topic Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends? in Arlo Essential Wire-Free Cameras

Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

mb425 — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 19:29:00 GMT

Model = VMC2030AerH8 (?)

Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends? Mine did but I did not see this would happen when reading the documentation prior to purchase. I can activate from the live stream but it will not go on if motion is detected.

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

jguerdat — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 13:37:16 GMT

No, the use of the trial or paid subscription has nothing to do with activating the spotlight. Check your modes and rules to verify everything is configured properly. Try creating a new custom mode with an appropriate rule for the camera as a test. If still not working, try removing and re-onboarding the camera.

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

mb425 — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 19:53:20 GMT

Hi, I already went through a bunch of steps with tech support and nothing worked. I wrote in here in case something was missed. All I know is I set up two cameras a week apart from each other (not intentional) so the trial expiration was on two different days. During the trial, the motion activated spotlight worked flawlessly at night. The spot light on each camera stopped working the night after the trial expired for each one. The only way to fix the spotlight issue was to add each camera to a paid plan.

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

jguerdat — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:28:54 GMT

Did you purchase a plan to see if the spotlight then works? If that's the case I have no idea how/when/why this happened and I wouldn't think it's correct behavior. @JamesC ?

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

StephenB — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 13:24:28 GMT

@jguerdat wrote:

Did you purchase a plan to see if the spotlight then works? If that's the case I have no idea how/when/why this happened and I wouldn't think it's correct behavior. @JamesC ?

FWIW, it'd be good to clarify the expected behavior without a plan. It's quite possible that the spotlight won't come on w/o a plan unless local storage is enabled (since there is no recording).

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

JamesC — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:41:11 GMT

The spotlight is configured to engage for the duration of recordings. Without a subscription plan, the camera will not save recordings to the cloud but will still send a push notification for motion detection events. Simply detecting motion does not cause the spotlight to engage, it must also be recording.

JamesC

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

StephenB — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:44:39 GMT

@JamesC wrote:

The spotlight is configured to engage for the duration of recordings. Without a subscription plan, the camera will not save recordings to the cloud but will still send a push notification for motion detection events. Simply detecting motion does not cause the spotlight to engage, it must also be recording.

Thx for clarifying.

FWIW, some users might want to use the spotlight as a deterrent, and this limitation prevents that (unless you have storage of course).

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

mb425 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:47:31 GMT

Yes. I added each camera to a paid plan the day after the spotlight on each stopped working. With thefts going on in our area I needed the lights working rather than spend a lot of time troubleshooting something that may not have a solution.

Re: Will the spotlight on the camera stop working after the trial ends?

mb425 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 16:53:01 GMT

Thx for clearing this up. For me, the value of the spotlight was as a deterrent, like most spotlights that come on after motion is detected. The day after our garage was broken into, I installed a camera in that area. The following night the recording showed two people approach the garage at 2am and then turn to leave after the light came on.