Add cameras to Arlo Secure?

[DamJames]

I have an Arlo secure plan that says “unlimited cameras”.  I set up the plan with two cameras at our primary residence.  When I installed two cameras at our river house,  they were excluded from my plan.  Arlo wants me to purchase an additional plan.  That seems excessive.  I get notifications , but cannot view any videos.  
1.  Can I get these cameras added to my secure plan?

2.  If I added a smart hub would that negate the need for a “plan”?

3.  What the hell is a smart hub?

thanks in advance!

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@DamJames wrote:

I have an Arlo secure plan that says “unlimited cameras”.  I set up the plan with two cameras at our primary residence.  When I installed two cameras at our river house,  they were excluded from my plan.  Arlo wants me to purchase an additional plan.  That seems excessive.   

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FWIW, I agree.  But Arlo does require one subscription per location.

That said, there are some business subscribers who have a lot of locations, so there probably would need to be a limit on the number of locations if Arlo changed this.  I think it'd be reasonable to allow two locations with a single subscription, and then add one subscription per location if folks need more.

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@DamJames wrote:

2.  If I added a smart hub would that negate the need for a “plan”?

3.  What the hell is a smart hub?

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See

• https://www.arlo.com/en-us/accessories?prefn1=refinementType&prefv1=SmartHubs

It's basically a specialized router for the cameras.  There is a "direct access to local storage" feature that some use instead of a subscription.  So you could put the smarthub in one location, and just keep the subscription at the other.  

There are lot of limitations though

• recordings can only be viewed from the primary account (not shared accounts)
• recordings can only be viewed in the app (not my.arlo.com)
• no ability to make snapshots or manual recordings
• no thumbnails, videos needs to be downloaded to the phone to see anything
• the videos don't show up in feed, so there are a couple extra steps needed to access them
• remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult, and which don't work with some internet service providers

Plus the subscription also includes activity zones and smart notifications.

[DamJames]

Thanks for taking the time to explain this  Stephen.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but helpful