topic Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2 in Arlo Pro 2

Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2 when synced to an MR1100

BBinAL — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 17:43:09 GMT

I just purchased an Arlo Pro 2. Love the quality of image.

Battery drained in a little more than 24 hours. I charged it till the blue light was solid (as per instructions) and it drained in approx 20 hours.

I charged it again, put it back up and the next morning it was at 50%.

I spent 34 minutes on a phone call with customer support (most of that was on hold) and tried their recommendations.

Call ended with them telling me I should return it to Best Buy.

Have not decided if I'll try another Pro 2, try a standard Pro or just cut my losses and get a full refund.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

michaelkenward — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 09:12:31 GMT

My batteries run for a month to six weeks.

Have you checked the mode to ensure that it is not permanently recording something?

Battery life depends on what the thing is doing.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 12:45:50 GMT

It was not recording constantly, as evidenced by checking the library. I tried changing the video quality but that didn't help.

Glad to hear your's have better battery life. Perhaps this one was just a lemon. I may give another unit a chance.

Thanks for the input.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 13:31:22 GMT

I exchanged the Pro 2 and set the new one up yesterday, at about 2 pm.

I set the motion detection all the way down to 1%, set the video for "optimized".

Checked it last night and the battery showed to be full.

Checked it this morning and the battery is at 30%

There were no videos recorded between installation and this morning.

One thing: I'm using a Netgear Nighthawk LTE Modem as the base station. Perhaps there is a glitch between the two? Unfortunate. Since both are Netgear, I had hopes they would work together.

Back the camera will go to Best Buy. So dissappointed.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

michaelkenward — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:28:12 GMT

@BBinAL wrote:
One thing: I'm using a Netgear Nighthawk LTE Modem as the base station.

Interesting but by "base station" I assume you mean modem. The Arlo Pro has its own base station.

You may be on to something. Is that the MR1100 modem?

I'd guess that most people connect their Arlo base stations to a DSL or cable modem and/or a standard router.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 22:17:47 GMT

@michaelkenward wrote:

@BBinAL wrote:
One thing: I'm using a Netgear Nighthawk LTE Modem as the base station.

Interesting but by "base station" I assume you mean modem. The Arlo Pro has its own base station.

No, I meant it the way I wrote it. The Netgear Nighthawk LTE Modem has a setting to make it ALSO function as an Arlo base station. It specifically says you can purchase accesory Arlo Pro cameras to add to the Nighthawk.

Frustrating that the first two CS people I talked to did not know this.

I think it is the MR1100 (don't have it with me right now).

I've got another call in to CS. I'm willing to try the Arlo Pro in case the Pro2 is the culprit.

I really would like the system...if it would work properly.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

AncientGeek — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:08:17 GMT

Cool.

https://www.netgear.com/landings/nighthawk-mr1100-mobile-router/

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qxDdVzSdH_A

Assuming it works...

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:11:36 GMT

@AncientGeek wrote:

Cool.

https://www.netgear.com/landings/nighthawk-mr1100-mobile-router/

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qxDdVzSdH_A

Assuming it works...

Oh, it works. It just doesn't keep a charge more than about 1 day. That's what my issue is all about, the Pro2 eating the battery up in only one day.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

AncientGeek — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:17:57 GMT

How do your settings on your Pro 2 compare to your settings on another model (assuming you have another Arlo camera) ?

Since a Pro 2 has CVR capability and some other added functionality over the previous models, I could see where it would be easy to configure one that would devour a battery powered modem/router like this.

But if the Pro 2 is on battery also and is configured similarly to other Arlo cameras that don't exibit the battery drain problem, then that's a head scratcher. It could be something unique to how much communication the Pro 2 does with the base compared to other models.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 01:59:05 GMT

I think some clarity is in order:

1 - The Nighthawk Modem (battery removed) is plugged into a UPS that is plugged into an electrical socket. The modem is on pretty much all the time. I don't know how long the UPS will power the modem but I suspect it would be measured in days unless there is a lot of traffic.

I have two Arlo Q cameras in the system. These are plugged into the electrical sockets of the cabin.

I have 1 Arlo Pro 2 camera. It is running on its battery. THIS camers is eating the battery up in about 1 day.

Further contact with higher levels of CS have resulted in the opinion that a new firmware update may fix tthe issue. Will try that tomorrow.

I hope this thing can be set up to work. I'd be happy with 2 weeks of battery life even though it is supposed to give 2 months or more.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

AncientGeek — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 02:13:49 GMT

Got it.

I have Arlo 2 cameras on battery that last for months. The same as my other Arlo cameras.

They only eat batteries when there is a lot of activity triggering a ton of recording. Perhaps there is a firmware issue. Good luck!

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

michaelkenward — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 08:30:25 GMT

That's the first time I have seen that configuration mentioned here.

The manual for the MR1100 is minimal on Arlo. Just one vague mention. The support pages are even less helpful

As this is the only LTE modem that says anything about Arlo, that is probably what you have.

I'd guess that this is a rare use, with very little experience to compare with.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

JamesC — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:24:10 GMT

New Base station firmware has been released that should help resolve the issue being discussed here. Check your base station firmware to be sure you are up to date with the latest available version.

Take a look here for more information on this firmware: Firmware Release Scheduled 6/21 to Address IR Rapid Battery Drain and Modes and Schedules Issues

JamesC

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

michaelkenward — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 17:42:47 GMT

@JamesC wrote:

New Base station firmware has been released that should help resolve the issue being discussed here.

Will that work when using the setup described by @BBinAL with an LTE MR1100 modem acting as the base station?

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

JamesC — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 22:05:50 GMT

Looking into that now...

JamesC

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 11:29:08 GMT

I've heard nothing further from CS. The return window on this camera is closing. I don't think I should keep it if it does not work properly.

Hoping for a resolution in the next couple of days.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

JamesC — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:39:10 GMT

BBinAL,

Sorry for the delayed response. I've escalated this topic concerning the MR1100. As the firmware management is different between a standard Arlo Base Station and the MR1100, the update I posted earlier would not have any impact on the functionality of Arlo Pro cameras connected to the MR1100.

I will provide an update as soon as I can, I encourage you to continue working with the support team through your open support case as well.

JamesC

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

BBinAL — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 16:50:57 GMT

Thanks, James C.

I really like the system and what it can do for me. It is installed in our camphouse, 60 miles from our home.

The only downside is that I have to drive down there every other day and charge the camera up.

If it can be fixed to give appropriate battery life, I'll keep and may even add to it.

The Arlo Q cameras (I'm told) are updating their firmware over the Nighthawk modem. I don't understand why the Nighthawk is not updating its Arlo firmware.

This may be a case of "early adopter problems".

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

AncientGeek — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 17:28:50 GMT

I just ordered an MR1100 to test. It looks interesting. I used similar devices for many years before tethering was readily available. However, the Arlo connection is interesting. I noticed there is an RJ45 port on the MR1100. I would think an Arlo base station could be connected to this, if the battery issues persists. That would offer more reasonalbe use of Arlo Pro 2 cameras until the MR1100 issue is resolved.

Re: Battery Life on Arlo Pro 2

JamesC — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 17:40:40 GMT

AncientGeek,

All correct. I'm relocating this topic to it's own thread as the original post doesn't reflect the current discussion.

JamesC