HomeKit Token Reset for VMB4300r3

[paul_lambert]

I just purchased 4 Arlo Essential XL cameras and have added them to my VMB4300 base station so that I can see them in HomeKit. Since I couldn’t see them, I removed the base station from HomeKit and tried to re-add from the Arlo app by going to Settings > My Devices > Base Station > HomeKit. The app just sits there and does nothing!!! It seems the only way to fix this is by creating a post on the community site and ask for a token reset! Very disappointing. 

Please generate a new token for my Base Station. 

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

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

[paul_lambert]

Thanks James. That worked.

Is Arlo planning to improve this reset/reconnect process at all, especially given the release of Thread and Matter? I spent a total of an hour trying to reconnect Arlo in the app and searching the web until I stumbled across several people complaining about a similar issue in this forum. Even if Arlo would include a message in the app explaining what needed to be done and even providing a link to the appropriate forum. That would have saved a lot of people a lot of time.

In the world of smart home automation, it's cumbersome to have to work with various vendor-specific apps. That is why HomeKit, and to a lesser extent Alexa and Google, are more convenient to interact with various smart home devices. I don't want to see just my Arlo cameras in isolation, I want to see all my cameras along with all of the devices that are near them to quickly interact with them. It is this lack of interoperability that have stopped me from expanding with Arlo and prevented me from recommending it to friends or colleagues. Hopefully, Matter changes things for Arlo and Netgear.