ARLO PRO adding more cameras

[engineguy]

OK, Hope someone can help, I have an older (2017) Arlo pro, it has been working ine....i have 5 cameras. I would like to ad a few more but dont want to have a monthly fee.......I read somewhere i can link another account ?? and what cameras are compatable with my older ARLO PRO base ?  MANY THANKS !!

[StephenB]

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@engineguy wrote:

OK, Hope someone can help, I have an older (2017) Arlo pro, it has been working ine....i have 5 cameras. I would like to ad a few more but dont want to have a monthly fee.......I read somewhere i can link another account ?? and what cameras are compatable with my older ARLO PRO base ?  MANY THANKS !!

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All of the currently sold cameras require a subscription to get cloud recording.  The only way to avoid a subscription would be to purchase a smarthub (VMB4540) and connect the new cameras to that smarthub.  Add a USB thumbdrive to get local storage.

You would then need to use the friend account feature, since there is a limit of 5 unsubscribed cameras per account to get local storage.

Restrictions on local storage include

1. recordings only available from the primary account (not friend accounts)
2. recordings only available from the app (not my.arlo.com)
3. No thumbnails, so recordings need to be downloaded to your phone in order to see anything
4. No ability to take snapshots or make manual recordings
5. remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult (and which do not work with all internet service providers)

The way around the first restriction is to use the account as the primary account on your phone, and share the old cameras with it.

Note you will also need to migrate your existing account to the new "Feed" interface, since the new account you need to create will use "Feed", and the friend feature requires that both accounts use the same interface.

There are some drawbacks with "Feed" that hopefully Arlo is addressing.

• There are no custom modes.  You can modify the three existing modes, but you cannot add new ones.
• The combination of geofencing+scheduling doesn't completely work.