Arlo Wirless Cameras turning off

[BobJoylove]

Every few days one or more of my wireless cameras is turning itself off. I never turn them off.

What's the issue here?! How can this bug be disabled?

Notes: it does seem to happen within a day of replacing the rechargeable batteries, but Ive not been keeping a detailed diary.

Thanks,

[JamesC]

BobJoylove,

It sounds like the cameras may be dropping offline due to poor signal strength. What is the WiFi signal strength icon on the cameras screen showing for the affected cameras?

Do you have to do anything to bring the cameras back online?

JamesC

[BobJoylove]

Thanks James,

The first 3 cameras report a 'full' signal, two are witihin 5 feet of the base station, through one exterior wall, a third about 25 feet and the fourth has a low 'orange' signal at the fartest end of the property through many walls.

I am aware my neightbour has some antique ISM band wireless speaker system on 802.11b that is a strong jammer.

However the cameras are distributed with that in mind and even the 'orange' from the known jammer are as likely to show the issue.  I also did not experience this issue for the first few months of ownership, although I'm aware the environment could have changed.

To re-enable the cameras I need to flip the swich to turn the camera on and i need to verify by live streaming from that camera.  

Mostly that camera wil stay online until the next battery change but sometimes it switches off after between changes. 

Additional data point: I am suspicious of my LiIon rechargable batteries.  They are not discharging evenly, as reported by my NitecoreD4, a pair in series to make 8.4V are not discharging evenly. One comes out above 4.0V (fully charged) and the other below 3.3V (very discharged).  I am implying there may be transients on the supply.

[jguerdat]

Don't forget that the batteries will be discharged faster with a weaker WiFi signal, whether due to distance or interference.

[BobJoylove]

Understood.

Actually for my home the batteries discharge noticably faster on the cameras with the best signal at the front of the house, because they are activated the most by the PIR sensor.  

The back garden has the worst signal, the least activations and lasts the longest.

I gave the cameras that activate most the best signal understanding the signal strength affects the Tx power. 

[JamesC]

BobJoylove,

By "the cameras are turning off" are you meaning the camera on/off toggle within Settings > My Device > camera?

If so, I don't believe this is a battery related issue. Does anyone else have access to your account? The cameras will only turn off in this way if that toggle is manually turned off by a user.

JamesC

[BobJoylove]

Hi James,

Yes the toggle has turned off in Settings > My Device > camera

The only other person with camera access is my wife and she is not turning off the cameras. 

It's quite reliable these days that the cameras will have turned themsleves off within ~24h of the batteries being changed and the cameras being checked and aligned.  I check them the next day to turn them back on out of habit. 

[JamesC]

BobJoylove,

This is not normal behavior, consider contacting the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link. If you have any additional questions/concerns feel free to private message me. I would be happy to help.

JamesC

[BobJoylove]

Thanks James, 

Hit the trifecta of three cameras all off yesterday.  

I've ordered new and higher quality rechargable batteries. Give it four weeks for those to arrive and for me to travel for work and get back and get those cycled in to see if the issue persists.

On your side if there is some sort of self test done ~24h after battery installation that requires an amount of sustainted battery power it could be a clue.

[TomMac]

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BobJoylove wrote:

I've ordered new and higher quality rechargable batteries. Give it four weeks for those to arrive and for me to travel for work and get back and get those cycled in to see if the issue persists.

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Wondering, what type of cells are you using ???

[BobJoylove]

China's eBay finest. They are marked 2300maH but in retrospect you can't squeeze that much cpaacity in a battery that small even if you are a Tier 1 cellphone supplier.  

The new fancy D4 charger says they take about 700mAh.  

I see the error of my ways, and ordered some SUREFIRE's from Amazon. 

[BobJoylove]

OK so I bought a new NiteCore D4 charger, and fancy EdisonBright batteries.  After a month to settle in to a new routine I'm still experiencing cameras shutting themselves off the day after the batteries are replaced. Also the new batteries last a little longer and the cameras will switch themselves off after a week or so. 

EDIT: Just replaced the batteries on a camera and it has new firmware available from 1.2.9901, which is installing now. EDIT2: install failed. EDIT3: Had to power cycle everything.  FW version remained at 1.2.9901.

[jguerdat]

I still have that firmware version installed on my original wireless camera.  Don't think there's a newer one.  If you're still getting an update notification, try removing the camera from Settings, My Devices and resync.