Arlo camera "not connected", but fast battery drain and constant low battery notifications

[rsbaker]

Less than 24 hours ago, my Arlo camera at another location went offline for an extended period of time, within just a couple of hours of recording a motion video (at which time I disarmed it).  Other devices at the same location were still reporting, so I know the router was still online.  The camera had been recently charged and was in the mid-90% charge range a day or so previously.

About 4:00 this morning, I started getting constant Arlo low battery notifications, about one every 3 seconds, with the battery down to 11%.  The Arlo app still reported the device was not connected.   The camera was down to 1% within another 3 hours and still reporting constant notifications each time I enable them for the app.

Any idea what happened that could cause almost the entire battery to drain within less than 24 hours, and to be "not connected" even though it still somehow able to report low battery notifications?  (These would seem to be mutually exclusive -- some connection must be present for the notifications to be possible)

[suzeo99]

I have this same problem with both of my Arlos.  I got literally several hundred email alerts about low battery this morning.  Went from 80% to 1% in about 12 hours time.  This problem started to happen immediately after the new firmware was installed and with both cameras that would previously last 4-6 weeks per charge and are now draining in 1-3 days.  This is a HUGE bug.  Arlo - please reply.

[rsbaker]

To add to  suzeo99's reply above, I received over 1000 "low battery" emails from the single camera in a period of less than 4 hours before the battery finally went dead.

[JamesC]

rsbaker,

What does the signal strength show for this camera? Are you still experiencing this behavior?

JamesC

[rsbaker]

The camera is located less than 20 feet from the router, with 1 intervening exterior wall.  My recollection is the signal strength indicator was "medium", e.g. the dot and first arc but not the second. 

After being installed in early April, the camera took 4 months to decline to 15% battery remaining.  I charged it  to about 100% roughly two weeks ago.  As of less than 1 week ago, it was still reading over 95%.   Whatever happened occurred on 8/13.   The camera recorded an 18 second person detected video at 7:41 AM.  When I looked at it again at 11:00 AM, the Arlo app reported the camera was disconnected, and it continued to be reported disconnected for the remainder of the day.  The near constant low battery notifications started about 4:00 AM on 8/14, and the camera battery completely discharged by 8:30 AM on 8/14, just over 24 hours after the last recorded video.  

In summary, the camera has been quite stable  and worked very well for months and then suddenly went completely south over approximately a 24 hour period.

It will be a day or two before I can physically access the camera again.  I'm assuming it may have lost its settings since it discharged completely and may need to be reset/reinstalled.

[suzeo99]

One of my Arlos just did this exact behavior for the 4th time in a few weeks.  It has the highest signal strength.  It went off line for 18 hours or so when it was around 90% charged.  This morning it is back online at 1%. I fully expect my other Arlo to follow suit in a day or so.  They have both done this consistently every 3 days since the last firmware update.

[rsbaker]

Given there was a firmware update in the first half of August and the problem started subsequently after a long period of stable operation (and multiple customers are affected), this strongly suggests the fault is related to the firmware update.  If the cause isn't immediately apparent, perhaps a rollback to the previous firmware revision should be considered.

It's possible that occasional instability in the connection between the router and internet provider might be related, but it has never had any trouble reconnecting before the latest firmware update.

I note that my camera is possibly still under warranty, but I'd rather not go that route if this can be resolved with a software update.

[suzeo99]

When my camera came back online yesterday morning at 1% I decided to just leave it up as I am sick of getting it down to charge every 3 days.  Interestingly it has now been functioning fully at a 1% battery charge for 24 hours - so the 1% battery is definitely incorrect.

[Triumphs]

I have exactly the same problem, but not with the Arlo Doorbel Camera. Which is why is must be realeted within this device. Someone else on this forum did get information that the problem was related with a 5 Ghz wifi conection nearby. Which almost every wifi modems/routers have.

[StephenB]

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@Triumphs wrote:

Someone else on this forum did get information that the problem was related with a 5 Ghz wifi conection nearby. 

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Which IMO is just misinformation, since the cameras in that case (like most Arlo cameras) only have 2.4 Ghz radios - and many of us (including me) have 5 Ghz wifi.  It'd be good if @JamesC could clarify.

There can be issues with pairing when the local network is dual-band, but those aren't because the 5 Ghz radio is "nearby".  It's because the phone doing the pairing is on 5 Ghz, and sometimes has trouble "finding" the camera or doorbell.

[rsbaker]

Some progress (and interesting behavior) to report:

The camera was at a remote location, so I was not able to access it until yesterday.  The last notification from it that I had received was 10 days ago, when it reported 1% battery remaining. I assumed the battery had died completely after that. 

I plugged it into charge, and within just a few more minutes received another "low battery" notification in the app, although the app also still indicated that the camera appeared not to be connected.  I expected I was going to have to do a factory reset on it, but after another 30 minutes or so of charging, the camera came back online by itself.

I'd speculate that perhaps the last firmware update did not get successfully applied, and somehow having the app on the same WIFI network as the camera allowed for this to be corrected.  (And evidently, yet another firmware update has since been released for that camera, which got applied overnight.)

Anyway, at the moment it is working.  I'll follow up if the disconnected + fast discharge + runaway low battery notification problem occurs again.

[rsbaker]

Well, it has only been two weeks, but the camera went offline again this morning and has been reported as disconnected for almost 12 hours now, even though other non-Arlo devices at same location continue to be connected and report (so it isn't the internet provider or wifi router).

If the pattern repeats, I expect a bombardment of low battery notifications to commence again sometime overnight - will report back. 

[ajtz]

Same observations with my Essential XL Spotlight - after going offline, recharging to full, removing/re-adding the device to the Arlo account, the device again goes offline within 18-24 hours. A few days after going offline, the app sends 100 notifications regarding a low battery (all displaying battery at 13%).

Arlo Support ignored my case, and repeatedly blamed the router despite no physical or digital settings changed (aside from the device firmware update); Support mentioned that a firmware rollback was impossible so my device is virtually left unusable.

[rsbaker]

Sigh.  Unfortunately, it looks like I too have this repeating problem.  The low battery notifications just started coming in, about one every 2 or 3 seconds.  And yet the Arlo app (and web portal) say the camera is not connected.   How is it reporting if it isn't connected??

[ajtz]

Fun part is when you disable notifications and remove the device completely from your account... because the low battery notifications still come! It's really great when you have a newborn and the constant phone buzzing comes right when you think you can sneak a little bit of sleep!

[Triumphs]

Again yesterday my camera did go offline and today it is still not there. There can be not a problem with my router because al other device’s in my home do work.

[rsbaker]

Muting notification in the app doesn't work either, but disabling app notifications altogether from Android settings does.  (The email notifications are going to Junk anyway, so I don't much worry about those).

(And to Triumphs above - same with me, I know router and internet are up because other connected devices are working)

Interestingly, I opened a chat support case with Arlo right when my low battery notifications started yesterday and the tech seemed especially helpful.  About 10 minutes after the chat session ended, the email notifications stopped coming in, and the camera was back online (!) with 10% power left - so about an 80% power drain in 15 hours.  I wonder if they remote booted it somehow? -- it seems be too much of a coincidence. Anyway, maybe they collected enough diagnostic info to come up with a fix. 

[Triumphs]

Wel he is now online again (and I have done nothing) But he is on 34% and yesterday when I shut down the camera from active, he was at 92%. So form 100 to 92 in 14 day’s and from 92 to 34 in less than 48 hours. When does Arlo get this right, go on we paid a lot for the ‘secure camera’s’