Need some advice and help

[trebor711]

Hi. I have 4 Arlo Pro cameras. 3 are outside and on solar power. I never subscribed to a cloud service and always had the 7 day free cloud which was just fine for my needs. My hub has a USB local backup connected. Up until a couple of weeks ago everything was working just fine. I was getting notifications and recordings sent to my phone. I was a happy camper. Then Arlo updated their app and all hell has broken loose. I am using a Samsung S24+ with the latest Android build. Now the new app is all buggy and will not play nicely with my phone or my cameras. One of my outside cameras will send me a push notification that it detects a person/motion but fail to send a recording to the FEED page. The other cameras all send a recording to the FEED page and the theynall have the same settings. The camera that will not send recordings is my most important camera. 

I have been in contact with tech support and they are unable to find the problem and not willing to help me because my system is old and not supported any longer. 

I've spoken to the higher ups and they have offered me a nicely discounted package of 4 new Ultra 3rd generation cameras and an Ultra 2 hub. So here are my questions. Is there anything I can do to salvage my old system? If no, will this new system act like my old system and allow me the same 7 day recording without a subscription?  And if I do not get a subscription, what services will I and won't I get. TYIA

[jguerdat]

Do you indeed have a VMB5000 SmartHub as you indicated? The base stations provided with the original Pro (and Pro 2) cameras are VMB3xxx or maybe VMB4000 or 4500. I ask because if you have a 5000 you can use local recordings easily without a subscription although the experience is not the same. Your existing cameras should still get the free 7 day plan but any newer ones need a sub for cloud recordings.

Updating to that Ultra system will NOT get you free cloud recordings, as noted above. Only the legacy cameras (Pro 2 and older) get that. You can choose to use local recordings on your new hub that is properly configured but I would test it out during the trial subscription period to determine if that would work for you.

[henry567cowan]

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@trebor711 wrote:

Hi. I have 4 Arlo Pro cameras. 3 are outside and on solar power. I never subscribed to a cloud service and always had the 7 day free cloud which was just fine for my needs. My hub has a USB local backup connected. Up until a couple of weeks ago everything was working just fine. I was getting notifications and recordings sent to my phone. I was a happy camper. Then Arlo updated their app and all hell has broken loose. I am using a Samsung S24+ with the latest Android build. Now the new app is all buggy and will not play nicely with my phone or my cameras. One of my outside cameras will send me a push notification that it detects a person/motion but fail to send a recording to the FEED page. The other cameras all send a recording to the FEED page and the theynall have the same settings. The camera that will not send recordings is my most important camera. 

I have been in contact with tech support and they are unable to find the problem and not willing to help me because my system is old and not supported any longer. 

I've spoken to the higher ups and they have offered me a nicely discounted package of 4 new Ultra 3rd generation cameras and an Ultra 2 hub. So here are my questions. Is there anything I can do to salvage my old system? If no, will this new system act like my old system and allow me the same 7 day recording without a subscription?  And if I do not get a subscription, what services will I and won't I get. TYIA

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Hello @trebor711,
Arlo no longer offers the free 7-day cloud recording for newer systems like Ultra 3 and Ultra 2 hub. Without a subscription, you’ll still get live streaming, motion alerts, and local storage via USB, but cloud recordings, smart detection, and remote access to stored clips are limited. Your old system may still work with local storage, but app updates can break compatibility. If reliability is key, upgrading may be the better path.


Best Regards,
Henry Cowan

[RichWood]

You could try getting the security system and then setup standby and armed rules for the Arlo Pro cameras to get notifications that you are used to. I agree. The app update on Android has been horiffic. The feed takes forever to load and it's totally jacked up. But I'm not sure that's the sole factor in your issue? Arlo Pro cameras are ancient at this point. So tech support has every right to stay away. Never get too comfortable with Arlo. Everything changes. I hate change too. But I have 3 Also Ultra 2 cameras on solar and VMB 5000's and I have local recording on micro sd. And sometimes the micro sd has to be reformatted. I even have an old base station in the mix because that has a loud siren and there is a USB in that that sometimes goes haywire. So I have to reformat that from time to time. What I learned with Arlo is that you will never be bored. I think their security system is their best product. That to me is most important. And that has been so stable for me. I barely have to touch it. And the rules you set will trigger whatever alerts you wish. I'd try that first to see if it worked with the Arlo Pro cameras before ripping down 3 solar panels and cameras.

[trebor711]

@RichWood Said "The app update on Android has been horrific"

Saying the Android app has been horrific is a huge understatement!  I realize my system with the Arlo Pro cameras is quite antiquated but as of a couple of weeks ago, it was working just fine.  I'd get the notifications I wanted and have the ability to see the recordings.  Having the free 7-day cloud storage is not as important as being able to see the recording immediately.  If something happened and I wanted to save the recording, that was not a problem and I usually did that right away.  I don't have an issue with my cameras, but I do have an issue with the new Android App. I'm not about to take down my outside cameras and solar panels.  I'm going to wait for the free secure trial associated with the new app to expire and see if I can get things back to a somewhat normal way of working.  I will live with the daily frustration for now.

[RichWood]

I'm telling you. Try and invest in the security system. I barely have to touch my automations. It's the one product Arlo has that is stable in my opinion. I think you can set up rules and actions that you are used to that the app cannot change. I also would take their deal on the Ultra cameras. I love the Ultras. I had Pro 4's and they sucked. The microphones died in them all. I still have my 1st Ultra 2 camera up and running. Like 5 years later. Good luck!

[trebor711]

I'm really not interested in investing in anything that requires a monthly fee.  Just not my style.  I'll wait for the next update and expiration of my secure trial subscription before I go shelling out money for something I don't think I should. So, for now, I will just complain.  

[RichWood]

I'm with you on that. They keep raising the plans. Yet use AI. Which screws up half the time. But it's the only way I can think of to use the cameras in established rules that will stay the same without having to deal with Android OS updates and Arlo App changes. Because 20 year old app developers all have ADHD and Autism and everything must change constantly. They are like gnats.