ADC-VDB770 Doorbell + 2Gig Edge Issues

I’m having intermittent issues with my newly installed VDB770 and 2Gig Edge panel (they are supposed to be compatible according to everything I’ve read). I’ve got a 16V, 30vA doorbell transformer, installed the supplied power module in my chime, and also have great wifi connectivity at both the doorbell and panel.

It seems that I can always view the doorbell from my Alarm.com app or from the website. Where I run into problems is viewing the camera on my panel. Sometimes it works, and often times it doesn’t (just get a message on the panel saying “Device is Offline”). I’ve tried all sorts of settings, power cycles, and assigned static IPs to both the doorbell and panel to remedy this issue. I’m stumped at this point. Any ideas?

What model of router do you use?

Does your 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz network bands use the same SSID?

Is there any pattern to when it fails, and does a reboot of the panel resolve the issue temporarily every time?

It’s a Netgear Orbi mesh system. Same SSID for both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands. I haven’t really noticed a pattern yet. Even after a reboot of the panel it sometimes doesn’t work.

For instance, this morning I was able to pull the camera up on the panel. I then exited out of the video stream on the panel and then immediately tried to open it again - got the same error about the device being offline and could never get it to come back up even trying multiple times.

It’s a Netgear Orbi mesh system

It’s not an answer you will like, but we see a huge number of Orbi-related video issues and that is going to be the issue here.

Mesh networks are ill-suited to sustained LAN communication between devices. Devices get shuffled between bands and access points frequently, causing disconnects.

The camera and panel must be on the same network and same band to stream properly.

This is best accomplished with a unique 2.4Ghz network SSID.

You can use a separate router/access point with a unique 2.4Ghz SSID for the camera and panel to resolve

Isn’t this an an issue then with anyone utilizing the same SSIDs for both bands on a conventional router? Having separate SSIDs is a clunky solution.

I do have a spare router, so I guess I’ll give it a shot. Is there any way to lock out the 5ghz band on the VDB770? I look more closely at the Orbi settings and maybe there’s something I can do from that end.

To stream across a LAN, the devices must be on the same band.

Most efforts in router software is improving the internet connection experience, which a Mesh router does well, to the detriment of LAN stability.

Conventional routers sometimes offer separate solutions, limiting devices to a band or specific access point.

Orbi does not offer any work-around to my knowledge.

OK, I had a spare Apple Airport Extreme that I was able to put into bridge mode and set up a specific 2.4ghz network for these devices. Seems to be working fine now, but I’ll update after a few days. I’m optimistic that this will work.

Just wanted to report back on this one… unfortunately this solution is not working.

The camera and panel are both on their own 2.4Ghz network from the Apple Airport extreme with a good signal at both devices, but I’m still getting the same message on the panel. What’s odd is that it was working fine initially, and then just stopped. I uninstalled/reinstalled the camera from Alarm.com which fixed the problem briefly, but then it just came back again. I’ll do some looking through the Airport Extreme settings and see if there is something I can do there to improve things.

Are there known compatibility issues between the 2Gig Edge Panel and the ADC-VDB770?

There aren’t any known issues I’m aware of. Streaming to the Edge is compatible so long as the devices remain on the same band and remain connected.

Out of curiosity, do you have the “Speed up Remote Connection” option checked in Live Video settings on the website?

Try toggling that setting. Any change in behavior after?

As an update, the doorbell is now streaming to my 2gig Edge just fine at least 95% of the time. I’m relatively happy with it at this point. I’m not quite sure what changed (I did mess with a few router settings), but it seems to be serviceable at this point. I’m most likely going to view from my phone most of the time anyway, but I at least wanted the option to view it from the panel.

Thank you for the follow up. What settings did you change, if you don’t mind?

I really can’t determine any correlation to changed settings and getting it finally working. I set up the dedicated router (Apple Airport Extreme) in access point mode with 2.4 and 5ghz bands on separate SSID’s (you cannot turn off 5ghz completely on the Airport, but it will let you name them separately unlike the Orbi). Both devices are connected to the 2.4ghz network. The Orbi is still handling DHCP and has static IP address reservations set for both the 2Gig Edge and ADC-VDB770.

As for settings on the ADC-VDB770, I do have the “speed up remote connection initiation” box unchecked and image resolution is set to highest. I tried lower resolutions thinking that was perhaps causing bandwidth issues, but it really had no effect.

Here’s the latest: my ADC-VDB770 hasn’t been available on the panel for about 4 days now. I’ve power cycled the VDB770, rebooted the Edge panel, and rebooted the router with no change in behavior. The only thing roughly corresponding to this issue is that I modified some of the doorbell alerts through the alarm.com site at about the time it stopped working.

I’m really at a loss, and thinking about getting rid of this doorbell and going with something like Ring. I really wish this weren’t the case because I was also planning on adding the ADC outdoor camera, but if I jump to a different camera ecosystem then I won’t buy another ADC camera.

I’m a little unclear on your network setup.

You say:

The Orbi is still handling DHCP and has static IP address reservations set for both the 2Gig Edge and ADC-VDB770.

The Orbi shouldn’t be doing this.

The ADC-VDB770 and the Edge panel need to be on a separate stable LAN.

The Orbi network is not stable. There is unfortunately no way to make it stable.

The separate router was recommended so that that router would 100% handle the LAN and IPs for your Edge and ADC-VDB770.

Please explain how the network should be configured. Currently the Apple Airport router (in bridge mode and with a distinct 2.4 Ghz SSID) is connected through ethernet to the primary Orbi router. The Orbi router is connected to the fiber modem.

The separate router should not be in bridge mode. Use that as a standard router, with unique 2.4ghz as you say, as a parallel network.

The physical connection is fine.

OK, I’ve just taken the Apple Airport router out of the mix completely. Not sure why I didn’t think about this, but I was able to turn on the 2.4Ghz radio for my Arris Fiber modem and set up a network there. Neither the doorbell nor the panel should be going through the Orbi now. Seems to be working for at the moment, but I’ll update if it quits on me.

I’m also going to return the Orbi system to Costco and come up with a different solution. My house is too large for a single router, so will most likely use some conventional access points as opposed to mesh.