Arlo pro battery life

[Bt4run99]

First time user sorry if I didn’t post in the correct area. My Arlo pros are dying abnormally fast! I lose about 10% a day even on cameras that are switched off. I got these cameras Thanksgiving 2017. Haven’t had an issue since early May. I got a 4 months before having to charge my cameras. Now in a week and a half my cameras are 50%. Nothing has changed on my end. No new electronics, cameras in the same locations and base unit hasn’t been touched. Only thing that has happened is that update Arlo put out. I even have a camera I charged 2 days ago that has never been used only linked to the base station that is now at 91%. IT’S NOT EVEN TURNED ON!!!!!

[Phr8]

My cameras received the update last week and the issue persists. Btw they are operating on channel 6. Should I attempt to move them to a different channel?

[JessicaP]

I would suggest contacting our Arlo Support Team so they can further assist you with your Arlo Pro battery draining still even after the firmware update.

[rjc356]

Would like to echo my thanks for finally fixing the battery drain issue. So far my batteries are holding their charge at the same level as when they were new. The upgrade also seems to have improved signal strength.

[alixvincent]

It's great that they finally fixed the problem. However it took 4.5 months for the folks at Arlo to fix this. I need more cameras and I cant get myself to buy more Arlo cameras because I am not sure they care too much about their customers. STill thinking about junking the whole system.

[JensGarby]

This issue Has been going on since May WHEN is Arlo going to fix it???

[JessicaP]

Hey @JensGarby,

We recently released a new firmware update where the Arlo Pro battery draining has been fixed. If you did not receive the update, you can go to Settings > My Devices in the Arlo app, and from there choose to install the new update. For information on this release, take a look here: Arlo Pro - 1.092.0.17_25364 -26th September 2018

[Captaincold]

So I just recharged my batteries - first time they needed them since purchasing in JUNE!!

BATTERY NOW DIES IN A DAY.

Using Arlo Pro 2.
Firmware on Camera is 1.125.11.1_25366

While they were plugged in, they asked for me to update the firmware.. I REGRET DOING THIS SO MUCH.

Guys, I desperately need help. This is insane.

Any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated.

[JessicaP]

Hey @Captaincold,

Here are some things to check to see if it will fix your battery drain issue:

• Check the signal strength and motion detection (such as sensitivity and record time) settings. Make sure that it has three or four bars of signal strength. If you have two or less signal strength bars or if the motion sensitivity and record time is high, this could cause your battery to drain faster. 
• Make sure your camera is close to the base station. If you have another camera, you can try to swap the camera in its place and see if that one drains.
• Try to reboot your base station.

You can also read more here on how to help improve your battery life: How can I extend my Arlo Wire-Free, Arlo Pro Wire-Free, or Arlo Go camera's battery life?

[Captaincold]

I appreciate the response.

why would any of this change after a charge? I haven't changed anything from positioning, to sensitivity. 

It is all the same as it has always been. 

[JessicaP]

It was suggested just in case anything changed from internet connection or positioning. Have you tried rebooting your base station to see if that fixes it?

If none of these fixes it, I suggest contacting our Arlo Support Team so they can further assist you.

[Rayster]

  I Just installed two of my four Cameras, I couldn't believe how easy it was to set up the base station and connect the cameras.  I've got them named to easily access the camera I'm looking for.  I kept reading a lot of posts about battery life.  It got me thinking, no one had discussed turning off a camera when they were home.  I have a four camera system.  I definitely want the one at the front door running all the time, but the other three?  Two out of the four cameras are installed inside.  I have a SimpliSafe Security System. and bought the Arlo system to complement the other.  So one of the first things I did this evening after installing the cameras, re-naming them, and checking the video quality was to turn off the cameras that aren't needed.  I know this will save battery life as they aren't being used.  The app makes it so easy to turn them on and off that it just makes sense.  I hope this will help some of the frustrated users.  I don't think many of them realize what a great decision they made to buy this product!  Who knows maybe I'll be crying the blues too, but I think by using the rule of turning off appliances (or gadgets) that aren't being used saves energy.  In this case expensive energy!  Good luck to everyone!  Cheers!

[Rayster]

I just installed mine.  I recommend turning off the cameras that aren't needed.  For example, if you're home, don't have a camera running in your living room or bedroom which will be triggered constantly.  There's a switch on the app under devices.  Choose the camera(s) that aren't necessary when you're home and turn them off.  If you forget to turn them back on, you can do that when you land at Starbucks, lol.

[pc2k17]

@Rayster

Just FYI - Turning off the cameras has been tried as well as everything else under the sun. In fact, the original battery drain issue happened when the cameras were turned off. When off, the cameras would still detect motion turning on the IR lights and draining the battery. We all had to temporarily stop turning off our cameras. That issue was fixed, but for some people battery drain still existed. (mine were fine). The excessive battery drain issue was the camera/base firmware. There was nothing the end user could do to stop the excessive drain. On Sept 19th (pretty sure that was the date) Arlo pushed out new firmware that fixed the excessive battery drain and everyone should see typical battery drain now directly related to how much they use the cameras.

Like you, I have Simplisafe and Arlo cameras inside the house. I also have SmartThings. Using a smartthings presence sensor, smartthings detects when I'm home or away and turns cameras on/off and also sets the Arlo mode automatically. With SmartThings and a smartthings smartapp called Arlo pilot, it's all automated. Works good.

Glad you found the turn on/off cameras function, because I agree with you, I believe it does help extend battery life. When off, the cameras go into a low power mode and the camera only uses power to stay connected to the base and to accept commands from the base (to turn back on). I agree turning off cameras that you don't need on is a good idea but I can see how some might think it's a PITA to constantly turn cameras on/off. This is where smartthings comes in, it automates the whole process. Check it out if your interested.

[Rayster]

Thanks for the information.  I'm sorry for sending you redundant information but appreciate hearing about how you use SmartThings to manage both the SimpliSafe and the Arlo Cameras.  I'll definitely check that out.  Sorry to hear you're still having the battery issues, but it sounds like you've found some clever ways to mitigate the issue somewhat.