Excessive battery drain even when recording is turned off?

[bitfidelity]

Is it normal for an Arlo Pro to use up a lot of battery just for motion detection? I decided to turn the recording feature off on one of my Arlo Pro cameras, which is pointed at a high-activity area (parking lot) and found that the battery drain was still insane (down from 95% to 50% in two days).

[pc2k17]

There are several threads in this forum about this issue. It was a known bug in the base station firmware. A fixed firmware was pushed out this morning to all Arlo users that fixed the problem. Users are reporting battery usage back to normal. If you didn't get the new firmware yet, restart your base and it should update. The new firmware version you should have is 1.10.0.7_21310. 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Stories/Firmware-Release-Scheduled-6-21-to-Address-IR-Rapid-Ba...

[bitfidelity]

By off, do they mean recording, or the entire unit? Because my battery life seems to be fine when the camera is turned off.

Nevertheless, I will try updating.

[pc2k17]

By Off, they mean when the camera is switched off using the on/off toggle button in the app or in the web interface. The issue was while the cameras were off they would still detect motion and if it was dark the IR lights would come on constantly, which would drain the batteries. This scenario you might not of even noticed happening especially if your cameras are outside.

Others have also reported the batteries draining while the cameras were turned on. This is reported to also be fixed by the new firmware.

[bitfidelity]

I have updated the firmware but noticed no improvement. I've actually realized that the battery life seems to be bad on all of the four cameras I have set up.

Seems like I have no choice but to refund. The original Arlo camera and base station was much better in terms of battery life.

[JamesC]

bitfidelity,

How much activity are the cameras seeing (live streaming, motion detection, etc.)? Have you charged the batteries to full after the firmware update and tested again to see if you're still experiencing an issue?

JamesC

[harley239]

My batteries are still draining faster than normal. This is not totaly fixed.

[pc2k17]

Make sure you have the latest firmware. Should be verson: 1.10.0.7_21310.

Reboot your base....

My battery drain is normal again. System working better now than it has in months.

[bitfidelity]

Alright, so now, not only is the battery still bad, but the motion detection no longer functions on the camera I have pointed at the parking lot. Tons of activity, but there is only one recording so far.

And this is after I have rebooted the router, turned the camera on and off, removed the battery and recharged it to 100%, etc. I suppose I should try removing and re-syncing the camera, but I do not have the patience right now to climb a ladder and move things around.

[pc2k17]

What model (H8 or H11) are your cameras, and what version is the firmware for your cameras?

I ask because others have reported motion detection issues lately and they seem to have an older firmware for their cameras than I have. I have version 1.092.0.16_21159.

[bitfidelity]

H8

1.092.0.13_19715

My base station is 1.10.0.7_21310. AFAIK, that is the latest version, but I never received any update prompt. It just updated invisibly, apparently. Not sure if that affects anything.

[pc2k17]

Apparently, according to the forum manager, I have a field trial version of the camera firmware. Not sure why I do. They're going to roll me back, hope it doesn't cause issues. I'm not sure why they don't roll out the version of camera firmware I have to everyone as it seems to work perfect. I don't have any of the issues others are reporting on the older firmware.

[DominicVH]

Apparently this issue has been solved by a firmware update. Well, it isn't. I have the latest firmware and my batteries deplete in 2 days. These cameras have become unusable. I'm going for a refund...

[pc2k17]

The issue has been fixed. If your experiencing excessive battery drain the reason is most likely interference with the Arlo 2.4 ghz signal. Anything from led bulbs to tv and phone can cause interference. Read post 8 and 9 in this thread.......

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro/Batteries-Arlo-Pro-Drained-Fast/td-p/1661241

[DominicVH]

Well, all of my cameras fail (any position), while the set-up hasn't changed. There are no extra devices in the vicinity of the base station nor cameras... Originally the batteries seemed to last forever. I'm going to put one fully charged camera next to the router and base station and see what happens.  

[pc2k17]

Ya try to do some testing, move things around, move the arlo base as far away from the router as possible, but also remember interference doesn't necessarily have to come from your house, could be a neighbor. Probably any device that emits radio signals within 300 feet could potentially be an issue. I recently read about a guy who had an indoor garden using a cheap digital ballast light and HPS bulb. The interference it put off was knocking out everyones cable TV in the neighborhood. The guy had no idea until the cable company knocked on his door and said they tracked the signal to his house. He turned off the light and everyones cable TV was fine again.