topic Continuous power and local storage in Arlo Pro 3

Continuous power and local storage

spinfold — Mon, 04 May 2020 08:41:04 GMT

I'm considering purchasing a Pro 3 solution but couldn't find definitive answers to these 2 questions.

1) Is there a safe, official way (ie without voiding the warranty) to leave the cameras permanently plugged in to a UK power supply?

2) I presume all cameras connect to the Arlo hub first, and the Hub connects to the Internet for smart features (ie live streaming) to work. I also assume that the local storage happens before the Internet gets involved, so if there is an Internet connection outage, local recordings will continue as normal? Will I then be able to view those recordings in the normal way?

Re: Continuous power and local storage

StephenB — Mon, 04 May 2020 12:00:31 GMT

@spinfold wrote:

1) Is there a safe, official way (ie without voiding the warranty) to leave the cameras permanently plugged in to a UK power supply?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlo-VMA5600C-Accessory-Magnetic-Compatible/dp/B07V68S6ZL

Though the US VMA5600C charger can also be safely used in the UK if you use an adapter for the plug. That shouldn't void the warranty, but only Arlo can speak to that.

@spinfold wrote:

2) I presume all cameras connect to the Arlo hub first, and the Hub connects to the Internet for smart features (ie live streaming) to work. I also assume that the local storage happens before the Internet gets involved, so if there is an Internet connection outage, local recordings will continue as normal? Will I then be able to view those recordings in the normal way?

Local recordings should continue if the internet goes out (though that isn't something I've tested myself).

"The normal way" of viewing those recordings depends on your base. With the smarthubs (VMB4540 and VMB5000), you'd set up "direct access to local storage". https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it This allows you to access the local recordings from your mobile app - but not the web interface. You select either "cloud" or the base station storage from the app.

With older hubs, you'd need to eject the USB drive and plug it into a PC to see the recordings.

Re: Continuous power and local storage

michaelkenward — Tue, 05 May 2020 17:15:44 GMT

@spinfold wrote:

1) Is there a safe, official way (ie without voiding the warranty) to leave the cameras permanently plugged in to a UK power supply?

I do it all the time. Indoors and outdoors. I just buy the official power adapters. (Check the usual places, where you may find the occasional bargain on these overpriced adapters.) Outdoors, of course, requires having weather proof power outlets.