Mandatory Two-Step Authentication (Verification) a Bad Idea

[ChrisKay]

Making this mandatory is an exceedingly bad idea since it will slow down authentication and when it breaks—and it occasionally will—it will prevent access completely.  At least give the end-user the option of deciding how much protection to require for the account.

[wysocki]

I've had the Arlo Pro in my backyard for years just watching my koi pond and looking for varmints. I really don't care if anyone wants to watch all that. The 2 factor has made my monitoring life miserable! I'm going to take all this back to Costco for a refund even though is a few years old. Costco never argues and just passes the cost of the return back to the vendor. Take that, Arlo/Netgear!

[Xomniuri]

A profoundly bad idea to make 2FA mandatory.

Optional is a great thing to offer your customers, but mandatory is a blatant way of locking any third part access to your system, without offering any of this functionality.

Personally i own 3 base stations and over 11 cameras and i will be selling them all off if you continue to force me to use 2FA

Your not the only ones selling easy to install Wi-Fi cameras anymore, stop acting like you are and listen to your customers

Next thing you'll do is force everyone to buy a subscription to use the cameras and then you'll be sitting in a ghost town as 90% of your remaining customers drop your product like a rock.

Don't be asshats and let your users decide if they want to use it or not

[Ozphoenix]

If this 2-step crap goes ahead, I'm taking a brick to our Arlo cameras. Where do I mail them back to? 🙂

We're being stalked by a local company and some neighbours. If everytime something happens and I need to access the cameras, and I then have to wait for a pathetic, time-wasting user code from Arlo to do it, that is a serious (and maybe life-threatening) issue for us. I say that because the harassment we are enduring is an ongoing issue for us, the Police refuse to do anything about it, and I have had people try to run over me about 5 times now. 

At the moment, my car is out the front with the dashcam recording, as the resolution on the Arlo camera is also way too bad to read plates - something which is also Arlo's fault as they reduced the bit-rate to save money on storing users videos.

You would have to be completely ignorant and clueless to buy any Arlo product. Seriously.

[MikeBravo]

If anything bad happens as a result-----sue them out of existence.

[JLD52]

So far yes. Very annoying.

[J_ry]

Selling mine if they follow through with disabling accounts on 11/30.

[dcfox1]

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@J_ry wrote:

Selling mine if they follow through with disabling accounts on 11/30.

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Not sure where you saw it will disable your system. Other brand cameras also have 2FA or are going to it also. 

[J_ry]

The big yellow banner at the top of this page, or the pop-up screen when I log in:

"Arlo requires all users to activate two-step verification by Nov 30th, 2020 to continue to access your recordings, devices, and account."

Other brands may not have the latency problems that Arlo does. Or maybe they'll work out the kinks with a PC as a trusted device, etc., before rolling out 2FA. Other brands may offer it as an option to the user, so they can decide how to balance security and speedy access. End of the day I want a security system I can access quickly from wherever I am and I am sure there is a solution out there that makes more sense. 

[oillogger]

For all of you considering jumping ship to another brand, which system are you looking at and what does it offer that is attractive to you?  I have heard some liking Ring and I believe one was considering Blink. 

[dcfox1]

@oillogger If you are talking about another brand without 2FA Ring had 2FA back in early 2020 when I switched. Not sure about Blink. 

[wysocki]

It's ok to have 2FA available. Just not MANDATORY.

if the user doesn't want it. EULA would prob have to protect vendor from lawsuits if someone is hacked while not using 2FA though.

[oillogger]

Any brand and why.  Of course I prefer not having 2FA if possible and a better 2FA system if forced to have it.  Also interested in the features as well as if you have to pay for cloud storage.  I viewed a review a couple of days ago for Blink.  The guy got around paying for cloud storage by using flash memory in the small hub.  The Blink menu also appeared to be fairly versatile.  1080P outdoor cameras with two AA lithium batteries that last up to 2 years.  I am sure there are some negatives and maybe a show stopper with Blink.  The fact the batteries are not chargeable is a just small negative because of the long lifespan.

[LMKpittsburgh]

Two Step Verification is not friendly & definitely not A.D.A. friendly.  

Missed a delivery when I had to get my glasses  in order to read verification code on my phone & then enter it for viewing on my computer.   Just wanted to see who was at door before unlocking it.

Thankful driver left tag  so I knew who came.

Why have cameras when they become useless by delaying a quick viewing of "Who's at the door"

Regret I ever purchased ARLO.

[dcfox1]

@LMKpittsburgh 

Not a fan of 2FA either but why not just do a quick look on your phone app then use 2FA  to log into computer if you need to. At least for me the app is quicker the the web page. 

[oillogger]

You would be surprised at the number of people that do not own smart phones.  The 2FA is understandingly a huge problem for them.  I had a part time job to keep my retired self entertained for a while.  The number of customers looking for only a simple cell phone was more than I ever figured.  All they cared about was making calls.   There was enough it surprises me now when some companies only want to communicate via text or an app.  This week using my PC I tried logging into my online website account for a well known national fast food joint.  It would not let me login with my PC even after resetting my password a few times.  So I gave their app on my smart phone.  I was able to log in with the last password I had changed to on my PC and was able to place my order.  Apparently that fast food joint now only allows internet orders via their app and not their website.

[dcfox1]

I was referring to him/her stating they had a phone getting the code.  But yea see your point. My 76 year old  dad does not have one. At least my mother does hehe. And yea food joints are going that way to app over web. 

[MikeBravo]

oillogger,

Our neighbor has a few Blink camera and likes them. As far as we know Blink still does not have a pc portal which is a deal breaker for us. Don't know about Ring having one. 

[EOSJOE]

I almost went with Blink without knowing they didn't support PC access.  That would have been a bummer as most of my camera access is from a PC.

[Minburn57]

Just give your customers reliability . . . . .that would provide much more security than this 2-step verification nonsense.

[Minburn57]

By the way, dump this requirement.

You want to provide your users 'security'?  Make your system more reliable.

'That' is the security users are looking for when they purchase Arlo.

[oillogger]

So no PC interface and 2FA mandatory for Blink.  Well the Blink system is O-U-T of the running.  At least Arlo has a PC interface for the cameras.

[Linusl]

Why not have a look at Ankers Eufy cameras. The pro 2 and 2c have built in person detection.

This is why I have continued with arlo. Because I do not want a push for every time a bush wiggles in the wind. And so far only arlo and eufy can provide me with that. Arlo for a sub fee and eufy free of charge.

But I also got confirmed that no one will be forced to use 2fa as long as they do not forgot their password they will not get locked out and be able to login and and access cameras. I can say this is 99.9% true.

[MikeBravo]

LinusL,

But I also got confirmed that no one will be forced to use 2fa as long as they do not forgot their password they will not get locked out and be able to login and and access cameras. I can say this is 99.9% true.

Is that from Arlo?

[Linusl]

@MikeBravo

Yes. That came from Arlo. Not support but higher up from someone that actually knows the ins and outs of how its built. But who knows what businessdecision will be changed before 30th.

Just that forcing this upon paying subscribers and locking them out would just result in mass cancellations of subscriptions. No business wants that so we will soon find out how it effects us.

[Chang_Lee]

Absolutely agree! We have a nanny share with two parents in each that access Arlo separately to monitor our children during the day. I understand that this is a tech security issue that may be an excellent idea for some, but it is a safety issue for our families if we cannot use Arlo in a way that is helpful for our households. If these security measures are indeed made mandatory, we will be replacing our video system early in the new year 2021.