Battery life?

[Ghatch]

what is the expected life of the batteries when using the Arlo wireless cameras outdoors?

[TomMac · Accepted solution]

---

Ghatch wrote:

what is the expected life of the batteries when using the Arlo wireless cameras outdoors?

---

If the cameras are used within spec ( 4 mins per day live view/recording on optimized video ) , the rated time is 4-6 months.

I run mine at best video and just get 4 months with the normal use cameras. Some of my low usage cams run 7 months (never really viewed, just for motion detect).

Mind you that the camera must be properly set to eliminate false triggers/recordings which can eat up usage time... If you record/view a lot you can run them down in short order like a week or two

[LovelyNot]

What really annoys me is that silly useless battery indicator. I'd rather see a percentage of some kind, instead of vague diagonally striped battery BS. Nobody, and I mean *nobody*, knows what it means when it loses 1 stripe. Is it almost empty, did it use up one third, do we have 66,6% left, will it be empty soon?

The android world already got this, which is why every custom ROM out there offers a battery percentage readable in the top of the screen.

[wbe1981]

The batteries in my camera only last a week. It's getting really expensive to keep buying the batteries cuz they're NOT cheap. I barely record because my door is low traffic. The only thing I can think that's causing it is either a defective camera or the heat (Las Vegas heat).

[TomMac]

---

wbe1981 wrote:
The batteries in my camera only last a week. It's getting really expensive to keep buying the batteries cuz they're NOT cheap. I barely record because my door is low traffic. The only thing I can think that's causing it is either a defective camera or the heat (Las Vegas heat).

---

If your batteries are only lasting for a week... Contact Netgear and go thru the trouble shooting with them, it very well may be a defective camera

http://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[JamesC]

wbe1981,

Is it just one camera displaying this behavior? If you have more than one camera, swap locations with an unaffected camera to see if the issue follows the camera. The issue could be the cameras location, poor signal strength due to range or interference can cause battery drain.

JamesC

[NETthisGEAR]

For those of you who are replacing your batteries way to often. Two things. I recommend contacting support at support.netgear.com for help. You can change the duration, placement, and sensitivity to get the best possible battery life.

The big thing people don't seem to realize is that there are rechargeable batteries available for the Arlo. They are approved by NETGEAR so make sure that you are getting the right ones.

For those looking for a link to the rechargeable batteries:

Tenergy 3.7V RCR123A Li-ion Battery Charger

[manfredz]

LovelyNot.  if you go into the cam's settings you will see remaining battery life as a percentage

[kjoy]

What are the recommendations- how do you- set the camera correctly so that the battery lasts longer?   thank you!

[jguerdat]

The best way to get long battery life is to reduce recordings and recording time as well as minimize live viewing. The WiFi connection between the base and cameras is also important since a weak connection causes the camera to have to struggle to maintain connection. 5 minutes or less per day is how you get spec life from the batteries.

[manfredz]

There is no one size fits all answer to that question.

The lower you set the quality, the longer your batteries will last.  But you may want to have best quality recordings.

The lower your sensitivity settings, the less will be recorded and the longer your batteries will last. But you may miss something getting recorded

The shorter your recorded length from the 10-120 sec options, the longer your batteries will last, but again you may miss something.

Using the schedule to turn you cam off when you know you wont be needing ( or manually disarming it), the longer the batteries will last, but again you may miss something.

But if your cam(s) are in locations you can easily get at, how long they last may not be as important if you use rechargeable batteries (like the recommended Tenergy 3.7 V ones).  My cams record a lot, 25-30 120sec recordings a day and my batteries last 2-3 weeks on the average and I'm quite happy with that.

[PapiRey]

I extend the battery life of my cameras by replacing 1 or 2 batteries when needed. Not all 4 at one time. I also use generic batteries (Streamlight CR123A) which I order online at BatteriesPlus and then pick up at the store. They work as long as originals and are much cheaper than name brand.

[jguerdat]

Be aware that the original Arlo wireless cameras use 2 batteries together, in 2 sets. The camera will switch between the front and back sets as the batteries deplete. This is supposed to maximize battery life according to the engineers.

[Techlore]

I figured I'd point a couple things out for those searching this through Google etc.

The regular Arlo has rechargeable batteries available for it that you need to buy seperately. NOTE: it is recommended that you use these rechargeable batteries specifically or it can ruin the Arlo.

If you haven't decided if you wanted to buy the Arlo or not yet, you should also look into the Arlo Pro. Which has two way audio and a couple other features that the regular Arlo doesn't have. Why do I bring up the Arlo Pro? Because recently they added a Power Adapter that you can use on one of your cameras if needed. There is also another great solution - a solar panel which of course powers the camera with the sun. I personally think the solar panel is really cool.

[manfredz]

the Arlo Pro also has much better night vision.