I Give up, batteries drain too quickly

[guzpro]

I give up.  I am done with using the Arlo Wireless Cameras.  I have honestly tried to accept the oddities I have experienced since the purchase but I am done.  Once again for the 6th time since purchase the cameras chew through batteries almost daily.  My base station has been replaced, relocated it and gone through in the plural of hundreds now in batteries trying to make this work.  I worked with Netgear early on and eventually the cmaeras were stable and reliable.  but in the last 2 months after updates it has gone back to daily/weekly battery changes.  the cameras are in my office 1 7 feet, the other 12 feet from the base.  Heck for the last 2 weeks they have been on my desk sitting almost next to the base.  I have not changed the objects in my office so for months no interference issues or anything like that from other devices.  These things just go offline, no warning and by the time i realize, often within a a day, sometimes hours the batteries are chewed through.  I am a huge netgear fan but I can't take it anymore.  I have 2 dropcams and in the years since i have had them i have had zero issues.  They just run and run.  But I am done spending money on these things.  I come here and read thread after thread of people having battery issues and it seems like this si just something thats known and happens and seemingly never gets resolved.  I am sticking to wired camer'as and am now going to research new wired cameras to replace my 2 Arlo cameras.  What a waste of a great concept.

[manfredz]

no, the silver ones are the 3.0V, useless for the Arlo

you need the gold colored 3.7V ones (like in link i supplied).

[CarolB]

Thanks! I thought I was searching the model number you have in your post about Samsung, but I must have misunderstood. I'll check again

[cher45]

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CarolB wrote:

Thanks! I've been using Duracell (pricey, needless to say), but I'm a bit afraid of "unknown" LiOn batteries, because of the problems they've caused with Samsung cellphones. Have you ever had any issues with them exploding or spontaneous combustion? (I know this is a couple of months later, and I really appreciate your response. I've had other . . . distractions .  . . that

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No problems with the Titanium Innovations batteries to date CarolB. 

[Nodatestamp]

I have three saner issue support tells me to move it around. Camera just one of the drains battery in one da y does not matter what battery is in it. Arlo support is awful

[jguerdat]

You must persevere with support to get hardware replaced.

[amphone]

i just bought a used netgear from Ebay i try to setup so the basestation won't concect 

and the old one i been used for a year it keep saying offline and i deleted all the app and i try to

setup as a new product but won't let me

[jguerdat]

Used is frequently an issue since the old owner may not have removed the system from his account, blocking you from adding it. If that's the case, open a case with support here using the Contact Support link at the bottom.

Also, you don't set it up as a new system, you use Add Device on the Devices tab to add it to your account.

[RLgreg520]

Just purchased an arlo pro 3 days ago.. camera goes off line and battery drains in 12 hours. This is the first time that i used arlo and its nothing but troubles.. returning mine today..

[JamesC]

RLgreg520,

How far away from the base station is the camera? How many recordings have been made?

JamesC

[Viking42]

Same here,

I have 5 cameras, some are having the same battery since 5 months without ever been replaced

Others may drain in a few weeks only, without being further away from base or recording more.

I'ts completely random,  and cost me a lot battery-wise 

[jguerdat]

That's why rechargeables are useful. They need more frequent replacement/charging but the cost savings can be huge. Netgear has certified a Tenergy set.

[CarolB]

Tha;s nice, if you can afford them. But some people can't.

[jguerdat]

If you can afford to keep replacing non-rechargeables frequently, especially if you don't use the Internet to get the best prices, you can afford to strart building up the rechargeables at some point. You only need one charger so buying only additional batteries for more cameras

I'm on a fixed income myself so can relate to others in the same position. I can't always do what I want but I try to cut overall costs where I can. 

[Viking42]

It's not really about the batteries getting empty, it's the fact that tehy empty without reason, and completely randomly

[MikeO9927]

Do what I did, throw away the Arlo cameras and buy Nest.  Better cameras, no batteries, better app, it was a no-brainer for me after spending hundreds of dollars on batteries.  I have NO faith that Netgear is going to fix this problem.  After all many of us had their first cameras that overnight became obsolete and left us hanging without.

[jguerdat]

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Viking42 wrote:

It's not really about the batteries getting empty, it's the fact that tehy empty without reason, and completely randomly

None of mine drain the batteries randomly and last pretty much the same between charges. Have you checked firmware versions against what's posted in the Release Notes section here? Old firmware can do some pretty weird things. If it's just some cameras, swap them around to see if it's the camera or the location. Any kind of blockage or interference can cause the cameras to drain quickly trying to maintain a good connection with the base. Repositioning the cameras or the base can improve this significantly. Also, obviously, differences in the total number of minutes per day of recording and live viewing can make a difference, too.

[CarolB]

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Viking42 wrote:

It's not really about the batteries getting empty, it's the fact that tehy empty without reason, and completely randomly

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I had the same issue. Second time NetGear ended up replacing the camera (I haven't had the system two years, yet!), and this time, it was the most important one (the front door camera that guards not only packages on my front porch, but my vehicle, as well). It just disconnected itself from the base--and though the batteries were all replaced at the same time, it burned them out almost immediately (the others are still fine). I placed the cameras out of the reach of most intruders--which means that every time they burn out, I have to drag the ladder upstairs or outside to replace them, then run up and downstairs repeatedly to position them properly. This time, I bypassed the call center and insisted on dealing with a supervisor, which helped. NetGear ultimately replaced both camera and batteries--but how long, before the next failure (this is by no means the first), and why should I have to go through this with a system that could never be called "inexpensive" (especially for someone on a fixed income)?

[RLgreg520]

Distance is just a few feet away so I don't see any stuggle with network connections. I think there was 4 video recordings as part of my testings and there were no recordings that followed after. The device is set to record 10s only if motion is detected. Here are the issues that I encountered.

Day 1

• Got an error message that the device was already Claimed and it is not letting me complete the setup. Resetting the base allowed me move further on the setup.. 
• Authentication Server is not available..it eventually solved itself the following day and I was able to complete the setup

Day 2 

• With the Battery up to 100%. In the morning I setup the camera outside which is less than 20 feet away from the location of the base. 
• I checked the app in the evening and it was saying that the device was offline.. I brought it inside  and found out that the battery was drained. I charged it al l night and resynch the camera. 

Day 3

• exactly the same as Day 2

Day 4

• I decided to exchange the device and give it another chance.. 

[jguerdat]

What's in the line of sight between the base and that camera? Include walls, mirrors, ductwork, house construction (stucco can be a major issue), etc. Were there any 2.4GHz devices near either the base or camera?

[RLgreg520]

The only thing that is blocking the base and the Camera is the Wall/Front Door .. I got an August Smartlock device installed on the Door. And Yes we do have a bunch of 2.4Ghz devices in the house. 

[jguerdat]

I have an August SmartLock, too, which uses Bluetooth at 2.4GHz. The optional Connect module also uses 2.4GHz WiFi. Is the camera close to the lock (inches, not feet)?

At this point, I would bring the camera close to the base and monitor battery usage.  If you have multiple cameras, swapping them around would help isolate whether it's the camera or location that's the issue.

It's also possible the moving the base away from the router could help. It's not supposed to be an issue but some have found this to help.

[RLgreg520]

K so I went to target and exchanged the package (Base and Camera) to a new one .. I installed both devices in exactly the same location and so far it has been operating flawlessly for 2 days. No disconnections nor battery darining issue as of yet. I will continue to monitor the system and will update this post of my findings.. one more hiccup then this will definitely be replaced by a Nest camera 🙂 ..

[Viking42]

So one of my five camera's which is close to the base, had its third set of batteries put in this morning since July 2017!

The second set was consumed in a handfull of days becasue the camera had a sync issue whihc i didn't bother to solve too rapidly.

I have cameras using up batteries and others which still the orginal batteries, can't even see a logic here.

There is a huge potential for improving the firmware, before the whole customer base starts to leave bad feedbacks on the resellers sites.

[jguerdat]

There are also rechargeable batteries to help with the cost issue. Check out the Netgear-approved Tenergy set.

Rapid battery drain can be for many reasons, from faulty hardware to user-induced. Poor quality WiFi connection between the camera and base or excessive (>5 minutes per day) of recordings and live viewing all play in here. Are you experiencing any of these issues?

[Viking42]

The rearcgable batteries for 5 cameras cost about 4 to 5 full set of normal batteries, and seem to have about 1/3 of the normal batteris MHa, meaning replacing them 3 times more often

sometimes my arlo cameras record10 minutes of video instead of 10 seconds, again a poor firmware.

Wifi should be okay as the distances are really short, i do never play live, only look at my recordings