To renew or not to renew?

[ryuk6]

I'm years in with 4xArlo Pro 2 (one bricked atm) and 1xDoorbell Video Unwired. I've had them all working on Apple HomeKit but now it's time to renew [my annual subscription].

So, what are my options?

I want to maintain the capability to view each camera live and review the last seven day's worth of alerts, which it seems to be able to do on those cameras, but not the doorbell, without a subscription. Is this the correct interpretation? So I should subscribe for the doorbell only? Or shift to local storage? If so, how difficult is that?

[StephenB]

Did you post this twice? (using a different user name)?

• https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo/To-renew-or-not-to-renew/m-p/2451623

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@ryuk6 wrote:

I'm years in with 4xArlo Pro 2 (one bricked atm) and 1xDoorbell Video Unwired.

I want to maintain the capability to view each camera live and review the last seven day's worth of alerts, which it seems to be able to do on those cameras, but not the doorbell, without a subscription. Is this the correct interpretation? 

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Yes.

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@ryuk6 wrote:

So I should subscribe for the doorbell only? Or shift to local storage? If so, how difficult is that?

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Both paths would work.  The subscription is much easier.

Accessing local recordings from the app requires that you get a VMB4540 or VMB5000 smarthub.  If you do that, I suggest that you leave your Pro 2 cameras connected to your current hub, and only use the smarthub for the doorbell.  The reason is that many folks have had trouble when they've tried reinstalling old cameras.

Direct access to local storage has several limitations:

1. recordings can only be viewed from the app (not my.arlo.com)
2. recordings can only be viewed using the primary account (not "friend" accounts)
3. no thumbnails - each recording needs to be downloaded to your phone before viewing
4. no ability to make snapshots or manual recordings
5. remote access requires router setting changes that some find difficult (and which do not work with some internet service providers).

In my experience, the direct access to local storage feature isn't that reliable - and Arlo is quite slow to fix bugs in that feature.

Also, keep in mind that Activity Zones and AI features (package detection, etc) require a subscription.  So if you use these features now, you will lose them when you drop the subscription.