Arlo Pro camera batteries draining since May firmware update

[anthonyr1]

I have a camera in the house and 1 outside, the camera outside records about 10 times a day and I have not had to change the battery at all (about 4 months so far) but the camera in the house that barely ever records I have had to change out the batteries twice within 4 months. I also didn't get any warnings it just goes offline and the light on the camera just blinks orange. That last time I looked at the camera was about 2 weeks ago and it was full. What can be the issue?

[NightRanger]

BTW, All of my cameras are mostly in DISARMED MODE. I occasissionally perform "Live" views.for a minute or two.

[jguerdat]

What happens if you swap cameras around?

[NightRanger]

For test purposes, I'll use these two cams:

48B457778BE1A (Bedroom Window) which is charged at 76%.
48B4577P8BF97 (Near Bed) which is charged at 90%

Camera 48B4577P8BF97 is the *problem child* <Lol>, and I swaped them both at 10:12 AM 4/20/2018. Both cameras are also in DISARMED MODE, and I'll post the results over time and/or if any issues occur.

[NightRanger]

8:00 PM 4/24/2018: Present status update:

48B457778BE1A (Bedroom Window) reads at 67% charge level.
48B4577P8BF97 (Near Bed) reads at 88% charge level.

On each camera, approximately two 2-minute "Live" views were done the other day, and one snapshot was performed with each camera. All charge level readings are based on my online account 'meters'.

[NightRanger]

1:12 PM 4/27/2018; Present status update:
48B457778BE1A (Bedroom Window) reads at 65% charge level.
48B4577P8BF97 (Near Bed) has NO charge level. Instead, my account indicates that "This Arlo device is offline."

A few minutes ago I noticed that the amber light was blinking on Camera 48B4577P8BF97, and the unit is not working. I DID NOT receive any low battery email notifications for that problematic camera, either.

This same scenerio has played out many times for several months now and I'm beginning to feel totally frustrated this time.

What should I do now???

[JamesC]

NightRanger,

What kind of batteries are you using (brand, rechargeable/non-rechargeable)?

JamesC

[Leedurbin]

I purchased the Tenergy rechargeable batteries and a.m much happier with them. They are definitely worth the money

[NightRanger]

JamesC,

Thank you for replying. For more than a year now I've been using the following batteries in all three cameras:

Rechargeable 16340 CR123A Battery, Veeki 16340 RCR123A 3.7V 650mAh Protected Li-ion 16340 Batteries:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VWZRC1T/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rechargeable CR123A Battery, Veeki VK-BT16340 RCR123A 3.7V 700mAh Protected Li-ion 16340 Batteries:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2RZ7DJ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I mostly use the 700mAh batteries because they tend to last longer. Please note that the 'problem camera' experiences the same issues with both type of batteries.

[DocCJC]

I've had 6 Arlo Pro cameras for 12 months. No issues until the May firmware update when excessive battery drain started. I've tried resynching the cameras, rebooting the base station, swapping batteries, changing locations, and so forth. I charged all cameras to 100% yesterday, and now most are down to around 90%. Most cameras have not triggered a motion event. Something is definitely wrong with the firmware update for May. Normally, rain, hail or shine, the batteries will lose at most 2 or 3% a week. Netgear, please address this issue. The cameras are not performing as advertised, 3-6 month battery life under normal conditions.

Note: Today the Netgear support page shows "Page not Found" for email support. Fix this too.

[DocCJC]

Thanks. Except in my case, I never turn the cameras off -- they are either armed most of the time or occasionally disarmed.

Looking forward to Netgear releasing a fix for this issue.

[NightRanger]

Just checking in. It's been nearly a month now and no replies yet. 🙂

[whyarlowhy]

I have pretty much the exact same problem.  One camera in the house that last night went from 91% @ 5:12am to 2% @ 6:12am.  It's literally 5 feet from the base station.  Other cameras outside last for months.

This is the second camera to do this.  The first camera I replaced because I thought it was bad -- now this camera is doing the exact same thing.  I've moved it around the room and it doesn't seem to matter.

Hardware: H11

Firmware: 1.2.16720

I'm about ready to use these for batting practice.

[Leedurbin]

Since I bought the rechargable Tenergy batteries and also a wifi booster, I have not had any problems  HUGE difference.

[whyarlowhy]

I've tried 5-15' away from the base station.  Don't understand how it could be a wifi problem.  Runs fine for weeks and then drains the battery in an hour?  They got a FW bug causing the processor to hang and drain the battery. 

[whyarlowhy]

And to be clear, there was no motion or recordings during the period the battery drained.

[jguerdat]

Swap cameras around to verify the camera or the location is causing the issue.

[whyarlowhy]

As I said I moved it all around this room.  There is a camera on the outside wall that is fine that has been within 5' of the inside camera.  If somehow it's the position, then you're telling me it will never be reliable in this room. 

If it's position why would it run for weeks, then suddenly drain the battery over night.

Does Arlo have real support or is it just this community where users try to figure out this junk on their own?

[jguerdat]

Moving the camera around the room may not be a good test, hence the suggestion to swap cameras.

[Brendanz]

Dear Arlo,

I cannot believe how absent you have been from this discussion on bettery life. I have 4 cameras. All within the prescribed distance from the base station with good wireless connectivity. The batteries, (that cost a fortune in Australia) keep running down in 24-48 hours. Your literature states that with optimum set up I should be getting up to 12 months out of the batteries. I have spent as much on new batteries, as I could have on buying two new cameras. All this time your solutions, which I have tried, do not work. The cameras are under two years old. Why aren't you standing behind your product and doing something to rectify this other than recommending I go and spend yet more money on buying rechargeable batteries, or new cameras. As a consumer experience this whole exercie is very disappointing.

[Leedurbin]

I had excellent customer service from Netgear...on the phone.  I dont think they read these threads much.  They ended up replacing BOTH of my cameras for free.  Try that...

[NightRanger]

Hi Leedurbin, what date did you buy your cameras and were they still covered by any warranties?

Thanks for your replies everyone. I can definitely relate to your experiences. I'll gve tech support a try (again) and see if they've discovered something new and workable.

After that, if the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily then I'm throwing in the towel. I will not be buying anymore cameras or 'security systems' from this company ever again nor recommend them either. I'll also consider downgrading my positive rewiew rating that I Iinitially wrote and publlished several months ago as well.

[Alecweb04]

The battery of one of my Arlo Pro cameras drains in a matter of 4 weeks despite being turned OFF throughout the entire time (it's a balcony one, so i rarely turn it on, like a couple of times in the year) and being the one that is the closest to the base station (about 8 meters with one brick wall in between). Everything was fine until about a month ago. It seems to correspond to the time i changed my wireless router from Apple to Nighthawk R7000P. I'm still within the one year warrantee. 

Please advise.

Thanks

[JamesC]

The engineering team has field trial firmware available that may help address the issues being reported in this discussion. If you would like to participate in this field trial, please post a confirmation in this thread and we will escalate your information to the engineering team.

JamesC

[whyarlowhy]

I'm interested in trying this FW.

[NightRanger]

JamesC,

Please register me for this 'field trial firmware' event. Thank you.