AVD1001Ar1.2 no longer records or notifies motion since removing Secure subs. I have a 810 basestat

[Jim_Cooke]

We recently dropped the subscription for smart alerts on the doorbell.  We have an 810 base station and all the other cameras work fine.  

We no longer want the smart alerts, but still want the notification and recording on my 810 base, without smart alerts.

The doorbell and 810 base have the latest firmware.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

   Jim

[ShayneS]

Hi @Jim_Cooke 

Without a subscription the doorbell will be limited to Standard push notifications and no cloud storage.

You can find more info regarding all the Plans and features here: https://kb.arlo.com/000063083

Thank you 

[Jim_Cooke]

Hi ShayneS,

I have an 810 base with 3 other cameras.  I only want to receive the notifications and record the motion from the doorbell on my 810 base, like the other cameras.  I don't need the cloud storage.

Thanks,

    Jim

[ShayneS]

You can try the local storage feature to record directly to your base station VIA USB drive. You will need to remove the USB when you want to view the stored content. You can find more info regarding this feature in this article: https://kb.arlo.com/1146857/

[Jim_Cooke]

Hi ShayneS,

I already have external USB storage on my 810 for over 1 year and it has been working fine and still works with other ARLO cameras.  The issue is that since dropping the smart subscription on the front doorbell, the doorbell is not posting any motion notifications and nothing gets recorded.  I can see the doorbell image fine.  Just not posting motion notifications or recording motion on the 810 attached storage.

I looked for settings on the doorbell, but was not able to find any.  I update the doorbell firmware and it and the controller now have the latest firmware.

[StephenB]

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@Jim_Cooke wrote:

I already have external USB storage on my 810

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There is no such thing as an 810 arlo base.  All have VMB3xxx, VMB4xxx, or VMB5xxx part numbers.  Take a look at the base, and you should see the part number.

It'd be helpful to know exactly what base you have.  Only the VMB4540 and VMB5000 models support direct access to local recordings.

It'd also be useful to know what other cameras you have.  Some include 7-day cloud recording, others don't.  

[Jim_Cooke]

You are correct, my base is a VMB4000r3 with the latest firmware.

In addition to the front doorbell, my system has three H8 cameras, which work fine providing motion notifications and library event viewing.

[StephenB]

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@Jim_Cooke wrote:

You are correct, my base is a VMB4000r3 with the latest firmware.

In addition to the front doorbell, my system has three H8 cameras, which work fine providing motion notifications and library event viewing.

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FWIW, "H8" is a hardware revision code for a camera model - not the actual model.  Unfortunately all cameras have "H" codes, and they overlap.  So this doesn't really tell us what cameras you have.

There are two ways you can tell.  One is to look at the camera - if it has a removable battery, then you need to take it out of the housing and remove the battery.  Then you will see a label.  The other method is to go into the support area of the app, and select the camera.  The scroll down to the Product ID field, and you will see a model number there.  For instance, VMC4030 for the Arlo Pro; VMC4030P for the Arlo Pro 2.

In any event - 

The VMB4000 base supports local recording, but it does NOT support local playback.  The only way to see the recordings on the USB storage is to eject the storage and connect it to a PC.

All the recordings you are seeing from your older cameras are stored in the Arlo Cloud.  Older "legacy' cameras were sold with 7 days of free cloud recording.  Arlo stopped offering that on new camera models back in 2018.  All the currently sold cameras (including the doorbells) require an Arlo Secure subscription to get cloud recording.

There are two options to get back recordings

1. get a single camera subscription for the AVD1001.
2. upgrade the base to a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub and use the direct access to local storage feature.

There are a lot of (intentional) limitations with option (2), so IMO getting the subscription is the better path.

These limitations include:

• recordings only available in the app (not the web browser)
• recordings only available from the primary account (not "friend" accounts)
• no ability to take snapshots or make manual recordings
• no thumbnails - videos need to be downloaded to the phone before you can see anything.
• remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult (and which don't work with some internet service providers).