Arlo pro battery My.Arlo.com shows incorrect status of battery

[pcolin]

Arlo pro battery My.Arlo.com shows incorrect status of battery.  The batteries and camera work fine and are reported properly in the iPhone app.  But the web portal is incorrect.  I have tried this on multiple computers and browsers and always get the wrong status on 2 of my 4 cameras.  Charging and changing batteries makes no difference and does not solve the web portal's problem.

[jguerdat]

Lots of recent posts about this with the web client seeming to be the issue. Are you using the app or web to check?

[Trig]

The Arlo web portal information (battery level, USB storage, ...) does not match the information on the Android app.  As some community members stated, I tried clearing cache, different browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge) but that didn't work.  I did notice that the web portal matched the Android app once for about 3 seconds then reverted to the same stagnant/wrong information.  95% of the time I use the web portal.  It is stuck on old information.  Has Arlo abandoned the web portal?   

[GatsbyCat]

We have Pro 2 cameras, model VMC4030P.  Some weeks ago the web portal (accessing arlo.netgear.com through browser on a PC) consistently gives status for two particular cameras, and sometimes a third (but never the other two, we have a total of 5) that the battery is at 1%, the camera cannot be accessed, and we cannot do things through the web interface such as activate or deactivate the camera, can only "remove" the device.  HOWEVER, the cameras are actually working fine, are charged, and recordings show up in the library.   Access through Arlo app on an android phone works just fine.  It is however inconvenient to try to control cameras through a computer browser which is our preferred method, so, will this be fixed?

Additional: if cameras being reported as having 1% battery are removed (remove device), then re-added and synced to the base station, they will show correct status in a browser for a few minutes or maybe up to an hour, then they revert to the bad status.

Have tried with both Chrome and Firefox on a Windows 10 PC.

All cameras and the base station are up to date with firmware.

[TomMac]

No, the web is still supported ... Arlo is aware of this issue.

[rpolitte]

I have 4 pro 2 cameras.  my mobile app shows all 4 cameras working however the desktop website only shows 2 cameras working and the other 2 say to charge the batteries.  The batteries are 100% charged which is also reflected on the mobile app.  the desktop site does show current videos in the library from the cameras it says have 0% battery.  My issue is i can watch all 4 from the mobile app but only 2 from the desktop site...any thoughts to fix(i have already removed the devices and added them back through the desktop site)

[thebe]

I have both the Pro4 camera and video doorbell on my app. The battery percentage does not seem to be dropping down although when I connect my solar charger it shows the charging icon. 

Habe tried everything including changing the battery but no solution. Has anyone got any answers ?

[Dannybear]

You will need to wait for arlo to fix the web portal issue. No idea when it will happen, it has been this way for months already.

[ksss11]

I was told that using incognito tab to log in and access Arlo on desktop would show correct battery levels. I have used it and most of the time it is (assumingly correct) but not every time I get on as you have to have code sent every time you log in.

[CCNE37]

My Arlo battery percentages are all over the place, with neither the iOS app or the web interface being correct. I have 3x Arlo Pro & 2x original Arlo cameras.

Right now the web interface shows all 5 of them as around 50%. This is definitely not accurate - 10 days ago I charged one of the Pros because one day it showed up orange at 21%, and the following day it went back to 53% (on web). On the iphone it showed correctly as 21%. After I charged it the web interface has sat at the same 53%, although the phone currently shows 93%.

The phone currently shows the two older cameras as orange (which I believe is correct based on previous number of days between charges) but will not display a percentage (even in the Settings menu), so I have no idea what they are. The web interface shows one at 52% and the other at 45% and neither has changed from this amount for weeks now. So I actually have no idea what the actual percentage is ?? The iOS app does show the percentages for the Pro cameras in the Settings tab (click on the gear icon), but not for the older cameras - the app used to show all of them just fine.

This is not a browser or cookie issue because I recently built a new desktop with Windows 11, and I always use Firefox. Reading this thread prompted me to use Microsoft Edge and log in to Arlo for the first time - Edge shows exactly the same percentages for all 5 cameras as Firefox, and at least 3 of the 5 I know to be incorrect.

So right now, neither the iOS app or the web interface are accurately showing the battery percentages for either Pro or original Arlo cameras - not sure how to deal with this ?

[ScotCamera]

Yep, these are the exact issues that a lot of other people are having. This has been going on for me at least 4 months. Others have had it longer. For me, I also experience cameras enabled through the web interface when it is disabled through my iPhone. The web interface is almost useless.

What's frustrating is these are behaviors that worked fine last year and now they don't.  Can't Arlo figure out which software update caused it to break and fix the problem?

It seems like Arlo likes to come out with new products. Why would I buy ANY of these new products when their original products don't work like they did in the past.

[CCNE37]

Yes, I have been using the web interface since 2016, mostly with success.

Recently it has turned to custard quite badly. For some months now the battery percentages have been "spotty" at best - and not just in the web interface. I used to be able to see the battery percentages for all 5 cameras in the app, and now only see them for the Pro cameras. I actually cannot tell what they are for the original cameras at all (app or web).

With regard to "other" issues, last week I had a weird one where I started getting notifications that a camera was detecting motion (it shouldn't have been because I was at home and as per my schedule should have only had the front door camera activated) and when I checked the schedule on the web showed that the schedule was active and only the front door was turned on (as per the schedule but not as per what was actually happening), but the app showed that the schedule mode was selected, but a completely different mode was actually active.

It took me quite a while to be able to change this because according to the "Mode" tab (in both app & web), it was correct and the schedule was the Mode selected (so there was nothing to change because it showed as being correct) - but it wasn't activating as per the programmed schedule ???

I ended up shutting down the desktop and rebooting, and that still didn't work. So I shut down my phone, rebooted, and had to select the "Arm" mode to turn everything on, then trigger a couple of cameras, then select the "Disarm" mode to turn everything off, then turn the schedule back on.

A couple of days later I was getting no detections at the front door in spite of it being active (as per the schedule) and visitors arriving, so again I had to manually turn things off and on to get it working again.

Arlo has completely stuffed things up IMO. First they progressively reduced the bitrate of the Pro cameras to a point where they are all but useless for identifying anything (unless you know the person you are looking at), the software interfaces (both app & web) have become at least partially unusable, and recently the system has become unreliable because it seems to change what cameras are doing without any input from owners (turning cameras on or off).

As far as I am concerned there are a few simple rules with security cameras;

1. They must be reliable and do what they are told to do.
2. The video quality must be acceptable (at least to the standard as per when the cameras were purchased).
3. The user interfaces must allow for users to accurately see what is going on with the system (like assess remaining battery life etc).

My point of view is that Arlo has made changes that have significantly decreased the reliability of the systems (software changes - the system has a mind of it's own and changes things itself without user intervention). Arlo has actively reduced the originally quite reasonable 1080P video quality that I used to get on my Pro cameras in March 2019 to something possibly resembling quite poor 480P (or worse) now, so I am not getting what I paid for originally. The user interfaces have deteriorated to a point where I am unable to check what my remaining battery life is at all on my original Arlo 720P cameras and I am unsure of the accuracy of the displayed battery life on the Pro cameras, so it is hard to know when to charge them.

So, all things considered the Arlo experience now is a VERY poor fraction of what it was 4-6 years ago (when Arlo was owned by Netgear). And yet, Arlo keeps bombarding me with adverts to buy the new products ????

Why would I buy anything from Arlo when they have completely screwed up the Arlo products I have - definition of insanity - keep doing what you have been doing (buying Arlo products) and expect a different result.

Right now if I was looking for new security equipment I would probably look first to Eufy, and definitely not Arlo. It is quite sad that they went from being the "aspirational" market leader (that everyone was trying to copy) that almost always rated very highly in reviews and comparisons (except price where they were always "premium") in wireless security to a very second rate (not pricewise though) option nowadays. The leadership have truly stuffed the company up badly.

[ScotCamera]

You brought up a good point regarding poor bitrate. The recorded video each camera has is at fixed resolution that doesn’t change, whether its 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440 or 3840 x 2160. They call that HD video. This is how Arlo gets away with their claim by saying their cameras record HD video. What most people don’t realize that the recorded bitrate for each video also plays an important role in quality. As you pointed out, poor bitrate results in poor video quality. I too have noticed poor video quality with my Arlo Pro 4’s.  Arlo tries to put the blame on the consumer by saying their wi-fi is weak. All my cameras show a “strong video bandwidth” when tested under the Camera Positioning setting. So I’m beginning to wonder how accurate the bandwidth tests are and is this another bug in the software similar to the battery status indicator?

Anyway, I see Arlo products go downhill too.

[CCNE37]

To put in perspective just how shockingly poor Arlo Pro so-called 1080P video bitrate is;

Mobius Maxi 1080P mini-camera (US$70 cost) - 1080P highest quality = 3,479 kBytes / second of video

Arlo Pro 1080P highest quality (March 2019) = 292 kBytes / second of video

Arlo Pro 1080P highest quality (September 2022) = 50.53 kBytes / second of video

Arlo Original 720P highest quality (February 2016) = 85 kBytes / second of video

Arlo Original 720P highest quality (October 2021) = 88 kBytes / second of video

So, what is clear is that;

• Arlo Original video bitrate/quality hasn't changed really from 2016 to 2021.
• Arlo Pro 1080P video bitrate/quality has reduced dramatically (only 1/6th of the data) now compared to 2019.
• Arlo Pro 1080P is actually slightly worse in quality now than the much older original Arlo 720P cameras - solely due to over-compression of data by Arlo (nothing has changed with the camera hardware).
• Even the as-released Arlo Pro 1080P was EXTREMELY compressed/reduced compared to a relatively cheap (much cheaper than a Arlo Pro) Mobius Maxi 1080P wireless camera (often used as a dashcam or similar) which generates a massive 68 times the data of the Arlo Pro - in spite of them both being technically 1080P.

The difference between the Arlo Pro video where I struggle to recognise a neighbour on the video, and the Mobius Maxi where I can freeze frame and read a vehicle number plate of a passing car, is just HUGE, and yet they are both 1080P.

Arlo has compressed their video to the point of rendering it virtually useless - just to save them money on storage capacity of the stored videos.

I am not suggesting that Arlo should be saving video at the same bitrate as the Mobius Maxi because it would obviously consume too much bandwidth for users and well as requiring MASSIVE server capacity for Arlo, BUT I do not agree with their massive reduction (by 83%) in video quality without any consultation with users who are now NOT getting anything close to what they paid for.

[TomMac]

Arlo is aware of issue with battery readings...

Have you tried at the web access to see battery readings?   my.arlo.com

[Mizuhito]

This just started happening after using the system successfully for several years.

The live view is blocked by a message saying, “Charge Battery. This device's battery level is too low. Connect a compatible charger to charge the battery.”  However, the battery level is fine, as evidenced by being able to record motion movies for several weeks.  In the settings for the camera, it is listed only as “H3.”  What model is that?  How can I get the live view back? And in the settings, for firmware (1.125.17.1_11_de8490d) there is a a “greater than” symbol (>), suggesting that more info is available but clicking on the character does nothing.  Is it supposed to check for firmware updates? Is it supposed to do anything?  TIA

[Dannybear]

What arlo mobile app are you using, android or iPhone? 

[Mizuhito]

Don’t use any app; access arlo.com via the www from a desktop system, Apple PB running Monterey.  Thanks

[Dannybear]

You can’t use the arlo iOS app on that platform unfortunately, was stopped back in January 2021.

You will need to wait until arlo fixes the web portal unfortunately.

[MikeBravo]

I've been having the same problem for months now where the android app shows the correct battery status but the PC browser portal does not.

I've tried several different machines, clearing caches, and even installing a new browser fresh and it is still the same. 

Whatever you folks did in September hasn't helped.

[Trig]

The web portal was working for me again when I checked on Oct 21, 2022.  Working means that the portal and the Android app match for battery level and USB storage.  Both appear to be correct data.   HURRAY! 

Took about 7 long weeks, as far as I can tell to get corrected.

[ShayneS]

Hello,

Is anyone still experiencing this issue?

Thanks 

[pcolin]

It looks to me like tech support may have fixed this problem. I just logged in on the web browser (computer) portal and the status of all my batteries is now displayed.  

[ShayneS]

@pcolin

Awesome, thanks for that update. 

[MikeBravo]

Fixed last week. Correct now.