Arlo Pro EOL WTF?

[simonjf]

I have just received an email about the End Of Life policy. If this is actually what is going to happen then I need to follow up with all my friends and family, social media connections to advocate against Arlo, and search for an alternative company and service, likely starting my own online storage service for them with appropriate security cameras.

Additionally, contacts at Arlo seem to be designed to prevent actual communication - which has the stink of a company that hates its customers.

[JamesC]

New, updated information is now available regarding the EoL policy that is very relevant to much of the discussion taking place here in this community thread. These changes will allow Arlo legacy users who currently have 7-day storage service to continue receiving that service, uninterrupted.

I encourage you all to visit https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/arlo-end-of-life-policy-021023.pdf and read up on these changes.

Thank you,

JamesC

[JamesC]

Hello Arlo Community,

With the recently announced Arlo end-of-life policy, we understand many of you are seeking more clarity and a path forward after your device becomes end-of-life. In the coming days we will be reaching out to impacted users via email with special offers. Keep an eye out for those emails as they will contain more details about these offers and instructions on how to take advantage of them.

For those who may not have read this new policy or have questions about how this may impact you, I encourage you to take a look here: https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/arlo-end-of-life-policy-021023.pdf?cid=a&cid=a

If you've not received a discount offer via email, visit https://www.arlo.com/en-us/eol-offer-form.html and enter your email address, if your account is eligible you will then receive the discount offer via email.

Thank you,

JamesC

[AshTray900]

Yep lawyers are always involved and they will make sure they are covered, I’m willing to go as far as to say Amazon prime video has no binding agreement to keep online individual purchases available to you forever.

company won’t be destroyed, it will just wind up being the rambler of the auto world, eventually to adapt or get purchased by another company.

me personally I won’t invest anymore in them, but I’ll run out the life of my cameras.

this is not in defense of arlo, just a point that lawsuits are not gonna happen. A reply to an earlier comment.

I still view this policy as horrid.

and while the cameras have been great to me, I look back and think hell I should have just got the whole works with a security company that you basically rent hardware from. Cameras are nice but I just recharged half of mine again two days ago, I’m getting about 3 months of battery life on low quality and 75% range. Dragging extension cords climbing ladders trying to get that darn usb plug in the back of a camera hard mounted has just been a pain

[Dill_]

Boo this comment!

We bought cameras with the advertised free 7 Day storage, not a bait and switch plan.

Go eat your dinner for 4... Happy New Year!

[eolwtf]

I think this EOL policy is terrible and should be reversed.  I cannot believe Arlo can unilaterally remove and end advertised lifetime services.  This is just a money grab from users who have perfectly working cameras.

[DJCummins99]

I bought my son four Arlo Pro cameras with a base unit for Christmas this year! The Arlo pros may not be sold any longer, but you can buy them on eBay. My whole selling point was the cloud storage and I have five Arlo pro cameras myself and have really enjoyed using them for five years. I am not sure what I will do when I can no longer record without paying a monthly subscription, which was the whole reason I went with Arlo; to avoid a monthly subscription. 

[jcook980]

Very disappointed that my VMC4030 are EOL. They work fine and I see no reason to replace them. If this stupid decision is not reversed, my VMC4040P cameras will be the last Arlo products I purchase. What a thoughtless way for Arlo to Ring in the New Year...

[pc2k17]

You didn't agree to the writing in the box when you signed up with the service. I doubt that argument about advertising will hold up in court.

I've been more than cordial in these discussions, and discussion is always good for our society. But the hate that many in this country have been taught from the current administration as normal behavior eventually shows it ugly head. Sad.

[AshTray900]

Here it goes, don’t turn it to a political thread or it’s useless lol

the sad part is that their app won’t directly communicate with the usb memory, if they alter that and make your devices base its own cloud server they no longer have to worry about legacy customer space

[DJCummins99]

I have 10 Arlo cameras: seven Pros and three Qs. And, even worse, I gave my son four Arlo pro cameras with a base unit that I bought on eBay just this year for Christmas!! imagine my embarrassment; I may have to pay Arlo to give him the cloud storage that I told him they come with!!!

[AndrewF321]

What a horrible decision by Arlo.  I'm very disappointed.  Money grab pure and simple and a betrayal of our investment. 

[Dingowez]

Ditto! The wireless connection and cloud storage were the strong points on choosing Arlo and staying with them for so many years. My Dad was impressed too and has his own system. We’re both frustrated with this EOL decision and will be going elsewhere. Bye Arlo! Not buy arlo!

[80sTiger]

I understand the concept of EOL. And they still work for live video. I’m just pissed that they don’t allow my base station to record locally via USBs that are ON the base station. I deserve a firmware update to enable that if they’re gonna kill my cloud storage. 

[StephenB]

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@AshTray900 wrote:

their app won’t directly communicate with the usb memory,

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That is true for most of the bases, but the smarthubs (VMB4540 and VMB5000) do offer direct access to local storage.

Not the best experience, though many here do use it instead of a subscrption with the newer cameras.

[AshTray900]

Never quite understood why I could actively view camera action from the app but could not access the usb storage history videos, I always wondered why they even bothered with two freakin usb ports on my base, they were useless aside from a historical copy of evidence

[Dadd1o]

Amen!!!!!

[Jo060]

I can almost guarantee you there will be no discount.

[StephenB]

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@AshTray900 wrote:

 I always wondered why they even bothered with two freakin usb ports on my base, they were useless aside from a historical copy of evidence

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I do see some value in having a backup - particularly when the internet goes down (my bases are protected with a UPS, so will continue to function for a while).  

But I agree that providing direct access to local storage in all bases would have been far better (especially if they had made it a good experience).

[pc2k17]

I agree about the politics, so let's keep the rude and hate filled comments on the streets, not in a forum discussion.

I think I made my points and provided some information, so I'm done with this thread.

Everyone, enjoy Arlo Secure, it really works well, or enjoy your next camera system. Good luck!

[AshTray900]

Kinda sad, I may be wrong but I think arlo is a netgear product. I got their new Orbi mesh system for a grand and it works so good, the cameras work great. I paid for the subscription for years and will keep doing so until mine are dead. But I think I’ll go with an actual security company that will manage the devices themselves

[Jo060]

I recently moved to Arlo a month or so ago so I'm not affected by the EOL. 

However, I most recently had Blink since about 2017 (back in the free storage days) and was grandfathered in up until I got rid of their products.

Blink makes a good camera in terms of quality, but my biggest gripe was the distance in which it picked up movement and the angle the camera had to be mounted.

They way the cameras are designed, an object had to approach the camera at an angle in order for it to trigger a recording. Just keep that in mind.

[Sye46]

We need to be vocal and make this very public. News outlets, amazon reviews, tech articles, social media, you tube reviews…whatever marketing hit we can do is what will hurt them the most.

[m276527]

I own an Arlo Pro system with 4 cameras at home plus I have recommended and installed the same for three neighbors. Not only will we not be upgrading or paying for the new cloud service we will now be advocates against Arlo at every opportunity. #EOL,#ArloPro, #ArloProEOL, #ArloClassAction

[StephenB]

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@AshTray900 wrote:

I may be wrong but I think arlo is a netgear product. 

Not for some years.  In 2018, Netgear fully divested Arlo.

Netgear acquired Avaak back in 2013 - at the point they were offering VueZone cameras (which went EOL in 2019). After Netgear acquired Avaak, they developed the Arlo camera line.  

[Doug_Phoenix]

Arlo Technologies - Wikipedia

I will be looking into an alternative IP camera system, with local storage (Frigate/Home Assistant). A bit technical.

Preparing to say goodbye to Arlo.

[Smxcan]

Can someone at Arlo (e.g., @JamesC,  @ShayneS) provide more information about this EOL Policy and all this feedback it's receiving? Is Arlo reading any of this? 

[LP79]

That is actually not true at all. The writing on the box will be construed as a contract in lack of another contract and would likey even be seen as a guarantee even if the TOS said otherwise at the time.

When contradictory information is presented from the manufacturer, the court will generally find in favor of the consumer. The only thing that would need to be proven is whether or not the information presented was designed to lead the consumer to reasonably believe that they would not have to pay a subscription fee. This is what I believed not only because of the packaging, but because when I bought my product, This was the clearly Arlo's advertised operation model and was it's main selling point to give an advantage over far lower prices alternatives.

That is false advertising. That is also bait and switch. Both are illegal.