Infrared light comes on when camera is off causing rapid battery drain

[Shammy]

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

[Manole831]

I’m the one who originally posted this issue and I definitely did NOT mark it as solved (at least intentionally). Since I rely HEAVILY on ST, I’m not cool with the workaround. How can I mark as totally 100% NOT solved? I’m now suspicious Netgear closed it out on their end.

[Manole831]

@JamesC
what’s going on with this issue?? It’s not solved and there are a lot of legitimately angry people. We need an ETA on the rollback or fix.

[pc2k17]

The very first post in this thread on page one is by @Shammy. It was titled:

Infrared light comes on when camera is off.     Looks like the two posts got combined, maybe because they were the about the same issue. Having several threads about the same issue gets things mixed up somethimes so maybe the moderator combined the two?

If I remember correctly, I got an email saying Shammy accepted my post as a solution. I believe that accepted solution was to the "Infrared light comes on when camera is off" post, so if the two got combined that accepted solution would mark it all as solved.

Just guessing here, but the issue is definitely not solved.

[Shammy]

My apologies. I didnt realize what I thought was my little issue was a much broader and complicated problem. I,'m still having this issue but I think it needs to be resolved by Arlo with the May 17th update they performed. However it baffles me with so many of us having this problem that they haven't addressed this let alone resolved it.

[pc2k17]

No need to apologize, looks like some how two different posts got combined. I agree though, I can't believe the Arlo engineers/devs haven't solved this yet. If I made a mistake like this at my work when rolling out new software or pushing upgrades, or patching a database or server, and I didn't get it fixed immediately the Director of IT would not be a happy man and I'd surely hear about it. (we all make mistakes but luckily I never made one of this magnatude). Maybe Monday will bring good news.

[goodtwin3]

In addition to my earlier post about not receiving notifications, one of my cameras now burns the battery while turned off.  It is in the house and I noticed the red LED's were on this a.m. even though the camera has been turned off since charging the battery on Friday.  No other issues with my other cameras that have been turned on at all times other than being disarmed.  In 3 days, the battery dropped from 100% to 30%.  This same camera had held a charge for 4 months as it is rarely used.  No change to the settings at all.....this issue appeared after I updated the app on 5/17.

In the future, can these updates be thoroughly tested prior to their release?   Also, any chances of rolling back the app to the version prior to the 2.5.0 release?  I have the current IOS 11.3.1 and am on an iPhone 6s.  Thanks for your help Arlo. 

[goodtwin3]

In addition to my other post about not receiving notifications since the app update I did on 5/17, one of my cameras now burns the battery while turned off.  It is in the house and I noticed the red LED's were on this a.m. even though the camera has been turned off since charging the battery on Friday.  No other issues with my other cameras that have been turned on at all times other than being disarmed.  In 3 days, the battery dropped from 100% to 30%.  This same camera had held a charge for 4 months as it is rarely used.  No change to the settings at all.....this issue appeared after I updated the app.

In the future, can these updates be thoroughly tested prior to their release?   Also, any chances of rolling back the app to the version prior to the 2.5.0 release?  I have the current IOS 11.3.1 and am on an iPhone 6s. This issue has not been solved.

Thanks for your help Arlo and @JamesC .

[avalon94]

Just noticed last night mine was doing the same thing.  Batteries went from 70ish% to 16% in 2 days.  Camera was set to off, system disarmed, everytime it picks up motion it still lights up.  Tried removing the device and then resyncing it, forcing firmware update, still kicking on the red IR lights. 

Would love to save batteries without having to just remove them, will be a pain to get up on a ladder everytime I come home just to save battery life.

[YYZ2112]

Doesn't anyone have a solution for this. Battery drains fast , camera is INACTIVE and the red lights come on when it detects motion. How can I fix this ????????

[secaz]

I did initiate a support case with Netgear during the week last week, nothing has been fixed - they said engineering was woring round the clock on it.

Uh-huh.

BTW - for those of you who are less than thrilled with recent Anroid app versions for Arlo, go back to using version 2.4.0_17020 which was released on 05/11/2017.  Yes - the apk from over a YEAR AGO is superior to the recent Arlo Android app versions.  Sure, doesn't have all the "bells and whistles" and isn't all "gussied up" like the new version, but its staable and works, video thumbnaila and videos themselves load WAY faster, also getting device status is SUPER QUICK... everything, in general is much faster and FAR MORE USABLE... and best of all?  No damned alarm drop down tab.  I gave up on current Arlo Android app this morning and went back to this old version.  I have hung onto the apk for this old version and have reverted to it in the past when newer Arlo app versions were too frustrating to use.  Also - on the MODE tab, if you are using a schedule, it will show the CURRENT SCHEDULE IN EFFECT for each base station.  With latest Anroid app, it will only show me an icon of a clock to indicate I am running a schedule, but won't says WHICH schedule is in force at the time.  Netgear couldn't even understand what I was trying to express about this "feature" (read:  BUG) I actually had to upload a SCREENSHOT of it... and THEIR answer was to remove all the devices from my account and add them back.  Told them I was NOT inclined to test their theory, since I have 10 cams and two basestations and most of my cameras are accessible only by ladder.  That would have been a full day's effort to do what they said to "fix the issue" with the Android app.  I knew that wasn't going to help anyway, but was nice to be validated when this morning I rolled back my Adnroid app to version from a year ago... mode tab now indicates active mode when running a schedule...

[Shammy]

I am totally disgusted with the way Arlo is handling this issue. I think I need to express my disgust on social media. Maybe this will wake them up!!

[secaz]

That's a VERY good idea.  If I participated in social media, I woulddo just that - but old war horse here... lol... even though i am a tehcnology consultant...

I love the hardware - it is perfect for my situation... and I was thrilled to death just over a year ago when I bought my first basestation and cams...  but slowly but surely Netgear's "improvements" have made the whole Arlo experience downright frustrating and disheartenting.  I would NEVER recommend to anyone to purchase... and if I wasn't a technology consultant and used to burps and hiccups with technology, I would have abandoned Arlo long ago.  I cannot imaging a typical, average human customer trying to deal with this crap.  And every time Netgear changes something, there are issues.  I was even told by a tech on one case where I was (still am) experienceing behavioral issues with pan while zooming in video clips (only clips, not pan while zoomed in live feed) in Google Chrome at arlo.netgear.com site ever since Netgear implemented changes a couple of months, I was told there were NO changes.  Ok, granted, I'm old, maybe I don't SEE as well, but, um... I sure the HELL can notice element changes in the website and the Android app...!!!  I'm sorry, in my line of work, NOTHING happens on its own, unless there are code gremlins who inject new snippets of code when no one is looking... but I've yet to gather any solid evidence that code gremlins exist, and I'm sure no one would bother hacking the Arlo apps or website to make changes... Netgear sabotages itself, hackers don't need to help them do that, lol... they are quite capable of doing that on their own...

[Shammy]

Secaz......I'm in IT too and can also say from experiene that whenever code deploys are implemented, expect a host of problems to occur. Sometimes new deploys aren't always for the better. Case in point here!!

[JamesC]

Sorry for the confusion with the solution post, this was from a different thread that was consolidated into this one for the same issue. I've removed the solution. This topic is still under investigation by the engineering team and I will post an update as soon as I have more information.

JamesC

[secaz]

Shammy - tried to reply to your post but don't see it, I think Netgear is revoking my freedom of speech, lol... Linux geeks are not welcome, apparently...

[Shammy]

Secaz.........Thats because you're knowledgable in the subject matter!! 🙂

[secaz]

Thx - and the truth hurts Netgear, I suppose.  I implement manufacturing and warehouse management systems, think I know a thing or two about systems, stability and users and usability...

Apparently Netgear can't take the critcism.  What they SHOULD do with criticism is what I do with criticism from my clients or associates - listen, learn and make the experience better going forward.  and never make your clients feel like morons.

And like a doctor, Netgear should adopt the oath of "do no harm"... for whether they understand it or not, customers are buying these Arlo systems and RELYING ON THEM (which they should not).  If you want dependable security monitoring with cameras, Arlo is not for you. - go find a professional security company who will have the right solution, dependable solution, for your situation.  with Arlo, expect there to be issues and periods where apps, website and systems will be down, or firmware upgrades will cause your system to be less than 100%... or a firmware upgrade being installed occurs right when someome is jumping the wall into your yard.  The customer should be allowed to choose when, or if, to install a firmware update.  If I forced updates down my clients' throats ,and whenever I felt like it regardless if it was conventient for the clients or not, then I'd have no clients...

[Shammy]

Totally agree. I now regret purchasing this system.

[secaz]

Oddly enough, I don't regret the purchase - or I do, but only to a certain extent, but I do really like the hardware.  Hareware gets a thumbs up.  Wireless with magnetic mounts?  Very cool.  I use the table/ceiling magnetic mounts outside... its amazing how STRONG the magnetism is in the cams, I live where there are summer monsoons and raging storm winds don't budge the cameras not even a bit.  Although once in a while a fat quail will try to roost on a cam and move it, but that's a rarity.  Quail are basically desert chickens.  And the cams survive desert heat, even with booties on them, amazingly enough.  And they disable themselves if they get too hot, which I had happen to one cam that's in the hottest location... it was 116 F outside at the time.

This system is good for people who need to check what's going on around outside their homes, but keeping in mind not to heavily rely on the system for critical security.  I've had cams just decide they didn't feel like being connected any more and I'd have to go out and collect the cam, remove from basestation and add it back.  Annoying, but doesn't happen too often - however, if I needed to rely on system for security and something bad happened when that particular cam was offline and therefore didn't capture it, I'd be pretty ticked off.  However, this is why I have 10 cams, its called redundancy in my profession... and if one cam doesn't catch something, there's another near by that will.  And cams that are near each other, I make sure each is on a different basestation, too... in case a basestation tanks (which I've had happen) I still have a cam on another basestation that is near a cam on the base station that tanked.  With the tanked base station, I had to collect all the cams and resync every single one.

And I have a spare basestation, too, squirreled away in case a basestation REALLY tanks and dies.  You should always have spares of everything when you have a security system like this.

One of the things I really like about the cams and magnetic mounts is camera swapping.  When a cam that's only accessible by ladder needs a new battery, I just take a cam from somewhere else I can easily reach, like a patio cam, pop a new battery into the patio cam, clean the lens, make it all happy, and THEN go up on swap the cam that I have to climb up on a ladder to reach.  Takes scant minutes to do the swap, and already having a cam up there, I use that as a rough in when replacing it with the other camera I had prepped in advance.  That way I typically I get positioning spot on first try so never have to spend much time adjusting after swapping out.

Its things like this that make the Arlo system very desireable.  

My beef with the IR thing right now, besides eating my batteries, is that the cams in FRONT of my house, I do those cam swaps at night.  And its REALLY ANNOYING to have the IR coming on for those cams, both the one I am swapping out and the one I'm swapping with.  I live in a dark sky community and its really easy to see the IR lights, even across the street or down the road.   My whole reason for doing those cams in front at night is to fly under the radar of the neighbor across the street whose been threatening me - who keeps his shades open 24/7/365 and watches every single move everyone makes.  He can easily see my front house cams IR while sitting in his living room at night and I'd really prefer to keep the IR OFF while the cams themselves are OFF and I am out there making the swap, to limit my exposure to being spotted.  The IR coming on would alert him to something out there. 

To swap a cam in front I would first turn off the existing cam, then get up on the ladder, replace it with another cam (turned off too of course), then get down and go round the corner out of site, turn on the cam to do a quick cam position check on phone for alignment by taking a snapshot in video settings, if its ok then I turn the cam off again, go collect my ladder.  Once safely back in my yard with the gate locked, I then turn the cam back on and its ready for business.

So, Netgear REALLY needs to think about the changes they make and how it effects their customers.  Its one thing to ADD new features, but not at the expense of existing ones or existing functionality, or at the expense of their customer base.

The only use for this IR coming on all the time regarless of camera status is if you have a cam disabled at night (cannot imaging why you'd disable a cam at night), with the IR coming on, regardless, anyone who gets near the cam will see the IR activate, but naturally they will have no idea if the camera is enabled or disdabled.  Maybe someone would like this feature, or requested it of Netgear, who knows - but no one thought it through, apparently... Netgear needs to make their devs actuallyUSE the system, the website and the mobile apps so they can understand the impact of the changes they code...

[BillUhr]

@ragriff

I am having a problem that began about 1-2 weeks ago that matches this description.  Batteries drain during the day when the cameras are off but there is a lot of movement.  At night the camera batteries do not drain when the cameras are on but there is no activity.  Tech support told me there is no known problem.  Can you add any information to what you mentioned about "the engineers" looking into it?  I'm not sure that I understood your workaround.  It seemed that if the cameras would not record, detect activity or do IR then they wouldn't be doing anything.   Thanks for any info.

Bill

[pc2k17]

Don't rely on anything the arlo "tech support" tells you, they sre essentially clueless reading off scripts.

The forum moderator JamesC, has said several times that the Arlo engineers are aware and are investigating. He said he post when he had more info to offer as to a fix.

The issue is the cameras are detecting motion when they are off when they shouldn't be, and if there's a lot of activity, such as with an indoor camera, then the cameras keep detecting that motion and drain the batteries quickly.

The workaround is to leave the cameras, on instead of turning them off, and if you want all cameras to do nothing then switch to the disarmed mode, or if you want some cameras armed but some disarmed, setup a custom mode. In the custom mode create rules for only the cameras that you want to be armed. Any cameras left out of the custom mode will be disarmed. A disarmed camera is essentially the same as turning the camera off. It will not detect motion, record, or turn the IR led lights on. Keep the cameras on and switch to your custom mode. When you do this the battery drain will return to normal. Hope that helps.

[BillUhr]

Thank you for the information.    It's very helpful.

Bill

[Shammy]

I just exeprienced what everyone else has.  Last night, while my interior camera was disabled, my sync light started flashing blue.  When it stopped, my battery life went from 65% down to 3%.  I was pissed!!!  I am totally disgusted with this camera system now.  I wrote Arlo/Netgear a scathing email, for whatever it's worth.   I'm demanding they buy back my system if they're not going to revert back whatever they did on May 17th. 

[secaz]

Interesting - are you saying you do not use the standard Armed mode at all?  and that by using a custom mode the batteries do not discharge as quickly?  My schedule has two modes, Armed and Night... perhaps I should create a Day mode and replace Armed with Day in my schedule.

I expect batteries to vary... but I have cams that are all of different ages, and also my spare batteries are of different ages, and since the IR bug they discharge in roughly the same amount in same amount of time - which is FASTER than normal.

My batteries would last a long time before this IR bug - I use low res cam mode most all the time because I hate chasing batteries around.  I'll switch to high res when warranted.  As soon as the IR bug hit, that's when my batteries in cams for my back yard started to tank.  I always turned these cams off when I would go work in the yard - but that doesn't do squat now because the IR keeps coming on regardless of camera status... and we should not have to go and turn night vision off in every single camera before turning cam off... not to mention remembering to turn night vision back on before it gets dark.

Apparently Netgear doesn't care - there's no fix, no communication about it... nothing... just another reason why I cannot recommend an Arlo system to anyone.  I honestly do not know anyone who would be willing to put up with this crap.

[Shammy]

Thanks everyone for the advice.