wired video doorbell only provides an alert to motion

[Spsarasin]

Hi, I have several Arlo products including cameras and a wired video doorbell. All of the cameras record video to my library, but the camera only provides an alert to motion, but I cannot see the motion in my library. I do not have a subscription, and have only seen an option to add a flash drive to the base USB, but it seems I have to pull the USB and view on my laptop? This is very inconvenient as the cameras and video doorbell are installed at a second, remote property. Thanks for the tips...Stuart

[StephenB]

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@Spsarasin wrote:

Hi, I have several Arlo products including cameras and a wired video doorbell. All of the cameras record video to my library, but the camera only provides an alert to motion, but I cannot see the motion in my library. I do not have a subscription, and have only seen an option to add a flash drive to the base USB, but it seems I have to pull the USB and view on my laptop? 

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Your other cameras must be older models (the original Arlo Wirefree, the Pro, or Pro 2).  All the newer cameras (starting with the Ultra in 2018) require a subscription to get cloud storage.

The simplest solution is to just get a single camera subscription for the doorbell.  US cost is currently $2.99 per month.  This would give you 30 days of cloud storage, and also activity zones (which are often particularly helpful for the doorbell, since it cannot be aimed).

The two smarthubs (VMB4540 and VMB5000) support direct access to local storage, so you could also purchase one of those two models.  Direct access has several limitations you  should consider before going this route:

• Recordings can only be viewed in the app, not the browser
• Recordings can only be viewed from the primary account (not shared "friend" accounts)
• No manual recordings or snapshots
• No thumbnails, so you need to download every video that you might be interested in
• Remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which won't work with some internet service providers).  

More info is here:

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it-for-Arlo-video-recor...