What’s going on?

[Alcat26]

I have had Arlo cameras for years and never paid for a subscription. I have four cameras that were free and I bought  the doorbell camera and pay for a subscription for that only. I was grandfathered in for the other four cameras that I have and now they have been disabled from Arlo says I need a paid subscription. I’d like to know why this happened?

[StephenB]

---

@Alcat26 wrote:

I have had Arlo cameras for years and never paid for a subscription. I have four cameras that were free and I bought  the doorbell camera and pay for a subscription for that only. I was grandfathered in for the other four cameras that I have and now they have been disabled from Arlo says I need a paid subscription. I’d like to know why this happened?

---

Try removing one of the old cameras from your account, and then add it back.   Some users have reported that "add device" is non-responsive.  If that happens to you, you can use the manual push-button sync.

[Jgrimald]

The same message about the camera is inactive and requires a paid subscription. Started today. Will try removing and adding them back. This happen to three of the five cameras. Pro-2 cameras. 

[Jcooks82]

I'm having similar issues with my Arlo cameras as well. I have been using my Arlo cameras for 3+ years & now all of a sudden the app prompts you to purchase a subscription (No Live Feed or any options available). I have never had to purchase a subscription & I don't care to use any of the extra features. Question: "How do I get my Arlo cameras to Operate Normal like before?" Consumers should Not be forced or tricked into purchasing a subscription. I have no use for a paid subscription. Can I Please get some HELP

[Michie]

I have had 4 cameras for 2 years now.  Within the past hour I got a message saying subscription required and they are not working

[StephenB]

---

@Michie wrote:

I have had 4 cameras for 2 years now.  Within the past hour I got a message saying subscription required and they are not working

---

What cameras do you have?

Did you have a subscription before?

[Pepeita1]

I’ve had my cameras for about 4 yrs working perfectly fine… footage is saved for 7 days if there something important then I’ll download it, I tried the subscription and it SUCKS I was paying for 30 days and that is the only difference… it was a waste of money so I cancelled… last month, I noticed they automatically gave me a “trial” which I didn’t request now the trial is over all of my cameras stopped working and they are forcing me to get a subscription which I WILL NEVER… its not worth a penny, I want my cameras back to the way it was before they started this free trial games!

[Michie]

I have 4 arlo pro's.  I have never had a subscription before

[StephenB]

---

@Pepeita1 wrote:

I’ve had my cameras for about 4 yrs working perfectly fine… footage is saved for 7 days 

---

You posted in the Pro 4 area.  The 7-day cloud storage was never sold with the Pro 4 - Arlo stopped offering it on new camera models back in 2018.  So you must have a different camera model - likely a Pro 2.  If you want to check, try opening the camera, and remove the battery.  There is a label inside.  It is best to post in the correct forum area, as you will often get incorrect advice if people think you have a different camera model.

Your issue is caused by a bug in the Arlo cloud that affects some legacy camera users.  

I am tagging the mods - @BrookeN , @ShayneS , @JamesC .  They can do a back-end sync for you that should resolve the problem.  One of them will reply here after they've done that.

If you don't want to wait, you can try removing one camera from the account, and then adding it back.  That should trigger the same back-end sync.  If "add device" is non-reponsive, you can use the manual push-button sync method to add the camera back.

[StephenB]

---

@Michie wrote:

I have 4 arlo pro's.  I have never had a subscription before

---

Thx.

There is a bug in the Arlo Cloud that has affected some users.

The mods - @BrookeN , @ShayneS , @JamesC - can do a back-end sync that should resolve it.  One of them will reply here after they've done that for you.

If you don't want to wait, you can try removing one camera from the account, and then add it back.  That should trigger the same sync (and should resolve it for all your cameras).  If "add device" doesn't respond (another bug some folks have run into), you can use the push-button sync method to add the camera back.

[Michie]

Thank you so much!  I will await their response.   Thank you!

[AZconfused]

I have had Arlo Pro cameras for about 10 years that operated perfectly on my local storage hub. A week or so ago, Arlo started a trial feature showing vehicles, people or animals, and that it would terminate in a certain number of days. I was not interested in the service trial and did not subscribe to the service knowing it would end in a few days. However, at the end of the trial, my cameras became inactive and to activate them again they are requiring me to subscribe to their online service. The reason I purchased Arlo in the first place was because it had no subscription and storage was on my local hub. Is anyone else having the same problem?

[StephenB]

Arlo is still providing the free 7-day cloud storage for the camera models that were sold with that feature.

Try removing one camera from the account, and then add it back.  See if that resolves the issue.

[RWF76]

Why does my camera say need a subscription to activate when it’s been working for years without one 

[salthomas]

just spent an hour on chat with this problem  after which I was told it was "a known issue"

[AZconfused]

I deleted 1 Pro2 then reinstalled it back on my vmb4000 and I could see it on the feed. So I just re-sync my other 3 cameras and they all show on my feed. I'm still working on the dashboard because I only see one camera. Thanks for the help. 

Arlo needs to review their policies, especially the way they treat their long time loyal clients and consider the value of customer loyalty / retention.