Two locations require 2 subscriptions under new UI

[tricwhyte]

I've owned 2 base stations and 4 Pro 2 cameras for 2 locations (one home + one condo) for 7 years (home) and 5 years (condo) now. Under the old UI I was able to maintain 2 locations and easily disarm them separately without the need of a subscription. In addition, I had 7 days of cloud storage for no charge.

Now, I was planning on buying 2 additional cameras for my condo to put into a common garage and give our neighbors access to those cameras. In prep for this purchase I was forced to upgrade to the new UI and now all cameras were put into one location. In addition, after doing research I'm being told I need to purchase not one but two subscriptions (one for each location). 

Am I actually stuck going from no monthly payment to ~$20/month just because I upgraded the UI? Please confirm because if this is the case then I'm more than happy to move to Eufy cameras simply out of principle. 

[StephenB]

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@tricwhyte wrote:

Am I actually stuck going from no monthly payment to ~$20/month just because I upgraded the UI? 

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The UI migration isn't the trigger.  Pro 2 cameras were sold with 7 days of free cloud storage, as long as you had 5 or fewer unsubscribed cameras in the account.  Arlo still honors that, but stopped offering free cloud storage on new models starting with the Ultra back in 2018.  All currently sold cameras require a subscription for cloud storage.

• So if you add the new cameras to your account you will need to get a subscription.
• But if you stay with the new UI but don't add any more cameras, you shouldn't need to get one.

Options are to 

(1)  purchase a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub with the direct access to local storage instead of the subscription.  This won't work with the Essential Gen 2 cameras at the moment because Arlo hasn't yet added smarthub support to the Gen 2 cameras. So you'd either need to exchange them or wait to install them until the feature is added.

(2) Return the new cameras you purchased and instead buy two used Pro 2 cameras.  Then create a second account for the condo, and share the cameras with the your home account.  Since both accounts would be under the 5 camera limit, you would still get free 7-day cloud storage.

(3) Return the cameras and get something else ifor the garage nstead.  You can of course continue to use the Pro 2 cameras.

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@tricwhyte wrote:

Under the old UI I was able to maintain 2 locations and easily disarm them separately

That is just because the two bases were controlled separately.  Functionality would be the same if both bases were at one location.

With the new UI you can set up a second location for the Condo within the same account.  If you were to do that, you would be still able to change the modes in the two locations independently.  This does not require a subscription - but going over the 5 camera threshold will.

Note Arlo doesn't provide a mechanism to switch back to the old UI.  Plus they are planning to drop that UI as soon as they feel they can.

[Razza_NZ]

Yesterday I made the mistake of upgrading to the new app.

With multiple cameras in 4 separate locations, I now have to pay 4 times as much each month.

For this reason, I'm now evaluating other camera solutions.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

sorry @StephenB but I'm not getting this: how is it that before the upgrade the OP could access their cameras but now they can't, and you saying that the issue wasn't caused by updating.

Please clarify.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

sorry @StephenB but I'm not getting this: how is it that before the upgrade the OP could access their cameras but now they can't, and you saying that the issue wasn't caused by updating.

Please clarify.

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Are you asking this on the wrong discussion thread?

@tricwhyte never said the existing cameras couldn't be accessed. The issue is simply the need for a subscription -  which is triggered adding two new cameras to the system - NOT the app upgrade.  It's just because all currently sold cameras need a subscription for cloud storage.  Plus the new cameras bring the OP over the 5 camera limit for free storage.

FWIW, OP would only need one subscription, not two.

Therefore OP will either need a subscription or use local storage on the new cameras.  If @tricwhyte goes with local storage, the best option is to create a separate account for the garage cameras, and to put existing pro 2 cameras in garage.

[astrench]

DO NOT UPGRADE TO THE NEW ARLO APP. The new version eliminates the ability to manage two locations. ARLO may make it seem like an upgrade, but it’s not. Now, ARLO is asking me to pay $223.99 for an additional location service to access the same features I had with the old app.