CVR timeline for Ultra cameras looks like Swiss cheese + ‘getting information’ mode - related?!?

[n1976jmk]

Good evening all, was reaching out for some advise.

I’ve been using my Arlo ultra 2 camera setup for about 3 weeks with up and down experiences.

I’ve learned so much along the way as well!

The biggest I can’t seem to resolve is almost all the time when I leave my house and my iPhone switches from WiFi to cellular connection then within 30 minutes or less my Arlo app ‘armed’ mode goes from working to ‘getting information’. Or if I’m getting to work and my iPhone switches from cellular connection to WiFi then the same thing with my Arlo app ‘armed’ mode going to ‘getting connection’.

The way I have been handling it.

Either force close the Arlo app but that only fixes it 1 or 2 times out of 10.

What I normally do it fix it is restart the base station from the app and once and I while I have to use my HomeKit outlet that the basestation is plugged into to turn off power and turn power back on for a cold boot.

Anyone else experience these issues and were able to resolve them?

I want my Arlo system to just work.


Thanks all!!!

[JamesC]

n1976jmk,

Do you see any other error messages when this happens? Does the app report that it does not have an internet connection?

JamesC

[n1976jmk]

Hi James thanks for responding the app does not report any error messages or display any messages anywhere that state it has no Internet connection. hi James thanks for responding the app does not report any error messages or display any messages anywhere that states it has no Internet connection

Additionally I’m using Apple HomeKit ecobee thermostat in August lock apps which are all working fine connected at the same house while the Arlo app is not functioning until I restart the Base station.

thanks and looking forward to your help !!!

[n1976jmk]

Good evening everyone!

On my Apple iPhone using Arlo app the mode tab shows 'getting information' quite often.  While it shows 'getting information' instead of 'armed' then the app will not report motion via 'push notifications' or record the motion event.  For example, if I do not open the Arlo app for 2 hours and if it was stuck on 'getting information' under the mode section that means my Arlo system missed sending me notifications and recording the motion events.

If I force close the app sometimes it fixes it.  Sometimes it does not and I have to restart the base station via the app and finally sometimes when I try to reboot the base station it will not let me and message states the cameras are 'busy'.  So I turn off the smart plug I have connected to the Base station to hard boot it.

What can i do to stop this from happening?

The Arlo app is up to date and I have the firewall on my Verizon FIOS router G1100 turned off for testing to see if that was the issue.

Thank you to anyone that can help!!!!!

[n1976jmk]

Good evening all, I wanted to attempt to completely rule out that my Verizon FIOS router G1100 is not causing any of my 'getting information' mode issues.

1 - I assigned my Arlo base station a static reserved address in the router.

2 - for testing purposes I added the Arlo base station as the DMZ in the Verizon router 

3 - I see a bunch of the same lines in the security logs showing traffic is being blocked.  Can someone confirm if that is my cameras?  I know the MAC address listed in the security log does not match base station.

Thank you everyone in advance!!!

(3 screenshots below)

static IP reservation for Arlo base stationArlo base station added as DMZFIOS router security log

[michaelkenward]

---

@n1976jmk wrote:

(3 screenshots below)

---

These take time to land, unlike files attached to messages.

---

@n1976jmk wrote:

Good evening all, I wanted to attempt to completely rule out that my Verizon FIOS router G1100 is not causing any of my 'getting information' mode issues.

I would start with this before messing around with routers. You should not have to get into exotic router settings for these things to work.

Is that what you are talking about in this message?

Arlo iOS app - 'getting information' mode - help!!... - Arlo Communities

Life can get very complicated if you set too many hares running here.

[n1976jmk]

Screenshot #1 - Arlo base station static IP reserved

[n1976jmk]

Screenshot #2 - Arlo base station assigned as DMZ in Verizon FIOS router G1100

[n1976jmk]

Screenshot #3 - Verizon FIOS router security logs

[n1976jmk]

Good morning Michael, thank you for your reply!!

I just added 3 replies to my thread with the screenshots attached.

Thank you!!

[JamesC]

n1976jmk,

"Getting Information" indicates the app is trying to pull the current state of the SmartHub. This is normal to see after opening the app, but after a short time should show the active mode.

When your app gets "stuck" showing getting status, what is the LED behavior on your SmartHub?

JamesC

[n1976jmk]

A small background, I have owned an Arlo ultra 2 camera system since Father's day and looking at with fond excited for at least 18 months before that.

But ever since I set it up there has been issue after issue that have been hard to resolve and some I could not resolve no matter what I did and make the system practically useless.

But since about 3 hours ago the system is finally working great!  Here is what I did after chatting a lot these forums, with Arlo customer support chat, and Verizon FIOS customer support chat.

1 - remove all Arlo devices from my app (2 ultra cameras, door chime, door bell and base station).

2 - reset Ultra base station back to factory settings

3 - deleted Arlo app from iPhone and restarted phone

4 - remove Arlo settings from Apple iCloud

5 - factory reset the Verizon FIOS G1100 router back to factory settings

6 - re-connected iPhone to Verizon FIOS wifi

7 - downloaded Arlo app again from App store

8 - starting with the Ultra base station start to re-pair once device at a time (what I had in my favor - the 2 cameras were on exterior power only so I did not need to go on any ladders and move the 2 cameras).  Simply pulled the plug from the outlet, once I was ready to sync each device I plugged it back into power.

Ever since completing all these steps above (above 1.5 to 2 hours) everything has worked perfect!!!

And no more 'getting information' on Arlo iPhone app for the mode instead of 'armed'. YAY

I understand the sceptism some may have but I can say this has been the best 3 hours thus far with my Arlo system.  I will report back daily and then weekly on this thread on how my Arlo system continues to perform.

Thank you to everyone for your PM's and discussion thread posts since I have joined these boards!

r/

Jonathan

[n1976jmk]

1. Hi James, thank you for your reply.  Kindly see my latest thread post in this Ultra forum!

Have a nice day!

[n1976jmk]

Good afternoon JamesC and all, I made a post earlier this week when I was expierencing a lot of issues with my Arlo Ultra 2 camera system and was thankfully able to resolve them all!

After I removed all devices from my acount, factory reset the Ultra base station, factory reset my Verizon FIOS router everything worked nearly flawless.  

****But unfourtunately that only lasted a day.***

The Arlo iOS app mode went back to 'getting information' and during those times it would not send push notifications of motion or record the motion or send me the smart notififcations or record the smart notifications.  

To try to troubleshoot further, I removed the Arlo app from my iPhone so I had Arlo apps associated with my account and set the 'arm' mode to send me emails in addition.  I wanted to test and see if my Arlo iPhone app was causing the issue.

After those changes, I would receive Arlo emails with motion and smart notifications.

But I continued expierencing issues.  The emails for motion stopped coming in.  Then I would log into Arlo web portal and go to 'mode' and see from the web portal it would be showing 'getting information'.  During that time I would physically look at the Ultra Base station and it had a solid blue light on it.

I had to restart the base station via the app or use my 'smart' plug and turn power off/wait/turn power on when the base station restart option wasn't available from the web portal.  

Then everything would work for a few to 8 hours and then need a reboot again (basically same behavior when I had the Arlo app on my iPhone).

I have an Ecobee thermostat, August smart lock, Koogee smart plug, water detectors, door alarms all smart devices and Homekit all of them work fine all of the time except for the Arlo system.

So right now I am kind of at a loss for words.

Can someone please provide guidance?

thank you!

[n1976jmk]

I posted yesterday about continued ‘getting information’ mode issue instead of staying in ‘armed’ mode.

This morning I took a look at my timeline on one of my CVR camera and it looks like Swiss cheese (attached screenshot).

Is this related to my mode switching to ‘getting information’ from ‘armed’.

Also, I would love if someone who works for Arlo is on here who look at my system from Arlo’s end to tell me where my issue is.

I appreciate it everyone!!!!

Jonathan

[n1976jmk]

I just finished speaking to Arlo technical support on the phone.  They stated they are aware of the 'getting information' mode issue and the mode not staying 'armed'.  They said this is because I am running my 2 cameras on AC power and not battery.

They said an update is coming out soon to address it that will fix the issue.

And temporary work around would to be to remove my AC power and run on battery only since running on battery only the 'getting information' mode would stop happening. 

[n1976jmk]

Good evening all, I just got off the phone with Arlo technican support.

I went over EVERYTHING with them I have done up to date over these last 3 to 4 weeks and constantly having the 'getting information' on my 'mode' from 'armed'.

They stated it was a known issue and fix would be coming out.

The case they opened for me is attached.

***Spoiler alert***

This is what the put in my case:-

Advised of known issue 10500 - that the cameras will detect the motion intermittently if they are being operated on the AC power adapter

Thanks all! 

[JamesC]

n1976jmk,

Given the troubleshooting you've already done on this issue. I encourage you to contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

[n1976jmk]

Hi @JamesC , I did contact Arlo tech support via chat finally yesterday afternoon (Sunday).  Arlo tech support via the phone yesterday told me there was a known issue with using the Arlo Ultra cameras with AC power which causes them not to report motion and my mode to go from 'armed' to 'getting information'.  There recommended work around while this was being fixed is to go back to using batteries in my cameras and not AC power.

They stated Arlo engeering was working on a fix already for this known issue and it would be released in a few days but they weren't able to specify to me if it was a firmware update or an app update.

The other interesting part in the case # they put 'advised CX of known issue 10500 - that the cameras will detect motion intermittently if they are being operated on AC power adapter. @JamesC can you help confirm this at all?

They gave me a case # which is 409799946.

thank you!

[n1976jmk]

Good evening admins and employees, I was searching the Arlo community forum recently and I see a few years back many of the Arlo employees were on this community and able to tell people what the status was of their system from Arlo's end to assist them to fix the issues.

I saw forum members like @JamesC respond directly to users.

If it is true can one of the employees please help me why my app keeps going to 'getting information' in the mode and 'getting status' for the cameras which renders my system useless until i reboot the base station via the app which will only have it work properly for a few hours.  It happens most often when my iPhone switches from WiFi to LTE or vice versa.  

THANK YOU in ADVANCE!!!

[n1976jmk]

Good evening admins and employees, I have owned my Arlo Ultra 2 camera system w/door bell and door chime and 2 outdoor AC power cords for 2 months (since Fathers day 2019 on June 16 2019).

For 2 entire months I have been on these chat boards, chatted with Arlo support, called Arlo support, emailed logs to Arlo support and Arlo Level 2, looked around and found Arlo employees then messaged them on LinkedIn begging for help..  But still my issues have not been resolved.

I have 2 open cases:

-Inital case #40979946 opened on July 14

-Second case # 41003617 opened on July 26 (Executive escalation from an Arlo employee I found on LinkedIn and responded to me) 

I have an iPhone XS Max running the latest iOS 12.4 and the latest Arlo app and all my Arlo equipment has the latest firmware.

My biggiest issue I believe is when my phone switches from WiFi to LTE or vice versa most of the time the Arlo app gets upsets and my 2 cameras go to 'getting status' and the mode switches from 'armed' to 'getting information'.  When that happens my security cameras are rendered useless.  They will not send me push app notiifications, they will not send smart notifications, they will not record any motion to the library.  The way to fix it is for me to remotely reboot the base station via the app (logging in and out of my app does not fix it), force closing app does not fix it, uninstalling/reinstalling the app does not fix it, whatever you have thought of and that I did not mention does not fix it.

I have factory reset the system and it works fine for a half day/one day.  Everything you can think of I have tried.

The other thing I noticed when I run my Ultra cameras on battery power only I seem to get somewhat better stabilty of the system functioning normally but not by very much.

When I have the cameras plugged in with the outdoor AC power cords the Arlo systems works even worse than battery alone with the getting status - cameras/getting information - mode.

The funny thing is my career is in law enforcement and around security and I work commerical cameras on a daily basis.  So I know exactly what it means to troubleshoot and fix issues but not matter what I do I cannot get the Arlo system to function properly more than a day or two at very most.

Something I noticed which surpises is it seems that the phone that the Arlo app is installed on controls the whole system.  If my phone is off, or the Arlo app is misbehaving (getting status cameras/getting information mode) then no motion events are going to be captured during that time.  I would think the Arlo system should be dependent upon the base station to control all that since that is the most reliable piece in the system to act as the main controller.  

Can anyone chime in?  Am I missing something here to get my system to work more than 2 days?  Please tell me, I will not be insulted. 

Btw, the most sucess I have had so far is turning the WiFi radio off on my iPhone and use LTE exclusively so then my phone isn't switching which cause the Arlo app to stop working.   

Some people here my find me crazy for not returning the system already but Arlo seems to be the only residential company with 4k wireless cameras.  I like the company and the idea of the cameras and the system but I just need it to work more reliably.  I have many other smart home devices with no issues: August smart lock, Ecobee thermostat, door contacts, water leak detector sensors, many smart light bulbs all with no issues at all.

I have Verizon FIOS at home with the 75 Mbps down/up speed.  I can run a speed test and i get returns of about 80 Mbps down/50 Mbps up.

If you do not prefer to reply here than kindly PM me to assist.

Thank you everyone!

[LandJS]

If you've been reading this forum you know your just one of many and it seems people are losing patience with Arlo too.  This last update is like back when they had to pull them from the shelves and the farther along other companies are getting the harder it will be for them to recover.  I to have an escalated claim and haven't heard a word since.  Tried live chat a couple times but just get a "chat cancelled, no one available".  As for 4K keep in mind unless you pay extra for 4K in the cloud or use a SD card your not getting 4K anyway except for live on your own wifi and only with the phone app.  If my 6 camera system was returnable, it would be history and would become pro 2.  You wanted 4K and I wanted 180 degrees but that joy is long gone from an expensive purchase with so many issues.  But I won't call you crazy lol just wish you luck.

[Mjbeuke]

I completely empathize and support your desire to very simply - get what you paid for!!!

We are all in the same boat and unfortunately for all of us it appears that Arlo either doesn’t care - or is so cash-strapped they literally don’t have the resources to fix their grave firmware update errors....

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - until they FIRE the development team and employ people who actually know how to field test and implement firmware updates without screwing every single thing up - they, and we, are all doomed.

I’m just afraid if Arlo doesn’t up their game and get this right - they will go out of business and we are all truly left with wry expensive paperweights....

Although isn’t that what we have now anyways????

I love my Ultras when I bought them in early June.... now they suck.

And as for the Pro 2’s??? No better. I have 5 of those and a VMB4000 Base station (my first Arlo purchase in April) that have been nearly useless since a 5/21 update that causes the base station to freeze several times a day during which there’s no recordings....

I’m really truly overall disgusted with this company and their complete lack of communication and attention to glaring issues that could ruin them

[LandJS]

Mjbeuke that's it in a nutshell. Since they separated from Netgear it isn't going well and managment and people would be the big difference.  That has to do with the engineers and support.  If you know an update screwd it up, it doesn't take more than 3 weeks to fix it if you have a competant team.  My pet peave is notificaions havn't worked right when an android goes into deep sleep mode since I got mine 5 months ago and here's the thing, it's been a problem sine the oreo operating systems first update, the android developers say they won't change it but they give complete written instructions to app developers on how to make their app work with doze mode.  So arlo doesn't need to figure it out just follow the instructions.  So a class action suit or out of business is what it's looking like.

[JamesC]

n1976jmk,

Due to this issue persisting for you, this is not something we can troubleshoot from the community. Have you already contacted support about this issue? Do you have an open support ticket I can reference and request an update?

JamesC