Arlo Essential

[Kozlik]

I have three cameras. Two are Arlo Pro 2 and One Essential. The Pro 2 cameras are grandfathered into free plan where I get some triggers saved on the cloud and I can later review. The essential was recent ad. Apparently it is not eligible for free option. As such, I would like to subscribe for only one cam, but without loosing the other 2 grandfathering. How can I know for sure that if I pay and stop paying, the other cams won't stop recording? 

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Kozlik wrote:

I have three cameras. Two are Arlo Pro 2 and One Essential. The Pro 2 cameras are grandfathered into free plan where I get some triggers saved on the cloud and I can later review. The essential was recent ad. Apparently it is not eligible for free option. As such, I would like to subscribe for only one cam, but without loosing the other 2 grandfathering. How can I know for sure that if I pay and stop paying, the other cams won't stop recording? 

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A single camera subscription for the Essential is all you need.  You'll still get free cloud recording for the Pro 2 cameras.

[Kozlik]

What if I will later decide to cancel, will I lose free perks for my other cameras, and will I lose all the recordings made for the classic?

[StephenB]

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@Kozlik wrote:

What if I will later decide to cancel, will I lose free perks for my other cameras, and will I lose all the recordings made for the classic?

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You will still get free recordings from the legacy cameras.

If you add more unsubscribed cameras (more than 5 total), then you would lose the free storage for the Pro 2s.  But not an issue with 3 cameras.

[Kozlik]

Thank you. I am a little confused. You mention 5 unsubscribed. But for some reason the essential is not recording. Is it supposed to, since you mention up to five?

[BrookeN]

The Essential has to have a subscription. 

[StephenB]

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@Kozlik wrote:

Thank you. I am a little confused. You mention 5 unsubscribed. But for some reason the essential is not recording. Is it supposed to, since you mention up to five?

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As @BrookeN says, the Essential needs to have a subscription to get cloud recordings.

The 5 camera limit applies to your Pro 2s.  If you had 6 unsubscribed cameras in the account, you would lose the 7-day cloud storage on the Pro 2 cameras.

[Kozlik]

So if I buy another Pro 2 and sell essential I can have another one recording free? 

[StephenB]

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@Kozlik wrote:

So if I buy another Pro 2 and sell essential I can have another one recording free? 

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Yes.  But you'd need to buy it used.  

[Kozlik]

Why used? 

[StephenB]

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@Kozlik wrote:

Why used? 

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Because they stopped making them back in 2019.

• https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/Arlo-End-of-Life-Policy_06_01_2023_Final.pdf

[Kozlik]

Thank you. Does that mean that they may be vulnerable to attacks and takeover? Does Arlo update its software on bases at least?

[StephenB]

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@Kozlik wrote:

Thank you. Does that mean that they may be vulnerable to attacks and takeover? Does Arlo update its software on bases at least?

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At the moment the bases are not on the EoL list. 

Per the policy, the Pro 2 cameras will receive security updates until 1 Jan 2026.  

[Tippi]

Good luck, I bought mine with the promise of two weeks free recording. low and behold, they changed the contract, and I never got free anything. Buy another company, PLEASE!

[jguerdat]

I see @Tippi is whining on a bunch of threads without even trying to understand the issues. EVERY Arlo camera since 2018, starting with the Ultras, require a subscription for cloud recordings. Only the Pro 2 and older legacy cameras ever had the free 7 day plan.