End Of Life Policy

[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.

[DannyBearAgain]

It is unclear what the impact will be on the EOL equipment.

Worst case would be like removing the Ethernet cable from the base station and trying to get it to work.

[Dmayor]

Some of us have grandfather plans that allow 20 cameras.  

The joy of that is getting an email that end of life's your almost all of you entire 20 camera pool.  No way I will upgrade because they will end of life the new cameras in 3-4 years since many of those have been out for 3-4 years also.  ArLo is dead architecture now with planned rolling death every 3-4 years.  Once true EOL hits/grandfather plan is gone and will send zero funds to Arlo after 2024.  At that point, I will finish my migration to Ring.  I looked at Blink, but their cameras don't last long in my experience. 

[DaveWoj]

@ArloWontCharge 

@secaz 

Not sure if you were responding to my question to secaz but he said he had 17 pro's. They were sold as free 7 day cloud so I'm not sure why he ended up paying for a subscription.

He doesn't seem to respond to any posts so we may never know.

[DaveWoj]

@Dmayor 

Again, the pro's had free 7 day so no subscription was required.

You don't mention what you have. but it apparently needed a subscription to get the cloud.

[JerzeyJohn]

@designerjohnson  Totally agree with your post! Well said!

[Jaspersmom]

We have <10> Cameras impacted with this decision! We are not happy at all. We spent a LOT of money for the system. The cameras work fine but with a few minus points. Now we own paper weights!!! 🤬  

Perhaps Arlo Company could do a recycling program. We send them our useless system and they reimburse some cash back to us.  How about 25%? 50%? For each device we send in >> with Free Return Postage too.  

[Gotair3500]

I am hoping that Ring uses this opportunity for large discounts for Arlo customers.  If I have to replace my 10 cameras, I will do it with a better company.

[JerzeyJohn]

@MichaelRo thanks so much for commenting on this- I totally agree with everything you highlighted in your post. I had been thinking the exact same thing but didn’t think to compare it the way you did. Your logic is spot on! Thanks again. 

[DannyBearAgain]

For those impacted by arlo’s equipment EOL policy and are not intending on a repeat with the later generation equipment.

Please consider the environmental impact of trashing and invest in recycling.

This could present a bountiful opportunity for other brand manufacturers to offer free recycle services to new customers to safely rid the world of the arlo legacy. 

[danwriter]

And so it begins:

The Netgear spinoff has announced a new “end-of-life policy” for its cameras — which revokes one of their biggest selling points.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/2/23536194/arlo-eol-security-cameras-pro-baby-q-gen-3-lights-doorbel...

[prix57]

I have arlo pro and pro 2 cameras along with the wired arlo video doorbell but have not got this email yet, I saw a news story about this pop-up on my feed.

I am not happy and will switch to a better competitor if this is the case. 

Can anyone confirm if the older cameras will still work if you have the paid 30 cloud storage? 

[msazone]

 

 

[ArloSucksNow]

Hey @JamesC  - not sure if you noticed yet, but sure seems like word is getting out about this recent end of life (aka extortion attempt to secure a monthly subscription) policy decision.  There are literally hundreds of helpful 1-star customer reviews over past 30 days on Amazon alerting potential new Arlo customers to your unwillingness to stand behind Arlo products and services.  Might be worth a look and reconsidering next steps on this extremely poor judgement call by Arlo leadership.

Best Regards!

[Samson39]

If the service stopped, I buy a other brand. Blink with an sync module should be fine.

[AshTray900]

Does anyone know of a good camera system that will meet these requirements and NOT made by arlo

cloud storage (paid is ok)

hd / night vision camera ( I’m thinking this time I’ll just wire mine so I want good support and quality) preferably with no base station and just connected directly to Wi-Fi individually, better wide angle than arlo pro 4030, very good iPhone app? They need to be able to withstand the weather as they will be outside directly exposed to rain

I have 5 arlo cameras but could simply do with two that I can hard mount to the woodwork if they had a wider view. I’m thinking of just taking the arlo system down.

it has been a pain to charge them but I’ve kept using them since I invested a lot in them back when they first came out but with all this nonsense going on and being near the time I would replace them anyway I’d like some suggestions.

thanks!

[gregvesely]

I have invested 1000s in equipment and bought based on free web storage and I have been forced to pay. I'm over it

[Kummeli]

Hi all and specially Arlo !

I red that EOL for this product is about to come ?

How can you first tell when you sell product that there is free 7 days cloud service for a lifetime......

Or have i misunderstood something ?

Base station is model vmb4500 and cameras arlo pro 2

[gmcjetpilot]

Agree. This is a class action. My state attorney will be notified. Lot's of lawfirms will be interested. If my cameras stop uploading to server (unless I pay them $150) in April I'll be .  I'll make it my HOBBY and life's work to let everyone know NOT TO BUY THIS BRAND.

[jpottaway]

Lol, updated today (2023-01-05) to say 7 day free storage is EOL by Jan 2024 @MichaelRo 

----

Just found this active document in their website. Updated December 2022 and clearly states that you will continue to have 7 day free cloud storage without a subscription.

https://kb.arlo.com/000062312/What-options-will-I-have-when-the-Arlo-Smart-3-month-trial-plan-ends 

[MichaelRo]

Well I guess that’s evidence someone from the company is reading these posts. 

[Kremmen]

I was considering changing my Q's for the latest Indoor Essentials. Over the last few months Geofencing has been very unreliable but I've managed to link my Q's to Samsung Smarthings. What that has done is allow my Q's to be permanently armed and simply turning the cameras off, standby mode, when Smartthings Geofencing kicks in. So far that has been 100% and the benefit is that they are not constantly streaming when someone comes home. When I look at the strategy there are many other cameras that can be turned on/off via a smart switch, automatically, via ST, reliable, geofencing. I've just tested and returned a Nest Indoor Wired. These newer Nest cameras use Google Home, not the Nest App, and there is a bug that stops notifications, plus, Google Home Presence Sensing is another very unreliable feature. Moving forward, if I do decide on a pair of Indoor Essentials, how long before they are written off ?

[DaveWoj]

@Kremmen 

I think that you bring up one of the most important points with all of this moving forward.

What is the life expectancy on anything new that we invest in from Arlo and should we expect this to happen again in another 3, 4, 5 years?

Arlo is continuously replacing cameras with new models. As the technology changes (in their mind) They can't support the Essentials, Pro 3 and 4 forever.

Is that a chance everyone wants to take at this point?

[BDDA]

I’ve already ordered Lorex replacements for my 2 cameras. They offer local storage which is accessible online. I ordered Lorex because I currently have a Lorex doorbell cam which I am very happy with.

[JDSch]

Agree 100%. This policy needs to be clearly marked on its products at the point of sale. I would have never purchased their product knowing they would become useless in 5 years. I have to throw out 4 cameras and a hub. Going to seek out another company. Ridiculous!

[Kremmen]

If storage cost is becoming an issue then I'd be happy for a reduction to 24hrs to give me time to download it. That would have been a better solution for legacy 'contracts'