Won’t go to Library

[DTro]

I have 4 of the older Pro series and base station that does not require subscription. I just added 2 refurbished Arlo Essential Spot light cameras (1st Gen). to the base station. Only 1 of the new Essentials sends recordings to my library. The other activates but doesn’t send a recording to library. I have a total of 5 cameras combined on the system. Any idea why 1 won’t go to library? And no, I don’t have a paid subscription. I am able to store 7 days of recordings without it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

[StephenB]

---

@DTro wrote:

I have 4 of the older Pro series and base station that does not require subscription. I just added 2 refurbished Arlo Essential Spot light cameras (1st Gen). to the base station. Only 1 of the new Essentials sends recordings to my library. The other activates but doesn’t send a recording to library. I have a total of 5 cameras combined on the system. Any idea why 1 won’t go to library? 

---

The free 7-day cloud storage was included with your Pro cameras - not any cameras paired with the base.  It is (and has always been) limited to no more than 5 unsubscribed cameras per account.

The Essential cameras (like all currently sold Arlo cameras)  were not sold with any free cloud storage.  The camera that is recording must be in the trial subscription plan.  And when that subscription expires you will lose the free recording on the Pro cameras.

[DannyBearAgain]

Arlo only allows a max of five unsubscribed legacy cameras per account to use the 7days free cloud storage.

Check that the essential camera is using the 30days free trial subscription that goes with the later model cameras that need a paid subscription post trial expiration.

[DTro]

The issue isn’t with the Pro cameras. Those have always recorded to my library and still do. I do not have and never have had a cloud subscription with the old Pro system. The issue is with the 2 Essentials. Only one of those Essentials is loading video into my library and the other is not. I haven’t signed up for the free trial period for the Essentials. Again, these are refurbished Essentials with a 90 day guarantee. Not sure why one would load into library and the other won’t. I’ve already Removed Device and Added New Device back on with no luck. Thanks for taking the time to help. Any other ideas would be appreciated. 

[jguerdat]

Have you checked the subscription status to see if both new cameras are in their trial period? It may be that one of them was previously installed by the original purchaser which would have used that trial so as a second owner you didn't get it.

In any case, a subscription is needed for these cameras in order to have cloud recordings. Once the trial expired for any reason you'll need a paid subscription for those recordings.

[DTro]

I believe that may in fact be the case. Thank you. That makes sense now. I’ll simply return these Essentials and find the older more expensive Arlo Pro 2 (mod 4030) and add that to the system. Unless it will also require a subscription at some point. Please advise if you know. And thank you 

[StephenB]

---

@DTro wrote:

I believe that may in fact be the case. Thank you. That makes sense now. I’ll simply return these Essentials and find the older more expensive Arlo Pro 2 (mod 4030) and add that to the system. Unless it will also require a subscription at some point. Please advise if you know. And thank you 

---

The Pro 2 is the VMC4030P.  The VMC4030 is the older 720 Pro camera.

The free cloud storage is still offered on those cameras - though it is (and has always been) limited to 5 unsubscribed cameras per account.

Some folks can't install used cameras because the previous owner failed to remove them from their Arlo account prior to sale.  Also, if the camera firmware is very old the camera might not install.

Arlo isn't guaranteeing that end-of-life cameras won't lose features over time.  Specifics are here:

• https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/Arlo-End-of-Life-Policy_06_01_2023_Final.pdf

[DannyBearAgain]

Since you already have 4 unsubscribed legacy Cameras in your account you can only add one more legacy camera to get the 7days free cloud storage.

Before arlo changed the app UI experience which now uses a feed page instead of library page, it forces you to require an additional subscription for additional locations/accounts that prevents you from having another account at the same location that was possible with the older UI library version of the app to exceed the max camera policy introduced by arlo.

All the while the arlo app is becoming more buggier to add legacy cameras going by customer reports.