Arlo Pro 4 - why won't the app allow me to use without a subscription?

[camashouse]

Hello Community,

I recently purchased an Arlo Pro 4 from Costco.  It came with 4 cameras and no base station.  I've connected all four to my home network and after the 30 day trial period of arlo secure, the app continues to prompt me with the message: "you found a premium feature" and I cannot view any videos the cameras captured nor can I see live feed.  I'm frustrated because I was told the cameras still work without a subscription, but limit the recordings to 7 days vs. the full month of recordings.  This is perfect for me as I do not want to pay for arlo secure.  Any help is appreciated.

[StephenB]

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@camashouse wrote:

I'm frustrated because I was told the cameras still work without a subscription, but limit the recordings to 7 days vs. the full month of recordings.  This is perfect for me as I do not want to pay for arlo secure.  

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Unfortunately you weren't given correct information.

Legacy Arlo cameras were sold with 7 days of free cloud storage.  But Arlo stopped offering that for new camera models back in 2018.  All currently sold cameras require a subscription to get any cloud storage.

However, you should still be able to livestream the camera.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062312/What-options-will-I-have-when-the-Arlo-trial-ends

[camashouse]

@StephenB do you know if I added a base station, would that allow me to store recordings locally without a subscription?  The article you shared specifies arlo cloud for recordings, but I'm wondering if a potential work around is to add a base station, although I would need to purchase that, it would avoid the monthly subscription cost.

[StephenB]

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@camashouse wrote:

@StephenB do you know if I added a base station, would that allow me to store recordings locally without a subscription?  

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The two smarthubs (VMB4540 and VMB5000) do support direct access to local storage.  With the VMB4540 you'd use a flash drive; the VMB5000 you'd use a microSD card.

There are a lot of limitations - IMO it does not create a good user experience.

• Recordings are only available in the app (not my.arlo.com)
• Recordings are only available from the primary account (not friend accounts)
• No ability to make manual recordings or take snapshots.
• No thumbnails - videos need to be downloaded to the phone before viewing anything.
• Remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which are not available with some internet service providers).

You also would lose smart notifications, and activity zones would only be available if you have the camera connected to AC power. 

Another factor is that the cameras need to be connected to the closed base station wifi network.  That has less range than a home mesh router system (though it is comparable to the range that a normal router has).

Despite the limitations, there are certainly people here who are using local storage instead of having a subscription.  FWIW, I have a subscription, but also have local storage set up for backup.