Battery Issue, (Arlo Pro 2, HW vers.: H3, Firmware: 1.125.11.4_29092)

[StigA]

I got a Pro 2 set with four cameras. about two month ago.. They were easy to set up, shoot excellent footage., and the detection seems to work as expected.. I was a bit disappointed that I had to charge them after approximately four weeks, but figured it was due to lack of adjustment -- too much was detected. After tweaking it I'm down to about 20-30 recordings per 24 hours for each camera. So I guess that should do it.. Suddenly I had to charge again approximately once a week.. Admitted its about 0 F/32 F now outside where three of four cams are located. The fourth is inside. Even stranger:: I did a full charge with the cams turned off starting yesterday. However when I think I'm ready to put the cams back in place they have dropped to about 80% power. Even though they are turned off/disabled. Question: What is going on here? Why are the battery being drain faster than a smartphone in use when the cams are disabled? Is this what should be expected? What to do to improve battery life? I have selected 'Optimized' for power management. It appears the problem began when I was forced to select the Arlo Smart Premier plan. Thanks for any help. Please let me know if you need further info. BR S. Andersen

[jguerdat]

How did you disable the cameras? If it was by turning the base off, that's the wrong thing to do since the cameras will keep trying to connect over and over.

While cold temps cause batteries to lose capacity, it's not nearly as bad as you have experienced. Do all cameras do this? If only some, try swapping cameras around to see if the camera or location that's the problem. Distance, blockage, walls, mirrors, ductwork, house contruction, etc. all plays in here. There's also the possibility of 2.4GHz interference from a wireless device near either the base or cameras.  Describe the setup fully.

[StigA]

Hi jguerdat. Thanks for getting back.

I disabled/turned off from the web portal (or app) simply by going to 'My devices' and under 'Deveice on' I slide to the left to turn off. I have not turned off the base since initial setup.

The situation is more or less the same for all cameras. Even the one located indoors.

OK, I'll try to describe the setup in detail. Naturally the base is connected to the router, which has WIFI capability. The router is broadcasting on channel 11, which is the least busy channel. The router is hanging on the wall, ground floor, and is able to cover the entire house and garden with strong connection. The house includes basement, ground floor, 1st and 2nd floor. The Arlo base is located 5-10 cm from the router, same hight, standing on a wooden cubard for convenience. On the other side of the wall is a flatpanel plasma TV (I can see where this is going). The cams are all within a radius of 10 meter (maybe 15 meters tops) from the base. Naturally the outer brick walls of the house seperate the base from 3 cams sitting outside. A not so thik inner wall sits between the base and the indoor cam. No complex duct work should interfer. (Besides - as mentioned nothing is blocking for the signal from the WIFI router). I'm unsure how to determine the quality of the connection between base and cameras.

I'll see if I in any meaningful way can increase the distance between the Arlo base and router and report back.

Again, thanks for the feedback!

BR

S

[jguerdat]

The brick walls and thick (interior?) wall could be issues as well as the TV although the TV would likely only be an issue for one or two cameras.  Take one camera and temporarily move it closer to the base to see what happens. 

If that works a possible solution would be multiple bases positioned around the house to have a better signal to the various cameras.

[StigA]

Hi again jguerdat.

Thank you for your answer.

I have noticed how to spot signal strength (under 'device utilities'. -> 'positioning'. Here it says the signal for all four cams is 'poor'.

For the last couple of days all cams have been unmounted and sitting in my living room (I have giving up on getting it to work as the battery is half way flat when I get up in the morning). I tried this morning to move the Base as long away from the router as the provided net cable will allow. The result is still signal quality 'poor' (for all cams, now within a few meters or even right next to the base).

I should mention that something is confusing and maybe a mistake in the setup. I'll try to explain: when I go to 'setting' in the app and see 'devices' I see a Root level with the icon of a base station named 'Base' (the name I picked). Under root level I see the four cams and an other Base (named SAN, a name I picked during the setup process) . It appears the cams are connected to 'Base' and not SAN.

Any help is appreciated. But buying more bases to cover about 12 times 12 meters seems over the top.

Should I try to setup from new? If so, how do I do that?

BR
Stig

[jguerdat]

Unfortunately, I think the Positioning indication of signal strength always says poor with the current apps - mine does, too. How about the WiFi signal indicator for each camera on the Devices tab?

Does the second "base" have a red siren icon attached to the base? If so, that's just the way you can change the name of the siren if you wish. If not, I dunno what it is - post a screenshot of that view so we can see. ANother user recently said he would get a brief duplication of his base but it would go away.  We may want to consider a reset of the system and start fresh but we're not there yet.

[StigA]

Hi again jguerdat.

OK, I shall not pay too much attention to the signal strength indicator under Settings (must be a seperate bug). Under Devices there is not much info regarding the signal quality. Not even if I hover/mouse over. But all three "indicators" are black and that would normally indicate a fine signal/connection.

Yes the second base does have a red indicator (see attached pic). I was concerned the cams was constantly pinging/searching for a base that is not there. What you see on the pic is a constant. No devices disappear/reappear.

Since yesterday nothing has changed otherwise. All cams are indoors, disapled/turned off under 'Devices' -> 'Settings' -> 'Device on' (set to off). The base has been moved as far away from the router as possible. Yet they will drop aprx 10% of power durring the day.

Again - thanks a lot for your effort here. 

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Seems odd to me. At this point, I'd have to suggest opening a case with support:

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[StigA]

Dear jguerdat.

You have been very helpful. Thanks a lot!

I have opened a case with support. When/if they come up with a solution I'll share the details here.

BR
Stig

[StigA]

Hi jguerdat.

So I opened a case with support. They suggested a number of ideas. Ultimately only one of these worked:

1. Disconnect all cams ('Remove device' under 'Devices'. Repeat for all cams)
2. Reset base on he back side (using e.g. a paper clip. Hold the clip in for > 30 sec regardless of what the LED's show)
3. Make sure all cams are charged
4. Place cams around the base no more than 50 cm distance
5. Repeat setup ('Add New Device' under 'Devices')

Having done all this the entire setup is working. A week has passed and all cams are at about 98% charge.

Thanks for all help!

BR
Stig

[jguerdat]

Glad the reset worked. Like any computer equipment, weird things can happen and a reset back to nominal clears out the crap. Hopefully, this is the last time you need to do this!