End Of Life Policy - good bye Arlo & replacement

[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

[ildiavolorosso1]

Someone wrote an article about this, quoting many in this thread:
https://piunikaweb.com/2023/01/13/arlo-users-reporting-end-of-life-policy-to-ftc-alternatives-inside... 

[EVISPI]

there are a couple different models that are EOL.  The very first models.  Depending on which one you have depends on the EOL date.  

[EVISPI]

Since you are already signed up for the paid subscription nothing will change for you accept no more firmware updates for these old EOL cameras (no matter when purchased or from who they are the original Pro 2 versions cameras (they are on Pro 5's now).    These camera are pretty robust and have already gone through all the software bugs etc and are pretty stead.  They should last along time still even without firmware updates.  

[scq7]

I request Arlo reconsider aspects of its recently announced End of Life Policy:

• An unreasonably short time has elapsed between product purchase and the subsequent EOL plan to withdraw support, security patching and cloud services. A handful of years!!
• The removal of free 7-day rolling cloud storage is particularly troubling.  
  
  Arlo devices work in concert as part of a single ecosystem and the primary value proposition is that users receive notifications the cameras have detected movement and that video has been recorded; and we then have the ability to live stream or subsequently review video footage within the 7-day window.
  
  This differentiated the Arlo ecosystem from competitors and was the driving reason behind my investments in their products/services (I have camera, solar panels, lights, doorbell etc etc). Furthermore, at the time of purchasing, I was not informed this service could be discontinued; nor can I find any reference in the manuals etc to end of life-time period or that it could be terminated in the future.

[Retired_Member]

So just to confirm the old cameras listed in the EOL, they will still continue to work , give notification alerts, emails, etc just as long as you purchased a subscription? 

[redsoxfan44]

Should.  Just like tons of EOL stuff I have lying around.  e.g. Windows 7 works fine.  But I know some day it won't as other things stop supporting it, esp if I need something new.    We lose hardware support on most everything in time... tech, appliances, etc.     The hardware part should not be a big deal in theory but you never know how the software integration could be affected.  

EDIT: I don't recall what they said about email notifications.  I forget if that was tied to EOL or not.  I don't use them, so didn't pay attention.

[askjh2398]

Careful what you say.  Arlo is deleting community accounts of those critical to their EOL ripoff

[askjh2398]

Link to class action lawsuit investigation

[wojphoto]

Very interesting article regarding cloud storage and the competition.

https://www.androidcentral.com/accessories/smart-home/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-demise-of-smart-h...

[redsoxfan44]

Agree.  Good article.  Nice to see a recap of the players.    However, he got the Arlo thing kinda wrong.  "many Arlo cameras sold before 2018 "...  and many sold AFTER 2019!   Maybe he meant many cameras introduced before 2018.    

This is the first I'm hearing about increasing AWS costs.   Maybe Arlo could have been honest about that and stuck to the subscription issue instead of appearing to blame the hardware as too old to maintain.    I don't think mine has had a firmware update ever since I bought it in 2019.   A few more years of no firmware won't bother me!

[carrinrj]

This is not a class action...this is arbitration...but please sign up!!

[askjh2398]

I've amended my FTC complaint to include the fact that Arlo is actively deleting accounts informing people of their right to file a complaint....

[F-ARLO]

Incredible way to treat your loyal customers! 

[chevelle1970ss]

So my new cameras (hint: not Arlo) are now up and running.  This will be my last post on this forum.  I will be deleting my Arlo account afterwards (if this gets deleted with my account then let it be).

My new cameras have 3 hours of storage without a subscription.  Not going into the details...Read the article that someone mentioned a couple of posts ago if you are interested in seeing what camera solutions are out there.

This is the truth: I was thinking of upgrading one or two of my cameras.  I used to use 5, but have since moved and really only need 2 (maybe 3).  My cameras  were the older models and I was hoping to get some better  video/quality with an upgraded camera.  So you can all see where this is going.  No, I didn't buy Arlo's products.  Who is to say that the Arlo new product won't be rendered useless for WHATEVER reason?   Not going to find out.  

Good luck everyone with the arbitration.........

[wojphoto]

@redsoxfan44 

I agree. It probably should have said introduced prior to 2018 and some still being sold today,

In Arlo's favor, I do see transitioning to Microsoft cloud being an improvement.

However that probably won't change how most feel about how this was handled.

In the end, I just can't see how much more these cameras can be improved from what they offer now. I don't need many of the new features, I just need a camera that triggers and records consistently.

Heck, My Pro's Pro 2's and Q's all do what I need them to do so there was no reason for me to upgrade.

1080 is probably the most I would ever need. I have buffering issues sometimes just trying to view/record at 1080.

[wojphoto]

@chevelle1970ss 

So my guess is that you have a Nest system which I have researched.

Although 3 hours for me is useless really.

If I'm at work, on a jobsite etc, or home in the middle of the night and there is an alert, I don't have the luxury of checking the alerts as they happen and it would be a hassle to retrieve the recording within 3 hours. 12 hours would be more reasonable.

The $6 unlimited camera plan however is a good option.

[AmyEL]

I too received this e-mail for EOL.  I bought my Arlo Pro cameras January of last year for about 300 due to free cloud service from Woot (amazon). I purchased these because my father has had them for years and I like them.  My father is elderly and would have never known his cameras would have stopped if I did not tell him.  I will probably renew for 1 year for each of us with the discount while I look for a different camera that hopefully does not stop working due to false promises. GLTA.  

[wojphoto]

@chevelle1970ss 

and one other thing that's pretty important to me is cross triggering.

I don't believe that's possible with nest or any of those other systems.

[Ironjedi]

So I have a question.

I just received the end of life email from arlo and I have a question. I have the Arlo Pros, so they will be loosing there 7 day recording storage. Do I keep the recordings, notifications and alerts if I do the subscription?

[DannyBearAgain]

Read article below first,

https://kb.arlo.com/000063018/Arlo-Legacy-Cameras-End-of-Life 

[Amurruman]

Interesting, I thought guys were joking saying they were being 'erased' on this forum by Arlo until it happened to me 🤣  Not sure what I said other than maybe the number of posts.  Anyways, has anyone tried Hausafe cameras?  I just ordered a whole set of them for less than the price of one Arlo camera, figured I would try them alongside my Arlo Pro and Pro2s while I wait for them to stop working.  A few things I won't miss about Arlo:  1.  Low Temperature shut off of the cameras 2. Inflexible customer service who never helped me with anything over the past 5-6 years, 3.  Glitches in the Geofencing- gave up on it.  4. Granting Access glitches in the app.  5.  Lack of support for the legacy users for the past 3 years or so.  6.  Continual bombardment with offers to upgrade to service I don't need.  I'm sure this is the most active this forum has ever been!  I can only imagine the ARLO execs watching it and wondering how best to monetize it.....

[IanOFl]

Can someone confirm if there will be End of Life promotions for camera upgrades to people outside the USA? So far I've only seen a form to register for offers for USA folk.

thanks,

Ian

[wojphoto]

@Amurruman 

Not sure where your cameras are located but if it's at all possible to hard wire them, you won't have the low temperature shut down. Mine are 13 feet up and I'm not climbing up on a ladder in the middle of Winter to change out a battery.

Yes the geofencing has been an issue but it seems like it might be more of an issue with the legacy cameras because they want to force an upgrade.

[Amurruman]

7 cameras, 4 are mounted on trees on my property, another nowhere near power, the wireless battery powered was one of the main reason why I bought them.  The batteries typically last about 3 months.  The geofencing was still beta when I bought the Pro cameras and Arlo never bothered to fix it they just moved on to the next generation, presumably it worked better then although the Pro2 seemed to rely on the same app.  I thought about the solar panels but the reviews on them were terrible so I just get out my ladder every few months and spend an afternoon charging batteries..... 🙄

[danwriter]

"However, you don't know if the same will to happen with any of the other camera manufacturers, you may be sorely disappointed.

They all have their issues..."

Funny you should mention that:

https://www.androidcentral.com/accessories/smart-home/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-demise-of-smart-h...