Arlo Pro Cameras Rendered Useless

[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

[Wooshka]

Hey TechnoJames

Thanks for letting me know. I rang them on 7/1 and they flat out rejected my request for a refund. I warned them a wave of similar requests to mine was likely coming. Great to see they have changed their tune. Did you need your receipts or did they rely on their own records? Thanks again.

[cbaileyuk]

@numb15

The agreement I had with Arlo promised they offer cloud storage for 7 days, which *never* expires...we shouldn't need to look elsewhere. But, as you raise the point, a core issue is that they won't even facilitate remote access to local storage on our base station, as per virtually every competitive brand offers. To permit us to see the files. No, they 'eol' the agreement and don't provide alternative/equivalent usage BUT if you pay monthly, they will.

It's shameful behaviour on their part.

If this was clear at point of contract agreement, fine. It wasn't. Its unilateral reneging of a previous bilateral agreement. Poor show. Done with the brand.

[numb15]

I don’t recall the “never expires” bit, I got my Arlo Pros as a gift back in 2017, but I’m sure the lawyers will be all over that if that’s the case. There are wifi enabled USB flash drives that you can plug in to your base station and perhaps monitor while you’re on the same network, but not sure if you can monitor it outside via your phone signal. If there are, that’s potentially one way around the subscription 

[cbaileyuk]

its very easy to find the "never expires bit"...we discuss it repeatedly in this thread..but if you are interested, here's a live capture of Arlo's marketing material from the internet archive....

https://web.archive.org/web/20170606033243/http://www.arlo.com/en-us/products/arlo/default.aspx

Have a read through. It's all there to see, recorded. That's Arlo's website, they wrote those words and us customers bought on that promise.

As as for lawyers being all over it. Yes. I sat the Bar 🙂

Arlo should keep a copy of that link above, they will likely need it for their defence.

[AmyArlo24]

Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately I bought mine on Ebay..but I will lodge a complaint with Fair Trading.

[hkbob]

Hey arlo....i updated my FTC complaint to include the fact that you're proactively removing links to their website.  I'd say your actions go to motive.

[ryans27]

Couldn't agree more here, especially regarding the email notifications.

Not everyone uses iOS/GooglePlay mobile devices anymore with the increasing line of Linux options that don't always play nice with GPS notifications. If e-mail notifications are being pulled with no explanation, I'll be setting up my own surveillance system myself which I'm regretting now not doing initially.

Shadiest part for me, was Arlo disabled my email notifications underhandedly, with no explanation a few months ago already. Obviously I proceeded to write in cases but all I ever received were irrelevant canned macros as a runaround.

Tried to give this company the benefit of the doubt at every turn but this is definitely it for me. Who knows what else they plan to pull the rug out on the next couple years.

[MotoRider42HC]

I agree fully.  One of my friends setup PoE cameras all over his house and his own DVR system.  All that is missing is an automatic cloud backup, and he is set for life.  Arlo really is killing their own brand with these greedy EOL changes.

[Steve32]

Thanks for the reminder. Finally just filed my complaint with the FTC. Very easy online - five minutes tops. Here is the link for anyone interested:

ftc.gov/complaint

[DaveWoj]

@AmyArlo24 

It shouldn't matter where you bought the camera. Many of us were purchasing add on cameras under the assumption that they were grandfathered into the free 7 day to take advantage of it.

I guess that wasn't such a smart move after all.

[spleonard]

So let me get this straight... My Arlo Pro cameras, that are less than 4 years old and were sold with the promise of 7-day free rolling storage, are going to be practically useless to me unless I shell out more money?

My only options are to:

A) Be okay with not being able to use the cameras for what I bought them for

B) Buy your subscription service

C) Buy a new base station since you won't even let me view local storage through the app with the model of base station I own

D) Buy into a whole new ecosystem

I'm definitely leaning towards option D unless Arlo fixes this somehow. I will not be giving you any more of my money until the promise that sold me on the brand is restored. These cameras were overpriced to begin with but I thought it would be worthwhile since I didn't have to pay a subscription. If I had known that feature would be going away I would not have purchased or recommended your brand. I'm sure several thousand customers feel the same way. 

[BRoche]

I just got the Eufy system. WOW I was very impressed . 4k cameras show a lot of detail. Night mode is great. Setup was very easy. With the help of EOL, I'm glad I did the jump. I have unlinked Arlo, just need to do factory reset, wipe and see if I can sell.

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

@KremmenUK2  @Jarem and to others who were forced by the system to create new profiles a few weeks ago.

I saw post on Reddit that it was a system glitch that affected some users and JamesC confirmed. When I logged onto the Arlo Community last night, I went straight to my old profile. Inititally, there were some odd glitches. Initially, I was not able to post, and just today it seems that I did not get emails with updated posts to some subscriptions. But, it all seems OK now....

EDITING to add that I am gettting email regarding subscriptions post addressed to my second profile but not to this original profile. So things are not quite all the way back. I did message JamesC to let him know.

[Kremmen]

Thanks - worked

[DaveWoj]

@spleonard 

Yes to all you've posted.

But. Another option would be to just try the cloud subscription (for a month)  with one or all the cameras that you have as the EOL gets closer.

See what features work and if it's good, then subscribe with the unlimited camera option.

You probably won't get anything ($$$) for the cameras you have so use them if they still work with the subscription.

Investing in another system may seem like a good idea but just make sure you know how much you're going to have to pay for their subscription if you want cloud storage. There are some bad reviews on all the cameras.

That's what I'm planning on doing near the end of the year.

[mamarcac]

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

@spleonard 

Yes to all you've posted.

But. Another option would be to just try the cloud subscription (for a month)  with one or all the cameras that you have as the EOL gets closer.

See what features work and if it's good, then subscribe with the unlimited camera option.

You probably won't get anything ($$$) for the cameras you have so use them if they still work with the subscription.

Investing in another system may seem like a good idea but just make sure you know how much you're going to have to pay for their subscription if you want cloud storage. There are some bad reviews on all the cameras.

That's what I'm planning on doing near the end of the year.

---

I get what you're saying from a practical standpoint. But it does also send the message you're OK with Arlo breaking the purchase agreement when we paid more for their cameras than others that did not come bundled with a free cloud subscription that "never expires" (Arlo's words).

Honestly the real mistake Arlo made was calling this EOL. It obviously isn't, since they're keeping the cameras functional IF you subscribe to their monthly service. If it was truly EOL and they worried about outdated firmware being vulnerable, they'd send a firmware update that bricks our devices like Sonos. Short of that, this is a money grab plain and simple, and a breach of the promises made to customers at the time of purchase.

[Jlcl]

Can anyone tell me what a RATLS storage is? My email from arlo claims you can use this for video storage but does not explain what it is or what the acronym stands for so I can look into getting one. 

I am also very disappointed in this company.  I’m deaf so I depend on these cameras to help me navigate in a silent world.

Now I’m not sure what to do. It definitely is a breach of faith! 

I am unable to get any answers from Arlo, because they do block you in every way if you own one of these older camera systems. 

Thanks! 

[WWayneS]

It looks like it’s a way to view videos remotely while storing them locally with a storage device plugged into your hub.

https://www.arlo.com/en_eu/support/faq/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

[Jlcl]

Thank you! I’m very technically illiterate so I was kinda lost.  I’ll check that out. Some of us with the first generation did not get “ any” options to subscribe or continue any link to the company. 

[mamarcac]

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@WWayneS wrote:

It looks like it’s a way to view videos remotely while storing them locally with a storage device plugged into your hub.

https://www.arlo.com/en_eu/support/faq/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

---

This requires an Arlo SmartHub (VMB5000 or VMB4540) and an understanding of how to use port forwarding on your router or how to configure a VPN. Ignoring the security risks of opening up a port, this is far from an easy exercise for the non-tech savvy.

[Jlcl]

Oh boy, I guess it’s not going to work for me 😞

Thank  you for the additional information.  I support the majority- it’s time to push back! 

I love my little arlo dudes. I’m going to miss them.  

[DaveWoj]

@mamarcac 

I understand what you're saying and I agree.

We have a year to see what happens and if they change any part of the policy with all the negative feedback they've been getting and what happens with any legal action.

I have one Arlo Pro and I want to see if I do actually lose the cloud after April 1st.

But....... I'm not holding my breath. I need to have cameras.

When I compare Arlo to other systems, I keep going back to Arlo. I use the cross triggering and that's not an option on some other systems.

I'm as unhappy as everyone else but it seems my choices are limited if I want cloud service.

And if you've seen the news about them switching from AWS to Microsoft cloud, it sounds like a move in a positive direction. I don't think any other system is using Microsoft but it looks like that may be the best option for some of these other companies to move their service to.

As much as I'd like to, I'm not going to switch to another system just to stick it to Arlo and then find out the grass isn't any greener with another system and end up even more disappointed.

[Kremmen]

After some thought I've decided to run my ArloQ's into the ground without a subscription.

As long as I get a push or email motion notification and the ability to stream I can check for any intrusion and phone any of 3 neighbours who's numbers I have.

That'll do for me considering I've very rarely checked a false trigger via saved footage which has always been a moth or similar that got in in the summer or car headlights on the front door when I didn't drop the blind fully.

[cbaileyuk]

@DaveWoj 

I have two properties and installed Eufy at the second one.

Whilst you may read issues relating to security, the nature of what I record there is unsensitive.

Simply, Eufy is better in many areas. As for cross alerting, Eufy does this. The quality of the visuals is better, the battery life is better, the camera support native local storage without subs. The devices provide statistics on detection, they have spotlights and alarms embedded.

I will ultimately move to Eufy to replace Arlo.

[IrisKelowna]

Be aware of security issue of storing locally... Eufys cameras sending data to the cloud without consent...

https://www.zdnet.com/article/eufys-security-cameras-send-data-to-the-cloud-without-consent-and-that...