Why Arlo Camera Won’t Connect? Complete Fix Guide

If your Arlo camera won’t connect, then there is something wrong either with your base station or your mobile application.

There are a few essential things that you need to ensure before you connect the Arlo cameras to the app.

This is why in this post we’ll go over the entire process and locate where exactly is your problem.

If the application does not recognize your cameras, you would need to make sure that the base station is connected first. Next, you need to make sure the cameras are blinking in blue, which means that they are discoverable, and make sure there is no problem with your account.

These are only the main troubleshooting methods and there is much more that you can do.

Before we proceed with the actual solutions, it’s better if you first take a look at the possibilities.

Why Arlo Camera Won’t Connect To App?

There are quite a few reasons why your cameras would not be discovered by the app and below we’ve prepared a list with the most common causes.

Take a quick look before you begin to get an idea of what you might be dealing with:

1. Glitched Application

Sometimes the application on your mobile phone might simply get broken, and all you would need is to reinstall it.

2. Not Connected to WiFi

Your Arlo cameras will NOT be able to connect to the 5 GHz network. You need to use a 2.4 GHz network and make sure that ALL, your base station, phone, and camera/s are connected to it.

3. Base Station Issue

Maybe something went wrong with the base station. All it takes to solve temporary problems would be a hard reset.

4. Out of WiFi Range

ALL of your devices have to be in the range of your WiFi router.

5. Cameras Timed Out

Cameras have about 2 minutes to connect to Wi-Fi after pressing the SYNC button. If the cameras were not able to connect within the time, they would time out.

Even if the possibilities are just a few, there are twice as many solutions, so let’s jump right in!

How To Fix When Arlo Essential Camera Won’t Connect?

First, things first. We’ll start this troubleshooting guide from its foundation.

This is why it’s strongly recommended NOT to skip any of the solutions so you can identify where the problem is and resolve it with ease.

Solution #1 Use 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi On ALL Devices

For the entire setup to work and your cameras to be discoverable you’ll need to make sure that your router is emitting 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi instead of 5 GHz because your cameras won’t connect.

First, your smartphone should NOT be using a cellular or 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

It should be connected to a 2.4 GHz network so your camera can pop up in the list.

Here is how to set up a 2.4 GHz network:

• Take any computer that you can use.
• Open your router’s control panel (insert “192.168.0.1” in your web browser).
• Log in your router’s control panel with (admin/admin or admin/password).
• Head to Advanced Settings > WiFi settings.
• Click on Set Up New WiFi.
• Make sure to select the 2.4 GHz Frequency.
• Create the WiFi and connect your base station and smartphone to it.

Press the SYNC button on your camera so it can be discoverable and try to discover it through the mobile application.

If the camera is still not there, proceed with the next solution.

Solution #2 Re-Install The Mobile Application

Maybe something went wrong in the application itself. This is why the best thing you can do is re-install it before proceeding any further to make sure the app is freshly installed.

Follow the steps below to re-install the application:

1. Delete the application from your smartphone.
2. Go to the Dedicated app store on iOS or Android.
3. Search for the app (it’s called Arlo).
4. Download the app and log in.

Once you’ve reinstalled the app you should now press the SYNC button on the camera again, and test if it will pop up in the device’s list.

Tip: Since this is the last step in which we’ll be targeting your smartphone, it’s recommended to restart the device itself now, to make sure it’s now an OS glitch.

Solution #3 Hard Reset The Base Station

If something is wrong with the base station, then your Arlo camera will not be able to connect to the smart application.

In that regard, the next step would be to hard reset (power cycle) the device.

This type of reset will discharge the device, providing a cold boot and hopefully, your issue will disappear.

Here is how to hard reset your base station:

1. Take a sharp object, since the reset button is located in a small hole.
2. Locate the reset button hole on the back of the base station.
3. Reach inside using the sharp object and hold the reset button for about 10 seconds.
4. When the LED turns into a solid green, press on the Arlo icon on your mobile app.
5. Tap on New System Setup.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Tip: You can also visit my.arlo.com to set up your base station.

Once the base station has been reset, you can now go back to your camera, press the SYNC button and check if it will connect now.

If it still does not appear under the Devices tab, proceed with the next solution.

Solution #4 Remove & Re-Add ALL Devices From The Account

If your Arlo essential spotlight camera won’t connect it could be because there is another device connected beforehand.

Sometimes the second camera might not be discovered since there is another one already connected.

In that regard, you should remove ALL devices (including the base) and re-add them at once.

Here is how to remove devices from your Arlo account:

1. In the application go to the Settings.
2. Choose My Devices.
3. Select ALL devices including your base station.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
5. Tap on Remove Device and confirm by pressing Yes.

The most important device to remove is the base station. If removed ALL other Arlo devices will be automatically disconnected which will allow re-adding them cleanly.

When you’re ready press on Add New Device and begin with the base station. Then try to connect the problematic camera first and then any other device.

Solution #5 Re-Log From Your Account & Reboot Modem

Since many users have reported that after contacting the customer service of Arlo, they ended up rebooting their modem and re-login in their account, you should do so as well.

It’s possible that your network is overwhelming or maybe your router is overheating. This is why a good old power cycle gets the job done.

Here is how to power cycle your router:

1. Press the power button on the back of your router.
2. Unplug the power adapter from the outlet.
3. Wait for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Plug it back in and turn on your router.

Once your smartphone has connected to the restarted Wi-Fi, log out of your Arlo account and log in again. Then check if your camera will be discovered.

Note: You should consider moving your camera closer to the Wi-Fi router. If you’re too far away your camera unit might not be able to connect.

Arlo Camera Still Not Connecting…

If you’ve tried ALL of our solutions and nothing worked, well, you can now confidently call the Arlo customer service and ask for help.

Make sure to share everything you’ve tried because if nothing worked then there might be something wrong with your account.

Note: If you’re using the Arlo trial period, the support team will definitely refuse to help you since the trial is well-known to produce problems when connecting devices.

Read Next: Why Is Arlo Camera Not Detecting Motion?

Bottom Line:

Now that you know the reasons why Arlo camera won’t connect to the application or WiFi, you should be able to resolve the problem using one of our solutions.

However, if anything goes wrong no matter what you’re trying, you can always reach out for help from the customer support team.

We hope that our post was helpful and to find more guides such as this one, go ahead and check our technical blog.