How Do I Connect My Arlo Wired Doorbell To VMB3000 Base Station without any subscription??

[Ralphinga]

I bought the wired camera a year ago. It had a complimentary subscription for a year and it just expired. My doorbell is now synced to my router. I can see it on the Arlo app, the doorbell rings, my phone rings, but it doesn't record the action. I tried to resync it to the VMB3000 base station, but the only option it gives is to connect to the network.

The instructions say: "From the Devices screen, tap Add New Device,                                                  and select your camera or doorbell from the list.
                                          Continue through the in-app instructions until Arlo                                             detects a SmartHub or Base Station.
                                          Follow the in-app instructions to connect your                                               camera or doorbell to the SmartHub or Base Station."

The in app instructions don't give a choice. They just send you to provide your 2G network name and password.

So now I'm guessing that I cannot connect to a base station without having to pay $120+ /year for a subsciption.

[StephenB]

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@Ralphinga wrote:

 I tried to resync it to the VMB3000 base station, but the only option it gives is to connect to the network.

That's because the doorbell isn't compatible with your older base.  https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility

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@Ralphinga wrote:

So now I'm guessing that I cannot connect to a base station without having to pay $120+ /year for a subsciption.

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No.  You can buy a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000), and use direct access to local storage instead of a subscription.

Or pay $2.99 per month (US pricing) for a single-camera subscription for the doorbell -  about $36 per year, not $120+. 

The payback for purchasing a smarthub would be about 3 years (assuming you can find one offered for the MSRP)  - and direct access to local storage isn't as good as the cloud storage.

[Ralphinga]

uhhhh.  why does it have the VMB3000 base station listed as compatible?

https://kb.arlo.com/000062284/Arlo-SmartHub-and-Base-Station-Compatibility

[Ralphinga · Accepted solution]

Oh, I see. The Arlo Audio Doorbell is not the same as a Wired Video Doorbell. But it worked for a year.