Yet another camera offline

[Brotham]

Wish I'd never 'upgraded' to Pro 2 now.

Yet another camera has gone offline after just a few days due to the battery being depleted, despite having 70% charge this morning.

This is the third of four cameras to do so.

I expect the remaining one to die at any time.

The other issue is the battery is either somehow becoming disconnected from the contacts or it is being ignored as sometimes physically removing and reinsering the battery works.

The software/firmware is seriously bugged in these new devices.

[jguerdat]

This implies the camera has a poor connection with the base, making it struggle to maintain connection or even be able to connect. That will run down the battery fast. Even if the position used to work fine, it's not now with the current hardware. Repositioning the camera and/or base may be useful and opening/using a case with support certainly is.

[Brotham]

Just returned mine for a refund.

I am usually comfortable being an early adopter, and prepared to accept issues for new gear, on the understanding that they are being addressed, but the complete lack of official acknowledgement and input from Netgear, coupled with the ludicrously low 15 day return policy from Best Buy, meant I had no option but to return them.

[Bill716]

I also returned my 4 camera Pro 2 system back to Best Buy today.  I waited until my last day to return to see if there was resolution to the problem.  My hope is that Netgear will make this right whether it be hardware or firmware.  I will continue to monitor and if corrected, I will consider Pro 2 again.

[cbaileyuk]

It is absolutely not a low single strength. As I have posted on here numerous times, the arlo 2 camera is about 3 feet from the base unit with a solid 3 bars at all times.

All other arlo 1 cameras are fine, even those with a single bar.

The batter ONLY drains like this once the camera has crashed. In normal use, it loses a few percent per day. Once it goes offline, it looses about 8% an hour.

Netgear, over to you. You have a problem with Pro 2. Time to step up and acknowledge.

[Jejunum]

Add me to the list of frustrated Arlo Pro 2 users suffering from this major bug that should have been caught and squashed with proper rounds of QA testing.  I've got a five camera Pro 2 system that is replacing my original Pro setup.  Of the five, the one over my garage continually drops offline and depletes the battery requiring me to get the ladder out to swap in a new one.  However, I haven't bothered lately, as this issue keeps occuring with this particular camera practically every day.  It is in the exact same location as the original Pro it is replacing and I never once had this isssue with the previous model, or with any of the other four cameras I owned for that matter.

Based on how widespread and critical this issue is, it needs to be given top priority and sorted out FAST!  A security camera is of absolutely no use if it is unreliable and goes offline for no particular reason.  I am extremely disappointed in Netgear for allowing such a major flaw to enter production units and in their lack of communication regarding this prevalent issue.  I, nor did anyone else, pay a ton of money to be their unpaid beta tester.

I've got a Best Buy Elite Plus membership, so I have a little longer to hold out before returning these. But if firmware isn't issued posthaste to completely resolve this problem, they will all be going back at the end of my return window.

[steve_t]

I had one that continually dropped off and when it dropped off, it'd deplete that battery 😕 But then I moved my base station about a foot further away from my router and bingo, no more drop offs. There certainly does seem to be some interference happening and it does still annoy me that we can't manually choose which 2.4GHz channel is used for the cameras

[cbaileyuk]

I think I will set up a public Facebook discussion group suitably named which can exist alongside this thread. I expect we will see a little more activity there and increase public awareness of this problem.

I want to make sure that if Netgear is not defining a path to resolution or at least acknowledging the existence of this widespread issue, then we can collectively help to stop others from making the mistakes we have and buying something that has fundamental problems.

I'll get that going later.

[V8]

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steve_t wrote:

I had one that continually dropped off and when it dropped off, it'd deplete that battery 😕 But then I moved my base station about a foot further away from my router and bingo, no more drop offs. There certainly does seem to be some interference happening and it does still annoy me that we can't manually choose which 2.4GHz channel is used for the cameras

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Just a shame there is also no 5Ghz option, 2.4Ghz channels are far too congested these days, and I'm surprised they haven't considered it, especially as Nest and other cameras have adopted it and it's been mainstream for some considerable time, especially for video.

Even using MIMO would have been a step forward.

[mattsrs]

Can everyone make sure to write review on best buy and Amazon? Other potential customers need to know what's waiting for them 🙂

[MrTonyToca]

I've already written a review on both and its funny because now im seeing these fake looking really enthusiastic reviews saying how great the product is, and the night vision is great etc.....Not sure if they are writing a review after the 1st day or Netgear is trying to get their rating back up. It was down to 2.3 stars out of 5 on Best Buy at one point. And Amazon seems to be flooded with fake reviews. My patience is wearing thin with Netgear.... I have 3 Netgear Orbis, and 5 Netgear Arlo 2s. Soon I will upgrade everything and eliminate the elephant in the room, since I also have issues with my Netgear Orbi too. Nothing ever seems to get done until its too late with Netgear......

[mattsrs]

haha I have seen those "enthusiastic" reviews too. Amazon is filled with fake reviews but Best buy, it was interesting, the rating went to 2.5 or something but then they started adding good reviews to bump the average up. 

[whitenack]

Hey all, 

Just poking in here to subscribe to this thread.  I have been researching home security cams for a while now and have been holding off on the Arlo Pros due to the recording lag.  Was hoping they would come out with a patch to fix that problem or an Arlo Pro 2.  I am interested to see if this gets resolved.

[steve_t]

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V8 wrote:

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Just a shame there is also no 5Ghz option, 2.4Ghz channels are far too congested these days, and I'm surprised they haven't considered it, especially as Nest and other cameras have adopted it and it's been mainstream for some considerable time, especially for video.

Even using MIMO would have been a step forward.

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I think the reason they'll stick with 2.4GHz is because of the range. Moving to 5Ghz would reduce the distance the cameras can be away from the base station quite substantially, though of course we could work around that with multiple base stations

[V8]

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steve_t wrote:

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V8 wrote:

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Just a shame there is also no 5Ghz option, 2.4Ghz channels are far too congested these days, and I'm surprised they haven't considered it, especially as Nest and other cameras have adopted it and it's been mainstream for some considerable time, especially for video.

Even using MIMO would have been a step forward.

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I think the reason they'll stick with 2.4GHz is because of the range. Moving to 5Ghz would reduce the distance the cameras can be away from the base station quite substantially, though of course we could work around that with multiple base stations

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But it doesn't mean to say both can't be present; I agree there is a trade off with the 5Ghz range, but I would sooner have less distance and stability over more distance and instability.

It's different for everyone, which is why both should be offered and you can pick/choose the best setup for yourself.

[corbyf]

Same problem here.

Just purchased this camera as an add to to my 4 system arlo.  Been using arlo pro cameras with no problems.  Added this arlo pro 2 camera and within 12-24 hour period, it turns off.  

I've installed new batteries, re-installed the existing one, etc.  Rinse repeat. 

Ive even moved it inside next to the base and it still does the same thing.  Battery is always charged after I remove and install it back in.

Was hoping for a fix, but im still within my 14 days with Best Buy return.  Probably purchase arlo pro camera.  Too bad this doesnt work, I really like the nightvision compared to others.

[Streak2]

As others have found, moving either the base or the camera sometimes works.

It worked for me. I used to have this problem with only one of my Pro 2 cameras, happened every 2nd day. 

I then swapped locations with one of my Pro cameras and the Pro2 has now been up for more than a week.

This is not an ideal solution but could point to the cause which hopefully Netgear will learn from.

[Toy4RickS]

My return date was earlier this week, they went back to Best Buy before that

Couldn't take a chance that a fix was coming

Very disappointed

Rick

[Mssbjh]

That was my experience as well. Within a few days of putting up my cameras, both of them went offline. One the battery was almost dead. I pulled them both down, popped out the batteries, popped it back in and recharged the one. I happened to move the base during the process of restarting it as well. And since they've been back up, I haven't had any problems. ( knock on wood)

[cbaileyuk]

How long have they been online now? Over two weeks?

[Mssbjh]

About a week now.

[cbaileyuk]

The best I have managed to date is 6.5 days. Keep us posted, it's early days for you yet and I expect it will fail assuming the firmware isn't fixed in the interim.

[whitenack]

Is anyone experiencing this issue when they are plugged into a power source?  

[Johnny45]

I have not experienced the issue since powering some of my cameras.

[mattsrs]

I returned mine as well. Will watch how this evolves and will buy from Costco (whenever they sell it) so I have proper return time

[Johnny45]

For awareness for those who don't know, Best Buy has their extended return period now. Anything purchased from Oct 29 through Dec 30 can be returned up until Jan 14.