Two out of three of my cameras are consistently dying after 2-3 days on a fully charged battery.

[UnbelievablyBad]

I’ve been trying to get support for my Pro 4 spotlight cameras for about a month now. Two out of three of my cameras are consistently dying after 2-3 days on a fully charged battery. Basic troubleshooting steps have failed, and the cameras were already set to “best battery life”… If I can even update my case #’s without receiving error messages from your website, the responses I get days later are useless. Each time I contact you I get a new case number with zero continuity of service. What in the almighty is going on at this company? Your batteries are quoted to last 6 months, which we all know is lofty marketing bs, but seriously, 3 days?!?! Something is clearly wrong with this product and it’s not my internet (one camera is working perfectly fine and it’s further away from my router!) I need support and I need an agent who gives a. Here are some of the case #’s that I’ve been assigned over the past month (there might be more, I have no idea at this point)
42683409
42700016
42701383
42707103
42683409
Oh and I tried responding to 42707103 a short time ago but after I typed out a detailed response I was smacked in my stupid face by the attached screenshot.

[jguerdat]

In my experience, the difference between battery-saving choices is minimal. The more likely reason for poor battery life, especially for multiple cameras, is due to poor signal strength/quality, house construction (stone/brick/stucco blocking the signal), camera usage (>5 minutes total per day on average of live view and recording), etc. Describe the installation, what the cameras are connected to (router or hub), how the cameras are used, their positioning, etc. Provide screenshots of the cameras' views for suggestions. Read the FAQs in the support section here on best camera positioning practice. The more detail you can provide, the better.

[StephenB]

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@jguerdat wrote:

camera usage (>5 minutes total per day on average of live view and recording), etc. 

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If you use activity zones, then you need to disable them in order to estimate camera usage.  Activity zones are processed in the Arlo Cloud (which supresses out-of-zone recordings).  So they don't affect battery life, and they get in the way when troubleshooting battery life issues.

[Leike]

We are having the exact same issue. 2 of our 3 are dying after several days. Still playing with settings and have now ordered the solar panels to see if that helps. Terribly disappointing battery performance.

[StephenB]

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@Leike wrote:
We are having the exact same issue. 2 of our 3 are dying after several days. Still playing with settings and have now ordered the solar panels to see if that helps. Terribly disappointing battery performance.

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About how many minutes of video is being recorded per day?  As noted above, you need to disable activity zones in order to estimate this.

[ChesterYu]

I am experiencing the exact same issue. Any luck getting this resolved?

[Leike]

We finally reverted to installing solar panels on the two that were draining quickly. Nothing else worked. 

[UnbelievablyBad]

Thank you for trying to help and sorry for the delayed reply. I had spent way too much time going back and forth with Arlo support and needed a break. All three of my cameras have been sitting dormant since I posted this thread.
I settled on connectivity as a potential issue once I noticed that the cameras would occasionally display the “Your Arlo device appears offline.” message on the app. Sometimes this message was related to a fully drained battery, other times it was not but I had to remove the battery momentarily and reinstall to get back online. Oddly enough, the one camera that is furthest away from a WiFi router/satellite has never had that issue. That camera also happens to be in the lowest traffic area by a long shot. The other two cameras are in locations that see a lot of vehicular traffic on a daily basis; over 100 events per day per camera. This is why I tried using activity zones which reduced events to foot traffic only (tiny fraction of what they were before). This seemed promising in theory but failed miserably. If anything the battery life was worse with activity zones set up.
Arlo had me run a speed test during one round of troubleshooting and it was clear that speeds were adequate. No exaggeration, both cameras that can’t last more than a few days are installed within 15-20 feet of a WiFi 6 satellite.

[UnbelievablyBad]

Glad you found a solution, but I find that so disheartening to think that a battery quoted for 6 months needs a solar panel to last more than a few days. It’s a real shame how these things are marketed

[dcfox1]

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@UnbelievablyBad wrote:
 The other two cameras are in locations that see a lot of vehicular traffic on a daily basis; over 100 events per day per camera. This is why I tried using activity zones which reduced events to foot traffic only (tiny fraction of what they were before). This seemed promising in theory but failed miserably. If anything the battery life was worse with activity zones set up.

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Even with Activity Zones the cam records everything and sends them to the cloud to process and delete the ones outside of the zone. So It is recording more vids then you see in the library. Repositioning the view is the best bet since you see 100 recordings a day it is more then that in reality. 

[UnbelievablyBad]

Had a feeling this was the case, thank you.
Am I naive to think that modern battery op cameras should be able to perform in high traffic areas? The camera out back under my porch capturing the occasional cat is not nearly as useful as the sidewalk/street view. Honestly I feel like these cameras would need to be watching a storage closet to last 6 months…

Does having an Arlo hub improve performance? Don’t know if I could muster the courage to purchase anything else from Arlo but I am curious.

[StephenB]

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@UnbelievablyBad wrote:
Am I naive to think that modern battery op cameras should be able to perform in high traffic areas?

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Yes.  The batteries aren't that large (similar in size to a smartphone), and streaming video does require a fair amount of power.  

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@UnbelievablyBad wrote:

Does having an Arlo hub improve performance? 

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It often does improve battery life some, but likely not enough in your case.

I've found the best approach is to re-position the cameras to eliminate motion on the street or sidewalk.  Reducing motion sensitivity can also help. 

[UnbelievablyBad]

I am really trying to give these cameras a second (4th-5th?) chance but still struggling. I installed a fully charged battery in my “Garage” camera today around noon and repositioned it to avoid sidewalk/street traffic. Check the Arlo app at 8:30pm and see this…

Posting a screenshot of my wifi details as well.

[UnbelievablyBad]

I’ve never experienced any Wifi connectivity issue with any other device in my home. What is it about these cameras?

[UnbelievablyBad]

I appreciate your attempts to help but I’m officially done with these cameras. Repositioned two cameras to avoid any motion other than my vehicle in my driveway or people at my front door. Fully charged batteries lasted a week (or less)

Arlo could’ve sent me just the camera housing and mounts without batteries and the impact on my home’s security would be the same. Hoping the retailer I purchased these from accepts trash for store credit.