New Base station?

[Red15Baron]

I have a VMB3000 Base station that I've used with all my previous cameras with no problems. I've now purchased an ARLO Essential Spotlight Camera and it seems to be saying that I need to upgrade my base station!! Is that correct?

If it's just a matter of doing without a couple of features if I don't upgrade, I don't mind.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Red15Baron wrote:

I have a VMB3000 Base station that I've used with all my previous cameras with no problems. I've now purchased an ARLO Essential Spotlight Camera and it seems to be saying that I need to upgrade my base station!! Is that correct?

If it's just a matter of doing without a couple of features if I don't upgrade, I don't mind.

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You can onboard the Essential directly to your home wifi.  You will lose local storage, and the ability to control all your cameras from a single mode.

Hopefully you are aware that (unlike your current cameras), the Essential does not have free 7-day cloud storage.  You will need a subscription for that.

The other option is to go with direct access to local storage (which would require you to upgrade the base to a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub).  That does have several limitations though 

• Recordings only viewable in the app (not the browser)
• Recordings only viewable by the primary account (not friend accounts)
• no manual recordings or snapshots
• no thumbnails
• remote access requires router configuration (which some find difficult).

BTW, more information on base station compatibility is here: https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility

[Red15Baron]

Ok, my setup now consists of a VMB3000 Base station, 1 – Essential Spotlight, 1 - Pro 2, 1 – VMS3230 camera, this last one I may be one of the original cameras. If I buy the VMB5000 Smart hub will it run the three different camera models? I don’t want to buy a new smart hub and then find it won’t run the original VMS3230 camera.

[StephenB]

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@Red15Baron wrote:

1 – VMS3230 camera,

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VMS3230 was a 2 camera + base system sku (the S in VMS means system).  

Googling suggests the cameras included in system were the original Arlo HD cameras (which use four CR123 batteries).  If that's what you have, then the actual camera part number is VMC3030.  It is generally called the Arlo Wire-Free Camera in knowledge base articles, which is a bit confusing since almost all the cameras are wire free.

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@Red15Baron wrote:

 I don’t want to buy a new smart hub and then find it won’t run the original VMS3230 camera.

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Base station compatibility is here: https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility  You'll see the Arlo Wire-Free Camera listed for all the bases.

Basically, the VMB4000, VMB4500 bases and the VMB4540 and VMB5000 smarthubs are compatible with all Arlo cameras that use a base.  

Note that you can have multiple base stations in your account, so you could also use two bases.

[Red15Baron]

Thank you StephenB for the useful information. I think I'll buy the VMB5000 and use both base stations.