie. totally wireless, with a rechargeable battery inside, night vision. But, I don't think they have schedules (yet?) and no live view. Footage is only recorded if a motion event occurs. Don't know much else about it, certainly have no personal experience.

[pnickel]

I have a ring too..great battery life, easy to charge, it has sound however..so far you cannot turn the camera on remotely.  It has to detect a motion or someone press the button in order for you to see images..once they fix this I think they will have a better system..and you are correct the cloud fee is much less and so far very reliable..

[Z28CPA]

Wallet is already filled:

Executive Profile*
C. S. Lo
Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,Netgear Inc.
Age Total Calculated Compensation This person is connected to 9 board members in 2 different organizations across 2 different industries.

See Board Relationships
58 $2,777,550
As of Fiscal Year 2014

[Insecure2]

I am also having this problem. I've had the cameras less than a week and am considering returning them. I've had a break-in and break-in attempt and need a security system that actually provides security. I spent a long time on the phone with "tech support" trying to fix issues, but they were unable to resolve any of these and other problems. Very frustrating!