Says I need a subscription for more than 5 cameras

[_Mark]

I bought a system with 5 cameras for my house. Bought another for my barn and it says I need subscription to add more than two cameras. Can anyone say why?

[StephenB]

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@_Mark wrote:
I bought a system with 5 cameras for my house. Bought another for my barn and it says I need subscription to add more than two cameras. Can anyone say why?

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What cameras do you have?

The free 7-day cloud storage for the old cameras (including the Pro 2) has always been limited to 5 cameras per account. So if you purchased more Pro 2 cameras, then you either need a subscription, or you need to shift the barn system to a different account (and use friend access to let you see all your videos from either account).

None of the newer cameras (starting with the Ultra, which launched in 2018) offer free cloud storage.  So if you purchased those cameras then you will need a paid subscription for the barn cameras in order to get cloud storage.  In this scenario there is no benefit in setting up a second account for the barn.

[_Mark]

The first system I bought was a pro 2 and the second one is a pro 3.  The first one has 5 cameras, 4 Pro 2's and one pro 3.  The other base in the barn has one pro 3 and one pro 2.  I tried adding two pro 2's to the barn and it says subscription needed.  If I understand you correctly even though I bought two complete systems, including base's I can't add more than 5 camera's but there are 7 working now.  5 on my house and 2 at the barn on the second base.  Considering I bought two complete systems shouldn't I be able to have 5 one each base?  I actually have complete 3 systems as I bought a pro 2 to acquire the 2 more cameras I'm trying to add to the pro 3.  I'm not currently using the second pro 2 base. If I use the second pro 2 base as opposed to the pro 3 can I add more cameras?  I know this is confusing.  I'm looking at it in person and I'm confused. ~Mark

[StephenB]

The number of bases isn't relevant.

The limit for free cloud storage is 5 legacy cameras (pro2 or older) per account.  You already had 5, and want to go to 7.

Do you have a subscription for the Pro 3?

[_Mark]

I want to go to 9 total.  5 on cabin and 4 on barn.  It allows me 7 total currently. I have a free 3 (I think) month subscription on the pro 3 system but I can't add 2 more pro 2 cameras to it.

[StephenB]

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@_Mark wrote:

I want to go to 9 total.  5 on cabin and 4 on barn.  It allows me 7 total currently. I have a free 3 (I think) month subscription on the pro 3 system but I can't add 2 more pro 2 cameras to it.

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There were some 6-camera packages that included free 7-day cloud storage for the Pro 2, and you might have purchased one of those.  Those were an exception to the 5-camera limit (giving you one more).

Again, you have two options.

• set up a second account, and move one base and some cameras to it.  Leave the Pro 3 in your current account (otherwise you will lose the trial).  So if the Pro 3 is in the barn, then use the second account for your cabin.
• get a multicamera subscription, which would cover all 9 of your cameras. Note you'll need a subscription for the pro 3 when the trial ends anyway (assuming you want cloud storage).

[_Mark]

Thank you. Disappointing that even though I bought 2 complete systems I should be required to put them on separate accounts which I assume means I'd have to have a second phone with the app?  One more question please.  Once the free trial is up will the pro 3 work like the pro 2 as far as storage?  They saved I think a week of videos.

[StephenB]

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@_Mark wrote:

Once the free trial is up will the pro 3 work like the pro 2 as far as storage? 

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No.  You will need a paid subscription for the pro 3 to get any cloud storage. All the newer cameras (starting with the Ultra in 2018) require a paid subscription for cloud storage.

A single camera subscription in the US is $2.99/month.  Multicamera is $9.99/month with unlimited cameras (e.g., the Pro 3 and all 8 of your Pro 2s).  That would give you 30 retention, activity zones, etc for all the cameras, and you'd keep them in a single account.  

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@_Mark wrote:

I assume means I'd have to have a second phone with the app?  

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No.  Once the new account is set up, you use friend access to give you access to all cameras in both accounts.  This can be symmetric (so you can see all cameras from either account).

https://kb.arlo.com/000039122/How-do-I-add-friends-to-my-Arlo-account