Arlo Pro-4 Not Working on MN weather even when connected to power - weak firmware design

[yusoman]

I live in MN. MN is very cold in the winter, temps fall below 0F quite often and for extended periods of time.

I found w disappointment that Arlo Pro-4 DO NOT perform well on this weather. But... they could and should have - specially when these are being powered by a constant power source. Why?

I have an Arlo Pro-4, installed on a flood light from Wasserstein, which provides a constant power source. In short, no need for a battery in theory. 

When the temps drop below 0F and the battery is installed, the camera fails to operate since the firmware senses that it ether CAN NOT either charge the battery, or that it is too cold to drop power from battery.

However, considering the camera DOES operate w power at such low temps - I actually tested by removing the battery, and the App does signal/report that it is operating on "AC" Power.  It would be feasible, perhaps fairly simple considering what the Firmware tracks and reports today as one can observe from the App, for the Firmware to detect "constant" Power (aka a Power source) and when applied, ignore the battery issue, and simply operate the camera on Power vs rendering it inoperable due to low temps. Thus avoiding the camera to going non-functional as attempting to use the battery during a low temp conditions (aka camera failing to operate from a battery - but able to operate when power applied).

The firmware design seems "weak" (or lacks a key feature), and questions the ability for these devices to be used outdoor in extreme weather. As a form of reference, I also have and use a RING outdoor camera that is, as the Arlo Pro-4, connected to constant power source at all times and also has a battery, which operates the camera when the power source is off. This RING device did NOT fail as the Arlo Pro-4 did in the recent December 2021 cold spell in MN.

I highly recommend the firmware is revise to handle conditions like this:

"if POWER is applied then run the camera from POWER source & attempt to charge the battery - this so when power source is off it can operate on batteries, if the battery is not able to charge, report the condition but DO NOT stop operating the camera, report camera operating from POWER (as it does when the battery is removed and power is applied - condition tested/verified).

[StephenB]

That might not be something that can be done in firmware - it depends on the design of the charging circuitry.

But you can of course simply remove the battery in the months where the temps drop below -20C.  Several other folks here do that.

[yusoman]

That is indeed the course of action I am pursuing at this stage. Removing the battery - I actually tested this before I wrote the post.

The issue or risk is that if someone "bumped off" the flood switch (aka turned it off), then the camera is inoperable if the weather got better - which it does fluctuate. The back-up battery operating condition is not an option w/o the battery. As I designed my application, I was looking for additional layers of operation.

I actually have a TP-Link switch controlling that switch, and wrote a macro to mitigate the "bump off" condition... but still, I see this as a "weak" operating point on these devices.

I know the camera operates on Power, and the Firmware senses and reports is. It also senses and tracks the stage of the battery, one would think that the circuitry is in place, and it is strictly a firmware issue to resolved it. 

The RING camera I also have installed outdoor in the same home, since I use RING as my security system, does properly operate with and without power as expected.

[StephenB]

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@yusoman wrote:

The issue or risk is that if someone "bumped off" the flood switch (aka turned it off), then the camera is inoperable if the weather got better - which it does fluctuate.

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Not sure exactly what you mean here.  Of course if there is power loss (switch state or otherwise), then the camera will immediately power down.  It should reboot as soon as power is re-applied though.

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@yusoman wrote:

I know the camera operates on Power, and the Firmware senses and reports is. It also senses and tracks the stage of the battery, one would think that the circuitry is in place, and it is strictly a firmware issue to resolved it. 

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Not sure about that.  This is a safety issue, so it might be built into hardware instead of being firmware controllable.