Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

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River25
Tutor
Tutor

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. 

51 REPLIES 51
GBMaryland
Tutor
Tutor

Only 1 of them...

 

I've got two of them about 10 feet from each other outside.

 

The other is still at 93%

DaNW1955
Tutor
Tutor

If you swap the batteries and the same camera has the same temperature issue, then I would say the issue is camera specific related.

 

I had 1 bad camera out of 2, 4 packs I purchased that dropped the signal if it was more than 10 feet away, after 30 to 60 minutes of use.

If I put it 5 feet away, it worked fine with no issue. 10 or more feet away and it eventually would drop it's signal. Once it dropped it's signal,it went into a battery drain death spiral. 

If you haven't done so already, I would initiate an online support chat or email to see about getting a replacement.

They obviously have a bad batch of cameras that have been sent out, whether they admit it or not. Way too many reported issues to not just go ahead and acknowledge that some of the cameras released have issues. That is the responsible thing for Netgear to do to keep their customer base happy.

 

They sent me a replacement camera, for my issue. It was much appreciated and will keep me as a customer.

tonylock83
Aspirant
Aspirant
Was the problem with the original camera after all? I'm having the same issues with one camera also? Wondering if maybe I should have them send me a new one.
DaNW1955
Tutor
Tutor

yes..it was just one camera out of 2,  4 packs. They replaced it and the replacement camera is working fine.

 

I would contact their support to get it replaced.

GBMaryland
Tutor
Tutor
So, when I finally placed the other camera HW v7 in the location of the orginal problem camera, we started having a problem with detection:

- The camera (HW v7) enters a death spiral where is continously takes video clips after a detection

- Even when the detection level is set to 50...

The HW v8 camera we got as a replacement for the other HW v7 camera we had works in that location without issue!
chuck159
Apprentice
Apprentice

I bought an extra camera from Best Buy on 2/10/17.  When in sync it would Pixulate at 120 feet, I moved it indoors at 45 feet and it would go off line. I would have to remove battery to resync. Today 2/15/17 still offline and battery at 20%. Taking camera back to BB for replacement.

Sheikhus4
Aspirant
Aspirant
I bought a four camera kit from Best Buy on February 13. First it wouldn't activate for two days and several hours spent with a tech rep via chat. Now one camera keeps going offline. I've swapped out the battery with another camera that works fine. The one that keeps going out is closest to the base and wifi so I know it's not a connection issue. When it goes offline, I take out the battery and re-sync it. It works for a maybe an hour or two then goes offline again. What can I do to keep it online?
Sheikhus4
Aspirant
Aspirant
Also, I just noticed the one camera that keeps going offline gets warm.
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru
Sounds looks a bad can!mera. Open a case with support or swap at the store.
Sheikhus4
Aspirant
Aspirant
Thanks for the quick feedback. Hopefully the next set won't have this issue. Sounds like a lot of customers are having this issue with at least 1 of the 4 in the set.
Sos4uall
Aspirant
Aspirant
Have moved cam, have replaced bat with spare, havechargedboth bats Same result cam goes off line after less than one hour. It is closest to base unit only 6 feet distance.
Qmaster
Aspirant
Aspirant

1 week old and these are junk. 2 cams hold battery life for about 6 hours about 25 feet from the base. Customer service just argues. The Q is junk too. Stats linked for about 20 minutes. Best Buy will see these twice... 

GBMaryland
Tutor
Tutor
So, they've replaced two of my Pro cameras due to "death spiral;" the condition when the camera just keeps taking video, even though there is no motion.

What you see symptom wise is the camera takes video nearly continuously, and the battery drains.

With the V8 hardware cameras, I've not had the battery die prematurely.
Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

Same problems as everyone else on this thread....batteries connection issues...

 

dont know now if it's their hardware software ?.

but it's an unreliable product!

 

i can't fly home to reboot my security cameras!

it needs a fix!

Sheikhus4
Aspirant
Aspirant
Yes, that's my biggest concern as well. What if the camera goes offline when I'm out of town for two weeks?

I swapped out my set for a new one at Best Buy today. Hopefully it works better.
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru
First off, get them set up properly before leaving. I know that's not always possible but that's the chance you take.

If away from home, the only option is to restart the base from the GUI. That may or may not help. It also helps to use a UPS/battery backup on all your network equipment, including the base, to prevent power glitches or outages from happening. Is that what happened to you? No way of telling. There are troubleshooting steps to take but they require physical presence.
Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

Their set up properly. They work then they don't. That's the problem.

if I have to be here to keep to keep restarting my cameras it defeats the purpose of having the cameras....

Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

i have had nothing but problems with these cameras. Customer service was good sent me out a new battery...

 

Doesnt solve the problem of the camera going offline every few days for no reason!

 

The cameras are getting 3 bars but poof offline for no reason. 

 

If i have to be at home making sure my cameras are running then I need a different system!!

JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

Sherlock7,

 

It could be an issue with the camera's location (WiFi interference) that is causing the camera to drop offline. One way to further isolate the issue would be to swap the location with a camera that is behaving normally and see if the issue follows the camera or the location.

 

JamesC

Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

I've moved the camera, moved the base closer to the camera, changed out batteries etc.

 

Every 3-4 days it drops offline.

 

it requires me to pull the camera and reboot it to get it online again.....

Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

By wifi interference what exactly are you referring to.

it has 3 bars.......

Sherlock7
Guide
Guide

One more observation that might help in the diagnosis....

 

camera is working fine running at 92% drops offline reboot it and it's at 78%

 

Sheikhus4
Aspirant
Aspirant

I got a new set from Best Buy and so far no issues with cameras dropping offline for two days. Hopefully it stays this way.

sunshinecjb
Aspirant
Aspirant
I've had my Arlo Pro for several months. Yesterday I decided to charge all my batteries before going on vacation. Today the one camera that is 1 ft from the base station is already drained to 68%. And now, another camera is at 55% after I just charged it and placed it back. My system is disarmed. My system also showed to be offline while at work today. When I got home it still showed offline yet I had all green lights. I unplugged it and after plugging it back on it seem to work fine yet the one camera was at 55% that I just placed back about 50 ft from the station. Again, the system is disarmed.
The last time I went on vacation the same thing happened and all my cameras were drained when I returned home. Their service sucked and now I'm going on vacation with no securty in my home. All my cameras are inside. My wifi has a great signal and nothing but my directv is using my router.
I take it that no one is getting anything fixed thru Netgear? I'm out of my 90 day warranty.
jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

For starters, warranty is 1 year.

 

I'm not sure what's going on but I'd suggest:

 

- Power cycle your network (modem, router and base) and let them come back up in that order. Are the LEDs all green?

 

- Reinsert all batteries, making sure they're still charged.

 

- Use both the app and a browser to check status.

 

If still nothing, it might be fastest to start fresh by resetting the system.  Remove all devices in Settings, My Devices and hold the reset button on the base until the LEDs flash amber.  Use the Add Device button on the Devices tab to add the base and sync the cameras.  Make sure you only briefly press the base sync button.

 

Any luck?