Why do Netgear force you into an expensive subscription when it really is not needed?

[Arloschmarlo82]

In their marketing blurb (at https://www.arlo.com/en-us/products/arlo-pro-2/default.aspx) Netgear write

Why commit to a long-term contract or pay expensive monthly subscription fees? Arlo can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

A good question so why do they force you in to  a long-term contract?

I have 5 Arlo cameras and the system works well, I'm a fan.  I wanted to get some more but was told I either need to subscribe or buy another base station.  I bought 4 more Arlo Pro with a new base station, only to find that it does not work.  Researching the community, it seems that even if I could get it to work I need to pay for the subscription to get the 9 cameras on a single account.

WIth lots of switching and special confiugration it might be possible to get all 9 working on TWO separate accounts but why should I need to do that?  It makes NO SENSE.

Also, I don't need my video stored for more than 7 days, also, I hardly record any video at all anyway so it makes no sense from a data storage cost perspective.

I appreciate that some users might film 24x7 and that would be stored to the cloud but I will not use that and should not have to pay for it.  Netgear could easily offer a service limited by actual usage (e.g. MB per month) rather some arbitarty number of cameras as that has no link to the actual cost of running the service.

Anyhow, because of this mess I have returned my ARLO PRO x 4 package at great disappointment and am stuck with a limited solution that is only scalable by agreeing to in Netgears own words: "pay expensive monthly subscription fees" 

Really disappointed that Netgear thnik this is a good solution.  I have only had good things to say about Arlo until now.

Please Netgear - do something about this and reply.

[kmiller8821]

They give you 5 cameras at no cost, that's actually pretty generous.  Weather you are recording anything or not, it still must be sent to the cloud for processing in order to provide you access to it for "7 days".  I've not found ANY other provider that provides that many cameras at no cost.  Nest, Ring, etc all charge you a monthly fee for a single camera, much less 5.  I think if you take a look at the other options on the market you will see that it's a very goood deal, they could easily just charge you per camera or some other fee schedule, I'm very happy they provide 5 for free. Perhaps if you're not happy with free you should go to someone else who will happily charge you for every...single...camera.  Think about it. 

[Arloschmarlo82]

My issue is that Netgear do not seem concerned about providing a great experience for those users that want more than 5 cameras.  This really hits customer like myself that were once big fans.  Sadly now I am alienated from all things Netgear.

Netgear's marketing claim is indeed an attractive proposition -

Why commit to a long-term contract or pay expensive monthly subscription fees? Arlo can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

I've spent > $2000 USD on this sytem and it is a real mess to use.  Why should I have to switch between accounts?  If Netgear are offering a free basic service - it should be the same service if I have bought 1 camera or 9.  

In conclusion I have now returned my addition 4 cameras as it is not fit for purpose.  (Also Netgear support did not reply)

[#4]

Why commit to a long-term contract or pay expensive monthly subscription fees? Arlo can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

[jguerdat]

You don't need to switch accounts. Some reading here and/or the FAQs would have shown you the Grant Access setting that allows you to share cameras from one account to another so all cameras are shown in one account.

As well stated above, the number of cameras for free is not only better than virtually anyone else but is also plainly stated. You just needed to read and investigate more to understand.  That's not Netgear's fault.

[Arloschmarlo82]

Thanks for the helpful reply.  

- I spent 4 hours trying to get this to work with no success - all 4 new cameras failed to sync. (My own diagnosis was faulty base station)

- Netgear have still not replied to my support requests

- This community has mixed messages on this question.  E.g. we have a Netgear moderator here saying that if you want > 5 cameras on one account you need to subscribe: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Idea-Exchange/A-more-reasonable-subscription-model-you-will-se...

I've now given up, lost my enthusiasm for Netgear and returned my purchase.  The whole experience is just frustrating - all over a few dollars per month in Netgear's account - in perpetuity.

[jguerdat]

Sorry you feel that way but research, reading the FAQs and a bit of experimentation that we could have helped you with may (or may not) have provided a satisfactory resolution.  Good luck with the next purchase.