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

[BrookeN]

Hello,

We understand the questions and confusion regarding the end-of-life devices. However, the devices can still be used. Some features will be limited or not available as the firmware of these devices will not be updated. If you are a member of Arlo Secure you will still be able to record video. On the link I provided is a list of the devices that will become EOL. I have included a link with FAQ regarding the EOL email that was received that I think will be helpful. 

Arlo Legacy Cameras End of Life

[rsstorey]

It's time for a class action lawsuit.  I bought a VMB4000 base station and five camera bundle about 2017/2018.  System worked perfection and I really like the local storage capability.  I received the end of life notice and I decided to upgrade my camera's to Pro4.  During this upgrade I received promo discount codes for on next purchase, and learned only at checkout that the promo codes are only good for full security bundles.  This information was never disclosed anywhere.  I only found out when I tried to use the promo code and had to contact support.

The Pro4 cameras are  compatible with the VMB4000.  After the trial subscription I tried to configure the the local storage and it failed.  I finally got with support again to spent about 45 minutes to troubleshoot the issue only to be told at the then, the local recording capability has been removed even though the app and web account still allow you to set it up but nothing is recorded and when you try to view the Library you only get a pop up to set up a subscription.  The popup can't be removed.

None of this information that their security systems "REQUIRE" s subscription is not disclosed in any marking by Arlo or their direct 3rd party sales venders, (Costco, etc.)

Using the free trial subscription also appear to be a scam because after the trial expires, you are past the eligible date to return to Costco (electronic device) or Arlo.

This screams class action lawsuit.

[Zzzzzzzzzz]

@rsstorey 

You can still return to Costco. Security cameras do not fall into the 90 day return category, so they can be returned at any time.

Sorry you had to go through all that. Thanks for sharing what you learned and experienced. 

I started with Arlo just around the same time as you. My Pro 2's still work well enough (knock on wood), but I will need to make a decision like you did. I was also looking at Pro 4 vs Ultra 2, leaning towards the Pro 4 because I prefer pixel-based detection. Shocked and disappointed to learn that they have disabled the local recording. I know that it's not accessible remotely, but I had assumed that the Pro 4 on a base station would record locally like my Pro 2's. Or maybe I should check my base station flash drive to see if its still recording for my Pro 2s.

[StephenB]

---

@rsstorey wrote:

 I finally got with support again to spent about 45 minutes to troubleshoot the issue only to be told at the then, the local recording capability has been removed 

You were given mis-information here, and I think might also not be understanding where your original cameras were storing the recordings.  Local recording on the VMB4000 works the same way it always has.

The VMB4000 supports local recording, but it has never supported playback.  With that base you have always needed to eject the USB storage and connect it to a PC for viewing. All the recordings you've ever seen in the app (and my.arlo.com) were stored in the Arlo Cloud - not the local usb storage.

The Pro 2 cameras you initially purchased were sold with 7 days of free cloud storage.  That 7-day free storage has always been limited to 5 unsubscribed cameras per account.  If you have more unsubscribed cameras, you lose the free storage on all of them.  This has always been the case (even back in 2017/2018).  

Arlo stopped selling the free 7-day cloud storage with new camera models back in 2018 (with the Ultra).  All of the currently sold cameras require a subscription for cloud storage. This is on the packaging (though I do wish it was more prominent).

It sounds like you ended up with more than 5 unsubscribed cameras in the account when the Pro 4 trial subscription expired.  That would explain the loss of cloud storage on the Pro 2 cameras.

Options are

1. create a new account for the Pro 4 cameras (and use the friend account feature to share them).  You'll get back the 7-day cloud service for the Pro 2 cameras, but will have no cloud storage for the Pro 4 cameras
2. remove cameras from the account to bring you back down to the 5 camera limit.  Then you will get back 7-day cloud storage on the Pro 2 cameras (but will have no cloud storage for the Pro 4 cameras)
3. replace the base with a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub.  These do support playback from local storage.  However, there are a lot of limitations, so you should research them before spending money on a new base.
4. Remove the Pro 4 cameras from the account and return them (as @Zzzzzzzzzz says, that is possible if you purchased from Costco).
5. get a subscription.

[Subdriver592]

From what I understand, you have decided to not support the products you have sold me. I find this unethical, ungodly, and outright theft. I will file a complaint with the BBB and Google Reviews as well as social media posts and comments to voice my opinion about your business practices. If I can influence even 3-4 people to steer clear of experiencing what I have by doing business with ARLO, then your financial losses will far exceed mine. I hope you improve your corporate ethics and morals in the future.

[ASO]

I have an Arlo secure paying subscription and the support told me today it's normal that I dont receive anymore mail notification because this feature was removed by management decision !

Ok so it's not anymore a security system, my investment in hw is lost and I will cancel my subscription as soon as I find another more reliable system/brand that shows some respect for their customers.

Arlo is dead, it's probably the last despicable announcement before bankruptcy.

[Nancy_L]

I had thought about getting some new Arlo cameras but now that you have stopped sending emails and text alerts it makes your entire product line unusable as a security system. Getting a beep on one device that lets me know someone is breaking into my home is not what I call security.  If I am in a noisy place or my phone is in my purse I can't hear the one ding I get from an alert.  I had set up emails and text alerts so I would be sure of hearing the alerts and I could set up more than one person to get alerts.  I purchased 4 base stations and 20 cameras that advertised email notifications and it was a great system.  Bye Arlo! I am taking my business elsewhere.  

[Greatscott2000]

Arlo going under, not likely. The share price has doubled since March. If your after a no-subscription alternative, I went for the TP Link Tapo 420 series. You can buy 1,2,3,4-cameras packages, spare batteries, solar panels (all far cheaper than Arlo).

[ASO]

Just to mention the brilliant Arlo change management: email notification feature can still be configured in the App and Web console, it just doesn't work anymore... Brilliant !

Btw my 8 cams and Arlo secure paying subscription are now useless without mail notification, I've just lost my investment and I'm now actively looking for another system/brand. And obviously I will put the worst rating to Arlo in all consumer site or forum I can access, I've seriously never seen before such a despicable company.

[VirtuallyMark]

ARLO seems to be removing more and more features regularly.  The company is just flat out dishonest.  I now see I made a mistake in buying Arlo cameras.  I recommend to all my friends to never make the mistake I did.

[ildiavolorosso]

There's a term for this. It's called En**bleep**tification and it seems to be endemic to so many companies' business models these days...

 first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. 

EDIT - I love how Arlo has their censorware turned up to 11 in this forum. Here's the actual term:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En**bleep**tification