Arlo Pro 4 Camera - Constantly goes off line, needs recharging, Is there a hard wiring solution?

[DSPeters]

I have 3 Arlo Pro 4 cameras which have a wireless connection to my router.  For about a year, they worked fine.  One of the cameras is connected to a solar panel, the other 2 cameras needed to be recharged about every 3 months for 1 year.  But, when winter began to set in, and the temperatures got cold, the cameras started going offline.  While offline the battery gets drawn down to nothing in a few days.  I presume that is because the cameras are constantly searching for the connection.  Even the camera connected to the solar panel went offline for several weeks and when it came back online, the battery was down to less than 10% and took a very long time, about 2 months, before it got above 50%.  In the past week, even with daytime temps in the 40's and 50's, the cameras keep going on and offline.  This is a real problem when away for a few months because it defeats the purpose of a "Security Camera"!  If I have to be here all the time to keep it working, then I don't need the cameras.

I am beginning to believe the problem is the battery, it's over a year old, and as with this old body, it doesn't work as well in the cold.  It would be absurd to think that I need to spend $150 every year just to keep the batteries working.  So, my question: Is there a way to bypass the battery completely with a hard wired power source? 

[StephenB]

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@DSPeters wrote:

I am beginning to believe the problem is the battery, it's over a year old, and as with this old body, it doesn't work as well in the cold. 

 All batteries drain quicker when it's cold - it's a result of the basic chemistry.  How cold has it been at night? (the daytime temps don't seem cold enough to drain them in a couple of days).

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@DSPeters wrote:

While offline the battery gets drawn down to nothing in a few days.  I presume that is because the cameras are constantly searching for the connection. 

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Likely.  Have the router or cameras been moved?  Are they recording more than they used to?

Perhaps try moving a camera closer to the router for a couple of days as a test.  Maybe even move it indoors, to eliminate any temperature issue.  Then see if the offline behavior changes.

[DSPeters]

You suggested putting the camera closer to the router.  I placed the camera 6 inches from the router for several days and it still kept going offline.  So, it isn't the distance.

[StephenB]

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@DSPeters wrote:

I am beginning to believe the problem is the battery, it's over a year old ...

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FWIW, almost all of my batteries are several years old, and I don't have this particular problem.  Did you try swapping the battery with one in another camera?

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@DSPeters wrote:

So, my question: Is there a way to bypass the battery completely with a hard wired power source? 

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You can get the outdoor charger, and connect that to the camera.  When it is on that charger, the camera will run w/o the battery.

[STPHCO]

I don't believe it is the batteries as mine are new, fully charged and yet still randomly go offline.

Reviewing the Arlo support pages, Camera's dropping Offline seems to happen regularly.

Going out on a limb I think WiFi networks are inherently not fully stable and each premise have various sources of interference. When Googling WiFi stability, most of the support pages mention moving them closer to the router.

That can't be true in my case as one internal camera is 15 feet from the router with no line of sight problems.

Would love to know if there are any peer reviewed studies on WiFi reliability, ie interference from neighbours WiFi, interference from other devices on the WiFi, interference etc

I ran a WiFi analyser app on my phone and it shows 433Mbps speed, -44 dBm strength but lower strength on channel 3  than recommended.