Transitioning From Grandfathered Plan with Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2 with two locations

[SuperDaddy]

Currently I have two locations with Arlo cameras - They are all Arlo Pro or Arlo Pro 2s.

 - Office - 1 base station and 1 camera.

- Home - 1 base station and multiple cameras.

I pay one annual fee of around 150.00 per year total and allows for both locations.  I think this is a grandfathered plan. 

My batteries are dying and there are no OEM replacements.  Non-OEM replacement batteries do not work well. I have tried.

So, I'm considering buying some Arlo Pro 4 cameras for my home keeping the old camera and hub at my office.

Technical support first told me that I would need to have two subscriptions for each location but then did a 180 and said I would not need separate subscriptions for both locations because of the old plan I have.  Before I invest time and money into this, I want to verify this if possible as I've received mistaken advice before from tech support in the past. 

If you think I will need two subscriptions, can I keep both locations on same account but have my home subscription paid and the office subscription free? If so, how do I set that up in the app?

Thanks for your help.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Users ended up being migrated and having to pay for two subscriptions 

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The existing office base+camera doesn't need a subscription, since it is a Pro 2 camera with 7-day storage.  So @SuperDaddy would continue with one subscription, just for the home location. Even if that were not the case with "Feed", he could also create a new account for the office system and share the office camera using the "Friend" feature.

So as long as he has one working legacy camera, I don't see any path that leads to needing to purchase 2 subscriptions here.

Also, he is planning to add Pro 4 cameras, which will not migrate the account.  I provided the info on Pro 5s and Essential Gen 2, in order to ensure he was aware that purchasing those cameras would migrate him to "Feed".

[StephenB]

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@SuperDaddy wrote:

Technical support first told me that I would need to have two subscriptions for each location but then did a 180 and said I would not need separate subscriptions for both locations because of the old plan I have.  

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It shouldn't matter what plan you have.  It does matter whether your app shows "Feed" and "Dashboard" in the app menu, or whether it shows "Library" instead.

The Pro 2 cameras have 7 days of free cloud storage, as long as you have no more than 5 unsubscribed cameras in the same account.  So you should be able to keep the Pro 2 camera all in the office location, and just use the free storage.  Then install the other cameras at home and and either use your current plan or switch to Arlo Secure.  

If you need more than 7 days of storage for the office camera (or want to use other subscription features), then you would need to get a second subscription when the account is migrated to "Feed" and "Dashboard".

[SuperDaddy]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. If I can just clarify / confirm a few things.

1 - The bottom of my Arlo app says - Devices - Library - Mode - Settings

2 - I already am subscribed to Arlo Secure Multi-Camera  / 8 of 8 Cameras operating (actually much less due to inoperable batteries and that provides paid features for one base station at office with one camera and one base station at my home which currently has 4 cameras operable (although there remain three cameras in library which don't operate because of no batteries).

Sounds like you are saying that at this point I can get rid of the base station at my home. replaced it with a hub which will have combination of Arlo Pro, Arlo Pro 2 and new Arlo 4 cameras and I won't have to have a second subscription at this time.  When "Library" is replaced by "Feed" I can keep my subscription for the one at home and then convert the office camera/base station to the free service  (which is fine, I don't need more than 7 days online at my office).

Does that sound correct?

Thanks again.

Scott

[StephenB]

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@SuperDaddy wrote:

Sounds like you are saying that at this point I can get rid of the base station at my home. replaced it with a hub which will have combination of Arlo Pro, Arlo Pro 2 and new Arlo 4 cameras and I won't have to have a second subscription at this time.  When "Library" is replaced by "Feed" I can keep my subscription for the one at home and then convert the office camera/base station to the free service  (which is fine, I don't need more than 7 days online at my office).

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You could keep your current base if you like, so that part is up to you.  Pro 4s are compatible with any VMB4xxx base (and they can connect directly to your home wifi).

If you install Pro 5s or Essential Gen 2 cameras, then you will end up migrating to "Feed" as part of the install.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

I'd be very cautious here, as I installed a video doorbell and was migrated to the new user interface still, I.e. 'with feed'. No essential and no pro 5 are installed in my system.

I'd also carefully research your options and implications thereof. Users ended up being migrated and having to pay for two subscriptions for the 'mediocre' and forced upgrade to 'feed'.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Users ended up being migrated and having to pay for two subscriptions 

---

The existing office base+camera doesn't need a subscription, since it is a Pro 2 camera with 7-day storage.  So @SuperDaddy would continue with one subscription, just for the home location. Even if that were not the case with "Feed", he could also create a new account for the office system and share the office camera using the "Friend" feature.

So as long as he has one working legacy camera, I don't see any path that leads to needing to purchase 2 subscriptions here.

Also, he is planning to add Pro 4 cameras, which will not migrate the account.  I provided the info on Pro 5s and Essential Gen 2, in order to ensure he was aware that purchasing those cameras would migrate him to "Feed".