6th camera was added and says "free trial" is over so all cameras are now offline?

[Brince]

On Aug. 15, my 5 ARLO Pro 2 cameras and my wife’s 1 camera stopped working. A 6th camera was added to my account saying my “free trial” was over and that I needed to pay $10 per month for a plan to continue it. All 6 cameras would indicate “offline”. After coming back on and off most of the day, my 5 cameras restored that evening. My wife’s camera did not restore and we can not make it work. Her base station has been disabled. The “chat” ran my through the usual drills and then abruptly conclude my warranty was up and they could sell me a whole new system at a 30% discount. Has anyone else experienced this tactic from ARLO. 

[michaelkenward]

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@Brince wrote:

The “chat” ran my through the usual drills and then abruptly conclude my warranty was up and they could sell me a whole new system at a 30% discount.

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Does this mean that you put in some sort of support request to Arlo? (Hard to tell.)

How did you contact Arlo?

What Arlo devices do you own? Is this it?

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@Brince wrote:

On Aug. 15, my 5 ARLO Pro 2 cameras and my wife’s 1 camera stopped working. A 6th camera was added to my account saying my “free trial” was over and that I needed to pay $10 per month for a plan to continue it.

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Pro 2 cameras do not need a subscription. But you are limited to five cameras on one hub. Did you add a sixth camera?

[jguerdat]

It's actually 5 cameras per account, not per hub. And that's for Pro 2 and older.

[billkex]

Buy a 2nd hub (base station)

Add up to 5 cameras on each, link the base stations together.

You will be able to access more than 5 cameras...at no monthly cost.

[Brince]

Have 2 base stations and two separate accounts, 5 cameras and base  on my account and 1 camera and base on wife’s account. Both bases , VMB 3500 are displaying all green lights, but her iPhone after sign in to the ARLO App will not discover her devices. 

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote:

Have 2 base stations and two separate accounts, 5 cameras and base  on my account and 1 camera and base on wife’s account. Both bases , VMB 3500 are displaying all green lights, but her iPhone after sign in to the ARLO App will not discover her devices. 

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Is she seeing her devices when she logs into her account in a PC browser?

Just to be really clear - when she signs into her iPhone account, is she using her credentials or yours?

[Brince]

She signs in on her account on her iPhone device. The iPhone can not recognize any ARLO devices. 

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote:

She signs in on her account on her iPhone device. The iPhone can not recognize any ARLO devices. 

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Does she see them if she logs into the same account with a PC browser (my.arlo.com)?

[Brince]

I contact ARLO support. See above. I believe ARLO has purposely disabled my wife’s camera and base station. Both devices are functional. I tried my.arlo.com on my PC, signed in to account, it searched for the base station and camera but could not find it either. Because both devices are functional, I believe ARLO has disabled them in retaliation for my not accepting their monthly plan. At least it appears that way. I sent a message back to ARLO support and they responded that they are assigning the problem to a tech. That was a week ago. No response. 

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote:

 I tried my.arlo.com on my PC, signed in to account, it searched for the base station and camera but could not find it

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Are you saying that you aren't able to log into your wife's account on my.arlo.com?

Or that you can log into her account, but no longer see her camera or base station?

"Add Device" from your account won't find her camera or base, since they are already in her account. 

[Brince]

• I can log into my wife’s account on my.arlo.com. It asked to add a device. When I do, it will not recognize her base or camera. It stops looking after about 15-20 seconds saying “too much time.” When I go to Settings and Devices there are none. All of her other information on Profile is correct. Someone is manipulating the account because the second time I logged into her account today it did not send a verification code. My guess is ARLO is following this conversation as well. 

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote: ... the second time I logged into her account today it did not send a verification code. 

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If you select "trust" when you log into my.arlo.com, it won't require a verification code.

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@Brince wrote: ... It asked to add a device. 

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On its own?  Did you remove the camera/base from her account at some point?

[Brince]

ARLO now contends that the “problem” is with my router ports 80 and 443. They can not explain why my account with 5 cameras works from the same router but my wife’s  1 camera account will not. We believe ARLO is preventing her camera from being recognized through the ARLO App. Her base and her camera are functional. This is retaliation for not subscribing to their monthly plan. 

[dcfox1]

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@Brince wrote:

. This is retaliation for not subscribing to their monthly plan. 

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There are many people that have no subscription or cancelled it. So there s no "retaliation" for cancelling it except using the features included in the plan. Is you wife's 1 camera a Pro2 also?  You never answered that when asked. 

[Brince]

My wife’s camera is also a Pro 2. Please read the entire string of postings and reply’s. It is retaliation as to my wife’s camera by ARLO for NOT subscribing. There are two separate accounts for 6 Pro 2’s, mine has 5, her’s has one. We never have subscribed, but were recently prompted to do so after someone added a 6th camera to my account, twice, then disabled all cameras, and said no cameras could be restored without a $9.95 per month subscription. My cameras were eventually restored. Her’s was not. ARLO has obviously disallowed her camera to be restored. The base and camera are functional but the app will not find the devices. No subscription is required for 5 cameras or less. So why is her’s prevented from being used? 

[Dannybear]

This might not do anything but try changing the residential location on one of the accounts to see if you can get it to work.

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote:

The base and camera are functional but the app will not find the devices. 

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Are you saying that the camera+base are no longer in her account and "add device" isn't finding them?

If so, did you remove the camera and base from her account at some point?

Or are you saying that the camera+base are in the account, but are showing up as off-line?

If so, is this also happening with my.arlo.com in a PC browser.

Also did you add the 6th camera to your account (the cause that triggered the problem)?

[Brince]

Please read the posting string of comments and replies. My account with 5 cameras and my wife’s account with one camera operated successfully for nearly two years until ARLO decide I must have a subscription ( in violation for their policy of allowing up to 5 free.) it started a couple of weeks ago when ARLO placed a 6th camera on my account (twice) and demanded I have subscription. They shut down all cameras. Mine were eventually restored, my wife’s camera was not. Now ARLO claims it is my router ports 80 and 443 causing my wife’s problem, without explanation of why the same router allows my 5 cameras to operate. ARLO is manipulating my wife’s account from the ARLO app. 

[michaelkenward]

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@Brince wrote:

Please read the posting string of comments and replies.

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People may well read all of this discussion, but they hit a stumbling block because they simply do not accept your basic premise. So they keep on asking questions and suggesting things that might explain what you see.

The idea that Arlo blocked you because you don't have a subscription will surprise the many users who happily use their systems without paying a penny.

So simply restating this without trying the vario0us suggestions, or answering questions from someone like @StephenB, who has fixed more user problems than is good for him, is not going to get you anywhere. 

Their latest message has several unanswered and I, for one, still do not know  how your two separate (?) systems are set up.

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@Brince wrote:

....until ARLO decide I must have a subscription ( in violation for their policy of allowing up to 5 free.) it started a couple of weeks ago when ARLO placed a 6th camera on my account (twice) and demanded I have subscription.

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Six separate cameras on two completely different systems just do not add up to a six-camera set up.  That does not violate Arlo's "rules" and would not invoke the wrath of god, or the subscription department.

When facing this sort of seemingly intractable problem, I like to break it down to simple steps and gradually add complication until I pin down what is causing trouble.

[Brince]

My wife and I have separate accounts, my email and password and her email and password. All within ARLO’s guidelines of no more than 5 cameras per account.  I have tried all suggested methods of reactivating my wife’s account to no avail. So, how does one explain, who would go on my account and add a sixth camera (twice), be able to disabled my cameras, then demand a monthly subscription fee? My wife’s devices are functional. I have switched cords, bases, unplugged, replugged, and reset. No one have been able to explain why my camera account works but my wife’s will not, both on the same router internet system.  Given all of the above,  I must conclude that the ones who control the App ( ARLO ) are retaliating and disabling my wife’s account. 

[dcfox1]

@Brince  You still did not answer @StephenB last questions directly. As @michaelkenward  said you are focusing on one issue so it would be helpful to answer the actual questions. And yes I read your post as I'm sure others did. 

[Brince]

OK. I think the only question i did not directly answer with “Stephen” is regarding deleting her devices from the account. Yes I did, in my frustration to restore them. I have not deleted the account in it’s entirety and attempt to restore, but I may. 

As to my “conclusions” as to what is wrong, no one, including ARLO can explain what happened, who put a sixth camera on my 5 camera account (twice), then the message that I needed a subscription, then shutting everything down. Who could, or would, do that other than ARLO. That is the basis of my “conclusion.” I am still working with ARLO to resolve this and hopefully we will find a solution and we can just go back as we have been for two years without further incident. A friend, who is a IT Penetration Specialist, urges patience and I agree. I hope ARLO will find a solution and help get my wife’s camera back on line.  

[StephenB]

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@Brince wrote:

no one, including ARLO can explain what happened, who put a sixth camera on my 5 camera account (twice).

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That is the puzzle.  The message is easy to explain - it's a consequence of the 6th camera.  But I've never had a device mysteriously show up in my account, and haven't seen any post here from someone else who has seen that either.

Did you try livestreaming the 6th camera, and see if you could recognize where the video was coming from?  In particular, I am wondering if it was the camera on your wife's account?

Also, did you have friend access to your wife's camera?

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@Brince wrote:

Who could, or would, do that other than ARLO.

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I understand why you are wondering that, but I don't believe Arlo would.  There are lots of other people with the same setup as you had, and we'd be hearing a flood of complaints here if they were acting in that way with all of them.  And there is no particular reason why they would target you in particular.  But there is no good explanation for what happened.

I do recommend changing the account password on both accounts.

FWIW, I agree that the problem is not related to the ports - you are correct in thinking that neither account would work if that were the case.

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@Brince wrote:

 i did not directly answer with “Stephen” is regarding deleting her devices from the account. Yes I did, in my frustration to restore them. I have not deleted the account in it’s entirety and attempt to restore, but I may. 

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Just to make sure I am clear on the current status - 

1. The five cameras and the base that were in your account are still in your account - and are working ok.
2. No other cameras and bases are currently in your account
3. The base and the camera that were in your wife's account were removed by you (when they were not working), and not cannot be added back.
4. Your wife's account currently has no devices in it.
5. You have tried re-adding the base and camera to her account using both the app and the PC browser
6. The base LED status shows that the base is connected to the internet

Assuming that is all correct, I am thinking that you might want to try adding the base to your account instead of hers.  Obviously you don't want to keep it there, I am just suggesting this as a test.  If the system will let you add the base to your account, you'd just immediately remove it again. 

You could then do the same test with the problem camera (adding it to your base).  That would trigger the subscription error again, but simply removing the camera from the account ought to resolve that.

If the camera and base can't be added to your account, then it is likely that they cannot be added to any account.  So creating a new account for your wife wouldn't help.

You could also ask Arlo if they can confirm that the base and camera are not in any account at present.  Not sure if they can do that, but they should certainly be able to confirm that the base and camera are not somehow in your account or your wife's.  I understand that you are not seeing them there, I am wondering if there is some inconsistency in their cloud database.   

[Brince]

Thank you. This is very helpful. I did not attempt to livestream the device added to my account. I was so shocked it was there with the accompanying message foe a subscription, that I did not attempt anything more than deleting it, only to have it appear again. No, none else has access to our cameras, my wife and I “friend” each other. As to your assessment of “Status”, all the information is correct. 

As to checking with ARLO regarding my wife’s base and camera being used, given the range of the devices, it would seemingly have to be a neighbor who can only be looking at my air conditioning units. 

While I did not think to immediately screen shot the added device, I did write down the name of it, and I may be a letter off because of sloppy handwriting, but it was THX321VF2001W, whatever that is. 

I will try your other suggestions. Thank for this very helpful info. 

[Brince · Accepted solution]

WOW. My wife’s camera is back on line!  I went back to the setup “steps”. Trying the PC again, a message came on to try “factory reset” on the base. Having not seen that before I tried it and it worked! Discovered the base, then the camera. This is fantastic. All cameras up and running. 

Thanks everybody in the Forum for all of the advice, encouragement and advocacy for patience.