Decided to try cloud recording. Opted NOT to keep it. Lost ability to record on my Pro 4's.

[Rumpy]

I kept getting spam to try cloud recording on my Arlo's. I've had my original Arlo 2's and a base station for several years. I recently purchased Arlo 4's a few months back. Everything worked fine. Once I opted into the trial, and then let the trial expire, now I've lost all ability to record on my Arlo 4's. These DID NOT require a subscription to record.  They worked just fine prior to the trial, and are now broken in my opinion. I find the price for cloud recording is excessive given the benefits, so chose not to opt into it once my trial was up.

Now the option to 'record' is grayed out on my Arlo Pro 4's but still works on my Arlo Pro 2's. I've lost all recordings that were there, and the 4's just show '0' for recordings. 

BROKEN, apparently by Arlo themselves. My config hasn't changed at all.

[dcfox1]

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@Rumpy wrote:

I kept getting spam to try cloud recording on my Arlo's. I've had my original Arlo 2's and a base station for several years. I recently purchased Arlo 4's a few months back. Everything worked fine. Once I opted into the trial, and then let the trial expire, now I've lost all ability to record on my Arlo 4's. These DID NOT require a subscription to record.  They worked just fine prior to the trial

Now the option to 'record' is grayed out on my Arlo Pro 4's but still works on my Arlo Pro 2's. I've lost all recordings that were there, and the 4's just show '0' for recordings. 
BROKEN, apparently by Arlo themselves. My config hasn't changed at all.

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You Pro2's do not need a subscription for cloud recordings(7 day) but your Pro4's DO require  one. 

[Rumpy]

I disagree. They worked perfectly fine 30 days ago, and now they don't. Cloud recording is not listed as a requirement.

[dcfox1]

They would have worked in the trial but you said you do not have a sub now.  If connected to a Hub you could use local recordings. 

[Rumpy]

They worked PRIOR to me opting into the trial. I've had these Pro 4's for almost a year now. I just opted into the trial this last month.

[dcfox1]

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@Rumpy wrote:

They worked PRIOR to me opting into the trial. I've had these Pro 4's for almost a year now. I just opted into the trial this last month.

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The trial would have started upon activation when you set them up with no action on your part needed and would have expired in 3 months.  Are you talking about signing up for the plan itself?  If so make sure they are active in the Subscription settings. In your original post you said you let the trial expired. 

[Rumpy]

They were not signed up prior to me opting into the trial beforehand. I know because I tried to use some of the features that come with the cloud recording and it told me I couldn't without a subscription, so I"ve stuck with the 'free' account that I bought these under all this time. A bit over a month ago I decided to try the cloud recoding trial, and then let it lapse as it doesn't seem worth it, and now my recording is broken.

[StephenB]

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@Rumpy wrote:

They were not signed up prior to me opting into the trial beforehand. 

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Are you sure these were Pro4s?  Pro4s definitely require a subscription (either trial or paid) to get cloud storage.  

[dcfox1]

I was thinking the same. 

[Rumpy]

They are. I just ignored the 'subscribe' spam for months. Initial setup alongside my pro 2's and they worked fine. Apparently because I have a base station and an older Pro 2 on my account. I could still sync them to that base station and get local recording just like I always have or so I'm reading, but can no longer connect them directly to wireless.

The way these are sold is pretty dishonest. I didn't opt for the subscription because it stated if I signed up for it, I would lose my free 7 days storage. 30 day is a waste as I never look beyond a day at most. This strikes me as being deceptive marketing. When these die I'll move to another vendor. I dislike footnotes with details like that. They do NOT say all recording will be disabled. They just say cloud recording and that under a footnote at the bottom of the page.

Not cool.

[StephenB]

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@Rumpy wrote:

 Apparently because I have a base station and an older Pro 2 on my account. I could still sync them to that base station and get local recording just like I always have or so I'm reading,

Actually not.  I have a mix of Pro2 and newer cameras on my base.  The Pro2s continue to have 7-day cloud storage with no subscription.  But the newer cameras (Ultra, video doorbell, and pro3 floodlight in my case) won't record anything to the cloud w/o a paid subscription.

[Rumpy]

The regular fat still says recording is free for 7 days. The Pro 4 specific faq says local recording is possible via the Micro SD card, which I assume you still can't access unless you physically yank the card out and examine it?

https://kb.arlo.com/000062512/Arlo-Pro-4-FAQ

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Rumpy wrote:

The regular faq still says recording is free for 7 days.

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Not sure which faq you think is "regular".  The definitive information is here: https://kb.arlo.com/88/What-are-the-available-Arlo-subscription-plans-and-how-much-cloud-recording-i... That provides details for each camera (for both paid subscriptions and w/o a subscription).

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@Rumpy wrote:

The Pro 4 specific faq says local recording is possible via the Micro SD card, which I assume you still can't access unless you physically yank the card out and examine it?

https://kb.arlo.com/000062512/Arlo-Pro-4-FAQ

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The smarthub with the microSD card is the VMB5000.  The other smarthub is the VMB4540, which uses USB storage.  Both allow direct access to local recording - the other bases do not.   

You can access the local storage directly via the app, but not via the web browser.  So if you want to see the recordings on a PC you'd need to remove the storage and attach it to the PC.  But if you want to see them from a mobile device you can look at them directly.  https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

Either way, there are a lot of limitations with direct access to local storage.  I do have local storage in my smarthubs, but only use it for troubleshooting and backup.  Among other things you lose the ability to make manual recordings, ability to access recordings from friend accounts, and library thumbnails.  Many people also struggle to get access to the local recordings when away from home.

[Rumpy]

Mine is an older hub (VMB4000r3), so probably wouldn't work work with local storage.

I wish someone would make a camera that just works as an IP camera and lets you store on any local network storage. They came close with the Pro 2's with the exception of a standard network store. I went from Pro2's and free to Pro4's and totally sucks.

Of course your 'trial' I guess doesn't end for 3 months, long past the point of being able to return them. I'll just have to fork out a never ending monthly fee for something I didn't need to get the same features as my older Pro2's.

Nice.

In any case, your response has actually been very helpful, so thank you for that.

[StephenB]

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@Rumpy wrote:

... Of course your 'trial' ...

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Just to clarify, it's not "my" trial, as I don't work for Arlo.  This is a community forum, so most help/info is coming from other customers.