Arlo Battery Life - Roughly a week ever since the original energizers died.

[JoBro]

I have the 4 camera Arlo kit, and after the energizer batteries died, which was a good 6 months, I've been having difficulty finding replacement batteries which last more than a week, and don't cost me a fortune...

I've tried the Panasonic Pro and some other brand off ebay... if i goto the local shops, the batteries are $10 each and i'm not prepaired to pay $40 a camera, if the batteries are only going to last a week.

The funny thing is, that out of all 4 of my camera, only 1 is set to be active and monitor the front door for motion, the other 3 are inactive as such, and used on an adhoc basis to check things when required...

Its these 3 inactive camera's where the batteries keep dying after a week, where as the front door camera is still using the original energizer batteries and is the most active camera of the lot.

I've looked at the motion sensativity settings of the other camera's, but this option is not applicable if the camera is not configured to be alarmed...

Any ideas what batteries i can buy which won't break the bank, and last more than a week?

[steveken]

Ok, while that may be true, 1 set of batteries should not go dead in under 24 hours. I did as you suggested and opened and closed the door after making sure the batteries were loosely in there. It currently shows 63%. We'll see how it goes from there. It'd be nice to be able to rig up some sort of wiring to pump 12V into it from an outlet. 🙂 

[jguerdat]

As noted, only one set is used at a time so a ~6v source is all that's needed. If you're interested and don't mind voiding your warranty, there are old threads here detailing such modifications.

[ipsarum]

I have the same exact problem with 1 of 5 cameras! Why can’t ARLO just come out and admit there is/was a batch production problem? The camera closet to the Wi-Fi source burns batteries like wildfire. It is also the only camera that never shows a full battery charge...even with brand new batteries.

I will be moving on to a new system and sell the arlo system for whatever I can get for it.

So very sad.

[ipsarum]

It should not matter if you use rechargeable or non-rechargeable batteries...an Arlo camera set closest to the router with no obstruction, and in a location with the least amount of activity should not burn through batteries in a single week.

[JamesC]

ipsarum,

It sounds like there could be a specific issue with that one camera. Consider contacting the Arlo Support Team to further investigate the issue.

JamesC

[HALERICHLENCTR]

We have had our ARLO for a little under two years now.  When we first got our ARLO we only had to change batteries about every 2 months or so.  Then ARLO did an upgrade to their software.  Every since then, we have had issues with 

battery life.  We have used every battery available, and are now using rechargable batteries (at this cost of almost $200 for the batteries for 4 cameras and the charger required to recharge them).  The camera batteries are still only lasting 3-4 days. 

When I originally called ARLO support I was told, after being on the phone with them for 2 hours, that the only reason this would be an issue is our internet speed.  Since we were using AT&T, we switch to a different company, paid extra for the faster internet service, got better modems, and moved our NETGEAR box for the ARLO to a 

more open space.  We did all this because ARLO customer support told us that is what we should do.  I was hopeful that this would resolve the issue, but no amount of rebooting, deleting the cameras and reinstalling them, switching batteries, etc. has worked.  Of course, ARLO now tells us that there is nothing they can do because they are not under warranty anymore.  

WHAT A SURPRISE.  To say I am disappointed in an understatement.  You don't spend all this money for a security/camera system, not to be able to use it.  I guess that I am venting, but I would also like to know if anyone else

has any ideas (outside of buying a new system-which if that is the case it won't be ARLO)?

Thanks!

[steveken]

Since I made my post, I have observed that the battery level indicator might not be exactly right. For a couple of months, it has been showing around 15% or so. I just looked the other day and they were finally down to 4% and 9% on both cameras. So, I am not sure you can just go by that level indication alone. I'm going to just leave them be until they stop working altogether, then I'll replace the batteries. I also noticed that after going off someone elses suggestion about making sure they were in there right, it's been ok. Maybe it really was something to do with the way I had stuck them in there, I dunno. All I know is that I am still looking around for other solutions to this because, while it is cool, I don't think wireless cameras that run off of expensive batteries is the way to go.

[Quailrunner]

Hi,

First, ensure that the upgrade did not reset any of your settings; if a video length was extended, or something was set to record movement that was not previously, that can have a significant effect on battery life.  Also, if you opened the battery door during the upgrade, that might have caused the batteries to be offset a little; check that they are set in the compartment correctly.  See this link for more:

https://kb.arlo.com/291/How-can-I-extend-my-Arlo-Wire-Free-Arlo-Pro-Wire-Free-or-Arlo-Go-camera-s-ba...

Note that wifi distance and video settings/usage are important factors; did something change in your setup to cause more recordings?  (Trees growing leaves and moving, etc?)
I have had 4 cameras in my setup for several years (one Pro outside); the batteries do not wear down for months unless there's a wifi issue (between the *Camera* and the *Base Station*, not the actual internet connection!) or unless something triggers massive amounts of recording (like kids not turning off the cameras when using the house).  The Pro runs down a lot, but its outside in the cold; you might just get one of these, as they come with a rechargeable pack (I recharge mine about every 6 weeks in the winter).

[HALERICHLENCTR]

Nope, nothing has changed, except that we got better internet and moved the NETGEAR box to a better location that was more central (it was in a closet before and now is out in the open).  We have not changed the timing of the cameras, the video length, or anything else.  We are using the cameras in doors, and they are set to record movement Monday -Friday from 8AM - 7PM (however, we typically don't have anyone in the office after 6:00PM, so they wouldn't be used.  Since the upgrade of the software, the batteries get changed every 2-3 days, sometimes more often and there are many times when I go to the "My arlo" to look at what was recorded, and I am told "the Arlo system is down" or "your Arlo is offline" and nothing has recorded for 2 days, yet the batteries are still dead.

[JamesC]

HALERICHLENCTR,

Are the cameras located in a high traffic environment? How many recordings are the cameras seeing per day?

JamesC

[HALERICHLENCTR]

Hi James.  We are a very small psychiatric practice.  Patient's will come in about 4 days a week, at the rate of about once an hour between the hours of 8AM -5:00PM.  We have two cameras in our waiting room, which activated a total of 46 times (23 each) and each recording lasted 10 seconds.  

Today, we have had a much lower volume, and the cameras have recorded 10 times (5 each) for a total of 10 seconds each.

It varies by day, but on Friday, there will be no activity, as we don't have patient's on Friday.  

Last week Friday I left at 4:00PM, putting in brand new batteries before I left (we are closed on the weekends).  When I opened the office on Monday morning at 11:00AM, I checked the cameras and the batteries were dead.  Not sure how that can happen when the office was closed and the cameras were not activated.

Tammy

[jguerdat]

Is there a chance that the base was turned off or that there was a power outage?

To lower overall battery cost, you may want to investigate the Tenergy rechargeable batteries. There's an up-front cost but you won't have to keep buying the non-rechargeable ones.

[HALERICHLENCTR]

In response to your question.....NO, there hasn't been a power outage recently not has the power been turned off.

Regarding the rechargeable batteries.  We have them, it cost us about $200 to invest in the charger and enough batteries for all 4 cameras, and we still have to change them out every 2-3 days.

Tammy

[jguerdat]

Open a case with support here. They may have some more thoughts and a solution.

[HALERICHLENCTR]

Thank you.  I have done that twice and even spent two hours on the phone with them.  Their response is that our internet is too slow.  In response to that I switch internet providers and now have the fastest speed available.  They are now saying that our internet speed is fine, but that our warrarnty is expired so there is nothing more they can do.  

I just was wanting to see if others had the same issues or ideas.

Thanks.

[steveken]

Well, whoever told you the internet was too slow flat out lied to you and should lose their job. That in itself would not cause your batteries to die that quickly. You simply got a faulty unit that should have been identified well before you made all those drastic changes. In my opinion since your warranty is gone and they refuse to do anything else for you, you should completely scrap this and count it as a failed experiment and move along to something better. Maybe you can still get at least $100 off of it via eBay by selling it to some other unsuspecting sucker.

If you are in an office environment as you state, you really need a wired camera system that has a dedicated DVR type device to store the images/video locally rather than on a cloud service that only keeps the most recent 7 days. The type of system the Arlo's use wouldn't be of much use to you in an office environment. You are not talking about a great deal of difference in price between this horrible wireless system and a wired system anyway. The wired system would be far more reliable. Just go on Amazon, find a good 4 camera setup (shouldn't cost but maybe $400 tops I would think), and run the wires yourselves through the drop panel ceiling in your office into the spare room you likely have that is for storage. You will be better off in the long run. If your office doesn't have the drop panels and it might be a bit more complicated to install, it would still be better than trying to rely on some wireless system anyway.

In short, cut your losses with this and move on to something a bit more reliable. You are just spinning your wheels here trying to get Netgear to help you with anything. I know because I've had Netgear stuff fail that should have been under warranty that they refused to honor the warranty for. Like my professional level hub that died and they told me I was S.O.L. Netgear is just not a very good company.

[jguerdat]

At this point, you last thing to try is to remove all devices from Settings, My Devices and start fresh. Use the Add Device button on the Devices tab to claim the base. Sync the cameras.  Before doing all this, be sure to write down your various settings and modes/rules/schedule to speed rebuilding. I can't think of anything else that could help.

[salm]

I agree with "Steveken", you need to cut your losses.

I have completely abandoned this system, it is a glorified baby monitor.  It is not a real camera/security system.  In addition, I am not much of a fan of Netgear anymore due to the lack of support and/or the run around they give you.  I am done with Arlo.