New CVR not recording

[TimJ2380]

I have just purchased a Smarthub, Pro 3 floodlight and 2 x Pro 4 cameras. The cameras all came with a 3 month trial. I then purchased a CVR plan for the floodlight but it won’t record anything. Nothing at all. Any tips?? Could it be because I’m only using a trial subscription?

[StephenB]

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@TimJ2380 wrote:
 I then purchased a CVR plan for the floodlight but it won’t record anything. Nothing at all.

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CVR requires the camera to be AC powered (note the solar panel doesn't count).  Are you doing that?

[SCMordac]

My Arlo Pro 3 floodlight stopped recording suddenly.  

I have local storage for my system and have a few cameras. I bought the Arlo Pro 3 floodlight for my driveway thinking that after the trial was over it would just record to local storage because I did not see any where any indication that the product would STOP WORKING without a subscription. This feels like a money grab by the company, a rip off, and complete fail. I will NEVER buy another Arlo product unless this is fixed. I wish I could return the product but it's been too long and the store won't take it back. I sincerely, completely, and utterly regret this purchase because I wasted a lot of money on the device.

I'm now looking at other security solutions that don't require a subscription.

[dcfox1]

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@SCMordac wrote:

My Arlo Pro 3 floodlight stopped recording suddenly.  

I have local storage for my system and have a few cameras. I bought the Arlo Pro 3 floodlight for my driveway thinking that after the trial was over it would just record to local storage because I did not see any where any indication that the product would STOP WORKING without a subscription. 

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It will record to the Base/Hub local storage like your other cameras if you have it set up and the floodlight connected to the Base/Hub. If connected to your wifi it will not as it goes to the cloud since it is not connected and a sub is needed since your trial ran out. 

[SCMordac]

It is connected to the base/hub and is only detecting motion and not recording.  I have stepped through all the settings in the app I could find to see if there was a setting I was missing to enable to local recording and did not find anything.  If you have any specific suggestions to try they would be greatly appreciated because I am severely disappointed and had loved my Arlo system until now.

[dcfox1]

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@SCMordac wrote:

It is connected to the base/hub and is only detecting motion and not recording.  I have stepped through all the settings in the app I could find to see if there was a setting I was missing to enable to local recording and did not find anything.  If you have any specific suggestions to try they would be greatly appreciated because I am severely disappointed and had loved my Arlo system until now.

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Not sure if you have a Smart Hub or a Base but only the VMB4540 and VMB5000 Hubs can access local storage in the app. You may have been seeing the free 7 day cloud storage on other cameras if Pro2 and older. For the a base you need to eject the USB and view it in a computer.

For a Base How do I set up local storage backups on a USB device using my Arlo base station?

For a Smart Hub What is Direct Storage Access and how do I use it? (arlo.com)

[SCMordac]

Thank you for the information and response. I have the VMB4000.  It is on the list of devices that can leverage local storage.  I thought the floodlight was considered one of the "wire-free" cameras included in the rolling 7 days as noted in the help articles. "All wire-free cameras can record to local storage, even if your Internet goes down. Arlo Pro 2, Pro, and Wire-Free cameras always have 7 days of free rolling cloud storage." - from  How do I set up local storage backups on a USB device using my Arlo base station?

It seems very sketchy and underhanded as if they are trying to force users to the subscriptions by making it difficult. This creates a usability inconsistency for the application and user experience with the family of cameras.  

Why should I have to disconnect my storage to see videos for just this one camera that doesn't get the same 7 days of rolling cloud when it is a "wire-free" camera?

I am still very disappointed, but appreciate your help pointing out the root cause of the problem.  It's technically recording, but I can't see it unless I disconnect the storage, connect it to a computer, and manually view it.  Not worth my time.  I'll find another brand of product for the garage.

[dcfox1]

It has been that way for models released since the Ultra in 2018. The Pro2 and older still have the free 7 day cloud. Yea even on the Hubs Local is not ideal so to me a sub is worth it along with the other features with it. Now with secure it has unlimited cams on a plan. 

[SCMordac]

Thanks. I understand what you're saying and I do have Arlo Pro2 devices/Hub-Base kit.  In reading the information I thought that since the floodlight says it's wire-free in the description in several places it would get the 7 days as well.

I also understand that these places have to make money, but the plans seem a little expensive compared to other brands.  It doesn't look like they offer any discount for purchasing a whole year of service like others do.

[StephenB]

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@SCMordac wrote:

I thought the floodlight was considered one of the "wire-free" cameras included in the rolling 7 days as noted in the help articles. 

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The confusion is because the original Arlo camera (released back in 2014) was branded as the Wire-Free. So in that article it is a specific model (like the others in the list).  The capitalization is a hint, but obviously you missed that.  Lack of foresight on Arlo's part, but that ship sailed 7 years ago.

It would be better all these articles pointed to a single article that also included the full list of cameras that required a subscription.

As @dcfox1 says, starting in 2018 (the Ultra), all new cameras require a subscription for cloud storage.  The packaging for these cameras says this (sometimes in smaller print than I would like).