Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras

Outrageous non-subscription so called storage

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alex_loo
Apprentice
Apprentice

Now that my trial subscription has expired, it is outrageous to find that although the cameras can now save videos to my SmartHub,


1. Only the primary login user (ie myself) can access these stored videos.  Any shared users (say my WIFE!) cannot.

 

How misleading this that as a product --- pretending that "subscription is not a must" but in reality, so-called "local storage" is only on offer under a super limited scenario they never told you on the product package.

 

Alex

7 REPLIES 7
StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@alex_loo wrote:


Only the primary login user (ie myself) can access these stored videos.  Any shared users (say my WIFE!) cannot.

 


Arlo has recently changed their login policy, so now multiple phones can log into the same account simultaneously.

 

So one option is to drop the friend account, and have your wife use your login on her phone as well.

alex_loo
Apprentice
Apprentice

@StephenB , ok so it's true that now my wife can forget her own login, and use mine instead to login to her iPhone app.

 

BUT!

 

While she is now able to view local storage, it was only fine via WIFI.  When she is not on the same WIFI as the arlo HUB (eg. on mobile 4G), she CANNOT see the local storage still.

 

This was quite different from my experience, when I was able to use my id to login to my android app, and view the local storage EITHER on home wifi or on mobile 4G.  Yes, I have configured port-forwarding, both on app and router.

 

Is there some specific issue with the iPhone app here?

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@alex_loo wrote:

 

Is there some specific issue with the iPhone app here?


Yes, port forwarding has been broken with the iOS app for a couple of months now.  Arlo knows about it, but hasn't said anything about when they will fix it.

 

The VPN method will work, but of course is harder to set up if your router doesn't have a built-in VPN server.

alex_loo
Apprentice
Apprentice

How do you set up for VPN access?  Wasn't mentioned there.

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

That depends on your router. Not all routers support VPN access so check your model's manual. You can also tell us the manufacturer and model here.

alex_loo
Apprentice
Apprentice

@jguerdat it's an ASUS RT-AX3000 here, but I don't think I want to set up a VPN server from home and let my mobile connect to it all the time.  And I won't like the "solution" of having to connect to home VPN, every time I want to view local storage at home after getting alert message.

 

Alex

StephenB
Guru Guru
Guru

@alex_loo wrote:

 but I don't think I want to set up a VPN server from home and let my mobile connect to it all the time.  And I won't like the "solution" of having to connect to home VPN, every time I want to view local storage at home after getting alert message.

 


I use the VPN anyway, since  I am often accessing content stored on my home NAS.  I get that others would prefer port forwarding.

 

That said, at the moment the calculus here is pretty simple.  If you want remote access to work on your iPhone, you have to set up the VPN.  You can then go back to port forwarding when Arlo gets around to fixing the bug.