Arlo 4 camera following end of trial subscription has stopped recording to base station

[JB909]

I purchased four Arlo Pro 4 cameras with the 3 month trial subscription. I already have a VMB4000 base station from the original arlo pro's that I have - so 8 cameras in total connected. The Arlo Pro 4 camera's have the "activity zones are currently disabled" AC Power has been disconnected from this device. Please reconnect the power source to the device. Error message now coming up as the subscription trial has ended.

Firstly I don't understand why a camera will work with a battery and activity zones works - given they are connected to my hub... but the trial ends and the activity zones stop working and require a hard cable power connection. There is another support line that says its because you were storing these clips in the cloud. However my library said "library" and I presumed they were being stored locally. there's no clear indicator it would seem as to show if it were cloud or local.

So first question - why can't i get the arlo pro 4 cameras to record locally ? is it because I need to stick a USB memory stick in the back to add more storage capacity or something - which wouldn't make sense as it over writes after 7 days or so.... 

Second question - why doe the activity zones work with just a battery and a trial subscription but then requires a cable and power to work without a subscription? presumably if I purchase power cables for the 4 cameras they will work on the activity zone side of things but will they record to my VMB4000 base unit?

Thanks for any advice offered

[jguerdat]

1) Local recordings require a USB drive inserted into your base and then use the app to configure it via Settings, your base, Storage Settings. The drive has to be at least 16GB and formatted to FAT32 which is easiest to do in Settings.

2) Activity zones require either AC power to the camera or a subscription (without a sub, the camera does the processing so AC power is needed). If you don't want a sub, remove all zones so the messages goes away.

BTW, the VMB4000 will require you to eject the drive for viewing on a computer. Only the VMB4540 and 5000 hubs work with the app to view without having to eject the drive. It's a hardware thang...

[JB909]

Thanks for the advice - will give it a try - just looking to source 4 cables now.

Much appreciated.