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

[johnmac]

i have the same problem..5 units and one constantly "eats" the batteries.  they last about two weeks and the others for over two months.  i can't find a solution.  any thoughts anyone?

[vwstu]

I would try switching that camera with another one and recheck your settings.

[Sulla]

I have four cameras (one internal and three external) and all were showing full battery levels. Two cameras are triggered by movement of one so when one detects movement the three external cameras are recording. So the three external cameras have recorded roughly the same length of time.

The camera that triggers the other two extermnal cameras suddenly went to low battery level and I got the low battery email form ARLO for that camera. From full to low uovernight! The cameras have been installed for just under 4 months, but get very little use.

I have taken out and replaced the batteries and re-syncd the camera. Still very low battery level, so I replaced the batteries. All other cameras are still showing as full - all bars. The camera that went red has the weakest wifi signal showing 3 bars.

This is very disappointing as cameras are used approximately  once every three days on average.

Any other ideas in addition top everything that has been posted in this thread?

Thanks and greetings from Melbourne Australia.

Paul

[jguerdat]

That's somewhat typical of old firmware - have you checked versions on all your equipment?

[Sulla]

Firmware is all good!

What I require is a response from Netgear!

Your advertising appears to be misleading re battery life, and and when I raise the issue of battery life, why is it that you (Netgear) does not respond!?

Spent over AU$1000 to set up my system and get little r no support!!

This is very sad!

[TomMac]

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Sulla wrote:

snip

The camera that triggers the other two extermnal cameras suddenly went to low battery level and I got the low battery email form ARLO for that camera. From full to low uovernight! The cameras have been installed for just under 4 months, but get very little use.

I have taken out and replaced the batteries and re-syncd the camera. Still very low battery level, so I replaced the batteries. All other cameras are still showing as full - all bars. The camera that went red has the weakest wifi signal showing 3 bars.

Any other ideas in addition top everything that has been posted in this thread?

Some ideas come to mind tho you may not like the answer...

1) the batteries were installed for you say aprox 4 months so that's really not bad usage according to specs / settings / location variables.

2) the camera that triggers the other two will use more power/battery than the others that are on standby waiting for activation and you stated that cameras batteries went first ( would be expected ) while others are full.

3) posiblility that the replacement bateries installed were not 100% , were they checked for voltage level?

4) The trigger camera has the weakest wifi signal... lower signal will use more power/battery between itself and the base so another reason why that batteries went first.

To fix or attempt to solve this would be 1) swap cameras from the "bad" one to one of the "good" ones to see if its the camera or location   2) change location if possible of the camera for a better wifi connect    3) change the location of base ( extended eithernet cable ) to locate the base to a more central location in realationship to all the cameras.

[14thGreen]

I just installed these cameras in September 2015, and the next day had a low battery warning! The temps were chilly at night, but warm during the day. I reluctantly turned off motion sensing but I am hoping to be able to get longer than a few days of power. Is there a resolution in the works? What batteries should I use?

[TomMac]

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14thGreen wrote:
I just installed these cameras in September 2015, and the next day had a low battery warning! The temps were chilly at night, but warm during the day. I reluctantly turned off motion sensing but I am hoping to be able to get longer than a few days of power. Is there a resolution in the works? What batteries should I use?

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Just installed what?  Arlo?

The older camera software have a problem with battery levels... so first I'd check what version of camera s/w.

You should have v 1.2.2688

  if batteries then what battery, what type, what voltage , what mahr rating?

[torqued12]

Obviously battery life is the Achilles heal to what might otherwise be a great little unit.  With fresh CR123A batteries and using the default camera settings, battery life is about 3 weeks.  That is with an average activation of about 6-8 motion detections (leaving the house and such), and a record length of 15 seconds.  This gets expensive to replace, and more importantly it is a pain in the butt to keep hauling out a ladder climb to the top, unscrew Arlo from the mount, replace the batteries etc.

In an attempt to remedy one of the issues I purchased a set of RCR 123 Li Ion batteris and a good charger.  As expected the batteries dod not last as long, but I did not expect only 5 days. 

It looks like Arlo has a circuit that sniffs the battery voltage and shuts the unit down if it falls below a threshold.  So soft failue mode.  What makes this worse is Arlo went dead again today, but only two days ago the battery indicator was ar 3 bars indicating a full charge.  It seems this was not weel thought out.

I like the unit when it works but can not continue to swap batteries like this.  Some folks seem to be getting ridiculous life with more video recordings than me so I am stumped.  I don't want to switch settings any worse than the defaults as I will lose valuable detail I may need.

With all the customer complaining I would guess battery life is something the product planners at Netgear must have high on their list, otherwise the product line could fail. 

I know my thoughts probably have been said many times before, so I don't expect Netgear to take actions because of this post.  Help us Netgear.

[vwstu]

I have been getting close to the projected 4 months out of my batteries. Now that has been while the temperature has been mild to warm. It's been in the cold that there had been issues in the past. They have had many firmware updates over the last 10 months. I don't know how long you have had your system but make sure it's set to get them automatically,both the base station and cameras. So far I found that Netgear has been very responsive and they are working continually to improve the system.

As far as rechargeable batteries go I am not a big fan of those for this application.

Recheck your settings for the % of motion and try lowering that. Also I would limit the recording time to about 20 seconds and see if that helps. You can play with those and try to get the best combo.

[TomMac]

"With fresh CR123A batteries and using the default camera settings, battery life is about 3 weeks.  That is with an average activation of about 6-8 motion detections (leaving the house and such), and a record length of 15 seconds"

If your getting only 3 weeks, then the batteries are bad, the device may be defective, or the settings are wrong.

"In an attempt to remedy one of the issues I purchased a set of RCR 123 Li Ion batteris and a good charger.  As expected the batteries dod not last as long, but I did not expect only 5 days. "

Depending on what type of RCR 123 you used it's possible... tests by members have shown the 3v rechargeables and esp LiFepo4 don't play well with arlo.

Most using the 3.7v Li-ion types here have been getting an avg of at least 30 days, more like 45.

Most using OEM primary cells seem to get at least 2 months into 3.  (Spec use is 4 mins per day on optimized settings for video). Running on spec I get just about 4 months on high quality video and have gotten over 7 months with very low use cameras.

Something is just not right with you setup.... why don't you call Netgear direct and put in a trouble ticket.

[labladydi]

How do i do a firmware update.

[labladydi]

I have 3 outside and one in , When i set motion off it still detects motion and the battery dies quickly.

[jguerdat]

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labladydi wrote:

How do i do a firmware update.

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Two things.  1) Ensure auto-update is enabled in the base station settings.  Toggle off and save and then toggle on and save to be sure.  2) open the battery covers on all cameras, pause and close them.  Any updates should occur overnight. Current versions are 1.4.2695 for the base and 1.2.2688 for the cameras.

[sidyenamandra]

Purchased and installed 5 Arlo cameras. Within 1 day, one battery is red... Not sure if this is a camera issue or a battery problem.

[jguerdat]

Are all the cameras on the same firmware version and are they the latest?  Battery reporting has improved with updates.

[Ismaelmoreno]

i am considering hard wiring the system since arlo forgot to make this an option because the battries run down weekly with out usage !

[jguerdat]

Did you see the new Arlo Q just announced? Check the link in the Announcements section on the right. It's a usb-powered device.

[asrodgers]

I simply can not afford to keep batteries in these crazy cameras.  I have them adjusted and they are rarely activated but batteries still show low within a few weeks.  Very disappointed in this purchase.

[vwstu]

Make sure you have all your updates installed. I have been going on 6 months of batteries now in 1 camera and over 3 in the other. Ran into a guy at Best Buy today who said he had his in since March. If you are recording too much time or have the % of motion set too high that could be an issue too.

[Ruskinite]

I purchased a 3-camera setup in February of this year. Of the 3 cameras, 1 is still using the original [non-rechargable] batteries while the other two ran out of juice around September.

I purchased the Tenergy rechargable batteries but was disappointed to find that, when installed in the cameras, they show less than a quarter full even after a full charge.

[vwstu]

I have had pretty good success with Surefire batteries. Not rechargeable.

[Mwenda]

My battery meters not only show drainage with no recording, but also vary depending on which device I use for monitoring. Using my iPhone 5S, two of the five cameras show less than1/4 energy remaining (Arlo uses "battery bars," not %, on the Apple smartphone app). When logged on with my iMac OSX 10.11.2, there's full juice. Why the descrepancy?   your firmware: 1.7.0_4546 (base) and 1.2.2688 (camera)  

[JamesC]

Mwenda,

Are you using standard disposable batteries are rechargeable batteries?

JamesC

[kenguyen3]

I dont believe that the batteries last upto 4 to 6 months unless you turn all the functions off
Then it becomes useless