Is it time to quit Arlo? I just bought a SimpliSafe.

[szee]

If I'm violating rules on this forum, so be it.  After a "forced" upgrade of the Arlo app, my ancient (5 years)  Arlo Pro 2 can't go back to its former revision (as informed by customer service).  I view it as Arlo's way of forcing me into a subscription and out of the free cloud storage for legacy products as well as "enticing" me to upgrade.  I would have been grudgingly content with the minimal customer service, lousy motion detection, one-way sound and marginal resolution, if the system (cameras; batteries; battery charger; lights) I invested > $1000 five years ago didn't turn into a brick without a subscription.  All they've done is force me from Arlo.  

[Edinburgh_lad1]

It's very disappointing to hear that after one has spent so much money on equipment, it can be potentially made useless within a specific amount of time.

However, your system should still be working. Reset the system and add it to the app as normal. Sone people on here complained though that they weren't able to do that anymore. There's a workaround that may work and @StephenB might be able to help.

If nothing works, you might need to consider a complaint to Federal Trade Commission. 

[BrookeN]

@szee your system should still be working as expected. Can you please reset the basestation and see if that resolves the behavior you are seeing.

[szee]

The system works if not for the relabeling of certain cameras.  Am I incorrect that once the new revision is loaded, you are required to have a subscription to allow for storage (cloud or otherwise)?  My old PRO 2 system allowed for local storage, but I relied on the limited cloud storage provided by Arlo on the grandfathered systems.  I would have been content with just local storage and my old revision software.

[BrookeN]

The Pro 2 will still have the 7 day local storage like it always has. 

[StephenB]

---

@szee wrote:

 Am I incorrect that once the new revision is loaded, you are required to have a subscription to allow for storage (cloud or otherwise)?  My old PRO 2 system allowed for local storage, but I relied on the limited cloud storage provided by Arlo on the grandfathered systems.  I would have been content with just local storage and my old revision software.

---

New camera models (starting with the Ultras back in 2018) do require a subscription to get any cloud storage.

But free 7-day cloud storage is still provided for the legacy cameras like the Pro 2.  You do need to no more than 5 unsubscribed cameras in the account to get that storage - that is not a new limitation, it has always been the case. 

Migrating from "Library" to "Feed" doesn't affect the free cloud storage.  So if you had free recording before you switched to the new app interface, you should still have it now.  If you ended up with trial subscriptions when you were migrated, then the free storage (with the shorter retention) will resume when the trial expires.

As far as local storage goes, the old VMB4000 bases support local recording, but do not support any playback.  So you need to eject the storage using the app, and then connect it to a PC in order to view those recordings.  The two smarthub models (VMB4540 and VMB5000) do provide a way to view local recordings in the app.