Arlo and HomeKit - Cameras not responding

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Case Description

Im having issues with live streaming on Apple Homekit. Ive had these issues for about a month.

Everything is working as expected in the IOS Arlo App and in the web interface, with an accepatable delay of 2-3 seconds.

I connected the system to Homekit and can view the cameras on my Apple TV and IOS Devices, but the cameras are not responding and are likely timing out.. From what i understand these timeouts or failed connections, can occur if two or more devices are trying to stream from the same camera at the same time. After a complete reset im able to stream from the camera for a couple of seconds, and then it just stops completely and im not able to reconnect to it.

I have tried the following:

- Reset the ARLO System.

- Bought a new Smarthub (vmb5000r6).

- Removed the existing "home" in HomeKit, and created a new one.

- Restarted the Smarthub and Apple TV device and Router (all devices are on ethernet).

Does anyone have any other suggestions to what i can try or is it something that im missing about how it works ?

Would you recognize this as a common problem ?

Is it something that can be fixed or is it just poor compability with HomeKit that is causing the issues ?

Also: Where is HomeKit receiving the stream from, Locally from Smarthub or Arlo servers ?

Would it help to reset the HomeKit Token again ?

I hope someone can clearify these questions for me and others! Thank you.

[JamesC]

Segb,

I haven't heard widespread complaints of this issue. Do you only experience this behavior after streaming with Apple TV? What happens after you try to initiate a second stream after the successful 2-3 second attempt? Do you see any error messages?

JamesC

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If i start streaming from the official arlo app everything works fine within that app, but the problem is still occuring in all of the HomeKit devices (apple tv, ios, macos). There are no visible error messages other than that it stops trying to connect (likely due to timeout).

If i restart everything (router, arlo base, etc) it starts working for a couple of seconds, and then the problem returns..

I have seen other older threads on this forum about HomeKit connectivity issues, but i have not found them helpful.

Any suggestions ?

Do you know the answer to this quesiton: Where is HomeKit receiving the stream from, Locally from Smarthub or Arlo servers ?

The more i know about the system, would help me to troubleshoot it myself

Thanks

[arb1]

Was there a resolution to this issue? I am having the exact same problem - none of my Arlo cameras responding in the Apple Home app (wired doorbell, Ultra 2, Pro 4 and Pro 3 Floodlight cameras).

I also reset the Arlo system, removed all the Arlo devices from the Apple Home app, removed the existing Rooms and Home in the Home app, deleted the Home app (twice), downloaded the Home app anew (twice), created new Home and Rooms twice, one time I added the Arlo devices from within the Apple Home app, another time added the Arlo devices from within the Arlo app.

Both respective times that I added the Arlo devices to the Home app in this troubleshooting process, all the cameras responded and worked fine for a moment in the Home app, but then stopped responding altogether again.  This problem is occurring the same using an iPhone, iPad, McBook and Apple TV.

While all the above described problem is ongoing in the Apple Home app (and not streaming at the same time from the Arlo app), the cameras are working fine within the Arlo app itself.

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So far the only response (through arlo support) have been to reset the homekit token, and re-add the devices to homekit. I have tried this several times earlier, and it works for a moment (like you have experienced).

All my involved devices are connected through ethernet cables, which should remove any wifi related issues. All cameras also have good range and smarthub should not be in a noisy environment. Everything works as expected in the official arlo app as well.

No one has answered my question where the stream is coming from (directly from arlo base or through arlo servers). If the latter i would guess bad compability with homekit (which arlo will likely never admit to..).

[arb1]

My Arlo smarthub (VMB5000) is also connected through ethernet with good separation from any electronic interference. All the involved cameras show connections at good or max signal strength.  Bandwidth and speed are also excellent.  Thank you for your response.

If anyone from Arlo is monitoring this discussion, please take note to help resolve. Bad Arlo compatibility with HomeKit seems obvious. Appropriate workable camera access in HomeKit is a great complement (when it works) to using these expensive cameras, as HomeKit provides immediate and simultaneous access to live feed (usually at all cameras, but at least at four or five of the cameras if not all the seven cameras I have, which includes the video doorbell), again when the cameras work momentarily in HomeKit, which is a crucial reason (ready access to live feed) for purchasing these cameras.  Otherwise, in the Arlo app, it takes a long time to refreshen the live feed at one camera, let alone two or more cameras.  By the way, HomeKit worked fine for several weeks after I purchased the Arlo cameras over four months ago, until this problem developed over the last several weeks.   Now HomeKit is not working at all in any of the apple devices, unless I go through another iteration of removing and re-connecting HomeKit again, only to work for a couple of hours until the cameras stop responding again. Arlo, please help. 

Is anyone from Arlo going to respond and investigate this issue?

[JamesC]

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Do you have a support ticket number I can reference for this issue?

arb1,

I recommend using the Arlo mobile app to contact support and open a ticket concerning this. If you need further assistance, please provide me with the ticket number and I will escalate further. You can find support contact options within the Arlo mobile app under Settings > Support.

JamesC

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The case number was 00457468.

Also can you do a token reset again please?

Thank you!

[JamesC]

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

[arb1]

Likewise on my end, can you do another token reset on my smarthub as well?  After the last token reset in July, the cameras worked well in HomeKit for a short while, and then continued having the same issue intermittently...cameras/sensors not responding in Homekit. Thank you

[arb1]

By the way, my case number then was 43110020.  After closing the case back around 7/29/22, the problem returned intermittently, sometimes the cameras respond, sometimes they don't, sometimes they work in HomeKit on iPhone but not on the iPad or Mac, etc.

[JamesC]

arb1,

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

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Homekit stopped working again after a couple of days.

It was not configured in the Arlo ios App anymore. When trying to configure homekit again, the smartbase doesnt appear in the list..

I need a new token reset...

[JamesC]

Segb,

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

[LímbicResonse]

I just had this problem and it was fixed on one basestation by a restart.  On a second basestation, it took a restart and then a change to the basestation name to fix.

[pipvan]

I also have an Arlo setup with three battery cameras functioning on an Arlo HomeBase connected to Apple HomeKit. However, I have spent way too much time trying to add Arlo essentials indoor cameras to the system. They don’t work and the software cannot even locate any Arlo device, new or old on my system. And, there is no code to setup the cameras directly using HomeKit. Not recommended. Better use a different vendor. 

[LímbicResonse]

Correction: My solution worked for a few minutes, but I could not reproduce the results. 

[StephenB]

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@pipvan wrote:

 However, I have spent way too much time trying to add Arlo essentials indoor cameras to the system. They don’t work and the software cannot even locate any Arlo device, new or old on my system. 

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Not sure if you are talking about onboarding the essentials indoor camera to your Arlo account, or getting it to work with homekit.

If you mean homekit, the cameras need to be connected through a compatible Arlo hub - is that what you have set up?

[LímbicResonse]

My system is back up and running.  Here is what it took:  I first removed the basestation and cameras from HomeKit in my ios and the Arlo app, and then did a factory reset to the basestation, and then resynced the cameras with it while the basestation was connected directly to the router.   Once it was working, I then moved the basestation and cameras to their intended location, which was on another node on my mesh system.  

I had tried the same steps above and found that if I moved the basestation to the mesh node before adding it in HomeKit, HomeKit could not find it on the network even though it was working through the app.