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?

[paddos]

Thought I had solved problem temporarily when I shut IR down but still seeing excessive drain. Seem to always end back up without explanation or solution. Not convinced it's an IR issue. Believe is more complicated and that there are several things going on. An IR problem should not cause the battery reading error.

[Wklovelace3]

I agree. Theres no other explanation to why its taking this long to get resolved. I have had other strange things happen too. A week ago some of my recordings would be exactly 1:17 for 10 videos in a row. No matter what caused the motion. I have it set to until motion stops. A car would drive by and be gone in 10 seconds and it would continue to record nothing. Both cameras as well. My window sill cam would continue to record well after my dog stopped barking. Then i would see double videos in my library also. The exact same video twice. Another weird thing was the man icon that lights up orange when motion is detected would be stuck on sometimes. It would stop recording but he would stay orange for minutes afterwards or he would go off then back on as if it detected more motion but there was nothing there or anymore recording while it was orange. Strange..... Theres something funky with this whole thing

[secaz]

A list of what ISN'T wrong with Arlo would be short, and by far, than what is...

I agree - its messed up, and every which way... I've given up on mine,  Will let the batteries drain until they quit... will replace if I feel like it... its so time consuming and painful to use the system, the Android app and the website... I really have better things to do.  So sick og fighting with everything.  Nothing "just works" any more.  And the fact that the lag time is unreal, and coupled with struggling to get things to load in Anroid app and wesite before I die of old age, is just more than I want to deal with.

My dogs are the best indicator if someone or something is going on outside that needs my attention.  If barking persists, I might be inclined to try to do a live feed to see if I can see anything... but its always a battle now trying to view videos, do live feeds... I give up...

And thiis field trial? Netgear should never release fireware WITHOUT doing due diligence, and now they are expecting customers to test firmware and report back?  So, if you buy Netgear products, don't expect that any real world testing has been done.  And obviously NO usability testing... whoever designed the Android app needs to spend a month with it using it daily... that's the most ungainly app I've ever had to use... its poorly designed...

[AppleArlo]

Well pointed out. The IPO is sucking the life out of the Arlo side, particularly technical support

[BMZ]

FIXED IR ISSUE WHEN OFF

Hi everyone.  Not sure if people are still having issues with the IR lights turning on when the camera is off but I think I found a solution/ figured it out.

If you go into the arlo app there is the devices screen and then also the modes screen.  I used to enable/disable camera through the device screen by clicking each camera nut and toggleing the on/off button.  But as likely many others have faced, the camera even when off would have the IR lights pop on when dark.  Thus battery drainage would occur even when not technically in use. 

To stop this you must have all the cameras set to on in the devices individually.  Then go to modes and disarm the entire base station (for the wireless cameras).  Then you will see that the IR lights will not come on anymore at all.  I think the new software update wants us to use the modes rather than toggle each camera on and off while leaving the system armed.  So, again, the cameras all must be set to ON, not off.  Then use modes to change from armed and disarmed. 

Since doing this all is well.  no IR and no battery drainage

[pc2k17]

---

@BMZ wrote:

FIXED IR ISSUE WHEN OFF

Hi everyone.  Not sure if people are still having issues with the IR lights turning on when the camera is off but I think I found a solution/ figured it out.

If you go into the arlo app there is the devices screen and then also the modes screen.  I used to enable/disable camera through the device screen by clicking each camera nut and toggleing the on/off button.  But as likely many others have faced, the camera even when off would have the IR lights pop on when dark.  Thus battery drainage would occur even when not technically in use. 

To stop this you must have all the cameras set to on in the devices individually.  Then go to modes and disarm the entire base station (for the wireless cameras).  Then you will see that the IR lights will not come on anymore at all.  I think the new software update wants us to use the modes rather than toggle each camera on and off while leaving the system armed.  So, again, the cameras all must be set to ON, not off.  Then use modes to change from armed and disarmed. 

Since doing this all is well.  no IR and no battery drainage

---

That is not a fix, it's just a work around. We all have been doing this for well over a month now. Keep the cameras on and either disarm or create a custom mode and arm/disarm the cameras you want.

There is a bug in the firmware that causes this issue. When the cameras are off they should do nothing at all. Currently the bug cases the cameras to sense motion, even while they are off, and when dark the IR lights also come on. This constant detecting of motion and the IR lights coming on causes the battery drain. The work around for now is to leave the cameras on and disarm. The fix is nothing an end user can do. Arlo has to fix the bug in the firmware. They are field testing the new firmware right now.

[Wklovelace3]

Mine were still draining evwn leaving them on and use modes to disarm and arm
Didnt matter. I couldn't get ir lights to come on that way but they were still draining. About 5% overnight even while on and disarmed. The workaround worked for awhile then they were draining no matter what

[pc2k17]

Right... I forgot to mention the people whos batteries still drain with the cameras on and disarmed. Arlo has to fix it, and hopefully the new firware does. I was lucky the disarm/custom mode workaround has been working perfect for me, so now it's just a waiting game. If arlo fixes this with the new firmware I'll stay and continue with my expansion plans, if not, I'll switch to a different system.

[Wklovelace3]

I am currently on the new "field trial" and it looks like the issues are resolved. Batteries arent draining and my motion detection and signal strength has improved also

[paddos]

Great news! How long have u been using?

[Wklovelace3]

Thursday last week. I charged the batteries. Im still in the 90's on battery and not losing any overnight like previously. My motion detection seems back to normal as well

[paddos]

Thanks. Keep us updated. There is hope!

[RanulfWolfSage]

How do you get in the trial?

[Wklovelace3]

Send a private message to jamesc with your email

[Wklovelace3]

I really didnt want to do it but at this point have nothing to lose. Tired of climbing ladder every week. Gets old

[Wklovelace3]

Ok will do

[paddos]

@JamesC. @DawnM

Pls add me to field trial. Thank you

[secaz]

It's pathetic when Netgear's CUSTOMERS have to field test firmware that NETGEAR should have done themselves PRIOR to releasing that last update that fubarred everything.  They have turned us into their own private guinea pigs, I swear.

My schedules blew up AGAIN... three times in the past two days... and I had a cam that kept trigger when NOTHING was there to trigger it.  I even dropped it all the way down to 30% and it keep triggering.  Apparently had to reboot the base station - but my new battery I had recently put in it got eaten up last night and this morning from triggering at NOTHING and recording NOTHING... and wasn't even windy last night, not even a breeze... this system is a POS...

[sassysmom129]

I so understand glitches but while the glitch is being researched the old version needs to be implemented before having to find another camera system. I am already doing so as I can’t keep turning the cameras off to save the battery when that is totally defeating the purpose of protecting my home.

[Shaeaustin]

Coincidence or more to it?
After venting yesterday and saying how I lose so much battery (5-6 days tops even when off) and saying I think it's maybe being remote accessed by ARLO/Netgear to spy...guess what happened?
I charged my indoor batteries yesterday morning to 100 and turned them off. Normally they would be at about 75-80% by now but Noooo.. they are still sitting at 100%. That hasn't happened in months.
Perhaps they are listening and reading this stuff???
Ironic that I basically accuse them of spying and it magically...instantly stops. Even my outdoor ones haven't changed more than 1% in last 24 hrs. Hmmmmm. Everything seems to be working correctly today.
I'm not a part of the field trial so explain that. Guess I'll see what happens in the next 24.

[paddos]

One of the current bugs is after recharge the battery indicator sticks at 100%. Had one at 100% for 12 days before it starting crashing. Hope you find something different but you can look through earlier posts and see the issue. Have even seen the battery increase from day to day. So more than just the rapid drain issue. Battery readings also buggy!

[Shaeaustin]

Never seen an increase, only RAPID decrease. mine are usually showing down 5% in first hour or two. Hope that's not the case or I get to experience yet another new issue.
Thanks for the heads up though. Grrr

[Yancantcook]

My cameras have firmware: 1.092.0.13_19715


Everything was great until two weeks ago when the batteries all started draining much faster even if I turned the camera off. Went from 100-80-50-20 in a matter of five days. I want to try the newer firmware to see if it helps or else it will go back to costco.

[secaz]

sassysmom129 - you are right, and I've said it a million times if once... when Netgear became aware of the problem and all the customers complaining, THEY SHOULD HAVE ROLLED BACK THE FIRMWARE.  That was the ONLY conscionable to do, and what they should have done.

And yet?  Netgear has given NO REASON why they did not rollback the Arlo firmware to the previous version.  It's negligent that they did not roll it back... and also negligent that they won't communicate... they just blow us off, and then expect us to field trial firmware.  I bet you that if you do NOT ask for the new formware, they will never put it into production for the populace at large. 

If I were you, I'd sell your system on eBay and maybe go with Nest... I didn't initially go with Nest, becasue I'm not a fan of Google... but in retrospect, I should have gotten Nest.  Once I've gotten over this Arlo disappointment, I'll go with Nest when I have the money.  Like most of everyone here, though, we've made a substantial investment in Arlo - and we'll never get back what we put into it.

From beginning to end, its been an unpleasant journey once my system started to become a POS.  Was great for about two months or so... then slowly the quirks settled in and now I spend most of my time chasing it around, and I'm done.

Netgear and Arlo falsely advertised their product, and I think there are laws in this country against this.  Arlo is NOT a security system and should not be presented as one, and the battery life they boast?  Its an outright LIE. 

Check out the nest site - they have outdoor, indoor, various types of systems and cams and I like what I see...

https://nest.com/cameras/nest-cam-iq-outdoor/overview/

[secaz]

Shaeaustin - I've had so much inconsistency with battery readings, honesty... I have some that are stuck at 100% and the batteries I put in THREE WEEKS AGO... and I've had plenty of vidoes on them they should NOT be reporting 100%.  In addition to this, these are also cams placed where there is literally NOTHING OF INTEREST GOING ON.  I find that interesting, if not suspicious.

Other cams/batteries, it varies, but the ones where things of interest would go on... otherwise camers where you frequently might see my outside, or my garage cams, these tend to drain more quickly even if there are only scant videos... so that coupled with the IR lights coming on all the time is enough to make ANYONE think we are being spied on...