Proving that Arlo does not allow local recording without subscription, in spite of their denials.

[danlundell]

I bought a set of cameras and a base station.  My system has 3 x Arlo Pro 3's, 1 essential doorbell camera, and 1 Arlo Q indoor camera.  All three were recording to the USB storage attached to the base station during the subscription trial and for the better part of two years AFTER the subscription trial ended.  Then a few months ago, local recording stopped with triggers, and there's no longer a record button on the live streamed video from any of the cameras.

I attempted to obtain support and found that THERE IS NO SUPPORT without a subscription.  Only the chat robot and this community.

So I got a subscription in order to open a support ticket (Case Number: 42852031).  I then removed my base station and one of the cameras from my account with the subscription.  I then created a new account without a subscription and added the base station and the camera.  All fresh updates, firmwares, etc.  Guess what?  No recording possible, no record button on the streamed video.

Keep in mind that Arlo support was telling me the ENTIRE time that THEY absolutely DO ALLOW local video recording without a subscription.

Note that the only way to prove that statement true or false is to have an account with a subscription; more irony.

I'd like to gather some community users who have or can replicate this experience.  Then we'll consult a class action attorney if and as needed.

[dcfox1]

As support said you can not manual record or take a snapshot in the Livestream without a subscription. You can read it here. Not sure why you created a second account to compare the difference as you could have just got a single cam sub in your original account that would make it easier to compare. 

What options will I have when my Arlo trial ends?

[danlundell]

As I said, support promised me that I COULD record locally WITHOUT a subscription.

[danlundell]

And I indeed COULD record locally without a subscription up to several months ago.

[dcfox1]

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@danlundell wrote:

And I indeed COULD record locally without a subscription up to several months ago.

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Yes you can record motion locally I never said you couldn't. But not manual recordings while livestreaming that you mentioned. Two different things. 

[StephenB]

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@danlundell wrote:

As I said, support promised me that I COULD record locally WITHOUT a subscription.

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You can store motion-triggered recordings.  But you can't make manual recordings (or save snapshots).

[danlundell]

Nope, no recording, not based on alarm triggers or otherwise.  In fact the entire app and the devices are running horribly slow. The experience on the app signed in with the account with the subscription is snappy AF.  Looks like Costco is gonna get these bad boys back and Arlo is going on the black list.

[StephenB]

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@danlundell wrote:

Nope, no recording, not based on alarm triggers or otherwise.  

Have you checked the mode for the base (making sure that recordings are specified in the rules).  Also, check that local storage is set up (go into settings, then choose "storage".  There are options there for configuring the storage itself.  Since you have a smarthub, you should also see an option to enable direct access to local storage there.

Also, the USB storage needs to be at least 16 GB.

[danlundell]

yes, all that's been checked, rechecked, app deleted, re-installed, signed out, signed in, firmware updates, all of it.  The conclusion seems unavoidable: Arlo has decided to deprecate the experience of non-subscribers AND to obscure that decision behind enough uncertainty so that the natural human reaction (as if we were non-agent cattle) would be to simply subscribe.  And hey, as a private company, that's their absolute right.  It's also my right to return that **bleep** to Costco 3 years later and leave it to God whether or not RTV's prompt a change that will allow people like me to do business with Arlo, as was my desire when I first invested in their products.

[StephenB]

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@danlundell wrote:

The conclusion seems unavoidable: Arlo has decided to deprecate the experience of non-subscribers AND to obscure that decision behind enough uncertainty so that the natural human reaction (as if we were non-agent cattle) would be to simply subscribe.

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There are lots of folks who post regularly here who use direct access to local storage w/o a subscription.

So while I don't know what's going on with your particular system, I think it is safe to say that the cause isn't that Arlo has redacted the feature.   If that had happened there would be a flood of posts on this topic, and that simply isn't the case.