Arlo Pro 2, HomeKit setup issues

[Holford]

Brand new Arlo Pro 2 & base-station cannot connect to / discover HomeKit, out of the box.

I've been through phone-support twice since receiving my Arlo Pro 2 cameras on Thursday night, but am hoping I can expedite the solution as I'm now waiting for a Tier 2 support person to call me back as none were available tonight...

How the issue manifests:

After setting-up both Arlo Pro 2 cameras & Hub (VMB4500r2) via the Arlo app on my iPhone, I went to setup the HomeKit integration via the Hub's settings. However, I perpetually see the 'Discovering your device. Please wait.' screen instead.

Troubleshooting steps taken:

• Reboot Arlo Hub (via app & power-cycle)
• Reboot Arlo Pro 2 cameras (via app & power-cycle)
• Reboot home WiFi (via management app & power-cycle)
• Soft-reset iPhone
• Uninstall & re-install Arlo app
• Use second iOS device (iPad Pro)
• Restart Apple HomeKit Home Hubs (Apple TV, iPad Pro, and HomePod)
• Confirm all Apple hardware is up-to-date with software
• Confirm all Arlo hardware is up-to-date with software & firmware
• Confirm all devices are on same WiFi network
• Confirm all existing (25+) HomeKit devices are connected & responding
• Place cameras, Hub, and iPhone within inches of each other
• Leave iPhone on above 'Discovering your device...' screen for 30-45 minutes

Arlo support experience:

I've been on two different phone calls with Arlo support, which (to be honest) has not been fantastic. I've spent about 90mins on the phone on two different days, and spent about 50-60mins of that on hold. I've repeated all the steps numerous times, and the very first email follow-up I've received just tells me to follow the KB article on how to set-up HomeKit... 

I'm now waiting for a Tier 2 support engineer to call me back 'within a few days' as none were apparently available tonight.

I've done plenty of my own research both here, as well as on the /r/arlo subreddit, and it does appear this is a known issue with a number of Arlo Pro 2 kits, wherein the Hub needs a new Apple HomeKit Certificate issued remotely, with many saying they can have this resolved once this is confirmed within 20mins.

I'm hoping that someone (perhaps the fabled JamesC of this support forum) can help me in resolving this...

Many thanks for any help you wonderful people can give!

[JamesC]

tbraswell2,

If you're still experiencing an issue, please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[Robfrg]

Hi, please could you issue a reset token to me too same problem as everyone else with HomeKit. 

[ollieollie]

Sam issue for me jamesC if you could reset thanks

[Lisocayman]

I’m having the same issues. Spinning wheel when discovering device . Can you please send a reset token to my base station? All firmwares are up to date.

[baudi]

Same issue. Please send me the token reset

tnx

Stefan

[JamesC]

Robfrg, ollieollie, Lisocayman, baudi

I've sent a token reset request to your base station that should resolve the issue. Please reboot your base station (remove and reapply power) allow the base station to come back online and try setting up HomeKit again using these instructions: How do I connect my Arlo camera to Apple HomeKit?

JamesC

[Janddroh]

Same issue, hope the “magic” token reset can work... can U please?

[JamesC]

Janddroh,

I've sent a token reset request to your base station that should resolve the issue. Please reboot your base station (remove and reapply power) allow the base station to come back online and try setting up HomeKit again using these instructions: How do I connect my Arlo camera to Apple HomeKit?

JamesC

[Scharfed]

Hi James. Could you send me a token as well? I am having the same issue as others in this thread.

Thank you!

[JamesC]

Scharfed,

I've sent a token reset request to your base station that should resolve the issue. Please reboot your base station (remove and reapply power) allow the base station to come back online and try setting up HomeKit again using these instructions: How do I connect my Arlo camera to Apple HomeKit?

JamesC

[billschultz]

Hey James,

Can I please get the token reset for my base station as well. Been trying to get HomeKit to work unsuccessfully for some time now and luckily just stumbled upon this thread.

Thank you,

Bill

[JamesC]

billschultz,

I've sent a token reset request to your base station that should resolve the issue. Please reboot your base station (remove and reapply power) allow the base station to come back online and try setting up HomeKit again using these instructions: How do I connect my Arlo camera to Apple HomeKit?

JamesC

[billschultz]

Thank you James. That worked perfectly!

[Lisocayman]

This still didn't work after power cycling the base station and my iPhone.  I've been trying for months.  What is the next option? 

[JamesC]

Lisocayman,

If you're still experiencing an issue, please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[Jeb269]

Dear JamesC
I’m having similar issues here with with message “discovering your device” spinning wheel stuck forever when trying to link up with HomeKit. I understand you are able to help - please let me know what can I do? Many thanks

[JamesC]

Jeb269,

Please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[PSNeo]

Hi James,

I seem to be having the same issue as others when trying to setup HomeKit.  Would you be able to send a reset token tome as well?

Thanks

[JamesC]

PSNeo,

I've sent a token reset request to your base station that should resolve the issue. Please reboot your base station (remove and reapply power) allow the base station to come back online and try setting up HomeKit again using these instructions: How do I connect my Arlo camera to Apple HomeKit?

JamesC

[PSNeo]

Thank you James!  Everything is working as expected now.

[dezi]

Hi JamesC,

I have the token reset a month ago and it worked great since. However, recently I find out Arlo is longer linked with HomeKit.

When I go to Base and HomeKit setup, I perpetually see the 'Discovering your device. Please wait.' screen instead.

Tried many times of RESET and unplug the base.

Help please.

[JamesC]

dezi,

If you're still experiencing an issue, please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[CLBArlo]

Hi James,

Please can you reset my token, same problem as everyone else.

[Jetboi]

James, could you please help rest mine as well? My current devices have stopped working with HomeKit and I cannot re add them.

Thank you 🙂

[Robfrg]

Hi - the reset worked but there seems to a wider issue with this,  Personally HomeKit was working fine, I went to check it on HomeKit and it had stopped working, I don’t know why, I removed the cameras from HomeKit hoping I could just re-add them. This is when I found that it was impossible to do so. You kindly sent the reset and was able to complete the HomeKit setup again and it’s working again. 

However there are a couple of niggling concerns I have about this, the first this, there is a known issue that can’t be resolved locally and the only way to resolve it was to luckily find this thread. The second is that it was possible for you to remotely reset the HomeKit token, this to me poses a potential security risk, if you can reset the bad token on a remote device - can the same process be used to invalidate a good token and what other APIs are available to you remotely?

This really doesn’t feel like the right way to be dealing with what looks like a growing problem judging by the requests on this thread alone.