Pro2 to Ultra - what to watch out for?

[swron]

I have an Arlo Pro2 system with an VMB4000.  The big box retailer has a good price on 5 Ultra cameras.  However, reading here has gotten me nervous to buy.  Arlo used to be easy to figure out.  Now I have a lot of questions.

1) Big box retailer web site description says Ultra is not compatible with VMB4000 (Q: Will my Arlo Ultra cameras work with other Arlo Base Stations? A: No, Arlo Ultra cameras will only work with the Ultra SmartHub (VMB5000).).  Link on the forum here (https://kb.arlo.com/000062146/Is-Arlo-Ultra-backwards-compatible-with-my-existing-Arlo-system) says Ultra is compatible. Which is correct?

2) Arlo Ultra manual says somewhere that an unlimited number of Ultra cameras are supported.  Is that with VMB5000 or VMB4000 or...?  Sorry, it's a long manual and I don't have the page number.

3) If an unlimited number of cameras are supported, can I merge my old Pro2 camera system with the 5 new Ultra cameras and run them all on one account?

4) Apparently there is some kind of "one year free" plan that puts you in a bad spot when it expires according to a lot of posts on this forum.  Big box retailer wording is reassuring (

Q: After my included 1 year of Arlo Smart Premier expires, what if I choose not to have a service plan? A: If you choose not to have a service plan, you will still be able to live stream remotely and locally, receive push notifications, auto track and zoom, and two-way audio).  Forum posts are not reassuring.  Who is correct?

The benefit of Arlo in my mind versus some of the competitors I own is that Arlo is pretty headache free.  I am trying to figure out if this is still true on this upgrade path.

[michaelkenward]

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@swron wrote:

4) Apparently there is some kind of "one year free" plan that puts you in a bad spot when it expires according to a lot of posts on this forum.  Big box retailer wording is reassuring (

Q: After my included 1 year of Arlo Smart Premier expires, what if I choose not to have a service plan? A: If you choose not to have a service plan, you will still be able to live stream remotely and locally, receive push notifications, auto track and zoom, and two-way audio).  Forum posts are not reassuring.  Who is correct?

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Lots of questions, here's one of the answers.

What is Direct Storage Access and how do I use it?

Another one to read:

What is the difference between each Arlo SmartHub and base station?

and

Arlo subscription plans and cloud recording

[StephenB]

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@swron wrote:

1) Big box retailer web site description says Ultra is not compatible with VMB4000 (Q: Will my Arlo Ultra cameras work with other Arlo Base Stations? A: No, Arlo Ultra cameras will only work with the Ultra SmartHub (VMB5000).).  Link on the forum here (https://kb.arlo.com/000062146/Is-Arlo-Ultra-backwards-compatible-with-my-existing-Arlo-system) says Ultra is compatible. Which is correct?

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The KB article is correct.  The retailer information is out of date.

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@swron wrote:

2) Arlo Ultra manual says somewhere that an unlimited number of Ultra cameras are supported.  Is that with VMB5000 or VMB4000 or...?  Sorry, it's a long manual and I don't have the page number.

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One important limitation is that all bases only support five simultaneous streams (including motion recording).   If you have a lot cameras, you might multiple bases - partly to overcome that limitation, and partly to get good signal strength to all cameras.

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@swron wrote:

3) If an unlimited number of cameras are supported, can I merge my old Pro2 camera system with the 5 new Ultra cameras and run them all on one account?

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Yes.  Though if you are worred about that, you can just use your existing account with the older cameras and base, and set up a new one for the ultras and their base.  Then you can use "Grant access" to let you see recordings/get notifications from all cameras from one account.

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@swron wrote:

4) Apparently there is some kind of "one year free" plan that puts you in a bad spot when it expires according to a lot of posts on this forum. 

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Well, you do need a subscription for cloud storage for the Ultras (as well as smart notifications and cloud activity zones for all cameras).

Part of the confusion on this in the forums is that Arlo also changed the subscriptions in late December.  The back-end processing hasn't worked that well for many users - I think partly because of those changes.  Also the new subscriptions are more expensive for some folks, and that is creating some frustration.

But if you are ok with paying the current subscription prices for the Ultra, than it will work out ok.  If you want to drop the subscription, then there would be some limitations with direct access to local storage that might get in your way.  Though I suspect that there will be improvements to direct access to local storage in the future.

[swron]

OK, thanks everyone.  I guess this is more complicated than it used to be but maybe less complicated than I first thought.  Appreciate the tips.

[michaelkenward]

Just one further point that recently came up somewhere else and that I can't see above, while both Ultra and Pro 3 systems are designed to get everyone hooked on a paid-for plan, the Ultra currently comes with one-year of "free" access, while the Pro 3 has just three  months.

[swron]

So is there an up-to-date, 100% accurate guide for adding a 6th (and up) Arlo Ultra camera to a VMB4000 base that will not trigger a subscription plan and that will give 4K resolution?  From reading the forums, it really does not seem like upgrading to Ultra is worth doing.  I can add a local USB storage drive if that is the only issue, but it seems like upgrading is challenging for many.

^ "designed to get everyone hooked on a paid-for plan" - that is my conclusion too, and with the current crisis I am not adding a new set of indefinite subscription fees to my life.

[StephenB]

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@swron wrote:

So is there an up-to-date, 100% accurate guide for adding a 6th (and up) Arlo Ultra camera to a VMB4000 base that will not trigger a subscription plan and that will give 4K resolution? 

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Adding any camera to an existing account with 5 cameras already active would require a subscription plan.  

The only way I know of to avoid that is to get a second base and put that on a different account.  Then use grant access.  Ideally that would be a smarthub, since it supports direct access to local storage.