Pro5 Base/Hub vs Cloud

[liketabike]

Hi.  I've had the referenced camera system for a month or so.  Just the 3 cameras.  Apparently, the free subscription ran out and I get the message "Activity Zones are currently disabled. AC power has been disconnected from this device. Please reconnect the power source to the device". From other posts I've read seems I have to subscribe to one of Arlo's plans to remedy this.  I have older Arlo cameras that require no such subscription, but they connect to a VMB4000.  The Pro 5's are at a different house.  So, questions are:

If I buy a Hub or Base Station (VMB4000?) does that preclude me from having to buy a monthly plan (I have enough of those already)? And would either give me video storage?

What's the difference between a Hub and Base Station?

If I run line power to the camera(s) would I still need a subscription or base/hub?  And what, if any, video storage would that afford me?

I can't get a good picture of the relationship between the subscription, base/hub station and running a power cord to the camera.  Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for any help.

[StephenB]

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@liketabike wrote:

What's the difference between a Hub and Base Station?

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Arlo calls the VMB4540 and the VMB5000 smarthubs, they call other models base stations.  Users here aren't as careful - bases often are called "hubs", and smarthubs often called "bases".

The smarthubs support the direct access to local storage feature.  The bases don't.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062997

Your VMB4000 bases do support local storage - but the only way to view the footage is to eject the storage, and connect it to a PC.  You are seeing recordings on your older cameras because Arlo sold them with free 7-day cloud recording.

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@liketabike wrote:

I run line power to the camera(s) would I still need a subscription or base/hub?  And what, if any, video storage would that afford me?

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Powering the Pro 5s cameras would bring back activity zones, but not storage.

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@liketabike wrote:

The Pro 5's are at a different house.  So, questions are:

If I buy a Hub or Base Station (VMB4000?) does that preclude me from having to buy a monthly plan (I have enough of those already)? And would either give me video storage?

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The simplest thing is to get an Arlo Secure subscription for the Pro 5s location.  Your legacy cameras would then continue to work as they do now.

Although many do use direct access to local storage instead of a subscription, it has a number of limitations - IMO not a great experience.  

• Recordings only available from the app, not the browser
• Recordings not available from friend accounts
• No ability to take manual recordings or snapshots
• No thumbnails - all recordings need to be downloaded to view them
• remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which don't work with some internet service providers).

Also, the free 7-day cloud storage is limited to 5 unsubscribed cameras per account .  If you go over that,  you lose that storage for your legacy cameras.  You can work around that by creating a new account for the Pro 5s location, and sharing the legacy cameras with the new account.  (Although direct access isn't possible for friend accounts, the 7-day free cloud storage would let you see the legacy camera footage if you shared those cameras with the Pro 5s account).

[jguerdat]

Your post has loaded questions. I say "loaded" because it all depends on what you're willing to do.

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@liketabike wrote:

If I buy a Hub or Base Station (VMB4000?) does that preclude me from having to buy a monthly plan (I have enough of those already)? And would either give me video storage?

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Use of a supported base or hub for local recordings is one way to accomplish this but comes with caveats. ANy of the base stations that support local recordings (the VMB4000 and VMB4500) would require you to eject the drive for viewing the videos on a computer. The SmartHubs, VMB4540 and VMB5000, work with the app for direct viewing BUT there's no thumbnails until you click on the video and download it, unlike cloud recordings. That may work for you to get around a subscription but a single camera sub is about the price of a streaming service (Hulu, etc.) so may be a good idea. Since you apparently also have legacy cameras with the free 7 day plan, a full sub could be useful since it gives you 30 days of storage as opposed to 7 days. Whether that's useful to you only you would know.

I assume you have the new user interface (UI) since you have a Pro 5 which would force the migration to the new UI. The new UI supports multiple locations (Home at the top of the screen) but each Home location will require its own sub. You wouldn't need one for the old system but the new Home with the Pro 5 would need one. Not a problem in your case (unless you buy new cameras for the original location) but be aware that each location will need a sub which is different from how the old UI worked. At some point everyone will be using the new UI so will be forced into the multiple subs.

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What's the difference between a Hub and Base Station?

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The most noticeable difference is in the local storage if that is to be used. The hubs can utilize the local storage directly while the bases require ejecting the drive for viewing. The VMB5000 also supports both 2.4 and 5GHz bands for those cameras, including the Pro 5, that also support both bands. You can't choose which one is used - the hub/camera determine that just like how newer routers do when using a single SSID for both bands.

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If I run line power to the camera(s) would I still need a subscription or base/hub?  And what, if any, video storage would that afford me?

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Use of AC power to the camera allows activity zones to be utilized without a sub (when using a sub, a battery-operated camera passes that task off to the servers, hence the message you're getting). That has nothing to do with video storage which requires either a sub or the camera being connected to a base/hub to use just local storage. With a sub you get activity zones on battery and cloud recordings while without a sub you need AC power for zones as well as needing to connect the camera to a base/hub for only local storage.

Lotsa words - hope it came across clearly.

[liketabike]

Thank you both for the information, and so quick!  Very helpful.  Looks like if I want the same functionality with the new cameras as with the old ones the subscription is the better way to go.  Never dawned on me that I was getting the free cloud service with the old cameras I have.  Just assumed it would be the same with the new.