topic Re: Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity in Arlo Pro 2

Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity

Retired_Member — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 23:56:09 GMT

I have a Pro 2 VMB4000 and have 4 cameras attached to it. I have two questions.

1) What's the maximum number of cameras I can attach to the base station?

2) Since they don't sell the Pro 2 anymore, can I attach a Pro 4 or other current camera to this base station?

Please let me know. Thanks.

Re: Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity

StephenB — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 12:12:13 GMT

@Retired_Member wrote:

1) What's the maximum number of cameras I can attach to the base station?

Not sure what the max is - there is a limit of 5 simultaneous streams.

@Retired_Member wrote:

2) Since they don't sell the Pro 2 anymore, can I attach a Pro 4 or other current camera to this base station?

Yes. The Pro 4 can also be connected directly to your home wifi.

Either way, you will need a subscription for cloud storage (unlike the Pro 2, the current cameras all require a subscription to get any cloud storage).

Re: Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity

jguerdat — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 14:08:36 GMT

@Retired_Member wrote:

1) What's the maximum number of cameras I can attach to the base station?

In the ancient past, 15 cameras was suggested as a reasonable max. That was not based on a hard limitation but as a performance issue as the hardware would be taxed to keep adding cameras. I've had around 10-12 devices on a single base and SmartHub with no issues.

As above, only 5 simultaneous streams are supported so more bases may be needed in certain situations.

Re: Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity

Retired_Member — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 15:16:54 GMT

Thanks StephenB and jguerdat.

Regarding the need for a subscription, I'm a little confused. If I have 4 Pro 2 cameras and 1 Pro 4 connected to my (Pro 2) base station, do I have to pay a subscription for the short-term cloud storage of that one camera or all four?

Also, I would guess that the subscription requirement is tied to the base station, not the camera attached to it. But maybe I'm wrong.

Finally, I don't care about the cloud storage, except for the push notifications and remote access. I have a flash drive in the USB port. Any chance that I can store locally on that flash drive and then access it remotely (or from my desktop)?

This is not a business or high security setting, we want the occasional updates when someone comes to our property, say a delivery truck. Of course, 99.9% of the push notices are blowing leaves or shadows of moving trees.

Re: Arlo Pro 2 Camera Capacity

StephenB — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 15:49:23 GMT

@Retired_Member wrote:

Regarding the need for a subscription, I'm a little confused. If I have 4 Pro 2 cameras and 1 Pro 4 connected to my (Pro 2) base station, do I have to pay a subscription for the short-term cloud storage of that one camera or all four?

Also, I would guess that the subscription requirement is tied to the base station, not the camera attached to it. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just the Pro 4.

And you are wrong - the subscription is tied to cameras, not the base.

@Retired_Member wrote:

Any chance that I can store locally on that flash drive and then access it remotely (or from my desktop)?

Not with a VMB4000. It can be done with a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub. https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

But there are limitations that many would find frustrating, and in the case of a single camera subscription the break-even for the smarthub alternative is about 3 years. That is at list price ($99), and many sites that carry smarthubs are charging quite a bit over list.