1-2 week battery life?

[ckundred]

I'm having trouble with my system.  While my Internet seems to work fine for everything else, my cameras are constantly going offline and the batteries are only lasting about 1-2 weeks.  I have two cameras and both are having the same issue.  

I really want this to work, I took two cameras and a base station back to the retailer that I bought them from and exchanged them for new equipment.  I'm having the same issues with the new cameras and base station.

I have it on a schedule to only detect motion during a 4 hour window.  I may get a recording every few days.  (10 second video) Not a lot of activity....Yet the batteries are always dieing or if I want to check in on my home I'm getting offline messages.  I've tried different brands of batteries and get the same results.

Am I doing something wrong or is the system just not ready yet?  

[TomMac]

I might have said that the cameras/base were defective, but you stated you swapped them for an new set so I doubt you be that 'lucky' to get 4 defective cameras.

What I can tell you is that if the cameras are going off line constantly something is wrong and that MAY be causing your batteries to be going fast.... it may be FW, interference, bad wifi signal, etc.

First Id check and make sure all the lights on the front of the base are green, check the signal level of the cams and then check on the f/w for both the base and cameras. SETTINGS/base station setting/ right side page F/W    and  SETTINGS/camera settings/camera right side page bottom ; FW

latest full release fw cam=1.2.2545  base = 1.4.2627

If the FW isn't up to date, update them by turning on the auto-update toggle in settings/base station setting.

Get your cameras and open battery door for a min, close and let  resync to the base automaticly.

Wait a night or two and they should update.

Second, Id place the cameras in the same room as the base an run for a few day to verify 1) good signal 2 ) operational before moving to a diff location

[BrianL]

Hi ckundred,

I checked that you base station and one of your cameras (with full battery) are up to date. The other camera that has low battery is outdated. Kindly update it to the latest and see if it will show the correct battery notification.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,

BrianL

Arlo Team

[DaneA]

Hi ckundred,

In addition to the replies of TomMac and BrianL , you may want to consider using rechargeable batteries on your Arlo cameras.  There are forum threads that are full of information from different Arlo users and reviews on different brands on how long the rechargeable batteries lasted.  Here are some of the forum links below:

Rechargeable batteries for use with Arlo cameras

Rechargable battery usage vs time by type

Hope it helps.

Regards,

DaneA

Arlo Team

[ckundred]

Thanks all, I'm going to update the firmware this weekend.  I did switch to rechargeable batteries.  I'm using AW 16340 rechargables based on recommendations at candlepower forums.  I just got the batteries last week and after charging them completely they've only lasted 4 days in one of the cameras.  

Something is causing the issue.  Could going offline cause the camera and base station to search and that be eating up the power?

Regardless, I'll update the firmware and see what happens.

[TomMac]

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ckundred wrote:

  I'm using AW 16340 rechargables based on recommendations at candlepower forums.  I just got the batteries last week and after charging them completely they've only lasted 4 days in one of the cameras.  

Something is causing the issue.  Could going offline cause the camera and base station to search and that be eating up the power?

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What are the specs on these batteries... makeup, voltage, mahr ratings ???

Some cells just don't work well with the Arlo cams.... You don't need a high current cell but want the most in true mahr rating, 3.7v cells seems to work better too.

[ckundred]

I suspect my issue has been caused by something interefering with the wireless signals.  I've turned off several pieces of equipment in my garage and that has stopped the cameras from going offline.  I think going offline all of the time was the culprit in draining the batteries.  It's been nearly a week since I've turned off the other equipment, updated the firmware and installed "recharged" batteries....All seems to be working as it should....

Appreciate all of the responses!

[DaneA]

Hi ckundred,

Kudos to you.  I am glad that you have figured out what was causing the cameras go offline.

Regards,

DaneA

Arlo Team

[RobertRosal]

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ckundred wrote:

Thanks all, I'm going to update the firmware this weekend.  I did switch to rechargeable batteries.  I'm using AW 16340 rechargables based on recommendations at candlepower forums. 

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Hi ckundred,

Please post results with AW's you are trying.  It's always good when we know that we have other options!

[ChocoHome]

Hey Ckundred:

Can you please advise what this "equipment" was that you disconnected? I want to get a better idea of what affected signal/ connection etc.

[achoi2]

dear all

After 2 weeks 

the battery is almost done

who said it will last a year

its not even a month

to be honest, it's a good camera and I got all that I wanted

but the battery life?!

can anyone tell me or netgear support finds out why it only can last 2 week but u said it can be a year

this is definitely not the right information u should advertised on the Internet or the public?

anthony

[Schorschi]

Official use-case is four minutes video recording per day per camera. That will last you 4-6 months. If you exceed that you will have shorter life time per battery charge.

How much did you use your cameras?

One other factor that diminishes battery life is if a camera has a poor connection to the base station. So, if you have thick walls or place cameras far away from the base station, they won't last as long.