Arlo Essential Outdoor not recording locally

[Loopie]

I've seen some discussions related to this but not exactly. I have an Arlo Essential Outdoor 2nd gen. After the trial expired, I couldn't see recordings any more but I got the notifications. Rather than buy a prescription, I got a VMB4540 base station and a USB drive. I have everything installed correctly (USB shows ready; camera connected through base station, storage settings set to record locally), but there is still nothing in the feed. I am getting notifications though. The Essential is the only camera connected to this base station. Am I doing something wrong, or am I being forced to buy a subscription no matter what I do?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Lou

[alex_loo]

assuming your ARLO app is showing modes and "Feed".

For the mode that you are running (say ARM HOME is shown in "Dashboard"), if you go to Routines >> Modes >> Arm Home, what do you see under "device rules"?

I'd reckon you see your cameras under "devices rules".  Also, for each of the cameras, you should see "Motion -> Record & Notify".

If you just see "Motion -> Notify", you'd have to click each camera and change it to "Motion -> Record & Notify".

Alex

[StephenB]

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@Loopie wrote:

I have an Arlo Essential Outdoor 2nd gen. After the trial expired, I couldn't see recordings any more but I got the notifications. Rather than buy a subscription, I got a VMB4540 base station and a USB drive. I have everything installed correctly (USB shows ready; camera connected through base station, storage settings set to record locally), but there is still nothing in the feed. I am getting notifications though. 

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Do you see "local" and "cloud" controls on the Feed page?

Have you 

• gone to the devices page
• pressed the smarthub tile
• selected "storage settings"

You should see any local recordings there.

[Loopie]

Thank you for the response. It is set to record & notify.

[jguerdat]

You didn't answer the questions posed above by @StephenB .

[Loopie]

I'm not on that network right now. I will be later today and will check.

[Loopie]

I see local and cloud. Local gives me an error message. If I'm not mistaken, I have to be on the same network to view that. I'm not on that network right now but will be later today. I'll post then.

[StephenB]

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@Loopie wrote:

 If I'm not mistaken, I have to be on the same network to view that.

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That depends on your ISP and your router setup.

Remote access is possible with either port forwarding or with a VPN connection to your router.  But those won't work with some ISPs.

[alex_loo]

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@Loopie wrote:

I see local and cloud. Local gives me an error message. If I'm not mistaken, I have to be on the same network to view that. I'm not on that network right now but will be later today. I'll post then.

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yes, don't worry about reading this from mobile network and VPN at this stage.  Go home and connect to the same local network as the hub and see if you can see local recordings first.

Alex

[Loopie]

There was an alert from 9AM. I see the snapshot, but there's nothing in the feed.

[alex_loo]

Local recordings under feed>>local is sometimes missing out some recordings (*).  Have you tried devices>>  your smarthub >> storage settings ?  Recordings there should be accurate.

Alex

(*) I am feeling those are missed out due to ARLO bug in handling GMT/local timestamp of the recording.  Anyway those missed out recordings will eventually show up, but only later 

[Loopie]

So I removed the thumb drive to see if there were any recordings on it, and there were. Everything was there. When I put it back in, I am now able to access the recordings locally. The only problem is I have to be on the same network to see or download them. Is there a way to access them remotely other than making router changes?

[StephenB]

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@Loopie wrote:

Is there a way to access them remotely other than making router changes?

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No.

You either need to set up port forwarding (available in nearly all routers) or a home VPN (available in some routers). What router model do you have?

Also, who is your ISP?  Some ISPs won't work with either of those two options.

[alex_loo]

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@Loopie wrote:

Is there a way to access them remotely other than making router changes?

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No.  ARLO is not expert in fixing its own bugs, but expert in pushing customers to subscription --- say by taking out capabilities they can/should include easily.  Playing local storage via ARLO cloud is 1 of these.  And then they force you into the troubles of making changes to your home router, providing zero help to non-techie users.

Alex

[Loopie]

It's actually a work setting, but I do have access to the Internet hardware. We are getting Spectrum in a little over a week. Where can I find the port forwarding instructions?

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Loopie wrote:

 We are getting Spectrum in a little over a week. Where can I find the port forwarding instructions?

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Arlo app instructions are here:

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

But as far as the router goes, you need to get the Spectrum Router manual.  General steps are 

• assign an local LAN IP address to the smarthub 
• Forward the TCP/UDP port in the app to the local LAN IP address of the smarthub