USB storage

[TNTK1D]

I was thinking of purchasing USB storage to connect to my smart hub for new pro3. Just wondering though what use it really is if I maintain cloud storage in future. The sales material talks about the hub saving to it if WiFi not working but presumably if the WiFi is not working the hub will not receive any feed from the camera so there is nothing to record! Expect I am missing the point somewhere but need someone to point it out to me. Cheers

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

USB storage doesn't have the retention limit of your cloud subscription.  Also, there are times when the USB storage has videos that never got to the cloud for some reason.

At the moment, it's not easy to access the USB storage, but that should change pretty soon - Arlo announced that they would support direct access to the storage from the app and web client by the end of 2019.

[Mavrrick]

Don't forget your home wifi isnt the same network used to talk to your base station/smart hub. Your internet can be out, your router can be down, and you can still record to the usb drive attached to the base station/hub. This is largely a backup right now incase your internet goes out so you still get recordings.

There has also been promised functionality that will allow us to view recorded videos from the base station attached storage directly by end of this year. That will mitigate some of the need to spend money on cloud storage once it is provided

[martincc]

Cloud storage can not always be relied upon so it is handy to have the local recording capability whether by an attached hard drive, USB flash drive, etc. So if your surveillance/security system does experience an Internet access outage, and if the components still have power, then you can continue to record locally.

Furthermore, home Routers as well as the Arlo Base Station(s) rely on power. So to improve chances of recording during power outages (I suggest powering these (and Arlo Q cameras too) from an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Most Arlo cameras provide numerous features when powered on AC that would not be provided by relying on solar panel, or rechargeable or other batteries.I suggest using the battery power only where it is absolutely impractical to supply AC power nearby.