Battery drains very quickly even when camera is off - Arlo VMS4330

[Shammy]

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

[Chase84]

I will also. Not like it can get any worse. Lol

[MB10]

Is there any known fix to this problem?

[secaz]

Has anyone noticed there used to be 20 pages to this thread and now there are only 15?  So what posts did forum moderators delete?

Hey, Netgear - I'd like to see a fix BEFORE I DIE, please.. I'm OLD and I am sick and tired of CLIMBING LADDERS to change batteries... I'll send you the bill when I fall and break something...

[toonchew]

hey everyone, 

do new upgrades to the firmware get automatically download to our base station? how does that work? like everyone else on here, my arlo pro was working fine since i got it until the may 2018 firmware upgrade. 

[RanulfWolfSage]

I would happily test the new version. I'm tired of charging the batteries!

[Arlo_Leander]

Hmmm, i posted Arlo Support's response and it did not show up or was deleted by the moderator.

I will attempt to post again...

[Arlo_Leander]

Apparently Arlo Support does not want the recommended actions posted in this support thread. With as much complaints about sudden battery life decline, you would think they would provide a better solution than -- resyncing all of the cameras, checking to see if they are charging with the cable in and battery out, etc. These are all meaningless workarounds to what is most likely related to their May update. I used to endorse Arlo cameras and since the server outages and now this battery issue, I cannot recommend them to anyone, anymore.

I guess it will take several days for me to conduct the tests they recommended as well as counting how many recordings the cameras are making during the day and night. As well as providing the outdoor temperature. Uggghhh - very frustrating that I have to do all this when i would gladly reverse the update. They also wanted me to know that i only get 1 year of hardware warranty and no support because i am on the basic plan.

Arlo - you are really failing as a company to take care of your customers!

[MB-SOCAL]

@JamesC    Please give me the latest firmware "Trial" 

Spoiler

Nothing to lose at this point.

[toonchew]

how did the firmware get downloaded to our base station? was it automatically done?

[JPC]

---

@toonchew wrote:

hey everyone, 

do new upgrades to the firmware get automatically download to our base station? how does that work? like everyone else on here, my arlo pro was working fine since i got it until the may 2018 firmware upgrade. 

---

Most of the time yes and camera as well.. We don't have any control of it. Ok.. maybe a little like pressing the "update" button and nothing else to cancel.. Arlo will release it whenever they can.. The problem with this though is the "what if" question that Arlo overlooked. What if at the time of the update power was cutoff all of a sudden in middle of update? or lost of internet connectivity? A small piece of information glitch could affect the system big time.. This is prolly' what's happening here now that they're offerring firmware trial because of possible system brick.. Ofcourse, Arlo is not disclosing anything so it's always a guessing game... I'm hoping one day that there's an IT lawyer out there that can actually represents us and make Arlo release a fallback firmware/App because it's seriously getting out of hand.. 

[secaz]

So Netgeat deleted 5 pages worth of our posts?  Freedom of speech is not alive and well on THIS forum, apparently... must be a forum hosted in China...

Their pat response of remove devices and resync is bull crap.  I even set up a brand new base station, fresh out of the box, and added cams to it, IR lights STILL come on when camera status is off.

And this FIELD TRIAL of firmware is bunk - where was the FIELD TRIAL when they released the frimware that BORKED up everything, hmmm?

[secaz]

If you want to post to a thread about this issue without fear of being censorsed (why did Netgear remove 5 PAGES of posts this thread?), then go to reddit and add to this thread... at least it won't get censored...

https://www.reddit.com/r/arlo/comments/8lfn5q/camera_always_on_issue/

[Arlo_Leander]

Yes, the busy work workarounds are insulting the intelligence of the customers who in most cases have already performed much of the suggested troubleshooting recommendations. The information they want you to provide is silly given how many users are experiencing the exact same issue. Once they get their hands on how many videoes are recorded in a day and what the outside temperature is; you can bet they will say that the camera is not set up correctly. BUT! I have made no adjustments to my cameras, the only adjustment was the update they provided in May. The lack of communication and transparency by Arlo and Netgear is an indication of where this company is headed. This use to be the star of the show camera system. They added features that everyone would like to have in an attempt to improve the product but want to charge for it. I feel like I should have went with another system, I dont mind paying but I dont want to feel ripped off like I do now. I purchased a Ring Doorbell Pro and happily pay the monthly fee and have had no issues. Arlo servers have been down many times, the accounts have been hacked and now the firmware update has the one good feature (wireless) in the toilet. The response from Arlo? Do not release any statements, do not offer any help, assign homework to the user, stall, stall, stall. Unacceptable.

[Ekiz]

@JamesC
Yes I would like to have the trial. But how are you going to deliver the update, I am asking because if I put new batteries in the cameras they willl be drained within 2 days.

[secaz]

BTW - whatever firmware nightnare Netgear induced, it seems to affect different hardware versions differently.  I decided to append the hardware version to each camera name.  I have 10 cams... 7 are H8 and 3 are H11.  Interesting, because I have three that have been crabby and drain far more quickly than others, and those are H11... and I can't blame battereis because I swap batteries between cameras... I have a charing station and keep two batteries in that which I use when I change batteries...

I'd still like to know WHY Netgear never rolled back to previous firmware when it became apparent oh.... so.... long... ago... that there was an issue with the fireware they pushed out...

[secaz]

And the battery issue is assuredly tied to the fact the IR lights are coming on all... the... time... when I turn somthing OFF, I expect it to be OFF (except for wireless connection) - I don't want IR lights coming on when the cam is off...

[BicepusMaximus]

@JamesC

I would like to participate in the field trial. Thank you.

[Jan1972]

Come on Arlo solve it.

In 3 days the battery went from 100% to 70%  with the camera off all the time. Maybe you can send youre customers FREE solar panels as service.

I wait for 3 days on  the field trial i had am message  that my email was forward to the engineering-team .

[Arlo_Leander]

How do i get added to the field trial????

@JamesC 

Dawn Marshall

Arlo Community Manager

[Wklovelace3]

I dont understand why it is so hard to undo something. Before may 15th everything was fine. Its obvious its something they did ti the firmware. Field trials should be done research and development BEFORE it gets to the customer its unprofessional to ask your customers.

[ChaosChris]

I am really getting mad at this.  I told tons of people, neighbors and etc. to buy this system since I loved it so much.  Have had mine for 1.5 years and only had to charge the batteries maybe every 3 months.  Now every 2 weeks or 3.  This is not acceptable.  What has really pissed me off is the fact that now I have bought a new battery thinking it was that, and just recently wasted money on a wifi extender thinging that would help.  I should have known it was firmware since they worked great before.  Now i have dumped a pile more money into this system.  They should be rolling back the firmware if this new update is not working.  I have been wondering if it was the motion and cams being on all the time when armed or even off.  After reading all these post now I know.  I am going to do some investigation tonight with the lights and so on after reading these complaints.  I have two cameras that are up higher that I am getting tired of having to go up to pull down.  Then what a pain to get them lined up again in the right spot.  As of right now if this keep happening through out the summer the system will have to be taken down and will have to look into a different company.  At the time there was not much out there so I bought the Arlo pro since wireless.  Well they better watch out since now there are a number of options.  Its too bad I have been preaching this was one of the best tech things I have bought in a long time.................

[RanulfWolfSage]

I really don't understand, after investing over a grand into this system, why the support is so lackluster. I have worked in the IT field for 20+ years. If I treated a customer this way, I would have been fired long ago!

@JamesC What do I have to do to get into the field trial so I don't have to keep charging these things continuously?

[Wklovelace3]

There seems to be no predictability to the battery drain. Doesnt matter if its on off or disarmed. For awhile the workaround in which you disarm instead of turning off was working. Then recently they started draining no matter what. Also they were staying at 100% for days after being charged. Charged mine Sunday. Disarmed them for the night. Monday morning lost 3% from overnight. Its Wed now and im already down to 70%. Not normal for sure. Normal for me used to be 2 or 3 % per day. Now its more like 10-12%. Maybe the new features did it. The activity zones for arlo smart. Even though there not activated. Who knows. But is not acceptable to not have this fixed by now. I do maintenance for a big church. My boss would fire me if i took a month to fix an air condtioner. I cant do trial and error. It breaks you fix it. That's the real world

[RaelNV]

Really upsetting issue hasn't been resolved. Everything was working great until May and now system seems almost useless. Please fix this ASAP netgear. It';s been too long.

[secaz]

I have wondered the same - where was the FIELD TRIAL before the last firmware update that BORKED everything.

And I am also a tech consultant and as I have previously stated, if I treated my clients the way Netgear does, I would have NO clients... honestly...

And why is everyone begging for a field trial?  That's not something we should HAVE to suffer!  I don't feel like having my system borked any more than it already is...

NETGEAR ROLL BACK THE FIRMWARE ALREADY...!!!