Pro 4 stopped recording after trial expired

[Nanlee]

my trial subscription ended on the 16th,  The camera will now will no longer record is this the norm since I have no subscription? All my other cameras record motion without a subscription All I see is this.

[StephenB]

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@Nanlee wrote:

my trial subscription ended on the 16th,  The camera will now will no longer record is this the norm since I have no subscription? 

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Yes.  Older Arlo cameras came with 7 days of free cloud recording.  But all current models don't come with that feature, and need a subscription to get any cloud recording.  That began back in 2018 when the Ultra was launched.

[Nanlee]

I am not talking about cloud storage.  All my other older cameras still record motion to my phone and computer without cloud or subscription. The new arlo 4 will not record anything since they ended the trial.  If the arlo 4 does not record  anything without a  paid subscription I may as well throw it away.

[StephenB]

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@Nanlee wrote:

I am not talking about cloud storage. 

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Actually you are, since your old cameras are using a VMB4500 hub.

Your old legacy cameras are storing to the Arlo Cloud, not directly to your phone.  All the recordings you see in the app and browser are coming from the Arlo Cloud storage, they are not being directly stored to the phone.  The VMB3000 doesn't support any local storage at all.  The VMB4000 and VMB4500 support local storage, but do not support playback.  The only way to see videos stored on their USB drives is to eject the storage and attach those drives to a PC. 

There is a direct access to local storage feature in the VMB4540 and VMB5000 smarthubs, but it has a lot of restrictions:

1. recordings only available in the app (not the browser)
2. recordings only available from the main account (not friend accounts)
3. no ability to make manual recordings or snapshots
4. no thumbnails - videos need to be downloaded to the phone before you see anything
5. remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult (and which don't work with some internet service providers).

[Nanlee]

 do you mean by old legacy cameras? My arlo pro cameras both record motion and I can see it and it is saved on my computer and my phone with NO subscription. I do not have to use a usb in my base to do so. please excuse my ignorance. are you telling me that my arlo4 can not do the same as my pro 2 cameras? That I can only record if I use a usb in the base or buy a subscription? To be very honest I am ready to dump all these cameras as I do have a subscription for my pro3 which keeps telling me there is an animal or vehicle on my patio but it is only rain. And all my setting are correct.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@Nanlee wrote:

 do you mean by old legacy cameras? My arlo pro cameras both record motion and I can see it and it is saved on my computer and my phone with NO subscription.

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Yes, I do mean these cameras.

But you are missing an important aspect.  The videos are NOT being saved on your computer or your phone. They are saved in the Arlo Cloud, and retrieved from the cloud over the internet every time you look at them.  If that were not the case, you wouldn't be able to review any videos that were saved when the phone (or computer) were turned off.  The only way to get them onto your phone (or computer) is to manually download them.

The Pro cameras (like all legacy cameras) were sold with 7 days of free cloud storage, so no subscription is needed for those cameras.

But the Pro 3 and Pro 4 cameras are not sold with that feature, so need a subscription.

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@Nanlee wrote:

 my pro3 which keeps telling me there is an animal or vehicle on my patio but it is only rain. 

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I agree that the image classification can be hit-or-miss. 

There might be something in the field of view that is tricking the AI classifier into thinking it is an animal or vehicle.  There was a post a while back from someone who had a motorcycle parked in the field of view with the helmet.  The AI was confused by that classifying it as a person if I recall it correctly).

[Pay11Ray00]

Nanlee,

Did you find a resolution to your problem because we are having the same problem?  We also bought the Arlo Pro 4 and very disappointed so far.  Now our trial is up and we have no security at all.  We were told that we could hook cameras to our old hub and still be able to get video but that is not true.  We hooked them up and we get notifications but no recordings.  Now we are $500 in the hole with no security!  And I did not purchase cameras just so I could pay even more for a subscription! 😞

[jguerdat]

What base or hub do you have? Did you use the base/hub settings to set up local recordings in Storage Settings? Be aware that you can only use the app to see these recordings if you have either a VMB4540 or 5000 SmartHub - the older ones don't support direct viewing. You would need to safely Eject  the drive to be viewed on a computer.

[Nanlee]

No I have not found any solution other than getting rid of this camera, putting a usb into the hub then removing it and putting into computer to view videos is not working for me. My old pro2 cameras do not have any subscription and I can view all videos without a usb.  I may be arlo camera illiterate but I don't get it. 

[Nanlee]

I have a vmb4500 hub is that one that will not work? it has a usb  place in the hub.

[Nanlee]

WOW it took me a long time to get this but I get it now, I should have stuck with the pro2  with the free 7 day clous storage and not bought the pro3 and 4 if I could not afford a subscription.  Thank you for your answers and your patience in my questions.

[jfs13579]

My camera picture looks the same as the photo that Nanlee sent in. Horizontal lines only. I noticed you didn't answer why his picture looked like that. Please answer.

Until recently this camera (vmc 4041p) worked well with my vmb 4000 hub, and even though the hub has 3 green lights on, I get no picture or even local usb stick recordings.

What's going on?

[StephenB]

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@Nanlee wrote:

I have a vmb4500 hub is that one that will not work? it has a usb  place in the hub.

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The VMB4500 supports recording, but not playback.  You need to eject the storage and connect it to a PC for viewing.

If you want to see the local recordings in the app, you need either a VMB4540 or a VMB5000.  There are a lot of caveats with this feature, and IMO it is not a great experience:

• recordings can only be seen in the app, not the browser
• recordings can only be seen from the primary account (not friend accounts)
• no ability to make manual recordings or take snapshots
• no thumbnails - all videos need to be downloaded to your phone to see anything.
• remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult (and which do not work with some internet service providers)

[Soosee]

My old Arlo Pro 2 Cameras are still recording and being saved on my mobile app. They do get automatically deleted after a certain amount of days. I do not have a subscription. If I purchase the Pro 4 cameras without subscribing will I "not" be able to view recordings on my mobile app?

[Soosee]

Thank you for clarifying. I think I will not be purchasing the Pro 4 cameras. They're on sale right now and that is probably why. lol

[ShayneS]

@Soosee 

The Pro 4 cameras require an active subscription to save to the cloud. You can utilize the local storage feature though if you like. 

[Soosee]

So does this mean I can use the pro4 cams after the April deadline and still watch the recordings on my app or logging into Arlo like I do now with my Arlo pro 2 recordings? 
sorry just trying to clarify. Mine are not on the cloud just on the app or website. 

[StephenB]

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@Soosee wrote:

Mine are not on the cloud just on the app or website. 

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You are wrong on that.  All the recordings you see now are stored in the Arlo Cloud.   They are only stored on the device if you choose to manually download them (which is different from viewing them).

Your old cameras came with 7 days of cloud recording.  Currently sold cameras (including the Pro 4) cameras are not sold with that feature, and need a subscription for any cloud storage.  So you will lose cloud recording if you drop the subscription for those cameras.  

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@Soosee wrote:

So does this mean I can use the pro4 cams after the April deadline and still watch the recordings on my app or logging into Arlo like I do now with my Arlo pro 2 recordings? 

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Not sure that you mean by the April deadline.  But I am guessing that is when the trial ends???

FWIW, if you are thinking about the end-of-life, then your Pro 2 cameras will continue to work after that.  At some point that might end, but you could just wait for that to happen before you take any action.

Assuming you have Pro 4 cameras in a trial subscription plan... The simplest path is to get a subscription in April (maybe a day or so before the trial ends).  The Pro 4 cameras should automatically shift to the paid subscription when/if you do that.

Alternatively, there is a direct access to local storage feature for the app (but my.arlo.com).  Some use this instead of a subscription.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it

Direct access to local storage requires a new base (either a VMB4540 or a VMB5000).  Likely you don't have one, but if you want to check, look for a VMBxxxx label on the base.  It's not as good as a subscription, and has quite a few limitations:

• recordings only available from the primary account (not friend accounts)
• recordings only available from the app (not the browser)
• no ability to make manual recordings or take snapshots
• no thumbnails, recordings need to be downloaded to the phone to see anything
• remote access requires router setting changes that many find difficult (and which don't work with some internet service providers).

Note that activity zones and smart notifications are also subscription features.