VMC4030 no longer recording to library

[johubly]

I've had my VMC4030 for 3 years, and I use it to watch the wildlife that visit my water dish in the backyard.  I used to have the free 7-day recording option with my free subscription.  Now I don't get the nightly recordings sent to my library any more, and the automated chat function doesn't give a workable solution.  It says to check to see that my subscription settings include my camera.  When I select Settings and Subscription, I am only offered 2 ways to pay for a subscription and one link requesting a 16 digit number from my receipt for the purchase of the camera.  I'm curious if there's a way to re-establish my free subscription without having that receipt anymore.  That's a long time to hang on to a receipt.  Clearly, Arlo used to know I had a valid camera that I purchased.  I'm curious how to get Arlo to remember that.

[StephenB]

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@johubly wrote:

I've had my VMC4030 for 3 years, and I use it to watch the wildlife that visit my water dish in the backyard.  I used to have the free 7-day recording option with my free subscription.

You should still have it.

Can you make a manual recording while livestreaming the camera?

Have you double-checked that the camera is armed?

[Jimmyalbert]

My arlo pro and doorbell camera stopped detecting motion at night after it changed to "Arlo Secure Alert" my free recording went away on the door bell but that's fine. I added a usb drive to the base station so I still can recover that. I test both cameras before I go to bed and they work fine . But I get no recodings or detections at night after that. Does the distance decrease after the warrenty expires. I've tried everything and can't seem to get any detections after 11pm.  The doorbell used to record the paper being deliverd at 5 am but I don't even get that now. I have removed, rebooted, reinstalled re-everything on these two cameras and nothing seems to work. I'm ready to dump my arlo cameras and move on.

JImmy Albert

[jguerdat]

Have you checked Settings, Subscription, Manage Cameras to verify that all cameras are enabled as well as the active mode having rules for the appropriate cameras?

[Jimmyalbert]

0 Cameras participating
I have no subscriptions. I am saving everything to a usb drive

Is this the reason for my doorbell not detecting motion

[StephenB]

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@Jimmyalbert wrote:
0 Cameras participating
I have no subscriptions. I am saving everything to a usb drive

Is this the reason for my doorbell not detecting motion

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The doorbell will detect motion w/o a subscription, and send you notifications. 

But (unlike the Pro/Pro 2 cameras), you need a subscription to get cloud storage. 

Direct access to local storage is possible from the app if you have a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000). With older bases (VMB3xxx, VMB4000, VMB4500) you need to remove the USB storage from the base, and insert it into a PC to review the videos.

[Jimmyalbert]

So I walked by my arlo camera in back of the house when it was dark. I carried my phone and could see the camera filmed me moving throuh it's vision but it did not detect it and send an alert. This was at night time. The camera was armed and sensitivity was set at 95 percent. My door bell camera detected and recorded me leaving and entering the house at 9:22 pm but not a single recording until I walked out this morning. I'm about ready to give up. I just logged in on my chromebook and it said my Arlo Pro camera was off. My Iphone did not show it was off. What gives. Do cameras just get glitchy after 4 or 5 years. I don't remember the last time I had a firmware update.

[StephenB]

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@Jimmyalbert wrote:

I don't remember the last time I had a firmware update.

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They are silently installed, so this is not unusual.  You can see the firmware version in device info for both the cameras and the base station.  The mods post here when the firmware is updated, so if you google with the firmware version and add "site:community.arlo.com" to the search string you should be able to find the post that tells you when that firmware was released.

[Laster]

I discovered that since I have a mix of old, VMC4030, and new, VCM4041P, cameras ARLO has cut off the free rolling 7 day recording for ALL my cameras rendering them ALL useless to me. What a great business model. Good news is I already have a Unifi system for WiFi so I am bringing their camera system online and trashing the ARLO system. Unifi has unlimited recording for FREE. Goodbye ARLO.

I wonder how long it will take for the moderators to delete this posting.

[Jimmyalbert]

I still have 7 day rolling on my old camera. My doorbell camera is acting up though. It’s newer and only records to usb at the hub. It didn’t detect motion for almost 24 hours. I’ll try removing and adding again. But if that doesn’t work I’m looking for a new doorbell

[StephenB]

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@Laster wrote:

I discovered that since I have a mix of old, VMC4030, and new, VCM4041P, cameras ARLO has cut off the free rolling 7 day recording for ALL my cameras

That shouldn't be the case, unless you have more than 5 unsubscribed cameras.  The 5 camera limit for free storage goes back quite a ways (before the release of the Ultra in 2018 - which was the first camera that didn't include the free 7-day storage).

[Laster]

@StephenB 

I only have 4 cameras. 2 VMC4030 and 2 VMC4041P. The base is a VMB4000 with a USB for local storage. The 7 day free recording stopped about a week or so ago. It took me a few days to catch on as I have a 9pm to 7am schedule and it had quiet around the house the last few nights or so. Once I stated checking I found that it is just flat out no longer doing the free 7 day recordings. 

[StephenB]

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@Laster wrote:

@StephenB 

I only have 4 cameras. 2 VMC4030 and 2 VMC4041P. The base is a VMB4000 with a USB for local storage. The 7 day free recording stopped about a week or so ago. It took me a few days to catch on as I have a 9pm to 7am schedule and it had quiet around the house the last few nights or so. Once I stated checking I found that it is just flat out no longer doing the free 7 day recordings. 

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I get that it isn't recording to the cloud.  But I don't believe that is because Arlo changed their policies - I think something else is wrong.  Did you eject the USB drive, and look for recordings there?  Also, did you try making a manual recording while livestreaming one of the older cameras?

While I do have a subscription, before the Secure unlimited subscriptions came alone, I had a mix of subscribed Pro 3/Ultra cameras and unsubscribed Pro 2s.  I did get recordings in the cloud.

[Laster]

@StephenB 

Thanks for the follow up and the advice.

I disconnected everything. Pulled all the batteries and pulled the USB. I set everything up again acting as close to a brand new install as I could get. The 2 VMC4030 are once again cloud recording. The 2 VMC4041P are not but as I understand that is to be expected if you don't have a subscription. I suspect that in some way something was corrupted or hung up in software or hardware. I found some "new" VMC4030 cameras on Ebay and I am considering downgrading by replacing the 2 VMC4041P with 2 VMC4030 to recover all my full cloud recording capability for now.

I do confess this whole event has me taking a very serious look at my options.

[Jimmyalbert]

I think this can be closed. I have decided to drop Arlo. Get rid of my doorbell that I have only had for a year. Prices keep going up and they want money for subscritptions. I can get cheaper solutions that can last a year. The doorbell keeps flaking out an not detecting motion for 10 or more hours. Mostly at night. My camera at the rear of the house won't even charge any more. I can't even talk to a person without subscribing to their Arlo Secure stuff. I am not a robot. I should be able to talk to a human being. So long Arlo.