Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

Replacing batteries weekly.

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guzpro
Star
Star

I am honestly at my wits end and if I could return the set to amazon where I ordered it I would.  I have in the last month replaced the batteries on one camer 4 times and the other twice.  I have had the devices sleeping and they still show low battery levels.  I have gotten almost no usage out of this system because at every turn the cameras are offline or the batteries are dead.  Based on posts I have read it seems like I have the latest firmware.  I am starting to think I wasted 350 dollars in less than 2 months, plus 40 dollars in batteries.  I disabled the schedule I had setup to turn the cameras off during the day and for the last week had them "sleeping" and yet they still went from 100% to 6% in 4 days.  Any suggestions on what might be wrong?

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JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

I would like to thank you for your posts and contributions! I want to make sure you take a look at an article outlining best practices when it comes to batteries. For those involved in this discussion I encourage you to review Remember these golden rules for your Arlo camera batteries along with BATTERY WARNINGS AND SAFETY.
 
Thank you for sharing! 
 
JamesC

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49 REPLIES 49
RobertRosal
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

guzpro wrote:

I am honestly at my wits end and if I could return the set to amazon where I ordered it I would.  I have in the last month replaced the batteries on one camer 4 times and the other twice.  I have had the devices sleeping and they still show low battery levels.  I have gotten almost no usage out of this system because at every turn the cameras are offline or the batteries are dead.  Based on posts I have read it seems like I have the latest firmware.  I am starting to think I wasted 350 dollars in less than 2 months, plus 40 dollars in batteries.  I disabled the schedule I had setup to turn the cameras off during the day and for the last week had them "sleeping" and yet they still went from 100% to 6% in 4 days.  Any suggestions on what might be wrong?


Hi Guzpro,

 

Where does it show the percentage left on the battery?  I only see bars on mine.

 

How many recordings do you see?  By chance are the cameras set too sensitive and recording keeps getting triggered?

 

-Robert
guzpro
Star
Star

The percentage is in the emails that get sent with the low battery warnings.  I literally have zero recordings.  I had them in sleep mode so not sure sensitivity would even matter

laurenc
Luminary
Luminary

Hi @guzpro

 

Thank you for reaching out in the Community. Did you rename the Default Mode to "Sleeping" or did your system come pre-configured with this Mode? 

 

I look forward to your next update!

 

Best Regards,

 

Lauren

Arlo Team

guzpro
Star
Star

It came with it.  As I mentioned I have no recordings saved and had the cameras pointed towards a wall  in a room thats almost never used.

laurenc
Luminary
Luminary

Hi @guzpro

 

We have had a small handful of reports such as yours where the modes are Home & Awake and Sleeping instead of All motion on and All motion off. The best way to resolve this is to actually reset the base station. Please follow the steps below while in the same location as the base station. This process should only take a few minutes.

 

  1. Do a simple reset by using a paper clip to press the reset button on the base station for 10 seconds or until all the LEDs on the base station blinks amber.
  2. Your base station will then perform the reset and reboot itself. Please wait until the Power and Internet LED turn solid green.
  3. Resync the cameras as instructed in the quick start guide (one at a time).

 

You can then log into your Arlo account where you should see the new default modes “All Motion On” and “All Motion Off”. For good measure you should also enable “Auto Update FW” (Firmware) under Settings > Base Station settings. 

 

Please let me know after this process what level the batteries are reading as well. Are you using the batteries that came with the system? If not, please include as much information as possible on the batteries used and their specifications. 

 

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Best Regards,

 

Lauren

Arlo Team

guzpro
Star
Star

I did the reset and the new settings are showing as you described.  The batteries showed dead again.  this for the pair of camers is the 5th set of batteries (including the original).  I tried swapping the batteries in each camera before again having to replace with new batteries.  The batteries are energizer 123 batteries with expiration of 12/24.

 

I purchased the batteries from Walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-EL123BP-12-Energizer-123-Battery-12-Pack-EL123-12/23236732

 

i have gone through 3 of these 12 packs.  I have multiple netgear products including the x6 and and r700 and this is honestly the first time i have ever been severely disappointed in a Netgear product.  Please let me know if I have provided enough detail.


Dennis

AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

Dennis,

 

Just to reiterate this. You've replaced the batteries and have had the cameras in "sleep mode" without any use at all, yet they continue to drain the battery in a short period of time ?

guzpro
Star
Star
Yes. From the original post date to today when I reset the router the batteries once again were fully drained
AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

I'm a little confused. The batteries/cameras don't say they're drained until after you reset the router ? Why are you resetting the router ?

guzpro
Star
Star
No, they showed drained before and after. I am saying the in the short time the initial post was live the cameras drained another set of batteries. I changed them after the reset to complete the repairing of the cameras
AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

Oh okay. I gotcha.

 

You don't have them set to record anything ? You're not using them at all ? You're not going online and streaming from any cameras at any point ?

guzpro
Star
Star
No usage whatsoever. Once the batteries kept draining I set them to record nothing and still batteries drain in about a week
AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

While the cameras have battery life, what does the WiFi signal to those cameras look like ?

guzpro
Star
Star
Full. They are about 2 feet From the router on my desk
AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

I'm just shooting in the dark here.

 

Maybe try to delete all your rules for each camera. Go to modes and click the pencil on all modes off and make sure they are actually off (check marks all black).

 

I assume your base station and cameras have the latest firmware version.

guzpro
Star
Star
Already done and verified latest firmware
AnthonyArmato
Luminary
Luminary

At this point I'd see if NetGear will exchange the whole system for you. Other than the one camera I had an issue with mine are not having this issue. Granted I've only had my system almost a week but each camera continue to show full bars.

laurenc
Luminary
Luminary

Hi @guzpro

 

Please look for a private message from me shortly. We will go ahead and open a Support case for you to further troubleshoot this issue.

 

Best Regards,

 

Lauren

Arlo Team

guzpro
Star
Star

As an update, Post the system reset and being sent replacement batteries there was marginal improvement.  In tuning off all motion detection, the batteries did not drain at all where in the past they would drain within days.  Now however with 1 week of motion detection off and less than 2 weeks of motion detection enabled for only the overnight hours the batteries are drained once again.  A total of 16 motion detected 10 second clips were recorded during the window.  I reached out to Amazon to inquire about a return but since I purchased at the end of February there is nothing they will do.  I like the features and the wireless convenience concept ut in action so far this has been a pretty bad expereince. 

RobertRosal
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

From everything you said, it does look like you may have a faulty unit.

 

You should be well within the warranty period, why not just have Netgear repair or replace?

-Robert
Nick_Brisbane
Tutor
Tutor

Go back to Netgear support and open another ticket. I have 2 of these camera's and they dont do what your describing.

 

If you were sent replacement batteries and it did the same thing, then go back to Netgear and ask for the camera's to be repaired or replaced. Something is very wrong with them.

 

Youve already done all the trouble shooting you can including Netgear ticket support. It's time for warranty.

Allentowngal
Guide
Guide

I just bought my system about 2 weeks ago and the batteries are dead for almost a week now. I have made adjustments to the mode, and realized that a small garden flag was triggering it so I turned the sensitivity down.

 

Regardless, it seems the batteries should not have pooped out so soon with just one camera.  Any chance they were old when I received them?  And do you have a place you recommend online that offers them at a good price?

 

I really want to purchase a second camera for my system but am hesitant to do so until I see that the batteries don't need replaced every couple of weeks.

 

THank you for any help you can provide.

BrianL
Master
Master

Hi Allentowngal,

 

Were the cameras placed outdoors? There's a chance that you will get a misreport battery charge level in extreme cold temperature. 

 

You may check these articles for some troubleshooting and tips on how to test and extend the battery life. 

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/My-Arlo-cameras-are-reporting-low-battery-In-co...

 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Knowledge-Base/How-long-do-my-NETGEAR-Arlo-wireless-camera-bat...

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL

Arlo Team

TomMac
Guru Guru
Guru

@Allentowngal

 

Not to bump the netgear monitor, but the battery issue was a problem in the cameras with sw/ versions 1.2.2412

The current full release version in now v 1.2.2545. And has been corrected in newer verions since.

 

It is possible to have an older version of s/w on the camera from sitting in stock at store, so it's easy to check what version you currently have.

 

Go to SETTINGS, CAMERA SETTINGS, pick the camera in question and then look at the bottom of the right side page. thats where the s/w version is listed

 

If it its not up to date, take the camera near the base.  Go to SETTINGS, BASE STATION SETTINGS, and make sure 'auto-update' is toggled on

Now take camera and open battery door for 3 secs.... close door. ( btw this will also fix the low battery readings if you have that problem )

Wait till the camera led front light come on and then flash blue rapidly for the sync ( DO NOT open camera if any front leds are blinking )

During the night the camera may reset to the new s/w.

 

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