Battery suddenly shows low

[tlernst]

Checked the status of my Arlo today around noon and everything looked good, including the battery status (it was black with 3 lines).  Later this afternoon, around 3 PM I checked again and the battery status was red with one line showing.  What will cause the battery to drain in a couple of hours? The camera was armed, but there was no activity. I have the latest firmware (Version 1.2.4941) and app update (2.0.4_12416).

[comlab]

Looks like they no longer want to distribute the newer Cam Firmeware, I received the following answer from Negear support:

Response from NETGEAR

Hello Daniel,

Thank you for your response.

I have looked into your case and I did request this firmware for you to the appropriate department if in case this was really the issue. However, they mentioned that they suspended the field trial of the firmware to improve more on the battery usage of the camera. So currently we do not have available firmware for testing.

For now since we remove and resync the camera, I would suggest to change the batteries first and observe if the battery indicator will still show the same. Also, I would suggest to change the power management of the camera to "Optimized" for us to isolate the case because having it on "Best video" can drain the batteries fast especially when the camera is place on a busy environment.

I hope these information will be helpful.

Again, thank you for choosing NETGEAR. Have a great day!

Regards,

Alfred
Expert ID: 46208
NETGEAR Support Expert

What should I say, its clear that the Firmware has Battery indicator issues, but still they try me to do stupid stuff. I have 3 Cams, last week one Cam dropped overnight from over 80% to 6% without filming. After repostioing of the batteris the level is not stabel at 67%, Yesterday the 2 remaining cams dropped suddenlty from over 80% down to 6% and 2%. I checked one of the cam's battery with a meter and all of theme were still fine. Howerver even after adding the same batteries again and reseting of the cam they stuck on 6%. I still belive these batteries have enough power, so I keep it until the Cam dies. This is all so stupid. How can you make a Battery operated cam and the power indicator is faulty. Well I also have to say I have that system since last Year and it worked really great so far. 

[Zandian]

I often get frustrated with these kinds of issues as well, but I Redmond myself that these are pretty innovative cameras that can do some pretty amazing things when they are working properly. I'm still amazed I can screw a little camera to a tree that doesn't have to be hard wired, can work on almost any weather conditions (even in the winters if Wisconsin), can sense motion and see at night. Of course this is all great if its actually working.

I know sometimes making an improvement in one area can sometimes cause unintended consequences in another. That's just the nature of technology. But I'd also like to see that when the new improvements are planned they do everything they can to minimize negative consequences and not just rush something to market before its baked.

Based on the email you received you may not have benefited from the trial 5966 firmware anyway; for, it sounds like the goal of it may have been to improve battery power management, not necessarily to fix the faulty meter readings. That's likely a completely separate issue. I've had both issues. Reinserting the batteries did fix the meter on some of my cameras, but others truly did seem to have rapid battery drain. That may be why they put me in the trial.

But hopefully the suspension of the trial is an indication they are close to a new release. Hopefully so and hopefully it fixes both problems.

Z

[ertert]

I also started a post about this. Battery level on phone and computer show in the mid 90%.

All of a sudden one day get message batteies are about to die and need changing.

I have seen all the posts and tried everything.

The battery level indication simply does not work as it should.

[tlernst]

Having accurate, up-to-date knowledge of the battery status is critical for all users, so I just don't understand why it’s taking so long for a big company like Netgear to correct this.  I'm wondering, maybe this is partially a hardware issue and they are struggling with how to fix this without having to replace everyone's cameras.

[afeid]

I've been seeing this issue on all of my cameras. I'll change the batteries, then within a short time (1 day to a week), the battery level drops and the camera goes offline. I've been pulling and replacing batteries, discarding the used ones, and then one day I accidentally put one into a flashlight I had just bought. It worked fine. I dug out the 123A battery tester and ALL of the batteries were still good. I went back to the camera from which I had pulled the batteries and swapped them, camera worked fine for a few days, same thing. Before discarding your batteries, check the level in a tester, or put them in a flashlight. No sense throwing away good batteries.

  FYI, at this point, I'm actually looking for another alternative. I liked the product originally, but I've had quite a few issues in only 6 months or so. That plus the insane requirement to actually PAY Arlo to replace a faulty product that's still under warranty is beyond comprehension.