Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription?

SarEliz0131 — Wed, 08 May 2024 15:15:09 GMT

I have two cameras (model VCM 4030) that are hooked up to a base station and record activity without a subscription.
Last year I purchased a third camera but had to return it bc it stopped recording after the trial subscription ended. I would like some additional cameras that WILL record with no subscription required and Google isn’t telling me clearly which do that. Any insight?

Re: Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription?

StephenB — Thu, 09 May 2024 11:17:16 GMT

@SarEliz0131 wrote:

Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription?

There's recording to the base station, and recording to the Arlo Cloud. Recording to the base never requires a subscription, recording to the Arlo Cloud often does. Your legacy cameras came with 7 days of free cloud storage - none of the currently sold cameras have that.

Local recording is a feature of the base, not the cameras. The base will save motion (and audio) triggered recordings from every camera that is connected to that base. A list of the cameras that can be connected to the various bases is here:

https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility

The older base stations (VMB4000 and VMB4500) support local recording, but not playback. The ONLY way to see locally stored recordings on those bases is to eject the storage from the app and connect it to a PC for viewing.

The VMB4540 and VMB5000 smarthubs do support direct access to local storage in the app.

https://kb.arlo.com/000062997

This feature doesn't have a great user experience, though many do use it instead of a subscription. Limitations include:

recordings only available in the app (not the browser)
recordings only available in the primary account (not friend accounts)
no ability to make manual recordings or snapshots
no thumbnails - recordings need to be downloaded to the phone to view
access to the local recordings isn't quite as easy as accessing cloud recordings
remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult, and which won't work (or aren't available) with some internet service providers.

Note that there are other subscription features - for example activity zones and smart notifications.

topic Re: Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription? in Arlo Pro

Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription?

Re: Which models record to base station WITHOUT subscription?