topic Re: Geofencing in Features

Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:42:51 GMT

I now have geofencing on my app. I turned it on yesterday and my battery consumption for Arlo went through the roof. I do not have it turned on today and Arlo is still the big consummer of the battery. Yesterday Arlo did not report very many recordings (maybe 10 at the very most).I am home today and have it disarmed. What can I do?

Re: Geofencing

jguerdat — Thu, 19 May 2016 19:44:29 GMT

I had geofencing turned on yesterday on one camera and all seemed well - no dramatic drop of battery. Maybe a base restart and/or camera battery door opening and closing to reset the camera(s)

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Thu, 19 May 2016 20:18:26 GMT

I should have been a little clearer. The battery consumption occurred on my iPhone. The Arlo app was the high consumer. It is my guess that the process of checking the location of the smartphone on some predetermined schedule is what consumes the battery. Netgear needs to publish how the geolocation process works and how it affects battery usage.

Re: Geofencing

Good2U — Thu, 19 May 2016 22:27:45 GMT

Isn't geofencing a bit too high tech? Frankly, I can "geo-fence" like this: When my phone is connected to my home wi-fi, I'm "home" and when it's NOT, I'm "away". No need for location services that drain the battery.

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Fri, 20 May 2016 00:59:21 GMT

The reason I thought geofencing was a good idea is that I don't have to fumble with my smartphone to disarm my system as I approach my house. I like to turn Arlo off (disarm) before it starts recording my arrival and notifying me of something I am already aware of.

I would still like to know if the location service functionality of geofencing is the reason for the drain on my battery. I would imagine it will also increase the data usage charges on my AT&T cell phone plan as it must transmit my location while on the road via my 4G cell phone connection.

Re: Geofencing

jguerdat — Fri, 20 May 2016 12:31:51 GMT

Can't speak for iOS but my Android phone didn't deplete the battery and I'm using the High Accuracy setting which would potentially drain the most. Sounds like an iOS issue.

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Fri, 20 May 2016 13:08:58 GMT

Does your Android device provide a battery usage percentage by applications?

I know iOS (Apple) has been having problems with battery consumption by applications. I would think that if the usage of the location functionality by the Arlo application is the same whether installed on iOS or Andriod device, then a similar depletion of the battery would be seen on both devices. Maybe I have not set something up correctly or maybe it is that, while I am at work, the connectivity to wi-fi at the office comes and goes depending on where I am in the building. I guess it is possible that Arlo or the location services application is constantly trying to determine my location because of this. I wish someone with more information on how this works would chime in to this discussion.

Re: Geofencing

JamesC — Fri, 20 May 2016 21:32:28 GMT

I have escalated this topic to be reviewed by the Beta team. We appreciate the great feedback you have provided and encourage you to continue to do so throughout the Beta process.

Thank you for your contribution,

JamesC

Re: Geofencing

jguerdat — Sat, 21 May 2016 00:50:45 GMT

hardingr2000 wrote:
Does your Android device provide a battery usage percentage by applications?

Yes, Android shows which app is ducking battery by viewing the battery stats.

Re: Geofencing

WazzoJ — Sat, 21 May 2016 06:45:14 GMT

Good2U wrote:
Isn't geofencing a bit too high tech? Frankly, I can "geo-fence" like this: When my phone is connected to my home wi-fi, I'm "home" and when it's NOT, I'm "away". No need for location services that drain the battery.

This is really a much better solution, I hope Netgear will take notice of this and add the feature.

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Sat, 21 May 2016 12:44:46 GMT

The issue with Arlo knowing you are home by checking to see if you are connected to your home wi-fi is the distance between your phone and your wi-fi. Certain places around my home/property are outside or just at the border of connectivity. Therefore my system would be turning on and off more frequently for me than it might be for you or someone else. Your idea is a good option for Arlo to have though.

I would like geofencing, if it doesn't drain my iPhone battery, because it would arm and disarm my system when I was outside the motion detector sensor range, therefore eliminating me as a recording. Right now I have to fumble with my iPhone (not a good idea while driving) as I am approaching home or leaving to deal with it.

Re: Geofencing

Spridell — Sat, 21 May 2016 12:48:17 GMT

I just started using Geo Fencing on my Android.

One thing I noticed is that the ARLO app HAS to be running in the background for it to work. If you close your app it WILL NOT work anymore. Thus pinging your location a lot and depleting your battery.

Now i know there is a way around this because I am also using Dropcam cameras with geofencing and that app does NOT have to always be running in the background for it to work.

Re: Geofencing

Wehttam — Sun, 22 May 2016 08:48:18 GMT

I found many interesting about geofencing https://applidium.com/en/news/whats_geofencing/. It may anwer your questions.

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Mon, 23 May 2016 10:28:23 GMT

Based on the information in the https://applidium.com/en/news/whats_geofencing/ link, geofencing uses cell tower and wi-fi to determine location.

In my case, while at the office where wi-fi is available, but where cell service is intermitant, might I expect excessive battery consumption as my iOS/geofencing functionality bounces back and forth between access to cell tower triangulation and wi-fi in an attempt at determining my location?? Or is my excessive battery consumption a function of my iOS being almost constantly attempting to establish cell tower service?

Re: Geofencing

Broilerman — Mon, 23 May 2016 13:38:50 GMT

I can't seem to get the arlo app to access my GPS unless I open the app. Really like the WiFi idea. Seems alot easier.

Re: Geofencing

oillogger — Mon, 23 May 2016 14:18:57 GMT

I also agree with WazzoJ about using the connection to your WiFi as a way to arm or disarm the Arlo system as also being my desired method. Having said that there are some with a poorer WiFi network range that will end up setting off their Arlo before their phone/tablet was detected their WiFi network. My WiFi blasts a ways outside my Home so this is not an issue for me. WiFi arming/disarming would still work for me if I had the original Arlo cameras mounted outside since I can connect to my WiFi network as far as 100-200 feet away from my home.

Re: Geofencing

oillogger — Mon, 23 May 2016 15:25:28 GMT

The Arlo app having to be always active checking your location for the Geo-Fencing mode to work makes sense since there has to be a way for the system to actively know where you are located at all times for fairly quick arming and disarming. I have changed the location services for my phone to only use celluar and WiFi to see if that drains my battery as much as with GPS services also. I will do a quick test to see if the arming/disarming works well enough for me without GPS services. I will also test to see if my Arlo will arm and disarm with the app apparently "off" by not being displayed as open. I would like to know the results for others and any suggestions.

Re: Geofencing

oillogger — Mon, 23 May 2016 15:37:38 GMT

When you are in an area of poor celluar reception your phone has to transmit with more power to communicate with the cell phone tower. This kills your phone battery. Try switching to airplane mode or some battery saving app that will automatically switch to airplace mode while at the office. Then your location will be determined only by the available WiFi signal. Location accuracy for the Arlo to arm/disarm is not an issue when you are over a mile away from your Arlo system. Sometimes I get three days out of a fully charged battery with my phone. Put me in an area with poor celluar reception for about 8 hours each day and I have to charge my phone every night.

Re: Geofencing

hardingr2000 — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:40:21 GMT

How do you control whether Arlo uses GPS or not? In iPhone "Settings" for Arlo there is Location which I currently have set to Never and Cell Data which I have turned on. Set this way is Arlo going to use cell and wi-if for determining where I am?

Re: Geofencing

oillogger — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:48:11 GMT

I went into the master control of the phone under location settings. I have an Anroid phone and the mode selections available were GPS/WiFi,/Celluar for high accuracy, WiFi/Celluar for battery saving, or GPS only. I assume the GPS is the battery killer.