VMC2030 Motion detection greyed out

[Schtevie]

Hello.  My essential spotlight stopped recording.  I assume it's because the motion detection is greyed out in the attached screenshot.  I tried removing and adding the device, but I still can't enable this.  The motion detection test runs successfully.  The unit detects motion, but it does not record it.

[JamesC]

Schtevie,

Do you have an active subscription plan? Once the trial expires, you will need an active subscription to continue receiving recordings. For more information, see here: https://kb.arlo.com/000062312/What-options-will-I-have-when-the-Arlo-trial-ends

JamesC

[Schtevie]

Thanks for the reply.  I do not have an active subscription.  My recording is done locally on the hub via usb storage.  Sorry, but I forgot to mention that I have six other cameras connected to the same hub and they are all recording locally successfully.

[JamesC]

Schtevie,

If you remove the local storage device on your base station and view from a PC, are the recordings present?

JamesC

[Schtevie]

Yes, all the recordings are present on the USB drive.  After hours with arlo technical support, it turns out this is functioning as designed.  My arlo pro 2 cameras have seven days of cloud video availability from within the app.  My arlo essential cameras do not have any cloud video availability.  Even though I don't have a subscription and store all my videos locally on the base hub via USB, the essential cameras still rely on the cloud functionality to view videos in the app.  

[StephenB]

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@Schtevie wrote:

 Even though I don't have a subscription and store all my videos locally on the base hub via USB, the essential cameras still rely on the cloud functionality to view videos in the app.  

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VMB4540 and VMB5000 do have a "direct access to local storage" feature.  Other hubs don't.

But the "direct access" feature has a lot of limitations, and IMO isn't a great experience.  So personally  I'd go with the subscription over upgrading to a smarthub.

[Schtevie]

Yes, the subscription appears to be the only choice for what I want to do, but the subscription is exactly what I wanted to avoid.  Now that I bought all this arlo product, I'm kind of stuck with it.

[StephenB]

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@Schtevie wrote:

Yes, the subscription appears to be the only choice for what I want to do,

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Again, upgrading the base to a VMB4540 or VMB5000 is an alternative.

Limitations include

• videos only available in the app (not the browser)
• videos only available in the primary account (not friend accounts)
• no ability to make manual recordings or take snapshots
• no thumbnails - videos need to be downloaded to the phone to view
• remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which aren't available with some internet service providers)

Of course you lose other subscription features (activity zones, smart notifications).