battery life and costs

[denisel]

I have had the arlo for about a week now. The three units came with batteries which only showed half life left when installed. Now one camera  is dead. The batteries are under 3 volts each. The other two cameras don't have much life left either. Cost of new batteries at Battery + store are $6.99 per battery!!! 

What is the normal life of these batteries. At 4 batteries per camera I will go broke soon. Spending $83.88 for batteries is crazy!

So how long should they last and shouldn't they have had a full charge when purchased?

[TomMac]

If your using the OEM batteries that came with the units... a normal life is aprox 4+ months. Most of my cameras do this on best video quality and 2 with very little use made it to 7 months. BTW, online the last sets I bought were about $1.50 each

Brand new they should test at 3.2v

Also , Spec usage is 4 mins per day in case you are recording / viewing with heavy usage.

If you think the cells are bad, contact Netgear.

[denisel]

thought they should last more than a week....

How do I contact them? Can't find a number anywhere...

We just went to the local Batteries + store...thought that was just too much to spend.

How do I see how much usage the camera is doing per day?

[TomMac]

Top of page "support" then " contact support"

[denisel]

Thanks...right in front of me but still hard to find..

Sent a message to them so now it's just wait to see if they answer...

[denisel]

Contacted them and just keep getting "form" letters back. No solution or answer. They even sent one saying they were closing the case! This after one that said someone should answer soon. Just going to return the whole thing to Sam's Club and buy something else.

[raypreble]

I have the 3 camera system and we received this as a gift from a family member. I have already replaced the batteries that came with the camera system with a four pack that Fry's has I put them in around the 30th of January and now there are dead and today is the 23rd of Febuary 2016. Netgear says that batteries should last up to 6 months but this claim is false. I will no longer buy batteries for this system again. I'm VERY UNHAPPY with this product. 

[Schorschi]

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raypreble wrote:

I have the 3 camera system and we received this as a gift from a family member. I have already replaced the batteries that came with the camera system with a four pack that Fry's has I put them in around the 30th of January and now there are dead and today is the 23rd of Febuary 2016. Netgear says that batteries should last up to 6 months but this claim is false. I will no longer buy batteries for this system again. I'm VERY UNHAPPY with this product. 

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How many video clips did you record in those 24 days? What's the total duration per camera?

The official use-case scenario is a battery life expectancy of 4-6 months with a 4-minute video clip per day per camera.

If you exceeded that, you're bound to have fewer days of battery life. If you didn't exceed that, then something could be wrong with your cameras.

I've had my system since the middle of December and one of my five cameras' battery gauge has gone done one bar a couple days ago. Though, I'm below the 4-minute clip time per day.

[Deede]

I just set up the camera last night and this afternoon one of batters reads 85%.  The system was purchased in order to monitor indoor and out.  I've been reading the posts concerning short battery life.  If this is the case, the system is a waste of money.  On the other hand some posts say the batteries can last up to 4-6 months.  Can someone please explain how the system can be set to obtain maximum battery life.  The literature accompanying the system is lacking and I am confused.  I was so excited after buying the system and getting it set up but, very disappointed when I started reading about the battery issue.  Hope you can help.

[jguerdat]

First batteries generally get used quickly due to aiming and experimentation. Spec life is based on 5minutes' recording and live viewing. Low usage can get more than 6 months, heavy usage can deplete in a week or less. WiFi signal strength and/or interference can also be the issue.

[Deede]

Thank u for the quick response.  Still not clear on what 'heavy use' implies.  Here's an example of how I want to use the cameras:  Outside in backyard monitoring gate and back door entrances as well as yard.  Say for example, one or more racoons enter the yard and wonder around for an hour or so.  As the night progresses other small animals enter and exit the area.  Would this be considered 'heavy use' and what effect would this be on the batteries?  This will give me a better idea whether or not I have the right equipment.  Thank u.

[Jmarkj]

I have two cameras set up and both are going through batteries every 7 to 14 days. This is a complete joke. I see nothing but miss information and a very poor presentation by the store AZ to the usability of these cameras. I have both my cameras aiming at the front of my house which picks up the street where I need to see who's vandalizing your car I get a couple hundred recordings everyday. So I guess what they really should tell you is it doesn't record it just senses a trigger and then it record. It seems to me if the camera is sending a signal to the home unit it shouldn't matter it's sending a signal 24 7 but I guess I'm wrong. Bottom line is I cannot afford to put batteries in this thing every two weeks. And on top of that the Arlo customer service number in Taiwan or Vietnam or wherever it is he's absolutely Rock Bottom piss poor customer service. I've been transferred Shuffle and hung up on too many damn times. The next time the batteries go dead the whole damn things going back to Fry's and I'll buy a real system with real cameras that take real video and don't cost me $100 a month in batteries. A very pathetic system

[Jmarkj]

And just to clarify I have both camera setup on the 17 second record, sensitivity at 85%. The whole idea of having a completely wireless system is to be able to mount them up higher for better view which I did. The problem is I am disabled and I cannot reach them I have them installed by my son. Now they need batteries every seven to 15 maybe 20 days. He lives across town and cannot come over here every week and a half for the rest of his life. There needs to be a lot more truth in advertising for these cameras if you're looking for anything more than four minutes a day of recording time don't waste your money it's an absolute joke. Had I known then what I know now and having spent $340 on two stupid cameras I could have bought a real wired system and spent the time and had a great system that recorded 24/7 for cameras at a time. But instead I got a real cute little egg looking camera it's good for four minutes at damn day.

[jguerdat]

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Deede wrote:

Thank u for the quick response.  Still not clear on what 'heavy use' implies.  Here's an example of how I want to use the cameras:  Outside in backyard monitoring gate and back door entrances as well as yard.  Say for example, one or more racoons enter the yard and wonder around for an hour or so.  As the night progresses other small animals enter and exit the area.  Would this be considered 'heavy use' and what effect would this be on the batteries?

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Spec use is ~5 minutes recording and/or live viewing per day. Watching racoons all night will kill the batteries quickly so, yes, your usage implies heavy usage.  A wired system would be a better choice if you really want to do this (I'd rather trap and move them).  This system isn't for watching wildlife - it's for monitoring doors, sidewalks, etc.

[Deede]

Thanks for the clarification.  It appears this system does not meet my needs.  FYI, my intent is not to record wildlife all night.  As my inquiry stated the purpose for the camera is to monitor the backyard entry gate, back door into the house as well as any suspicious activity that may occur in the yard.  It just so happens that we live in an area where wildlife come out at night.  That includes not only racoons, but other wildlife as well as domestic cats, etc. 

[Deede]

Jmarkj, thank you for the informative response.  It sounds like I would have the same problems as you have incurred with your system.  As we only have a 15 day window to return the system we must act quickly.  I wish Arlo had been more clear when promoting this product.  Would have saved us a lot of trouble.

[jguerdat]

Based on what you're saying, Arlo may still be a fit for your needs. It's all about positioning the cameras. Many folks try to get the whole scene rather than to focus in on the actual area of concern. That is, they'll go for the whole front or back yard rather than just the gate or door. That causes various issues including false triggers and battery depletion. Positioning and aiming the cameras properly can make a world of difference.

[Jmarkj]

Fry's Electronics has a 30 day return policy. I think I need to go out right now and look at the receipt because like a good shopper I saved both boxes and both receipts I am not going to take down $350 with the cameras and put them in a drawer in my garage simply because they were not properly explained and they're just not working even close to what I anticipated. I suppose I could make some plastic adapters to fit in the battery compartment and run some wires through the attic and down the wall and find a 3 volt power supply and mess around and I never have to change batteries again but to be honest the infrared on these cameras is quite underpowered and somewhat pathetic. I actually added two more motion sensing spot lights out front just in case somebody walks up idea more lighting at night it helps but overall these would be a nice camera to monitor the baby or watch the parakeet in the cage other than that I believe for me they were just a complete waste of a whole lot of money that I really cannot afford to waste

[Deede]

We just got our back in the box and will be returning to Best Buy this afternoon.  They only have a 15 day return policy on electronics.  Looks like we will need to go with a wired system, I guess.  We'll need to locate a technician who can run the wiring and set it up.  Thanks for the feedback and good luck.