Dual VMB3000 with 10 Cameras, But Can Edit Notifications Only On 5 Cameras on First Base Station

[jescott3]

My setup: Two VMB3000 original Arlo base stations, with 5 original Arlo cameras paired with each base station. I'm using the free account for each base station. Everything has been updated to the latest firmware, and all devices are on the same LAN.

My problem: I've gone through the drill of resetting each base station after unpairing all cameras, then setting up each base station and pairing all cameras again, then linking both base stations so I see a unified display of all 10 cameras on-screen on my iOS and macOS devices. After all that, I can edit notifications ONLY for the first 5 cameras on the first base station. I cannot turn off notifications for any camera paired with the second base station.

What am I doing wrong? Or is this Netgear/Arlo's way of forcing me to go to a Premier account?

[brh]

@jescott3

The free plan is not based on the number of base stations you have - you can have as many bases as you want on one account - but is based on the number of cameras on your account - 5 cameras per account. If you want to have 10 camers on one account, you will need to purchase the premier plan.

You can set up a second account, remove one of the base stations and 5 of the cameras from the existing account and then add them to the second account. This will allow you to have 10 cameras on the free plan. That being said, if you want to see all 10 cameras on the app or website, you will have to grant access from base A to base B and from Base B to Base A. Also, they will have to be armed individually, and to edit the settings of the cameras you will have to log into the account that is associated with those cameras and its base.

Brian

[TomMac]

Remember that your sharing.. which mean a Primary account and a Secondary...

Secondary users do not have 100% control

[jescott3]

I’ve already got 5 cameras on base A and 5 cameras on base B, with each base on a separate email account, and with A being the primary and B being the shared. I can see all 10 cameras online on my desktops as well as on my iPhone/iPads. What I can’t do is manage the settings on the cameras paired with the shared base B, even when I log out of the base A account and login to the base B account. Your second paragraph is confusing and misleading since logging into the shared base B account DOES NOT permit editing of the settings on its cameras. Under the free plan, then, I have to put up with constant notifications from base B cameras, which is the core of my issue.

As TomMac (Guru) notes in his response, the settings on a shared base cannot be fully accessed. So the answer seems to be that the only way to edit the settings on all 10 cameras is to purchase the premier plan and synch all 10 cameras to one base. My original observation that Netgear/Arlo was trying to push me into buying the premier plan is correct. 

If that assertion is incorrect and there is a way to edit settings on a setup like mine, I’d like to hear it in clear, concise instructions.

Thanks.

[brh]

@jescott3

Did you grant administrative priviledges when you shared the accounts. I say this because I have 2 accounts - 1 account has 2 base stations on it and the other account has only one. I share the first account with my wife and I can go into her iPhone or iPad and edit everything that is associated with that account. I can only tell you what worked for me. Check and see if you have granted full administrative priviledges going both ways.

Brian

[jescott3]

Yes, I grant administrative privileges to base A as well as base B. In lieu of any advice on how to make my present setup work so that I can edit notifications also on base B cameras, I'm trying another gambit.

(NB: It would be nice if Netgear/Arlo added an explanation to the user's manual about how to configure a multiple base station setup with up to 5 cameras each in a shared arrangement, instead of groping around in the dark corners of The Arlo Community.)

I am doing a factory reset on base B, after deleting it and all 5 of its cameras, as well as removing it from sharing with base A, as well as removing base A from sharing with base B. I have pulled the battery covers on all 5 cameras to avoid any issues.

I then will set up base B with a new free email account, sync the 5 cameras to it, then edit notifications on each camera. If that works, then I'll try the sharing arrangement in a free account setup again and see if the edited notifications stay set the way I want them.

One thing I've learned about being a Netgear customer: Its products aren't very user-friendly, and configuring them is not very intuitive.

[brh]

@jescott3

Obviously, Arlo would like for you to pay for a subscription. Since i use Samsung Smartthings to control my cameras and other security devices and Smartthings does not allow two way sharing of the accounts, I finally broke down and purchased a the premier account for my 10 cameras. My third base station is the original one I purchased and although the sharing worked out well for me, I eventually removed the cameras from it and associated them with my 2 Pro base stations to have local backup recordings. Let us know how it turns out.

Brian

[jguerdat]

Or just log into the second account when the grant access isn't sufficient. I'd think that wouldn't be needed very often.

[jescott3 · Accepted solution]

Thanks to this little bit of information from TomMac, I found a solution to my problem. As I noted earlier, I decided to remove base station B and its 5 cameras from sharing with base station A. Then I opened the battery doors of the cameras. Next, I did a factory reset on base station B and used a new email address to set it up. That was followed by syncing all 5 cameras.

Then I adjusted notification settings on all 5 cameras by turning off email alerts and push notifications, which matched the settings on base A cameras. I simply don't need to know when a camera senses movement every single time. As a side note, the Arlo app on my iPad mini 4 shows the green pencil Edit icon that permits changing notification settings whereas the green Edit icons do not show up in my Safari's rendition of my Arlo web page. Yet another Netgear mystery.

Finally, I shared base A with base B and vice versa. Voila! I again see all 10 cameras, and I no longer have to deal with push notifications that can't be stopped from base B cameras. Problem solved ... until the next one. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.