Infrared light comes on when camera is off

[Shammy]

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

[Bob_B]

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@DawnM wrote:

...You should hear from the engineering team with further instructions within the next couple of days. We appreciate you taking the time!

Dawn Marshall

Arlo Community Manager

Any idea on when your engineers plan on contacting me with instructions? I haven't heard anything from anyone at Netgear other than your post asking for volunteers.

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[JPC]

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@Shaeaustin wrote:
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.

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It's all under their control.. Your email account which is registered to your system is enough to randomly pinpoint anyone's system and have access to troubleshoot whether there's a password or not... Per say it's a hack but I hope for a good purpose and nothing more.. But if you don't like the idea of them snooping again, I suggest change your password first and see if it works.. If not, create a new account(Different Email and Password) which is a hassle but for sure it will lessen the chances of getting hack again... Hint: lessen not 100%.. It can still happen again if there's a major outbreak just like we're in right now.. It's good to hear there's an improvement now.. Goodluck!

[secaz]

JPC - there's NO SUCH THING as a GOOD HACKING.  That's like saying its ok for the NSA to get into my systems because its for the "greater good".  That's just plain bulls**t...

Netgear has no right to access our systems without our consent... but apparently they have, or someone has...

I'm just so glad I never put any of these evil cams in my home... mine are all outside... and when I do have to bring them inside for maintenance, I try to make sure the lenses face the floor when I have to handle them, and when I transport them, I put them in my pocket.  After I put a new battery in, I immediately spray the lens with lens clearner while its blinking blue as it connecting to base station and when I'm done cleaning lens I promptly turn it lens down on my desk.  If I have to plug it into a charger in my office, I put the lens up against the wall...

Couple this with all the crap I have to chase around?  Its a system no one should buy... its not only a huge money pit, but a big TIME SUCK as well.  And it had worked SO WELL when I first got it... it was pretty much flawless.

Netgear has detroyed Arlo, as a system, as a brand... bad press does get around, and my hope is consumers who research first before buying will stumble across this thred and think twice.

[secaz]

BTW - has anyone tried to use activity zones?  That's another useless POS feature... doesn't work worth a flip for me.  No matter what activity zones I create, Arlo picks up activty OUTISDE the zone.  Worthless.

Is there ANYTHING that works with this crappy system?

They might make good paper weights... beginning to think this is their only real value these days...

[Wklovelace3]

Have not tried activity zones yet. Was waiting for the "regular features" to work again first. I agree the Android app is not very good. I can only control arlo smart option via web not on app. Small potatoes compared to schedule not working things disarming on there own etc.

[secaz]

Every time a schedule blows up, it disarms days... yesterday when it blow up, it took the morning time slot for one basestation's schedule and disarmed for all days except one, then for the next time slot it left every day armed except for one day where it disarmed that day.

How on earth is this supposed to be a security system when Arlo just arbitrarily disarms days/time slots in schedules?

Personally, if I was a hacker, particularly a foreign state and was looking to gain access to cams in strategic locations, I'd be hacking home security cams.  They are not a rarity, after all - more and more people across the country, in cities and rural areas alike, are installing these... what a great way to see what's going on... and being able to pinpoint location by IP?  If you do a geolocation search by your public IP address, it's kind of creepy just how close your location can be tied to your IP address just by a simple search.  The GPS coordinates for my public IP is almost spot on...

If a hacker had access to the Arlo customer base, of course, would make it a LOT easier to pinpoint systems near to whatever location that interests them...

Another stupid (if but well meaning) feature is e911.  Sure - let's go ahead and give Arlo our home addresses (I have a mailing address I use for everything, never use my home address for anything) so when hackers get a hold of the Arlo customer database, they will know EXECTLY where our systems are... let's make it even EASIER for the hackers!

Needless to say, I will never set up e911.

Besdies, with a slooooooooooooow as Arlo is to load, especially on Android?  I can more easily dial 911 on my phone.

[secaz]

Android notifications are REALLY LAGGING... just got a delivery so took note of time between actually person knocking on my door and the arrival of the push notification.  Took about 2 minutes or so between the time the person knocked and the push notification popped up on my phone...

That's really unacceptably SLOW...

[Hoboryan]

This thread is getting clogged by conspiracy theories. Please make your own thread if that’s what all you’re talking about. In addition, please stop turning off the cameras as the IR issue has not been fixed. A lot of people are also reporting random things that aren’t working for them. Please open a new thread.

My system has stabilized since I stopped turning off the cameras. Arm and disarm only. I seem to be getting about 15-20% drain per week now that the IR bug isn’t happening.

[JPC]

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@secaz wrote:

JPC - there's NO SUCH THING as a GOOD HACKING.  That's like saying its ok for the NSA to get into my systems because its for the "greater good".  That's just plain bulls**t...

Netgear has no right to access our systems without our consent... but apparently they have, or someone has...

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True.. But for Arlo's argument, what other options do we have? Unless you dump the system for good.. I got my 1st Gen Arlo in 2015 and it's been this way since.. Arlo/Netgear basically have full control of our systems.. Yes, am hoping for the "greater good" on this hack just to get our system back to normal like it used to.. Like I said there are ways to lessen Arlo from snooping your system. The way you setup your cameras is one of them and Changing/moving your Account and password around often is another.. Don't want your IP tracked? use VPN.. Again, not a 100% foolproof but it's something a hacker has to do a great deal of work to get into.. 

[Thyg0d]

Are we getting anywhere with a fix for this? I'm replacing batteries ever 2-3 days on two cameras atm and I also see the IR on while the cameras are off..

This is part om my security system at home and at the moment I can't trust it at all!!
Not to mention that the WAF is totally shot down.

[secaz]

JPC - I use a VPN when surfing, but that is not going to keep Arlo from knowing the IP address associated with my system, insofar as the basestations.  They all connect to the interent and unless we are given SSH access into the basestaitons, I can see no other way to configure the basestations to use a VPN service to connect to the Arlo servers.

If you use DD-WRT (or similar) on a router, then you can configure DD-WRT to use a VPN service as default connection method for interent access, but do you have any idea HOW SLOW a VPN connection can be?  Mileage may vary, natrually, but routing everything through a VPN service degrades your sppeds, both up and down, than if you used a direct internet connection, and I already have issues with poor performance with Arlo.  Not inclined to make it even worse by configuring the router its connected to use a VPN service to connect to the interent.  Would take videos longer to upload to Arlo... and would take forever for firmware to download...

[secaz]

Thyg0d - I hear you, don't trust Arlo at all... it misses A LOT these days, I mean BIG THINGS as well as things close to the cams... its insane... I stopped trusting Arlo a long time ago... behavior is so irratic, and so inconsistent, it can no longer be called a *security system*...

Thing that bites, too, is I don't even get wildlife videos any more... at least it was nice to get videos of the local fauna, but don't even get that... cams can't pick up anything unless they are cranked to 100%, even then they miss big things or things close up, let alone wildlife... can't figure out how Arlo can miss a pack of desert pigs coming up my driveway... use to pick that up, but now it doesn't... altough I know they have been coming through my front yard, I can hear them at times when I go outside at night... hear the snorting and hooves on the driveway, but with a cam about 15 feet from them?  Doesn't pick them up any more... never triggers... and these are NOT tiny little pigs, either...

[secaz]

Out of curiosity, how many people here are happy with their Arlo systems?  And happy to constantly have to come up with work arounds every time Netgear breaks Arlo?  And are satisfied the IR lights constantly coming on when cam status is OFF is an ok and desirable new *feature*?

Not to mention the million other ways this system is broken - a system Netgear sold us as a *security system* but is wholly unreliable?  It's so unreliable I have had to use camera redundancy in critical areas because very often if one cam doesn't catch activty (bigs things, even) then hopefully the other cam will.  Never used to be like that - but now I can't count how many times a cam has missed something big or something really close.

It's the inconsistency that worries me, and not just the battery drain and the IR light issue... the system, on a scale of 1 to 10, is about a 3 right now.  It was a 10 when I first bought it.  Could not have been happier with it - then slowly but surely I had to fight with it more and more, all kinds of annoying little stuff, and this last firware update totally fubarred the system.  There's no rhyme or reason to the inconsistency, either.

And this is a system with cameras that we trusted to have in our homes, in are yards, and we don't even know if cams are really off when we turn them off.  We have a right to be concered about hackers taking control or unauthorized access from Netgear or other parties - especially after Netgear advised us to change our passwords.

As customers, we deserve the respect of Netgear, and we are not receiving it.  No explanation, no contact other than - "Hi - test our new firmware for us".

There are so many things not working right it is either sheer ineptitude on the part of Netgear, or something darker... and I know certain parties think "conspiracy theories" are bunk and giving voice to this possibility that something darker is transpiring with Netgear and Arlo has no place in this thread, but anyone who thinks they are NOT open to being hacked, or that big companies like Netgear are safe from such exploits (Does anyone read the news here?  Has aynone read about Netgear lately?) is living in a fairytale world... just look at Equifax - trusted with consumer information for millions of American citizens, and even THEY got hacked and the hackers walked away with sensitive personal data on more than 143 MILLION Americans.

And yet some feel I don't have a right to be concerned, or make others aware that more might be going on with Netgear and Arlo that meets the eye.

I want answers - but apparently as a customer I'm not deserving of any... after all, I'm just someone who parked out a ton of money for my system... why should I expect accountability from Netgear?

For anyone who is interested...

https://www.usa.gov/consumer-complaints

[Keri1974]

After seeing the same 2-3 user names appear in my email 50x a day for the past weeks, i’ll Be seeking out how to stop the emails. They all say the same thing over and over again anyway without new information.
Oh and by the way, my unit no longer clicks and light no longer illuminates when camera is off after I changed the batteries. Try it

[pc2k17]

Taking the batteries out and putting them back in appears to stop the IR lights from coming on, but it's only temporary. As soon as you turn the cameras on and back off again the issue will be back. It's a firmware bug, the end user can't fix it or stop it permanently.

[Chief-kir]

@JamesC

Could you please hit me with the field-test firmware also?

This is getting ridiculous.

I have no infrared coming up but the batteries are draining fast. I have to charge my cameras once a week.

Could everyone stop speculating and instead call the support and create tickets so maybe netgear/arlo priories this issue?!

When will the result of the field test be out in “production”?

[Thyg0d]

@JamesC
Please add me to the test firmware, I'm loosing 2% an hour atm 

and with 5 cameras I'm not doing much else than replacing batteries atm!!

Already got the latest firmware on and it's killing my batteries completely and I've already

purchased two extra and a charger to be abel to keep up with this. This rapid discharge and many recharges 
will hurt my batteries in the long run!

[AppleArlo]

Agreed. We need greater involvement from consumer groups.
All we see now are 1/2 tries.
Cannot help that the upcoming IPO has. diverted attention and resources from the main job.
Many people contributing here have considerable IT experience and know what about systems development and repair,, and care before going live.

Show us you care. Superusers and other management contributors cannot bat complaints to users, and should never shout (CAPITALS) at users.

That’s it... my vent

[ioma]

Hi from Greece,

I have 2 base stations.The first is linked with 3 arlo pro cameras and the second with 2 arlo pro 2 cameras.The problem with battery drain exists only with the arlo pro cameras.Before 4 nights i went up from the bed to drink water and i noticed that one of the arlo pro cameras recording with no reason and of course the system was disarmed.From today i set the night vision of the 3 cameras to off and i hope this will fix the problem until netgear fix the problem

[TrackerG]

Same problem.  Please add me to the test firmware.  I can't get through a week without my batteries draining.

Thanks

[secaz]

ioma - thanks for sharing.  With all the many and diverse issues since the 15 May firmware update, its highly unlikely that all of these inconsistencies are due to firmware.  Bad firmware doesn't have this many bugs, and isn't that random.  Last night made sure all my night schedules had cams at 100% sensitivity.  Woke up this morning, noticed my garage cam rarely went off... looked at the rule and somehow the sensitivity had reverted back to default 80%, as it is initially set when you buy a new cam.  I've had other settings revert back as well to defults.  Bad firmware simply does not have this many bugs.  I cannot believe the Netgear devs are that inept as to unknowingly introduce so many - and there is no consistency to them, either.  With bad code, bugs are very easy (for the most part) to reproduce.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't reproduce the many *bugs* I've experience in the past month... and so, kind of doubt they ARE bugs... but something else... or a combo of the two, and perhaps a *bug* has been exploited by parties unknown...

[Wklovelace3]

Im doing the field trial. Im back to the 100% freeze for days deal. Still aint got it right

[Wklovelace3]

So without the field trial batteries drain in a week. With it they never drain!!! Im at 100% for days now with new field trial. Over a hundred videos and still at 100%???? Thats there fix? By golly that solves it all. Gee thanks netgear. Thats all folks. Im done. Done with the incompetence and lack of support. Good luck all! This system coming down tonight for me.

[LaboratoryCat]

Is there a fix yet for the rapid draining of batteries? One of my cameras doesn't even last one week on a full charge. And I turn off the cameras during the day when I am home.

[pc2k17]

@LaboratoryCat

Yes there is a fix and it's being field tested by several arlo users now.

Don't turn the cameras off, that makes the issue worse. Leave the cameras on and just disarm them, instead of turning them off, and the battery usage should go back to normal. Note: some have reported that even disarming causes the batteries to drain faster than normal.