topic Re: Arlo Pro 3 without subcription? in Arlo Pro 3

Arlo Pro 3 without subcription?

liquidsuite — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 04:43:46 GMT

Hi guys want to know if anyone know how to set up back up recordings without subcriptions. Or 24/7 recoding onto a hard drive. I dont wish to pay for a subcription and looking at other ways to have videos save.
Thanks

Re: Arlo Pro 3 without subcription?

Mikey94025 — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 06:45:09 GMT

You should purchase Arlo if its current feature set offers what you need. Don't purchase it because of something promised or that they might deliver sometime in the future, as it may never happen.

I do not recommend Arlo cameras if users are not willing to pay for the monthly subscription fee. These cameras are designed for cloud recording and offer features available through processing within the cloud (and therefore, require the monthly fee). Arlo is designed to offer simple access to your videos from any device via their cloud storage. They will continue to offer more features and value to justify their monthly subscription fees. Doing so and offering more value to their monthly subscription customers will always be a priority for them, not trying to add more features to customers who've already purchased the cameras but only using them locally. There are many other non-cloud and less expensive camera systems designed to run locally and where you can manage your own video storage.

Arlo cameras cannot record continuously (CVR) without a monthly subscription: https://kb.arlo.com/1018425/What-is-continuous-video-recording-CVR-and-how-do-I-use-it

Arlo Pro 3 does have local SD storage and there is limited functionality using this local storage and without the monthly fee: https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-3/Will-the-remote-access-to-SD-card-recordings-via-app-be/td-p/1738825. However, this capability and the user experience is more limited. I wouldn't expect this to evolve much given the cloud focus and priority for Arlo.

Re: Arlo Pro 3 without subcription?

AncientGeek — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 12:06:34 GMT

I feel your pain. I have an old Arlo plan costing me $150/ year for 20 cameras. I have 16 cameras on the plan currently after adding a six camera Pro 3 kit late last year. If I upgrade to the new Smart Premier plan, if will cost me $10/mo for the first 5 cameras and $1.50/mo for the 11 other cameras...so $26.50/mo...or $318 per year...more than double the cost and I will drop from 60 days of recording to 30 days. It also appears they no longer offer an annual plan, so I’ll see monthly charges rather than a single annual hit and there is no discount for annual prepayment . I have two accounts with legacy plans for 20 cameras and 60 days, so the new plans would be expensive.

2k recording isn’t worth that much to me. I’ll skip the new plan and stick with my legacy plan for as along as I can. I may start replacing all of my powered Arlo cameras with cameras from other companies and leave my Arlo subscriptions for only my truly wireless camera requirements. Over the years, I’ve seen that each manufacturer offers unique strengths in a particular application and has weaknesses elsewhere. For that reason and to keep from having all of my eggs in one basket, I use three primary camera brands currently and I’m constantly trying other makes and models.

However, I think even at the new pricing Arlo beats Nest, which I believe is $100/year for the first camera and $50/year for add on cameras ...at each “location” as I recall, not by “account”.

Re: Arlo Pro 3 without subcription?

RoseCummings — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 09:00:06 GMT

They will continue to offer more features and value to justify their monthly subscription fees. Doing so and offering more value to their monthly subscription customers will always be a priority for them, not trying to add more features to customers who've already purchased the cameras but only using them locally.