Arlo Pro keeps dropping "offline."

[River25]

I bought the Arlo Pro 2 camera system a week and a half ago.  One camera has worked perfectly and the other keeps going "offline" once per day, usually during the overnight hours. Battery also drains very fast in this same camera.  Both cameras have full wifi signal strength and are only about 75' - 100' from base station.  I contacted Arlo and have a case number.  Did the trouble shooting by swapping the batteries (taking the battery from the camera that works fine and putting it in the camera that keeps dropping offline and visa versa), and the same camera drops offline and that battery was draining quickly too.  I communicate to Arlo/Netgear that the same exact problem is happening when swapping the batteries.  What do they do?  Four days later I get a replacement battery from them, and guess what, it too is doing the same thing.  I contacted Arlo and told them I expected a REPLACMENT CAMERA AND BATTERY to try and get this issue resolved once and for all.  I'm not paying this kind of money for something that does not work as advertised.  Extremely frustrating.  Why send another battery when that's clearly not the issue from doing the troubleshooting testing? Why even trouble shoot?   Let's see if they make it right. 

[TomMac]

There'a another easy test that has to be done before you recontact Netgear.... you didn't go far enough.

You already swapped batteries to prove it wasn't a battery problem.... BUT, now you have to swap the cameras to make sure it's not a LOCATION problem.

(Many location can have good signal but interference for outside devices.)

If the problem follows the camera to the new location , then there's a camera problem and you should let Netgear know.

[River25]

I get exactly what you are saying, but wouldn't you think Arlo tech support would know to test this before sending a useless replacement battery?  When they had me swap the batteries I also asked if at some point they would like for me to switch the cameras and was told that was not necessary.  I'm well within the 300' line of sight for these cameras to the base station. If what your saying holds true then these cameras are junk.  If I can't mount a camera on the back of my house (which again is under 100') from the base, then it is useless to me.  Makes no sense for the camera to work fine on the front of my home but not the back.  Also, what you are saying still does not explain the rapid draining of the battery of that same camera that keeps dropping off line.

[TomMac]

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River25 wrote:

 If what your saying holds true then these cameras are junk.  If I can't mount a camera on the back of my house (which again is under 100') from the base, then it is useless to me.  Makes no sense for the camera to work fine on the front of my home but not the back.  Also, what you are saying still does not explain the rapid draining of the battery of that same camera that keeps dropping off line.

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IMO, they made a mistake... It's not the cameras are junk , it's just all wireless device have their limits.

300 ft is the normal BEST possible range... Houses/homes are made of many things and there are many thing in a home that can block 2.4 ghz....

Simple things like mirrors, metal duc work , rebar if concrete, etc...I have seen range as low as 30 ft in some cases.

As to the rapid draining of the battery... range is one of the things that change usage, also IR illuminators, etc.

Like I said, swap the cameras to eliminate the possiblity...then you have more data on your side to suppoert your claim.

[williadw1955]

I have the same issue.

I bought 2 Pro 4 packs.

One goes offline in a matter in minutes after putting it outside. It is in the same place I had a regular Arlo working with no issues.
I swapped batteries and charged it to a full charge.

I put it back outside and soon after, it went offline.

I am going to ask for a relacement. They are only 1 and 2 days old....

[River25]

Maybe you will have better luck than me.  I've been dealing with Arlo/Netgear for a week now with this issue.  Glad I have 30 day returns at Best Buy.  My system is a week and a half old.  I'll give Arlo another week tops to send me a new camera and if it's not working properly it's all going to be returned.

[jguerdat]

Frankly, I'd simply swap them at BB. Why wait?

[williadw1955]

I just resynced and swapped the camera I was having issues with, with another camera.

If that doesn't solve the problem I am going to ask for an RMA for a new camera.

I did an RMA for an older Arlo that had a red picture about 2 weeks ago and the process did not take too long to complete.

[River25 · Accepted solution]

They are sending camera NDA.  

[apache77]

same problem. i'm not the only one. quick battery drain during "sleep of death" offline state and the camera is a bit warm in the front part of the body. if I disconnect and connect again battery it starts again without problem till a new signal drop down.

i think i need replacement too, but i have a BIGGGG problem; i'm italian, i bought it in my last NYC trip at bestbuy and i don't know how use US warranty from here. In Italy Arlo Pro marketing is not yet started. I connect Italian Netgear service and they can't do nothing for me, I have to ship in US! 

[MyArlo]

Another unhappy 'arlo pro' customer after having the system for over a year without 'dead' issues.

The battery shouldn't be draining within 2 hours of being mounted.

Location is not the issue.  My second arlo pro is 30 feet further from the first camera, and works without issue.

Short of returning the camera (my time is valuable) - the product needs to work or netgear needs to give 'cloud credit' for my time.

[AntCarter]

I just bought the Arlo - Pro Indoor/Outdoor HD Wire Free Security Camera (4-Pack) - White on December 5th and installed it on the 6th.

I'm experiancing rapid battery drain one one camera. Charged it to full compacity  and its still draining faster than the other three. I just may swap it out at Bestbuy and hopfully that will fix he issue

[jgarland]

I just bought my 4-camera kit (~$690 after taxes) from BestBuy on Black Friday. I've had the system for 3 days. One camera (which I've had right next to the base station) keeps going offline. The first time I reset it by taking out the battery, I realized the battery was completely dead. I charged it to 100% and the next day I had the same problem on the same camera. All other cameras are online (and have remained online) with 100% battery level.

Arlo support, please let us know what's going on! I'm thinking about bailing on this system altogether if this doesn't get resolved quickly.

[DaNW1955]

I had the same issue and after an online chat with support, they replaced the camera within a week and shipped me a new one very quckly,

[jgarland]

Arlo techincal support is a joke. I've been on the phone with them for 1 hour and 32 minutes and they won't acknowledge that there's a problem with the camera dispite the fact that I've already systematically eliminated all other variables. 

[jgarland]

2 hours on the same technical support call. No replacement camera. I'm returning the system and getting my money back.

If anyone at Arlo wants to understand why I'm returning this product, please review case number 27766969.

[JamesC]

Battery drain can occur if the camera is struggling to maintain a connection with the base station. Be sure the camera has the best WiFi signal strength and try to limit any nearby sources of potential WiFi interference to further isolate if you are experiencing this issue. If it continues, please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate.

jgarland,

I have reviewed your case and it appears the agent concluded a hardware issue was involved and issued an RMA for your device. If you need assistance completing the RMA process please let me know and I would be happy to help.

JamesC

[mobtyp]

i too am having this issue. bought arlo pro at bb and worked fine for a week and a half. now all 4 of my cameras are dropping offline everyday. i would wait till the next day when i get back into the office to powercylce the base it magically works again. this is really annoying me now to do this daily. cant be my internet because i have 2 internet providers incase 1 goes down. seems like this issue wont get resolved. 

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[jguerdat]

Have you tried both the app and a browser to see if this only affects one?

[mobtyp]

yes i have and both are offline. i just reset the base and now it works magically. this is a daily process i have to do. 

[jguerdat]

If that's the "solution", you need to open a case with support and get it fixed once and for all.

[GBMaryland]

Yeah, so I have my Arlo Pro dropping offline due to powwer issues.  

The "full" battery (was 89% full yesturday at 4PM) is dead this AM.

It got down to 0C last night, and it appears the the lithium battery can't handle that or is defective.  (None of the CR123 units have this issue...)

So, the Pro doesn't seem very useful if it can't handle a dip to 0C...  and if it was "89%" charged, it really shouldn't have died.

GB

[jguerdat]

Bring the camera in and warm up the battery.  Does it recover?  If so, it's a temp issue.  If not, it's something else, such as poor WiFi connections or wireless interference on the 2.4GHz band.

[GBMaryland]

That's exactly what I did.

The unit was completely dead.

Lithium batteries are know to work without issue in sub-zero temperatures.

I use them all the time... this issue is likely that Netgear doesn't have a working algorithm for the voltage vs temperature; They may need to tune the algorithm...

The big issue is the 89% to dead in 8 hours... And it was on standby.

[DaNW1955]

Is the problem with just 1 of your HD Pro cameras or all of your HD Pro cameras?