Low battery Notifications

[MichaelJ81]

Why are there no alerts sent anymore for low battery? I don't expect daily updates, but a 25% left alert (or something) like we used to get. I see so many feeds on this site that say it used to exist but doesn't now, or has been turned off or something - that's ridiculous. I only found today that my front door camera batteries were completely flat, when I got an alert on the app that they required replacement - at 0%. That's mighty helpful - WHY IS THERE NO PRIOR WARNING!? I bought this system to protect my home - not to have it unprotected ALL DAY while I'm at work until I can get home. Also, having cameras go randomly offline because of being overseas and no prior warning of low battery (70% when i left) so for two weeks I had no coverage. I am considering returning this entire system and demanding a full refund - this is just simply not good enough. YOU SHOULDN'T BE TAKING FEATURES AWAY! And no, my email system is not blocking your emails either before you say it. I would like a non-scripted genuine response from someone at Arlo.

CAMERA FIRMWARE: 1.2.16720

BASE STATION F/WARE: 1.9.8.0_16666

[LordNelson]

Every one I own... a combination of PRO and PRO2.  Started right around the time of the June firmware release.

[MikeHab]

Same here - low battery alerts stopped working since the last firmware and/or app update (whereas they were previously working absolutely fine).  I have an original Arlo VMB3010r2 base station with H7 cameras.   Low battery alerts worked fine previously, and I have never selected to receive email notifications on motion detection.   Now I don't receive low battery alerts at all, even with email notifications enabled.

[LordNelson]

1.12.2.4_2772 definitely seems to have broken this for many of us.  I have an open case with Arlo support but I'm not all that hopeful.  It took me a couple calls just to get them to admit this was a problem.

[Rueg]

I contacted Costco and they gave the go ahead to retun my Arlo Pro 3-camera kit.  Arlo support - this is your time to provide some information.  Are these issues ever going to be fixed?  1-no preview pictures in the emails, 2-no low battery alert emails, 3-video quality has become pixxelated and poor, 4-motion sensing is not picking things up as well as what it did before.  When I bought this kit - it worked great and I really liked it.  Now, with all the changes Arlo has made - it has become a poor product.  Love the desktop/internet interface.  That is something Arlo has that nobody else does.  Last chance to say you are going to fix these issues before I return these and buy something else.  

[MichaelJ81]

I REALLY can't understand why Arlo just doesn't do something about this. The SAME isues are raised by people. I have email alerts on, and will very randomly get an email that the batteries are tired - SOME of the time. It needs to ping on the App - I need to know BEFORE the batteries die completely, not only find out when the Camera (or Cameras) are offline and then discover two days later that nothing's recorded because the batteries have gone to 0%. Tell me how having EMAIL alerts stop the Cameras from sending me an alert on the APP? Either you get this sorted or I return the Cameras to the point of purchase for a full refund under Australian Consumer Law - they are not fit for purpose and DO NOT act as intended. FIX THIS ISSUE!!!!!

[ShayneS]

Hello,

I have a few questions for you:

-Which Cameras/Base station are you missing the email alerts for?

-What Firmware is your cameras & base running?

-When did this issue first occur?

[Rueg]

@ShayneS 

I am not receiving any low battery alerts any longer - at least I didn't for two of the cameras that recently were below 10% battery left.  I do receive email alerts for motion, however they no longer have preview pictures in them.

For the Arlo Pro base station it says the HW Version is VMB4000r3 and the firmware is 1.12.2.4_2772.

For the Arlo Pro cameras it says the HW Vesion is H14 and the firmware is 1.092.0.23_32920

All of the issues seem to have started in late May.

[MichaelJ81]

@ShayneS I have three Arlo Pro cameras and the base station:

BS: Firmware 1.12.2.4_2772; Hardware VMB3010r2
Cam 1, 2 & 3: all showing Hardware H7 & Firmware 1.3.319

I don't want email alerts though - i rarely check my emails - I want IN-APP Alerts - I get motion alerts on my Front Door Camera, but no alerts the batteries are low until they go OFFLINE, which was NO HELP when I was overseas and couldn't try to reset the Base Station (but that's another gripe about this system). Wouldn't it make sense for a 25% alert, then a 10% alert or something like that?

It's been happening since I have had the cameras - at least 18 months probably 2 years if not longer. I've received perhaps 2 alerts (by email) in that entire time about low battery on any one camera. 

[MikeHab]

@ShayneS 

Low battery email alerts used to work fine, but then stopped working them around the end of May 2019.  Now the batteries just die completely with no alert/notification what-so-ever.  And yes - I have email alerts enabled (and email address is confirmed/validated) and I still don't receive any low battery notifications.

BaseStation:

HW VersionVMB3010r2

Firmware1.12.2.4_2772

4x Origininal wire-free Cameras (not Pro), all the same HW version and firmware version:

HW Version: H7

Firmware 1.3.319

Any help getting to the bottom of this would be really appreciated by the many people who are suffering from the same problem.

[LordNelson]

PRO and PRO 2 cameras.  I have two hubs, both are VMB4000r3 running firmware 1.12.2.4_2772.  The last alert I got was mid-June.

[Rueg]

I have returned my Arlo Pro three-camera kit to Costco for a refund.  I will continue to watch these support threads to see if anything changes, but as of now I am looking for something non-Arlo.  Here is a list of things that have changed since I purchased my Arlo camera kit:

1. Image quality has gone downhill. Looking at videos – if I wouldn’t have known it was my wife, I would never have been able to ID her.  Resolution has gotten much worse.  When I bought the cameras the image quality was good.  Now, threw updates they have ruined the picture quality.  The night vision has gotten much worse as well.
2. They removed the preview picture on email alerts (using Microsoft Outlook). These were such a handy feature - to give a quick snapshot of what was going on.  Worked when I bought the cameras, but hasn’t worked since the May 2019 updates.
3. No low battery alert emails anymore. These used to work, but again seem to have stopped working with the May 2019 updates.
4. Motion detection is worse. At night, the motion detection now works horribly.  I used to get critters showing up on my cameras.  Now, I see the light that is nearby the Arlo camera turn on – which is triggered by motion, but no Arlo videos anymore.  These used to work in tandem.  I find it funny it doesn’t catch vehicles pulling in and out of our driveway anymore either – it used to.  Camera hasn’t moved.  Again, this also changed with the May 2019 updates.
5. Alert times have gotten much longer. Used to be I would receive the alert right after motion detection.  Now it sometimes takes a few minutes, sometime 5+, once in a great while an hour+.  Again, this changed during the May 2019 updates.

You need to roll back the May 2019 updates!  These have ruined your security cameras.  Arlo support has not been able to give any useful information about these issues being fixed.  It has been almost 3 months now and no new information.  I feel sorry for the support people, because I am sure they are not the ones doing the coding and making these changes and they have to deal with us angry end-users.  I don’t have much confidence that these issues will ever get fixed.  Most people don’t have an option of returning because they didn’t buy them at Costco.  Shame on you Arlo!  The product that people bought originally is not the same product as of today because you have broken your system through bad updates.

[Lisa_in_Rox]

Is there a way to enable email notifications so I am made aware when my battery is low?  The only email notification I can find is when their is activity. I just turned that off because I don't need so many emails every day when I just look to see the # on my app.

[TomMac]

Emails should go out automatically when you hit about 12-15% or so on the battery... I get them as emails only

These are not the same as alerts

[newagemedia]

I don't get battery alerts anymore either. That annoys me!

Why doesn't NETGEAR do anything? Why isn't the error fixed?

It is obvious that there is an error, because otherwise formerly satisfied users would not complain here! At the moment I cannot recommend ARLO any more...

[Jamesdstone]

I have owned my Arlo 5 camera system for about 2 years.  I can definitely say we used to get low battery notifications without turning on email notifications in your settings.  That was supposed to be for a motion event only.  I noticed the notifications disappeared at the end of April.  It is very inconvenient to no longer have these.  I have also noticed that my cameras frequently go offline.  They didn’t do that when I first got them.  Really bad problems to have when you are away from home and can’t reset the camera or put in new batteries.  I was pretty impressed with my system originally, so much so I bought one for my mother last Christmas.  Kind of wish I hadn’t now.  I have a lot of money tied up in Arlo equipment and rechargeable battery systems.  Should have just had wired systems installed I guess. I won’t buy anymore Arlo products!

[Bogeymanmcs]

Batteries in my cameras are only lasting about 6 weeks. Why so short?

[ShayneS]

Hi @Jamesdstone

  Have you tried contacting customer support regarding this issue? I have attached the link here for you - Arlo Tech Support

@Bogeymanmcs

What are your settings for this camera? record time, how much movement is detected per day?

[MichaelJ81]

@ShayneS your repeated suggestions for people to contact Tech Support are becoming REALLY annoying. Everyone has done this in some way, shape or form. The Fact is these Arlo Cameras are just pathetic. They DON'T DO WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO. All you need to do is have someone at Arlo who has half a clue to fix the errors in coding and push out an update that will give people low-battery alerts. We have all told you how it hasn't worked in months, yet NOTHING gets done. Just darn well fix it yeah?

[50Nic]

Hi Michael.

Have you tried contacting customer support, or taking the batteries out and putting them back in?

Only kidding, haha 

Anyways +1 for me. No alerts since January. Have had two occasions when I needed to review an incident and low and behold, the batts were dead and I had no warning.

Wondering if this could be a legal issue for Arlo if a crime happened? If the product failed to work because alert system is broken.

[MichaelJ81]

@50Nic haha 🙂

I agree. I wonder what our moderator @ShayneS has to say about that? I might seek my own legal advice anyway and share that. At the very least, these products don't meet Consumer Law here in Australia and aren't fit for purpose - so much so I want to return them for a full refund. I bet all we'll get from Arlo is that it's Netgear's problem - or vice versa. No-one will stand up and own the problem I'm tipping. 

[ShayneS]

@MichaelJ81

I have escalated the reports on this issue and I will keep you updated with the results.

[Jgarrison64]

I used to get emails from Arlo whenever one of my Arlo wireless cameras batteries got below around 15%.  However the last time I got one of those messages was on December 16, 2018, and now I have to manually check the battery status for my cameras, otherwise they may go dead without my knowing.  I’m curious if anyone else has noticed this problem?

I had an online chat with an Arlo support person, who wasted my time with a bunch of useless questions. He wanted to know what version of the Arlo app I was using, but could not understand that the app does not send or receive emails.  

Cheers

[Jgarrison64]

I used to get email notifications when my Arlo Wire-Free cameras got down to 12-15%, but I no longer get those messages since December 16, 2018.  Now I have to manually check the battery status, otherwise the cameras go dead without my knowing.  Arlo online chat support was next to useless when I tried to have them help with this issue.

[jguerdat]

I still get low battery emails. Have you checked spam folders? What is your email provider?

[Jgarrison64]

Yes, I regularly check my email spam folder and the low battery messages never showed up there.