Arlo pro 4 w/o paid subscription

[Placercotech]

I purchased 2 arlo 4 pro cameras.  And I did not subscribe to any plan.  I was getting email alerts , the camera spot light was coming on, etc.  Now all that has stopped.  Is this because the trail subscription has expired? I thought I did not need a subscription for the basic email alerts for things like motion detection. Or do I need a subscription for even the basic features.  I can see the cameras and live video.  But I get zero alerts now or any other features o got when they were new.  My hunch is I do need a plan for even what I feel are basic features.  I don’t need cloud storage.  All I wanted is when there is motion detection I get a alert and I can bring up the camera and see what’s going on in

that camera. 

[StephenB]

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@Placercotech wrote:

 I thought I did not need a subscription for the basic email alerts for things like motion detection. 

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More info on what you get w/o a subscription is here:

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

The spotlight turns on automatically in low light when the camera records.  If you aren't using a base with local storage, then the camera isn't recording (since cloud recording is a subscription feature).  So that bit is expected.

However, you should still be getting motion notifications.  Have you checked that the cameras are still armed?

[Placercotech]

Yep.   My bad!!!!!   Thank you.   Cameras some how got set to standby.   I appreciate your help.   And sorry for my stupidity. They are alerting like crazy now.  I probably won’t get any sleep.  
thank u again. 

[Placercotech]

Can I use a base for the recordings too.  What do I need ?   Suggestions ? 

[StephenB]

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@Placercotech wrote:

Can I use a base for the recordings too.  What do I need ?

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A VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub, plus at least 16 GB of storage.  128 GB-512 GB is probably the right range (I use 128 GB for local storage myself).  The VMB4540 uses USB storage, the VMB5000 uses microSD.

The subscription offers the best experience, so I'd suggest using local storage as a backup.

Limitations for direct access are 

• recordings only available from the app (not the browser)
• recordings cannot be accessed from friend accounts
• no manual recordings or snapshots
• no thumbnails - all footage has to be downloaded to view
• remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which won't work with some internet service providers).