Battery issue already

[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

[Britfish]

i switched on motion detection at about 2pm yestreday and i had maybe 10 alerts during the afternoon - then at 8:30pm i got an email notification stating the battery was at 10%. im looking forward to seeing the response to this issue from netgear....

[Blackharley]

Mine are the same they said they needed firmware update take batteries out and put back in make them update didn't update even after two attemps and find help put fresh batteries in still ran down email saying my battery is tired

[R11Feeder]

Two days after an extremely easy setup I too received a low power message for both cameras. Not in the ball park of the 4 month plus useage touted. I like the system but hope this battery issue is an anomaly otherwise I will have to take out a small loan to buy batteries! Looking for rechargeable batteries now., It could be a setting issue too, digging for more detailed specs on unit but have yet to find any.

[CJRC]

Same issue here. The battery indicator went to 10% in less than 24-hours with the setting on "balanced"...

I'm presuming the batteries that come with the kit are not rechargeable?

[paintguy]

I found one of my cameras was down in the red. I switched batteries from the other camera and 100%. I think a firmware update will be needed.

[Britfish]

my cameras were originally on firmware 1.1.1733 but this morning i pulled the batteries and when i put them back in, it updated my firmware on the camera to 1.1.2074. I'm really hoping this fixes the problem but i guess i'll be buying some new batteries now to replace the ones that are flat...

[CHAN]

Same Battery issue and I have firmware 1.1.2074. Has anyone called Arlo to see what the deal is?

[snip3rboy]

Hi All,

Were the cameras reporting low battery notifications placed outdoors? 

[CHAN]

Yes it is outdoors and it is very cold and cold all weekend since we live in Minnesota.  Is there a temperature concern?

[CJRC]

Yes, the camera was outdoors.

[Britfish]

I updated my firmware to 1.1.2074 on my camera that was outdoors last night and the battery indicator shows green and full now. Perhaps this was just a bug in the firmware and not an actual battery problem. It would be nice to hear from Netgear on this issue....

The cameras are only supposed to work above 14 degrees so that may be an issue in Minnesota

Matt

[IllinoisPete]

I too am having the battery indicator turn red on an outside mounted camera......I believe it is being effectd by the temp ( it is outdoor mounted)....I previously had a netgear VUZONE camerera system ( before switching  to ARLO)...those cameras had same issue....I would leave batteries in the camera...I believe the indicator will return to green as temp warms up! At least I believe from past experience that will happen..really cold.temp can cause erroneous readings on the battery....THAT IS MY THEORY....Lets see what Netgear says??????

[ChristineT]

Good morning Arlo community,

Thank you all for your input on this topic! Based on your valuable feedback we are continuing to investigate this issue and want to assure you that our engineers are working tirelessly to resolve and implement a fix for the battery level being mis-reported as depleted down to 10%. In most cases we have found that once the camera(s) are brought inside temporarily, (letting them return to room temperature), and power cycling them by opening and closing the battery door the battery level is recalculated and displays a more accurate reading at a much higher percentage.

If you have attempted this temporary fix and it still does not resolve the issue of the batteries depleting more quickly than expected please let us know so we can work with you directly.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to your update.

Best Regards,

Christine

NETGEAR - Arlo Technical Support

[dchood]

I am having this issue on both of my new cameras.  I have the latest firmware.

I set them up and played with them for two days before putting them both outside.

I received the e-mail alert and then brought them inside to warm up.  Power cycled them and they began working again.

Placed them outside this morning (18 degrees and out of the wind)... same problem.

Hopefully there will be a fix soon.

[ChristineT]

Hello dchood,

Thank you for your update and continued support. We will pass the information along to our engineers. This is likely to continue occurring until we can get a fix implemented. You may want to consider disabling the low battery alert especially on cold days like today. We will be sending out an update once the issue has been implemented (likely with a firmware update) and confirmed to be resolved. Once resolved you will need to power cycle the camera one last time to recalculate the battery level reading.

Again, thank you for your continued support and understanding!

Best Regards,

Christine - Arlo Team

[hokeysmoke]

I have a red battery indicator on one of two outdoor cameras.  The other one shows full.  No warning yet, but it is a little strange to this.

[jpwjones]

I've got the same issue with one of my outdoor cameras.  Lost battery power within 2 days outside.  The other two outdoor cameras are at 100% for the same amount of time outside.  I'm not home to try the fix but will be on Friday.

[Britfish]

@ChristineT 

How will you notify users when the formware update is avialble? do you have a release notes page that you can point us to or will you post on this forum?

thanks

Matt

[hokeysmoke]

I assume that, along with temperature, signal strength between the base station and the camera would affect battery life.  The unit I have with one bar does have lower signal strength as it needs to go through two additional walls.  Does anyone know how the "4-6 month" battery life was determined?  Was it optimum conditions like 10 feet line of sight to the base station, or was it typical?  What about worst case (300 feet away)?  Should we worry about obstacles between the station and cameras, or does it really not matter compared to other things?  If you want to cover both your front and back doors, it is very likely at least one of the cameras will have lower signal strength than the other.

[lyricladanichan]

I also having issues with the battery and took them out and added them back in again. 

Both cameras have firmware 1.1.2074

[beachbumdb]

This system appears to be a joke.

I had the battery issues listed in these community forums.

I spent over an hour on the phone with someone to try to resolve it.

They said they would pass it on to the next level.

I first used my cameras yesterday for only 5 hrs up with batteries.

and 2 of those hrs were spent bringing them in and warming the batteries and

cameras up in order to put them back out.

Then the batteries were completely drained and wouldnt work at all.

The temps here were in the 30's yesterday and today.

Today the next level called and said these camera will only have the

batteries last for 4-6 months if the camera is only used for 5-6 minutes a day.

Are they serious...he suggested rechargeables which i have already ordered

But at this rate I wont be able to charge them fast enough.

Then he suggested only having the motion detectors enabled for non-active times of

the day.  I suppose I could ask anyone planning on stealing something or vandalizing

a car to please only do it at certain times.

Well I went and bought 8 more batteries and put them in.

Figured Id try it again.  Put the cameras in a position where they

wouldnt get any motion from cars driving by.  Positioned watching a driveway

where no cars are supposed to be coming into our property.

Put them out at 6pm with green battery indicator and 3 green bars.

At 8pm battery indicator red with one red bar.

Temp 37 not all that cold going to be 47 tomorrow.

Guess I will try putting them out again at warmer temps.

I could live with changing the batteries (using rechargeables) once a week

but changing them several times a day just isnt going to work.

Perhaps the vandals and thiefs in my neighborhood could give me

a heads up when they are coming so I can put my cameras out

with fresh batteries.

[beachbumdb]

Update:  I think I may have figured out how to use this system and get batteries to last.  We shall see.

After the battery sensor went to one red bar, brought it in and warmed it up and got 3 green bars.

I put that camera outside at 8:45pm   I positioned it so that it was looking at a driveway that no one should be using at night.  I made sure that any passing traffic on the street would not trigger the motion sensor.

Then I resisted the temptation to press the play button for a live feed.

It is now 12:35am and I still have 3 green bars on battery sensor.

Putting up these cameras, I may have been using the live feed play button too much. It was tempting to check the view I was getting and what the pictures looked like in checking out this new system.

The cold does seem to be a factor in these low battery readings.

Hopefully, the thiefs and vandals will not want to be practicing their art in really cold weather.

[jpwjones]

I did the same on the first camera that had problems and that worked.  Now I've got another one that seems to be doing the same thing.  However, I dont think it has to do with use.  I think it has to do with cold weather messing with the firmware because the camera that gets the most use, the front door, hasn't gone down one bar since installing over a week ago and the temp hasn't gotten above 35 and goes as low as 10 in Philly area over the time period.  Bringing them in, warming them up, resetting and resyncing seem to work.  

However, NETGEAR, you need to field test better and get this S--T fixed for the money we've paid for these units.  BTW...I haven't had one issue with the one indoor camera I have setup.  So 4 cams, 2 have the issue, both are outside but not in heavy traffic areas.

[NerdGlasses]

Tested a camera by turning off motion and not activating it. Placed outside in cold NY temps. Checked at end of day and battery is showing as low already with NO usage whatsoever. I hope Netgear has a software update for this. I'll be sure to warn others on an Amazon review about this issue. I wish I save the original box!