Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!

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Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-15 22:52:52 - last edited 2021-08-10 07:07:17

I hope this does not upset anyone, but I felt this need to be said.

 

Nest used to, and still does in most countries charge for cloud storage on a per camera basis.

As we can all understand this will stop many people from getting multiple cameras for their home.

 

Thankfully Google has seen the light, and is in the process of changing this, giving you the option of new plans which cover your entire home.

So you can buy more camera's without being hit with a new subscription for each one.

 

I was very sad to see TP Link have gone down this old route Goole did, and are changing a seperate subscription for each camera.

Having just bought two TP Link cameras, and being very impressed by the video quality. Very nice indeed. Top marks :)

And I would probably buy more, both inside and out the home, but I'm not going to bother, if I have to pay a subscription for every single one as that would work out to a crazy amount per year.

 

Given that 2 years is a LONG time from now, and I presume TP link would love to see people buying more camera hardware, do you think there is a chance that a complete home plan, to complete with Google/Nest's new home plan might be something that could be considered?

 

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-16 14:24:39

@SnaffyNoo I've got the same annoyance; I've bought two - and two years really isn't that long.  In two years these things might or might not die.

I'd be happy to pay for the storage *space* rather than per camera.  Or have an API to pull my cloud data down to a local storage.

 

It's just frustrating there's no SD card slot, no RTSP, no APIs etc so I can't write my own stuff if I need to.  I mean I want to buy another half dozen of these, but an extra 40-70 dollars each per year after 2 years? Ugh.

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-16 20:19:46

@warlockuk 

 

I'm finding it hard to get a accurate answer to what exactly happens to each of the 4 popular camera models, if, after the free period, which seems to be mentioned to be 2 years you cannot afford to pay a sub for each camera.

 

I was thinking about buying perhaps 6 of the KC200 outdoor models, but again, not if they are going to die unless I pay 6 more subscriptions each month.

 

Can anyone from TP link, PLEASE clarify what exactly will happen after the initial 2 year trial if you can't afford to pay all these subscriptions?

 

KC100, KC 110, KC120, KC200 

 

Thank you

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-16 23:09:58

@SnaffyNoo 

 

Can someone from TP Link please clarify the situation?

 

Looking at this page:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/2634/

 

And let's use the KC120 or KC200 as examples.

 

It says the following:

 

Kasa Care Free Plan 2-Days/1GB 2-Days/1GB

 

Kasa Care Plus  14-Days/14GB
$4.00/month or $40.00/year

14-Days/14GB
$4.00/month or $40.00/year

 

 

Kasa Care Premium  30-Days/30GB
$7.00/month or $70.00/year
30-Days/30GB
$7.00/month or $70.00/year

 

 

Another web page says this:

 

When you register a Kasa Cam, you can enjoy the free Kasa Care service. With the free service, you will only have access to 2-days or less of video history for the Kasa cameras, depending on the camera’s model number. You will have to upgrade to one of our paid subscription plans to be able to access more than 2 days of video history.

 

Note: All the Kasa cameras will apply a 2-year limitation for the free plan. At the end of the free plan, you need to subscribe to one of the paid plans to continue to use the cloud storage.

 

So if we have some Kasa Cams, and cannot afford multiple subscriptions for every individual camera, what happens after the 2 years are up?

Does it revert to the free service only ( 2 Days /1GB)

Or does it stop totally and there is zero storage in the cloud, and it's only live view on the phone app?

 

Please clarify as I don't think this is being made very clear.

 

I do like the Kaza Cams and have a lot of other TP Link equipment, but I can't invest more into the Cameras unless I can have clear confirmation on these questions.

 

Thank you.

 

 

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-16 23:15:51

@SnaffyNoo hell I'd be happy with a straight 30gb storage with a script to pull data to a backup local drive. Seems pricey though, I literally pay like...£2 per month for 100gb of a Google drive. Even using that would work for me.

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-17 20:22:41

@SnaffyNoo 

Actually I'm shocked and I must say pretty dissapointed that it's now been two days.

You have customers already invested in TP Link equipment, who very much like it, and are wishing to get clarification before deciding to buy more.

And no one "official" has responded to offer us clarification and clear explanations related to the question.

 

:(

 

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-18 21:25:34

@SnaffyNoo 

 

Whilst still we have had no reply.

I still wish to state that I do like TP Link products, and I wish and hope they continue to make new products, and hopefully push to try and create products, especially camera;s that are up with the best of the competition.

 

I have a Google Next IQ camera, really expensive, 4K sensor, but only records in 1080p (stupid design choice if you ask me)

I also have a Kasa KC120 which is about 1/4 of the price.

 

Whils the software and alerts and a few other aspects do not match the Nest product.

The basic image quality of the TP link KASA camera is better than the 4x more expensive Google/Nest product.

 

So much so I have removed the expensive camera and today replaced it with my KC120 Kasa camera.

 

I really want to like all aspects of this brand.

The customer support (silence on these forums) is a shame though.

 

Also KASA, please consider (as I have said a number of times) scrapping the model of charging subscriptions on a Per-Camera basis, and create the option to pay 1 price to cover a home. that way people will buy more cameras which can onyl be a good thing.

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-20 23:07:31

@SnaffyNoo 

 

Despite all I have said, which may make you think I'm unhappy with TP Link, I'm not.

In fact I have just placed an order for a further two KC120 camera's

To go along with the KC120 and KC100 I already have.

 

For the price, I'm very happy with the image quality, and the nice wide spread of the night vision IR illumination which is something often overlooked.

 

Still hoping, TP-Link will reconsider KASA Care soon, and offer 1 price per household as opposed to per camera.

Would encourance more people to buy more camera's then I'm sure.

 

 

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-21 14:43:25

@SnaffyNoo One minor source of irritation for me is that the cameras claim that there's a free trial of the 'premium' services until they actually launch, with no date related to that.

This potentially means that the service I'm using is not indicitive of my two years' 'free' service, and for all I know it may be utterly terrible once it kicks in - and I'll be outside the return window for these devices.

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-21 21:17:58

@SnaffyNoo 

 

Indeed, wel I hope they stick to their word with the 2 year free cloud from date of purchase.

I recieved and set up my new two KC120 cams today, to go with the KC120 and KC100 I purchased a couple of weeks ago.

 

Trying to stick with one brand as much as possible as it seems daft to keep buying different brands and having to give permisson/access to yet another company.

I could get two more. Not sure yet.

 

As you can imagine the concept of paying individual subscriptions for 6 camera's is not something I'd be keen on, especially as they are only recording short alert clips and not constant video as Nest cams do.

 

Let's see what happens in 2 years I guess, as that's a LONG time for things to hopefully change for the better in the tech industry, and TP Link is a brand I like an would like to stick with into the future.

 

PS. TP Link, Please make a 8mp 4K version of the KC120. PLEASE !!!!!!

 

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Re:Kasa Care - TPlink reconsider ? 2 years Free? - Might as well just throw cam away instead!
2020-01-22 09:21:26

@SnaffyNoo 

 

Hi all, thanks for your inquiries and suggestions, we will forward them to our product department and they will keep an eye on similar feedback and evaluate the feasibility. 

 

As for the KASA care, it has been launched in the US only now. The kasa care plan you listed is suitable for the official kasa care which is not released in UK or other countries.

 

Before the official KASA care plan came out, UK users can enjoy the 30 days free trial, which is to say, you can use the 30 days premium plan until the KASA care launched. 

 

The detailed plan for KASA care in UK is still unsure, but it should be the same as the US one. You can select free plan, premium plan or plus plan; and the free plan lasts for two years only. And it counts since you connect the camera to the cloud. For example, if you have bound the camera to your cloud account for 1 year already, and the kasa care came out, then 1 year kasa care free plan left. 

 

Wish I make myself clear. 

 

Have a good day. 

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