very Short battery life, only outside

[Txn76]

I have 2 Arlo Pros and 3 Arlo cameras on an Arlo Pro vase station. The Pros are 2yrs old and the Arlos are 3yrs old. I have the 2 Pros + 1 Arlo outside, and the other 2 Arlos inside. Since the summer, I’ve had poor battery life from the outside Arlo: batteries only last 2-3days. The outside location hasn’t changed, and neither has the camera settings. I’ve rotated all three Arlos through the outside location, I’ve moved the outside location to improve reception, and I’ve rotated the cameras through the new location. The indoor Arlos last for a couple of months.

I primarily use Streamlight batteries, and I used to have great battery life with them outdoors.

Any ideas? Does netgear do any sort of trade in or upgrade program to upgrade to a Pro?

[brh]

@Txn76

If you have rotated all the original Arlos outside and each of them shows poor battery life outside, I would reconsider changing the location or orientation of the cameras. For example, if you have the camera pointed at the street consider which is more important - seeing your whole yard or the view if someone is trying to break into your entrance door or windows.

Secondly, what percentage of the day is the camera armed and how many notifications are you getting? Is the camera  in a high traffic location?

Thirdly, is the lighting at this location poor, especially at night? If so, consider some lighting that turn on with motion so that the camera is not having to use the IR LEDs.

I brought all my original cameras inside and only arm them when I leave the house. All the locations where I mounted them have sufficient daylight or have lamps that turn on with motion. My inside batteries usually last 7 to 8 months.

My outdoor cameras are all Pro versions connected to Arlo solar panels. I also have motion sensing lights near those cameras,

To the best of my knowledge Arlo has no replacement or discount for upgrading plans.

Brian

[barrymf]

My battery life outside is also only 1 day, never disappointing. I moved the unit indoors and the life is months.

Will need to buy a different camera from another supplier; I even bought a second battery; same problem.  

[brh]

@barrymf

Which model camera is giving you trouble? Underneath your post, it says you are using the original HD camera but it uses 4 batteries.

Secondly, how are you using this camera? Are ypu using it to only trigger on motion, or are you live streaning a lot?

Is the camera in very cold weather?

Brian

[barrymf]

I am using the Wire-Free Outdoor Camera, no batteries; it is rechargeable but the charge only lasts for one day. I bought a replacement battery ($29) but same problem; leave it outdoors for one day and the battery drains. I use it only to trigger motion and the temperature has ranged between 25- 45 F

[brh]

@barrymf

If it only uses one battery, you are probably using the Arlo Pro camera. Is the camera losing its signal often. If the camera loses its connection it will continue to try to resync over and over until the battery runs dead. Check your signal strength for this camera. You possibly may have to move your base station closer to the camera.

Brian

[Txn76]

Going to try Surefire batteries and see if they work any better.

[jguerdat]

Different batteries likely isn't going to help unless the previous one were faulty or just crap in the first place. If the camera works fine in a different location, it's the location that's the issue, regardless of how it worked in the past. We have no idea if something has changed in the environment with you or a neighbor having moved or added something that blocks or otherwise interferes with the signal.

An old IT scenario: What did you change? Nothing. What's this new thing? Oh, yeah, there's that.

[barrymf]

i moved the arlo indoors and battery worked for a month at the window.

moved the arlo to the outside of the window and battery died in 9 minutes

[jguerdat]

What is your house construction? The wire mesh for stucco is a known problem as is mounting the camera on a metal surface.

[barrymf]

Wood frame house

[jguerdat]

What about the metal surface? Are the windows metallized?

[Txn76]

Same here: wood frame house. Wooden siding, too. Non-metalized windows.

[jguerdat]

All I can think of is some sort of 2.4GHz interference, perhaps from a neighbor or something inside the wall that's blocking the signal. Try swapping cameras around to see if it follows the camera or location.

[barrymf]

thanks. but i just moved the arlo from inside the window to outside and the arlo battery dies in 15 minutes

[brh]

@barrymf

What is the signal strength on the camera both inside and outside?

Brian

[barrymf]

thank you but i dont see anything on the arlo app called signal strength 

[barrymf]

thank you. as long as the arlo stays indoors the battery life is weeks

ive moved it outdoors, it is 40 degreesF outside and battery dies in 15 minutes no whatever the outside location

[brh]

@barrymf

On the Device page above the camera are several icons. One of them has 3 curved bars. That is the signal strength indicator. If you only have 1 bar of strength the camera will probably work, but could be approaching the end of its range.

2 bars is good and 3 bars is excellent.

Brian

[brh]

@barrymf

What happens is when the camera has reached the end of its range, it continually tries over and over to connect back to the base. It will drain batteries very rapidly.

It appears that something in the walls of your house is blocking the signal to the camera. You may have to move the base to a more central location or buy a wifi range extender and a second base statioon placed as close to the camera as possible to get enough strength.

Brian