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.

[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

[ltemma74]

Such a shill.

[DaveWoj]

@Turbo2020 

@VirtuallyMark 

I've seen mention of Arlo stock and shorting the stock and hoping stock falls so my question is...... is there something that we are missing?

The EOL policy came out on January first.

Since then the stock is up 12.83% in the past month.

[StephenB]

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

I've seen mention of Arlo stock and shorting the stock and hoping stock falls

---

Really out of scope for the forum, and amounts to speculation on how the market will react.

Just my opinion:  Arlo gets no revenue from folks using the 7-day free storage. There obviously is negative fallout from the news.  But how it will play out is hard to figure - negative fallout will likely reduce sales some, but some existing customers will go with the subscription. So revenue overall could possibly increase.

[mamarcac]

---

@StephenB wrote:

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

I've seen mention of Arlo stock and shorting the stock and hoping stock falls

---

Really out of scope for the forum, and amounts to speculation on how the market will react.

Just my opinion:  Arlo gets no revenue from folks using the 7-day free storage. There obviously is negative fallout from the news.  But how it will play out is hard to figure - negative fallout will likely reduce sales some, but some existing customers will go with the subscription. So revenue overall could possibly increase.

---

Agreed. For me the issues is in the EOL statement where they write the legacy/EOL cameras "may" see reduced functionality or performance even After you pay for the subscription. I was considering using the 75% off deal for a year just to buy more time to research, but ended up pulling the plug on a Reolink Argus 3 to test, arriving this weekend. Several Reolink models can re-use the Arlo mounts and they all have local microSD card recording, no cloud required.

[StephenB]

---

@mamarcac wrote:
For me the issues is in the EOL statement where they write the legacy/EOL cameras "may" see reduced functionality or performance even After you pay for the subscription. 

---

Definitely a concern. 

I don't think Arlo will intentionally break anything for subscribers.  That said, they aren't making any promises on how long the legacy cameras will work as they do now, even with a subscription.  

[DaveWoj]

@StephenB 

Here's a question that I've been wanting to ask because it affects many people including myself.

January is the worst possible time to find out how my Pro 2's will work with the subscription because of the weather and installing these hardwired.

So if I wanted to "try out" a pro 4 with a 30 day free trial of the cloud sometime this Summer,  do I need to set up a brand new account or can I use the one I have?

If I can use the one I have, can I also add those Pro 2's and include them in the free trial to see if and how they work?

Once the Free Trial is over am I now stuck with the pro 2's having to subscribe until EOL if I decide to send back the Pro 4's?

[StephenB]

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

So if I wanted to "try out" a pro 4 with a 30 day free trial of the cloud sometime this Summer,  do I need to set up a brand new account or can I use the one I have?

---

Just use the account you have.  You should be opted into the trial automatically when you on-board the camera.

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

If I can use the one I have, can I also add those Pro 2's and include them in the free trial to see if and how they work?

---

The trial is limited to the new camera (and if you on-boarded two new cameras, you'd have a trial for each).

But the Pro 2s would work similarly to the Pro 4s (30 day retention, smart notifications, cloud activity zones).

---

@DaveWoj wrote:

Once the Free Trial is over am I now stuck with the pro 2's having to subscribe until EOL if I decide to send back the Pro 4's?

---

The free trial wouldn't affect the Pro 2 cameras, so they should continue to work just as they do now (even after the trial ends).

[DaveWoj]

@StephenB 

Thanks for the clarification

[AmyArlo24]

Apologies in advance for lack of technical knowledge..but..Will the Reolink Argus 3 still alert your phone and send you video when there is activity on a camera? Or do you have to take the local storage SIM card out and look through it each day? 

[mamarcac]

---

@AmyArlo24 wrote:

Apologies in advance for lack of technical knowledge..but..Will the Reolink Argus 3 still alert your phone and send you video when there is activity on a camera? Or do you have to take the local storage SIM card out and look through it each day? 

---

Argus 3 has a microSD card slot to store recordings, which are then viewable in the app. I have a TP-Link Kasa cam indoors that operates the same way. Argus is wifi/battery powered and no base station.

[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

[nddomer1999]

@JamesC Thank you for this "Updated Documentation" that just confirms why I have chosen to "End of Life" my relationship with Arlo and any Future products they put on the shelf. I have also contacted the management at Costco who have provided me a FULL Refund of 2 camera systems totalling $1500 that were purchased in their retail store in 2018. I have used that refund to purchase a competitor product rather than reinvest in another product that will just become useless in a couple of years. Unfortunately, The backtracking of the 7 day online storage policy comes a little to late for me and I'm sure it can be reversed at any time by your corporate decision makers. 

I wish the best of luck to your company. 

[cbaileyuk]

How very cute.

A realisation that the promise in a bilateral agreement has to be complied with. Seriously cute. This has saved the Arlo organisation some litigation cost, as that is where it was headed. I was looking forward to showing the judge the "waybackwhen" archives, "free, never expires" and then walking out of the courtroom 😊.

Looks like we might be able to move on with our lives now. Promises of "never expires"....there's something to remember there for all. Don't make such promises if you can't hold on to them 😄

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

@JamesC  Thank you for making us aware!!!

I am quite relieved.

I will watch and see what transpires over the next year or two. I've spent A LOT of time the last month researching new cameras and companies, which did at least make me aware of what else was out there. It also showed that most of the other main offerings have had their own breach of trust/security issues. As long as Arlo doesn't do anything crazy again, I will consider them again, and others, when I need to replace cameras.

[CitizenNev]

2/10 EoS policy updated “1Main revisions are to a) continue to provide S3 Bucket (“7 days of free cloud recording”) for EOL’d hardware; b) extend EOL date for certain hardware; and c) provide critical security updates for EOL’d hardware up to one year after the hardware’s EOL date.” https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/arlo-end-of-life-policy-021023.pdf 

While Arlo is losing me as a customer, it would be amazing to know whether the next owner of our hardware will be able to set up an account and get the 7 days’ storage. 

[AmyArlo24]

I glanced over it and believe it is saying that my Arlo Pro will gain an extra 3 months before EOL?

What I would like to see happen in the future is a Use-By-Date on the packaging. If they are guaranteeing no less than  4 years after lastproduction run then it would be good to know when that EOL date is planned for. Then I can check all the products in the shop for the one that has the longest time left as  some ppl  pay $1100 and get 7 years of service and later adopters pay the same amount but because it sat in a warehouse for months after the final producion run and then sat at the back of the store shelf,  they may be lucky to get just over 3 yrs of service. How is this fair? 

The Arlo with 4 cameras was expensive but I thought I would get at least 7yrs support for he cameras..the same as I would for my mobile phone or my Windows on the computer . 

The industry needs to be more transparent and adopt a standard imo.

[StephenB]

---

@AmyArlo24 wrote:

I glanced over it and believe it is saying that my Arlo Pro will gain an extra 3 months before EOL?

---

I think the more important change is that they decided to continue 7-day free cloud storage indefinitely for the EoL cameras.  Though the change to 1 January 2025 for the EoL date of the Pro 2 (among other cameras) is also significant.

One thing is clear - the customer reactions to the original EoL announcement definitely had an impact.

---

@AmyArlo24 wrote:

 but because it sat in a warehouse for months after the final producion run and then sat at the back of the store shelf,  they may be lucky to get just over 3 yrs of service. How is this fair? 

---

That particular issue affects all major electronic purchases, not just Arlo.  You can find "new" PCs, disk drives, routers, etc that are similarly old inventory. 

Plus closeout sales shortly before new models are introduced are common - which reduces old inventory, but still results in consumers buying electronics that are about to be taken off the market.

Not sure if that is unfair.  I've often purchased products in those closeout sales because I liked the price.  And I've frequently bought new PCs with last-generation CPUs because they were a better value than the latest and greatest.  It does require the consumer to research their purchases, but there is nothing new about that.

---

@AmyArlo24 wrote:

What I would like to see happen in the future is a Use-By-Date on the packaging. If they are guaranteeing no less than  4 years after lastproduction run then it would be good to know when that EOL date is planned for.

---

I don't see the electronics industry voluntarily putting expiration dates on the product packaging.  That would only happen if governments started requiring that. 

I agree that the "at least 4 years after production stops" is crazy, since no one (even Arlo) can predict when that will happen.  At least 7 years after product introduction is much more consumer friendly, since introduction dates are fairly easy for consumers to find.  I think 7 years from launch is a reasonable EoL expectation for most consumer electronics. 

Although Arlo unfortunately didn't change the EoL "4 years after production stops" language policy, they did adjust the dates so that the cameras' EoL date is now at least 7 years from the launch date.  The audio doorbell and arlo light are just a bit less (and were much less expensive than the cameras). 

[mamarcac]

---

@StephenB wrote:

---

@AmyArlo24 wrote:

I glanced over it and believe it is saying that my Arlo Pro will gain an extra 3 months before EOL?

---

I think the more important change is that they decided to continue 7-day free cloud storage indefinitely for the EoL cameras.  Though the change to 1 January 2025 for the EoL date of the Pro 2 (among other cameras) is also significant.

Yup, this is what really got my knickers in a twist, and Arlo deserves no credit or good will for doing the bare minimum of fulfilling the purchase agreement made with their customers when we bought their products and helped them become a profitable company.

[IrisKelowna]

I don't understand why the end of life policy not applying to everyone in the world. So I can fly to the UK to get the hardware update? 

Does the End of Life Policy apply to all regions?
The Arlo End of Life Policy applies to all regions except the EU and UK

[redsoxfan44]

I'm kinda okay with the changes.  In my case hardware EOL is 4 years 3 months from date of LAST manufacture (and 4 years 2 months from my purchase date).    It should be 7 years IMO, but as long as the cloud storage remains beyond hardware EOL, I am okay with it. 

I trust the hardware itself will continue to operate much longer than 4 years 3 months, but there is still risk that they can brick the hardware somehow with firmware and/or app and/or server changes.    This change of announced policy could be just a PR play and a few breadcrumbs to the screaming masses.     

Fwiw, I keep vehicles til the end. Last vehicle was 10 years old, 190k miles.   Last phone was 6 or 7 years old.   Current phone is 5 and a-ok.   My PC is 13 years old (and going strong).  Windows 7 has been EOL for awhile, but no problems here.   Even Chrome announced they would not be making updates on W7, but alas they DID!

[Edinburgh_lad1]

The decision to stop 7 day storage was the dumbest ever.

While I'm pleased that it's been reversed, unfortunately,  the customers won't forget that. Building a relationship with a customer based on trust is the most important one, and I'm surprised that the CEO of Arlo appears so clueless about this. (I've got three systems: Ultra, Pro2 and HD, all at different locations, and the only reason I went with Arlo Ultra is because of trust, but that's now gone.)

As the damage has now been done, once my current system goes or if an opportunity arises to sell it, I'll defo be looking at competition. I've had too many bad experiences with Arlo over the past several years: broken firmware updates, apps not working properly, now this 7 day storage saga, previously also an issue with access to storage on Ultra cameras. It's just constant and, sadly, these guys don't seem to be learning their lessons.  

[DOTTAT2]

I think the board of directors should take a long hard look at the CEO who got them here. Does this individual deserve to continue the business in the manner in which we have seen over the last month or so?

[Nancy_L]

I am relieved that the 7 day FREE cloud storage will continue as was included in my purchase, but email push notifications were also included FREE and is a very important part of the usability of my Arlo system. Without email notifications there is no way to notify anyone of activity unless they are logged into the Arlo app. 

[Kremmen]

As I understand the latest announcement then hats off to Arlo for listening.

For me I have now no intention of looking elsewhere for my main cameras.

I fully understand what EOL now means for our hardware regarding repair and that is understandable.

[Kremmen]

I'm sure I didn't post that bad grammar ......

I'm sure I posted : 

If I understand the latest announcement correctly then hats off to Arlo for listening.

 For me I now have no intention of looking elsewhere for my main cameras.

  I fully understand what EOL means for our hardware, regarding repair, and that is understandable.