Arlo Pro battery life

[Shammy]

Why does my camera night infrared come on when I have the camera set to off?

[secaz]

I sure loved Arlo a year ago when it worked right, worked fast, was stable and reliable... but somewhere around July 2017, I think it was, it started to get quirky, and started to mutate from quirky to crappy and now to untolerable... and unreliable,,,

No firmware fix, no communication, can't even tell us why they just don't go back to a PREVIOUS version of the firmware that DOES work... and the silence continues...

And right now I bet they are hustling to get their code off github and migrate to another platform since Microsoft bought github... assuming, of course, Netgear uses github for its code... logic suggests they would, but I haven't cared enough to research that. This is my last Netgear purchase.  I've bought two things from Netgear in the past... both well over a decade ago... a ReadyNAS which runs on Sparc and I still have - great hardware... and I bought a small unmanaged network switch which again was great hardware and lasted forever... but again, really old gear,,, and they just worked... but Arlo?  Yeah - it just worked for a while until they started messing with it.  

There's a tech adage - if it isn't broken, don't fix it... apparently Netgear has never heard that one... there's a lot of merit to be had in that old adage...

[tebrodrick]

Same issue with me. All of a sudden the Pro cameras are draining at a record rate. I charged everything up 3 weeks ago, and my old cameras with rechargable Tenergy batteries are still at 55%, while my pro cameras are at less than 10% which is backwards from what it used to be.

[BillUhr]

There's an obvious problem and I'm not aware whether there's much traction on  a fix.  I would encourage everyone with this issue to open a support ticket.  Tech Support seems to be unaware that there is a problem.

Bill

[jguerdat]

It's not really "an obvious problem" since the reports are far fewer than the installed base. Sucks to be youy and I don't have a fix but it's not really a widespread issue, just enough to piss off those affected.

[BillUhr]

Talking about problems in these forums is not the same as reporting an issue.  Technical support will be driven by numbers.  For some reason the firmware update in mid May affected a number of people adversely.  If everyone with the problem reported it, Netgear could decide if it's a big problem or a little problem.  In the meantime I'm really glad that it doesn't suck to be you.

Bill

[GMR79]

I recommend leaving comments on their Facebook page whenever they post an ad for Arlo about this issue. They wont respond to us here but if we start flooding their posts for potential new buyers we might hear something.

[GMR79]

Looks like it's time to sell the system, it's a shame as it was good for me prior to this issue

[Keri1974]

This is correct. They reply when you post negative on a Facebook post. I haven’t done what they have asked though to see if it’s a legit concern they have..

[lachrymist]

Yeah anyone tested out the 2.5.3 version to see if it fixes the issue? I just realized it updated two days ago-have had night vision off and been turning the cameras off, disabling the system and turning their faces down on the counter/shelfs they sit on, when i am home-to avoid battery drain, but accidently left them turned up and armed (but turned off) last night, and when i checked the battery life this morning, seemed like there was little to no additional loss. I'll be home all day, and I will leave the up and armed and off and see what happens.

[secaz]

I've got batteries that are stuck at 100% with plenty of videos for a week now - and I know that is just NOT RIGHT.  Esepcially the two cams that pick up cars and pedestrians on the street.  I wonder if Netgear pushed out a *patch* to make the  cams report 100% until drain by a certain percentage so we will stop whining about battery drain... there's no way these two cams of mine should be 100% after a week of cars and people coming and going... not to mention the false triggers by wind (have trees within line of sight of these cams) and also the local fauna... yet I have a cam in the back yard that gets almost no videos and its been steadily discharging every day...

[secaz]

I've even done live feeds this week on the garage cam - no way it should still report 100% between those and all the videos... so, I think we really have NO RELIABLE WAY of knowing how much is left on our batteries... never used to be a problem until Netgear starting pushing out all these updates...

[paddos]

Have one camera at 100% now for 12 days. Others discharging 3x prior to changes. Have not tried 2.5.3 yet. At least we have same symptoms. .... clearly a software issue!!!!!

@JamesC. Can you confirm this rapid discharge and frozen 100% battery issue is being worked on by engineering !

[secaz]

I'm glad I have to clean lenses fairly frequently, every week or two, so gives me opportunity to pop in fresh battery when I do that... which is especially important now since I can't rely on the battery percentages being reported. by Arlo... I have no idea what the true percentages ae for my batteries... its just not normal for a battey to stay at 100% for over a week on a cam where there is a lot of activty and also live feeds been done on and off... no battery is THAT good...

[secaz]

I blame myself - I HAD misgivings before I bought the Arlo system. andI bought it anyway, took a chance.. but the hardware is really nice and works great for my situation... and system did work well for a few months then slowly things started to happen and reliability became iffy, performance started to degrade... the quirks were manageable until this February when everything went downhill AND FAST...

[secaz]

Their ramdon appearence is a token "we care" bid to win our confidence... they don't care, but want to make it seem like thwy do.

[DreamsinCali]

I went to their FB page because it kept bringing back to the community. I asked them when they were going to fix the darn thing.
They did release an update and I think it's working. I'm on IPhone. Battery was 85% then 83% and holding! Let's hope it was the fix. I'm watching my other cameras as well!

[paddos]

Running latest 2.5.3 and batteries still not functioning as before. One camera still stuck on 100% after more than 12 days. Others discharging 3x prior to mid May buggy releases. Issue is not the off position issue. Using disarmed and still seeing rapid discharge and "stuck" battery readings.
@JamesC ... possible to get some kind of update!!!!!

[megatec45]

Cameras went from 4 to 6 months of charge to just a few weeks. I changed Nothing in settings, location or my network. Seems to have occurred after last update

[paddos]

@megatec45. Same symptoms I have including one stuck at 100%. Are you using 2.5.3 app release released just few days ago?

[paddos]

Thought smart came free with Premier Subscription? On IOS and upgraded but did not change smart feature

[paddos]

@Wklovelace3. Understand there is an off issue not stopping IR to turn on with motion. I also have a rapid discharge when disarmed and IR turned off. Discharges 5-8 points per day and at least one stuck on 100%. So, using disarm as a way to solve the issue does not work in my case. Not using off and have all the same symptoms. Most be more than or bug.

[Chase84]

I'm pissed. I charged all my cameras yet again last night, disarmed them, turned them off and one of them in less than 24 hours is down to 90%. I've asked in my ticket for updates twice and I have been incredibly polite and they're just ignoring the messages. Over a week now.

[paddos]

Good to know you have same symptoms. Smart features just started showing up earlier this week. Defaulted to showing all motion as well as people. Only way to set is via web site. Cannot set via app. My experience is they screw it up, never communicate status then eventually fix it if the bug is big enough. Hope this one is big enough. Previous issue when using snapshot starting pushing emails one day without requesting on Q's. Communicated and bug confirmed but still not fixed because I must have been the only one using snapshot without notification. JamesC response is "forwarded to engineering." Use to run R&D for large consumer company. No way releasing products or firmware with such issues was acceptable. In rare occasions when we did screw up we over communicated to our customers. Let's hope the new CEO of Arlo changes our experience. They have a good concept just destroying the brand chasing feature content.

[paddos]

Curious if you have had same experience calling customer support last couple of days. Always had good luck reaching a customer service rep. General didn't get a solution but at least a ticket was created and forwarded to engr. This weekend I never get through. Repeatly get a recording saying I am xxth person in the que. Number in que never went below 9th even after an hour wait .... put phone on speaker just to see if they would ever respond. Either they are flooded with calls or they not taking phone calls.

[paddos]

Unbelievable. They just released a new revision 2.5.4. Says it is for Smart! There must not be any adults in charge.