Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

[n1976jmk]

Arlo time in service at my house-
18 months+ (Setup up May 2019)

Equipment-
Qty 2 Ultra cameras
Qty 1 Smart hub vmb5000
Qty 1 Arlo audio doorbell
Qty 1 Arlo plug-in doorbell chime

Locations-
Ultra cameras mounted outside with exterior rated Arlo 25 ft AC power cord

Distance from cameras to smart hub-
Both Ultra cameras less than 15 feet from Smart hub

Subscriptions-
Smart elite for both Ultra cameras
+
14 day CVR for both Ultra cameras

ISP and speed-
Verizon FIOS 100/100

Type of router and WiFi setup-
Verizon Fios G3100 factory router with 2.4ghz and 5ghz radios combined (SON / self organized)

Current issues trying to resolve-
Solid gray thumbnails on Lock Screen from Arlo app and in cloud library across any device and my.arlo.com including grant access user.

[n1976jmk]

After 18 months of dealing with many issues unfortunately (literally from day one of install (May 2019), troubleshooting hour after hour, day, and week, trying to fix/determining where the issue is stemming from, then confirming it is on Arlo's end and waiting weeks/months for them to resolve one problem after another.

Arlo has me in a love / hate relationship, I wanted to love Arlo products, I truly did, I still do but I also hate the Arlo products too because of the amount of hours/days/weeks/months I spent here and troubleshooting with them.  On some level, I still want to love Arlo now.

But today it is over.

Today I ordered Eufycam 2 Pro 2k's and Eufy 2k video doorbell, no subscription fees whatsoever, all Apple HomeKit integration, Apple secure video, ability to customize Eufy app notification sounds, local storage in the hub that can easily be viewed remotely, and a lot more.

Amazon will have all the Eufy devices at my home tomorrow.  Once I install my new devices then I will factory reset my Arlo system and sell it all on eBay.

It is bittersweet to me since I really wanted to love Arlo, for every month that I fought with it during ownership.  I even made a couple friends on this community and learned almost everything there is to know about Arlo cameras during this time.  I was paying $24.99 for the subscription which covered 2 Ultra cameras smart elite 4k with 14 day CVR plan.  

After this ownership period, I have learned Arlo as a company is sadly not here for its customers, it is in it for the money.  I know things won't be perfect with Eufy but they are light years ahead of here and they haven't stopped adding features (without subscriptions fees).

I wish you all the best and maybe I will see you all at a later time!  

For those who have helped me during my times here, I appreciate you and am thankful for the time you spent with me!  I want to also say thank you to the Arlo employee moderators and advanced users here, you all have been so helpful and did as much as you could!

Respectfully,

Jonathan 

[Alhnl]

It has been almost a year now that I have had Arlo.  Thanks for directing me to Eufy.  Researching it now as I am looking for an alternative.  My Arlo system still has not performed at all and I have given up.  Waited patiently for firmware updates but that does not seem to help.  Unfortunately because of CoVid we are at home all the time so haven't invested any time in trying to continue to troubleshoot the system.  Wonder if it is just my system or situation because it still gets rave reviews?  

[LandJS]

We'll miss seeing you n1976jmk, been here since Jan 2019 myself and used to seeing you, also don't blame you.  If I hadn't bought the extended warranty would have been gone myself.  Alhnl whether it's Arlo, TV's or computers etc., reviews by tech people are just them checking out a working unit, not dealing with them daily, not them dealing with firmware updates, not them climbing ladders to pull the batteries etc. etc.  Tell them to protect their home or business with them for a year and then their review has more credibility.