Excessive Battery Drain

[DayDad]

I recently noticed that my batteries seem to be draining excessively fast lately.  I changed a 100% charged battery yesterday and this morning it has dropped to 92%.  I also noticed that the batteries were draining faster on another camera as well.  Prior to this the batteries would hold their % for a long time before dipping.  For some reason both of my cameras are now draining quicker than normal according to the app.  The amount of recordings they do haven't changed either.  With the one that I recently changed it  only recorded two videos to drop from 100% to 92% this morning. 

Like I said, prior to being changed the batteris were holding their charge well.  Nothing has changed in terms of location of camera or base station.  The only thing that I did do recently was reboot the base station through the app to try and fix stutter and freeze issues with recordings which apparently is a firmware thing based on other posts. 

Anyone else experiencing excessive battery drain lately?   

[JPC]

Have you taken out the battery and put back in to reset and do a system reboot? see if that help fix it.. Also, try login to a different device or to the web(firefox/safari/chrome) and check if it read the same.. If it's consistent then it's a Battery issue.. Not a whole lot of people complaining just yet about this.. But I did see a little change on mine.. It used to charge full 100% but now it's reading 98%.. I'm not too worried about it since my setup is wired anyways.. But I do use Full Battery mode during the day just to power cycle it.. I have a scheduled wifi outlet that does it for me when it turns on/off.. It works really well for me.. 

[DayDad]

I have tried taking the battery out placing it back in. It didn't seem to have any affect. I did notice that about 90% or so the battery seems to taper and hold its charge. Not sure if my batch of batteries are no good or maybe the power level metering is off for the system? I have also tried the reboot. I'll try the web browser later and see if it matches the iOS app.

[theclutch]

Each time that Netgear offers an "update", it almost seems that they break something in the process.  Mine just updated recently and I'm now suffering through the dreaded battery drain issue.  I literally write dates on the batteries as I install them.  I just installed new batteries 8/25.  It's 8/28 now... guess what?  It's down to 41% with no recordings!!!  This is RIDICULOUS.  We should be given the ability to revert back to a previous version.  Note that NOTHING on my setup has changed over the almost 2 years of ownership.  I.e. - all 5 cameras are in the same exact spot.  I have gotten battery life from 4 to 6 months previously as advertized.  I used to recommend this setup.  But it almost seems that Netgear is having us be the guinea pigs for their testing - at our battery expense nonetheless.  With these being "security" cameras, they have lost the value add for me as they are appearing to be very unreliable.  I DO NOT RECOMMEND until they fix these bugs reliably.

[jguerdat]

What you're experiencing isn't normal.  I've had every update for over two years with no such issues.  You can try removing the camera from Settings, My Devices and resync and/or open a case with support.

[Grunt66]

I have the Arlo Pro and I am now documenting my battery change. I purchased two addtional batteries and the Arlo two battery charger. I have a 4 camera system mounted outside. Today I was alerted today (8/29/17) two of the batteries I changed on Aug 13 and 15 where down to 15 %. So 15 and 14 days and the batteries drained from 100% to 15%. One of the cameras which is located on the side of the house did not have recordings during the above time frame and the other camera only had one recording. I have owned the system since Dec of 2016. Not happy with the performance of the recharable batteries. 

[theclutch]

The rechargeables are only 650 mah.  So at least that's an excuse.  The non rechargeable ones are around 2000 mah.  So if those are supposed to last 4 to 6 months (I've gotten these results), then the 650 mah ones would last proportionately.  I believe that something about the latest updates are making the cameras "keep seeking" for the base station signal if it's weak.  For me, the camera has ALWAYS been in the same spot.  So Netgear has no excuse.  It worked perfectly fine for a long time.  I'm really annoyed about these updates and the lack of transparency about these updates actually entail.

[migman_2001]

No battery drain issues here, and current firmware. Owned system since first released late last year.

You say no changes to your system, but have new RF items been introduced to your house? Maybe a neighbor? Sounds like a communication issue.

Do you do any live viewing of each camera? Excessive live viewing can drain the batteries.

Just trying to see if there is something being overlooked.

[King29]

I’m having the same issue...2 cameras. Both holding their charge and then one seems to be drained overnight....very frustrating and defeats the purpose

[theclutch]

This is RIDICULOUS...  Now, I bought these cameras about 2 years ago and never had this problem until maybe 6 months ago.  I put NEW batteries fresh from the packaging on Thursday night.  I come home now (Saturday) and it's showing 23%.  There were TWO (2) recordings on it.  The cameras were always in the same exact spot along with the base station.  I.e. - NO distance change between the base station and the cameras.  There were also no router changes.

So what changed?  It would appear to me that the firmware "upgrades" are causing this.  I'm on the latest firmware for those that are curious.  If it were up to me, I'd love to "downgrade" to whatever original firmware I had which had my batteries last 4 to 6 months.  I write down the date of installment on all the batteries so I know exactly when I put them in.

And please... I'm tired of the stupid, standard, irrelevant and useless "fixes" of 1) take the battery out and wait 10 min (or whatever) and put them back in or 2) need to delete and resync them with the base station.  Whoever suggests these are just asking people to try things for the sake of trying them.  These are NOT fixes.

For those that say, "what if new wireless noises were introduced since you bought the cameras".  Ok, maybe I'll give you that only since I don't understand that topic yet.  I.e. - this could mean that the cameras are continuously trying to connect to the base station and, therefore, dragging the batteries down.  As a note, this battery drain is also happening to the camera that is the CLOSEST to the base station (literally about 10 feet from the base station where you could draw a straight line from the base station to the camera with only a window in between).  If this is the case, then Netgear seriously needs to fix this.  OR at least own up to it by having a disclaimer that "wifi noisy neighborhoods may drain your batteries in TWO days".

I used to be a serious ambassador to Arlo to all my friends and neighbors.  Right now, I am so pissed at the abnormal battery drains (and these batteries are NOT cheap), that I would really like to start a bonfire with these damn cameras and get something else. [Done with the soapbox, apologies for the rant and thanks for reading.]

[SpikeM]

I am having the same issue ever since the latest update, all three cameras i use are losing battery life from 100% charge down to 15% in three days or so, i have charged my spare camera and it has went from 100% to 60% in three days and it has not even been turned on!!!
Is Netgear/Arlo doing anything about this?
I have only had the cameras since September.....

[steve_t]

I would open a ticket with support. That's not normal even with heavyish use. I haven't even looked if the batteries have batch numbers but perhaps there's a bad batch??

[Mcmeyer]

I have this same problem. Put in new batteries, it shows 100% and within hours of very minimal use it is down to 45%. I don’t even get 2 weeks out of these very expensive batteries.

[jguerdat]

Two possibilities - 1) when installing the batteries, don't push them down. Let the battery cover do the pushing. 2) The camera is having an issue with its connection to the base. Swap cameras around to see if the issue stays with the camera or position.

[PugsInParadise]

I agree 100% with theclutch.  I have had these cameras about 18 months.  I'm having the same problem but with a couple of slight twists.  First twist, I am using rechargeable batteries.  Until recently, these rechargeables would last between 1.5-3 months, with the heavy traffic cameras lasting about 1.5 months.  But then within like the past 4 months, they now barely last 2 weeks at the MAXIMUM.  But here's the second twist.  I have the 4-camera system.  This is happening on only 3 of the 4 cameras.  The 4th camera still lasts a couple of months.

And I do not have bad rechargeables because I have 5 sets, so they constantly rotate, including in the 1 consistently "good" camera.  And like theclutch, I have read and tried all the different "fixes" and none of them actually work, including the battery door thing which I have seen in many posts.

As for distance from the base station and switching positions, etc., we recently had the house painted so all 4 cameras were down, turned off (via the app) and sitting together on a desk.  I thought perfect time to change all the batteries.  So I did.  And guess what?  Within 4 days, the 3 bad cameras were down to 50%, WHILE DISABLED!  The 1 good camera was at 99%.  So it isn't the batteries, it isn't the position, it isn't activity.  So what is it?

I contacted support.  And they said, "This sounds like the hardware is bad.  But you're over your one-year warranty so I can't replace your cameras.  I'm sad.  Is there anything else I can help you with today? (cheery smile)"  Uh, that would be a "NO!"

So I am down to using my single good camera.  But it is just a matter of time before it goes to the crowded Arlo graveyard.  I will not mourn the cameras but I will mourn the $400 I spent on this garbage.

I wanted to post my experience to see if others had similar experiences.  I also wanted to post my results from contacting support (a big fat zero).

[vedat]

I have the same issue. I have 4 Arlo Pro cameras, I used all of them for 6 months with the initial out of the box battery, then I recharged them with the charging cable provided, now all of the batteries last only one day. This is unacceptable and very bad quality of batteries. Netgear should not sell these products to anybody, until they fix this issue and should replace all of them free. Don't buy these Arlo cameras.

[Ianmei]

Same thing in off position camera went to 100% to 1% in half day something wrong and I don’t know what it is......,,,can someone got some ideas why?

[jguerdat]

If removing the camera from Settings, My Devices and resyncing doesn't help, open a case with support here for possible faulty hardware.