Batteries

[vwstu]

I just installed my Arlo system today and the process was extremely easy and up and running quickly. However I just received  a notice that my front camera has only 10% battery life left. Since they only have been installed  about 8 hours ago I am needless to say a bit disappointeed that they are failing. Any help or suggestions.

Thanks

[ChristineT]

Good evening NerdGlasses,

Thank you for your contribution to this thread! I can confirm, we are currently in the testing phase of a new firmware that is expected to resolve the low battery reporting issue when the camera is exposed to near/below freezing temperatures. We are taking great care in releasing this update to the system to ensure we provide not only a quick fix but rather a fix that is well designed and thoroughly tested.

We plan to post an announcement to the community once the new firmware is available for download. It is also recommended that you enable "Auto Update FW" option under base station settings to ensure the firmware update is downloaded within 24 hours of release.

Thanks again, we truly appreciate your feedback!

Christine

Arlo Team

[NerdGlasses]

Thanks for the response Christine. I've set my system to auto update and I'm looking forward to the fix soon. I really want to love this system! Keep us all posted! Thanks.

[vwstu]

I must say that Netgear has been very attentive to this issue. I have had many emails and even a phone call. One thing I did was lower the motion setting to about 25% and that seemed to make a big difference. I also repositioned my one outside camera a bit. There was a flag that was flapping and that seemed to set off the motion activation quite a few times. I also believe that you can't use the live view as much as you maybe would like to, that seems to really accelerate the battery drain. If I wanted a lot of live viewing I probably would of bought a hard wired system.

As long as the camera activates when someone enters the field and it records that I believe these are doing what they were intended to do. I did have a UPS delivery and I got the email alert that there was motion. The event was recorded as it was supposed to. 

We'll see how well these changes have helped to extend the battery life over the time. 

[beachbumdb]

There is a bit of a learning curve with these cameras outside for those of us (like me) new to this.

Our business has the ADT pulse hard wired system so was used to that.

At our home however, there was a need for cameras that could be placed where hard wiring the cameras was not feasible.

We are out in the country and are actually placing these cameras on a fence and a tree.  No electricity in sight of where these cameras needed to be.

The Arlo system is the only one that fit that criteria. So I will work with this till I get it right.

I do think that since this camera does have battery issues with only lasting 4-6 months with only 5-6 minutes use per day,

Netgear should supply the camera with 8 rechargeable batteries and a charger.  The owner could then purchase 8 more to have replacement batteries charged and ready to go when needed.

It would also help to know the time limitations of recording and battery use.  I read that with 4 batteries in the camera they should last 4-6 months but definitely didnt catch how short a time the system could be used each day to be at that level of battery use.

I agree with previous poster that this system will notify you when you are getting motion and then you can check the system.

The trick is to place cameras where there is nothing that will move and set them off.

Yesterday we had the worse winds ever and when I was trying to test place the cameras nothing was working well.

My phone was constantly pinging because the system was being set off by the strong gusty winds.

I will probably have to play with the motion sensitivity levels to adjust for days like that.

So the learning curve will continue. 🙂

However, this system does fill that previous void in home security where hard wiring just isnt an option.

Or at least not an economically feasible one. 

[TomMac]

<<Yesterday we had the worse winds ever and when I was trying to test place the cameras nothing was working well.

My phone was constantly pinging because the system was being set off by the strong gusty winds.

I will probably have to play with the motion sensitivity levels to adjust for days like that.

So the learning curve will continue. >>

It is a learning curve.... adjusting the motion sense to pick up what you want with less false notifications.

In my testing, I found I havd to go to aprox 60-65% to eleiminate a lot of false motion.  But don't forget, there is a build in test option for motion!

Under SETTINGS/CAMERA Settings... pick camera you want to test and then TURN ON "Motion detection test"

This will allow you to see ( flashing blue led on camera front ) when motion is detected by the camera.   It will shorten the time needed to 'fine tune' out the false notices.  Lower the sense till it just barely detects you ( flashing led ) and then bring it up a few percent... this will give you a better starting point.

* there may be a video on this*

As to batteries;

I had my unit out last night in the cold ( NY ) at about 10f... tho the battery level went down it didn't fail to function... so I wonder how many actually had the camera fail to operate under the cold conditions?? I have no doubt Netgear will get on this asap...

BTW, I went thru the same learning/trouble curve with the Vuezone system a few years back...the first month it wasn't 100% but they were pretty responsive to users problems and qiuckly had it running well.

[ChristineT · Accepted solution]

Hello lyricladanichan,

Thank you for your post! I am just following up with you to ensure you saw my post to this discussion thread. If you haven't already done so please check out my post (copy and pasted below):

I can confirm, we are currently in the testing phase of a new firmware that is expected to resolve the low battery reporting issue when the camera is exposed to near/below freezing temperatures. We are taking great care in releasing this update to the system to ensure we provide not only a quick fix but rather a fix that is well designed and thoroughly tested.

We plan to post an announcement to the community once the new firmware is available for download. It is also recommended that you enable "Auto Update FW" option under base station settings to ensure the firmware update is downloaded within 24 hours of release.

Thanks again, we truly appreciate your feedback!

Christine

Arlo Team

[beachbumdb]

Just an update on the battery issues.

I put brand new batteries in both cameras a week ago.

The temps here have been in the high 30's and 40's since that time

My batteries are still at 3 bars green after a week.

That was a pleasant surprise.

I have had a lot of pics taken in playing with the placement of the cameras.

Even found that the setting sun and wind can set them off.

I am encouraged that when the temps were warmer here in Ohio,

even with lots of pics and videos going off my batteries made it a week.

There for a while I thought changing batteries might be a daily thing.

I will be happy if I only need to change them once a month.

I did buy rechareable batteries to lighten the financial load.

[lyricladanichan]

Has the new firmware update happen or still in the works? 

[TomMac]

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lyricladanichan wrote:

Has the new firmware update happen or still in the works? 

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No... still running Base; 1.3.2078 and Camera ; 1.1.2074

[Avenue7]

I live in Florida where the temp last night was 65 degrees. When I went to bed the camera battery was fully charged. When I woke up it was at 15%. I looked at the recordings from the night see there were no recordings. I'm not sure how the battery could drain that much over night.

[David_NG]

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Avenue7 wrote:
I live in Florida where the temp last night was 65 degrees. When I went to bed the camera battery was fully charged. When I woke up it was at 15%. I looked at the recordings from the night see there were no recordings. I'm not sure how the battery could drain that much over night.

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Hello Avenue7,

Please see the accepted solution posted to this thread. 

[vwstu]

The cameras/battery issue had been working fine for a few weeks now until this morning when my front camera sent me a message that it was low. Following the procedures I brought it inside opened the battery cover and let it get to room temperature. I then put it back out and it was a full strength. I know there are posts that indicate Netgear is still working on a firmware update. I did check and saw that my camera firmware is now 1.2.2222. Is that the new one? 

It did get down to about 16 degrees last night. But obviously there is still must be an issue.

[TomMac]

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vwstu wrote:

snip... I did check and saw that my camera firmware is now 1.2.2222. Is that the new one? 

snip...

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Yes... it appears that a new version of SW has been sent out for the cameras.

But until Netgear mentions what it covers, it is unknown if its for the cold weather condition re battery.  It may have been for the schedule bug found recently.

[tinsheep]

I can't seem to get to the crux of the issue. Is it that the report is wrong from the cameras or is the battery is actually draining. Will the firmware fix the report or will it improve battery life or both? Again I have a remote property and don't have the luxury of warning up the batteries every time it gets a little cold outside.
Thanks in advance,
Tinsheep

[TomMac]

I believe it's more the hardware/sw than the battery...

If it was the battery alone, it prob wouldn't recoup from the drain to make it full again. 

My best guess is that the hw/sw doesn't constantly monitor the battery. It checks the battery voltage when first installed and uses the voltage as it's set point for   "battery life".  As the voltage drops due to cold the camera thinks the battery is near it's end of life. This results in a false reading

When the battery is removed and warmed back to a good op temperture then re-installed, the camera again senses the voltage and all is well again ... back to full bars.

I really think netgear will fix this with a S/W method and all will be good.

BTW; as a side note, my batteries showed a drop in life due to cold but didn't stop working the whole time. The batteries have a good working life within the spec of the camera as to temps.

[Britfish]

the cameras suto updated their fw and when i brought them inside and warmed them up the low battery indicator issue fixed itself. I now have it back outside and everything is working fine

Matt

[TomMac]

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Britfish wrote:

the cameras suto updated their fw and when i brought them inside and warmed them up the low battery indicator issue fixed itself. I now have it back outside and everything is working fine

Matt

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Good to hear... yes cold temps near/below freezing will lower the battery voltage.... the fact that it self corrected seems to me the bug was smashed.

[cody]

Does anyone know why of the 3 units I have, 1 unit the batteries are dead and the other 2 show full charge.

[Ruskinite]

Not sure what's going on with the battery issues too. I purchased and installed 3 cameras (all outdoors) this week, and within half a day, one of the cameras was reading very low. It can't be a temperature issue as I live in SoCal and it's been high 70's/low 80's day and mid-50's at night. It's also not a motion setting issue because the camera was not detecting any continuous movement.

I read that it may be a firmware issue but am waiting until I hear officially. In the meantime, I'll try the re-installing the batteries and see if that doesn't flush a bug out.

[laurenc]

Hi Ruskinite,

If re-installing the batteries did not resolve the issue please let us know and we can open a support case to troubleshoot this issue further.

Thank you for posting in the Community!

Lauren

Arlo Team

[WilsonFlyer]

I took the batteries out of mine not an hour ago and the one I tested did not change FW versions. I had just supposedly made sure the base station was up to date. What gives? 

They have GOT to get these cameras to update without removing the batteries. That is going to be a PITA now that I have my permanent installs done.

[Avenue7]

Eventhough my camera indicates low battery it still operates for a couple of months with the low battery indicator on. I don't think that it's anything to do with the batteries but with rather the software. I just ignore the low battery warning now. You'll know when the batteries actually die when you get a message in your inbox.

[dchood]

I agree.  My three cameras (with the latest firmware) all indicate low batteries... yet they have been recording OK for over a month.  The low battery indicator firmware fix was not fixed.

[Ruskinite]

Turns out the "Tired Battery" reset itself when I reinstalled the batteries (and resync'd the offending camera to the base station) and I'm now showing full power.

But I do agree with another poster who said that there should be another method for resetting as this particular camera is under my roofline eave about 14 feet high.. Kind of a hassle to resync.

Thanks for your reply!

[TomMac]

new cam s/w as of last night.... Just installed 3.7v rechargeables.... battery indicator appears full so it may be fixed