✅ What They Don't Tell You - Blink Sync Module 2 Local Storage - How Does It Work - No Subscription 

Blink Sync Module 2 on Amazon: amzn.to/3eJ1uw5 USB Flash Drive I purchased for storage (works well): amzn.to/3bptqD9

Great video. I've watched several trying to figure out what we would give up without the cloud, and none were as clear as your presentation!

much appreciated - you answered all the questions I had about the USB storage process after the Cloud subscription ends

I just wanted to comment and say thank you. I may have been rushing this but could not figure out where to find my local storage clips. You rock 👏

Oh wow! So glad you made this video. I bought 2 Mini's as add-ons to my XT2 system. Of course, after 30 days they were basically useless to me. Amazon sent me the Sync Module 2 for free (for my 1-star review), but I gave up trying to make it work. I decided to try it again today (after a year) and found your video when I was looking for a workaround. Got it capturing video clips finally, so thank you!

Thanks brofessor. You explained the unknown. I truly appreciate it 🙏

Good summary, very useful. Wished you they did a POE powered connected module, or the ability to access the USB drive on the local network. The latter would be a choice for local home automation (but guess could hack something together with a microcontroller to act as a USB drive and enable that feature) My year trial ends soon, so exploring options, this video was very handy in clarifying things.

THANK YOU. This was super useful. I have the original sync module and two outdoor cameras and the subscription was free. I added two new cameras and Amazon changed my subscription to the 30 day trial. I'm sick of paying for subscriptions and plan to get the Sync 2 module with local storage. My biggest question (which you answered) was if I could view the locally stored clips via the app when I'm away from home. Thank you for addressing this as it was hard to find this info anywhere else.

It was unclear to me what I could expect without a cloud subscription. Your crystal clear explanation answered all my questions. Well done! I've also benefited from your videos regarding T Mobile Home Internet. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the detail...New Blink owner this past week. Impressed.

Nice, I had no idea had the local storage works until know! Thanks

Thanks for making this follow up video, you answered all my questions.

Nice review. Lots of good info. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

You rock bro! I got the system because of you, thanks for your help.

Thank you so much for this! You really helped me understand what I needed to know. I really do appreciate it. 🙏🏾

I'm sold! They're on sale right now so I'll be getting a few. Thanks for the excellent review. :)

You answered all my questions about this product. Thank you.

Awesome video you answered every single question I had

Great information. I have a subscription and was getting "USB full" notices, and was frustrated that I was unable to manage that storage using the app. Now I know I can just eliminate my subscription and still have access to all my files. I have about 6 months on a 64GB USB, which is equivalent to your experinece of around 128GB per year

Thanks… 10:12 this video was SUPER helpful! I’m ordering the Blink sync module 2 now 🎉🎉🎉

This was a great review appreciate it and subscribing.

A very important omission not mentioned in the video but is EXTREMELY important to potential Blink buyers when their free trial subscription ends is that if you are someone who plans to use the camera for 'instant' views, for example, you hear something going on outside so activate the Blink 'live view' to see what is going on and think it needs recording, you cannot do this whilst using a sync module, it does not allow you. If you do not buy one of Blinks monthly plans, the ONLY way 'live' videos can be recorded is if you have motion detection activated. I do not need my Blink camera active all the time but I do need it to record 'incidents' that occur out side my property and 'live view' does this perfectly. If I hear a disturbance I can use 'live view' to see what is happening and then make a decision whether to record or not. Once the free subscription ends the Blink camera will be useless to me because Blink have blocked every method to allow it's customers to record 'live view' unless you pay for one of their monthly plans. As I already mentioned, if your the person that needs a CCTV camera in use 24hrs a day to detect things that go on outside your property 'motion detection' then a Blink camera with a sync module will work for you if you do not want to pay for one of the monthly plans BUT if your someone like me who just wants to use a CCTV camera to record incidents when they are actually in the property and do not want to pay for a monthly subscription then the Blink camera's are not for you. And for the record, not everyone lives in a house, many people live in blacks of flats or other high rise buildings where motion detection is not required. I shall be looking for a new CCTV camera forthwith and be throwing away the Blink Mini (which I have) because it will become useless to me. Shame on Blink for putting blocks in the way of customers being able to record live view without the need for a monthly subscription.

Thank you so much for your informative video! I was anxious about the USB and definitely don't want to pay for the subscription!

Thanks for this. When I bought the Blink system I was told that I would never have to buy a subscription as it was early 2020. But unfortunately I somehow unwittingly trialled the free cloud feature this week. I don't know how this happened but it came up when i opened the app today so I cancelled it immediately. When I cancelled it, it left me with no choice but to take a subscription, or thanks to this handy guide, use local storage. It would appear the small amount of free cloud storage we had as legacy customers was taken away because I used the trial. Unfortunately i bought from Currys not Amazon so they say they can't see my history to prove I'm a legacy customer. Pretty sure there is software in there if they really wanted to see when it was first set up. Such is life. Anyway, this works, maybe a little slower but its fine

Thank you for clearing this up for me. ❤

Thanks. This is helpful as I look at options to switch from paying for cloud storage to having just local storage.

Thank you Sir Tater. Our subscription just expired and I started to panic a little thinking it wasn't going to record to my USB. Your video helped immensely.

Thanks for this video. I am contemplating buying a couple of Blink cameras and doorbell. Don't want to pay for a subscription so the sync module was the answer and you have confirmed that.

Thanks for the excellent video! I was definitely confused about what to expect once the subscription ends. Are you still able to open your phone and view the live feeds of your cameras once the subscription ends?

Thanks for the good info. Does the flash drive need to be a specific type/brand/model or capacity?

Great info Nate!!!

Thanks very much for this. Puts me more at least of getting this. I'll get the 256GB drive and delete when I have to. Sounds like the comment section on Amazon was indicating you did need the subscription for this to work. Sounds like the people just don't know how to use it.

Thanks for sharing your video answered couple of questions I had.

question- do you need to have the Blink module plugged in to record and capture stuff on the camera?

Thank You I got my answer from you about local storage 👍👍

Enjoyed both videos. I noticed on your phone your two cameras are on same screen, mine I have to swipe left or right to see both. Is there a setting that you know of that allows me to both and my new Sync 2, on one phone screen?

This was a great i have two im installing this weekend and wanted to know what would happen after the subscription. Are you still able to use the talk setting or the two way talk wtv they call it with out a subscription that was the only thing yiu didnt mention after the trial period was up, whether or not you lose that function.

Thank you so much!! You explained it perfectly!! I have been researching the work around and seeing this video confirms it!

Great review. I have 10 blinks; 3 wireless and 7 wired mini's. I added them to my network as slowly as possible to prolong my 30 day free subscriptions (lasted about 6mos). However, now that I'm beyond the freebie time, I added the usb storage to my sync 2 module. You're right, it is annoying that you cannot easily cleanup the thumbdrive from the app. Mine were recording to the drive seamlessly until last week. Every single camera just stopped recording altogether. I have verified that the sync module drive is not full, it's at 14%. To top it off, two of my cameras now keep going offline. I swapped the location of one of the non-working cams with one that was working (litterally 10' from each other) and now both of those are working fine. I love these cameras, but the sync module recording could use some work - allowing for easy cleanup from the app.

What size clips can it save? Is it limited to 30 seconds?

Thank you so much for your video. Very informative. I have purchased the Blink system but have not installed them. I wanted all the technical aspect understood before proceeding with install and app setup. What's the max flash drive can you use with the Sync 2?

Really good video, Mr. Gary Sinise! ;-) (You sound like him and even kind of look like him.) Seriously - really good video and very informative. Helped me to decide if I should get the sync module. Thanks!

Very helpful. Thanks!!

I appreciate your video. I was having a problem after filling up my first thumb-drive on local storage, (I did not have the cloud storage option). I plugged a new thumb-drive in and it would still always say that I had no cloud storage, ( which it did when I filled up my old thumb-drive). Finally i saw your video and that gave me the option to format my new thumb-drive drive on the module, (I had formatted it on my PC but it apparently had to be done by the Blink module). Then I got the Cloud vs Home choice which i had not had. I clicked on home and i was off to the races. THANK YOU!!

Thanks for the information.

Thanks for the info.

My question is do I need a sync module to add a camera to my blink doorbell feed?

You can edit the name on each camera. I added a name with a hyphen which allows me to recognize which camera it is and keep the original s/n.

Hello what is the most GB/TB usb Stick that can be used with the sync module

I just bought a sync module 2 and I’m so happy I did and don’t have to pay for subscription. Thank you for your explanation on the pros and cons. Do you know how I can watch the clips from my smart tv?

@Nater Tater Can you still download the local storage motion detected clips to your phone though the Blink app (Android) or is that feature patched out?

I currently have two cameras in the system, but only one shows up in the Local Storage list. How do I add cameras to that?

Thanks for posting the video it really help me out I have the same system you have.

Any idea if the read and write speed of your memory drive makes a substantial difference when reviewing video clips? Considering buying a faster device but would like to know if it’s worth it.

@NaterTater do you have to have a usb in order to use the sync module? Or is that used to get the recordings off the module?

What USB do you use for yours? I have seen the compact ones but didn’t know if it was necessary. Will it record over old stuff like a loop if it gets full?

Thank you! Very informative!

Question, do I really need to go into the app and select safe eject or can I when the system is disarmed just remove the usb drive? If you can just remove the usb drive without the safe ejection I think I know how to automate removal and file storage the data without the need to manually touch the device

Found that there have been times when the backup fails on the sync 2 module. There is no manual option, which is a little frustrating. And yes, I am aware of the download option to the device your app is on.

Hi Nater, how do you download the local storage motion detected clips to your phone though the Blink app for iphone? Thanks

Thanks this was awesome. I could not find my local clips. Not sure why pay.

I have a question that i may have missed. If you are viewing live will it still record motion or will it stop because you are watching it. I was also wondering for the USB could you also use an external harddrive?

So as long as you delete the files from your computer like where you showed us the blink folder and then all the clips and times they were recorded, it frees up space or how exactly do you free up your flash drive after it gets full ?

Nate, good video. Question: I want to set up a couple of these indoors to keep an eye on contractors. Instead of having video triggered by an event, can I just specify for them to be recording all the time, onto the flash drive?

WE have that same module and our cameras are not on subscription. Our cameras record to the flash drive plugged in the module but when we plug flash drive into computer to review pics, the time is off. It says 9 pm etc when it is clearly daylight. We do not know how to correct that. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks for this video. Can you watch live feed from the camera if you are not on a subscription plan?

How exactly do I save motion onto usb? After my free subscription ended, nothing get's saved to the usb. All I get is "This USB storage device has no clips". I do still get motion alerts. I've tried deleting/adding the sync module and all cameras. Blink support hasn't been helpful.

A good review. Just bought a sync module 3 months after the mini camera trail period ended. both camera and sync module connected, how it doesn't recorded the clip on thee usb. Not sure if you had a similar experience before? Thanks

Your description says the sync module works with the xt and xt2 camera. Does the local storage work the same with those? Have you tried it with those older cameras personally? I've read some things that say it doesn't. I have 4 of the old cameras and I've had these for years now, I'm grandfathered in to the cloud storage, but don't know how long that'll last.

After the subscription ended, I bought a blink local storage, plugged it in the sync module 2, and I do not see any clips being recorded in the local storage. Is there another setting??

Very helpful, thanks!

I have 5 outdoor blink cameras. Also 2 Sync module 2’s. Trial is over. I have 256gb usb flash drives in each sync modules. I never got any clip backup while on trial and have no clips saving on either sync modules. I enjoy your videos and curious if you have suggestions to get my clips to save on the usb drives?

What happens when the flash drive is full? Does it stop recording or continue loop recording? Thanks for all this great info!

Did you notice any battery difference between using Sync with or without subscription? I have read not using sync but using subscription burns batteries faster than even if you are also using the sync in conjunction (or either or)

Brilliant - thanks

Installed a flash drive into my sync 2 after subscription and the motion detection and just video recording alone wont save to my local storage. The sync module says its connected to the flash drive, and I can only view live feed. any suggestions.? not sure I heard u mention this in the video. Thanks

Hi, I would like to be able to detect and manage the module from my internal network and store directly to one of my network drives. I would also like to live view the camera from my computer, change settings etc, in short the need to manually manage the data is a huge oversight. Great Vid, Very informative !!

Soo helpful - it's like you were in my head answering the questions

thank you for the info...you saved me money and hassle

Does this non-subscription trick work with Gen 3 systems?

I've had my blink system for a few years using the original sync module. I've never had a subscription to the service and the cloud has always worked pretty good. I can also connect to my system remotely through the cloud. I get the notifications as I always have and can save individual clips to my local drive if I want so a little confused on if you have a subscription and if it ends you will no longer get notifications, is this correct? Does this apply only to those using the new style sync module? Will mine be affected if I do a software update? A couple downsides to the blink system are battery maintenance and the slight delay before the recording starts other than that I've been pleased with the system. With regard to batteries, if one of your cameras quit working it might be a battery issue as the app will show your battery as being "OK" and your live view will still work fine but it will stop recordings and notifications. This has tripped me up couple times over the years as you might not even be aware your camera hasn't been working and of course this will coincide with a time when something suspicious was going on only to realize nothing was picked up on that day.

Thanks for the help!

Great video, thank you! Sorry but it still unclear: what this device does: synchronizing between multiple cameras? Allows to record when subscription ended? Allows to store video after subscription ended? Will the multiple cameras setup work without subscription and without sync device simply doing the "motion sensor + notification + video preview"?

Hey, Nate congratulations on your new arrival.... Great vedio..... I have been talking to blink Technical Support for 2 weeks on sd card storage .. I have reformatted my card and removed it and reinstalled several times. When I go to local storage on the app it tells me shows no vedios... The blink tells me its my service provider restrictioning mg wifi signal to the sd card... I'm confused... if it work on the cloud and backed up to the sd card. It should work without the cloud?

Are you related to Gary Sinise? Great information, I was wondering if I could still view away from home without the cloud.

Thank You, one more question...will the cameras work on wifi extenders?

I have 5 blink cameras and because I don't like changing batteries they are all wired models. Created some weather covers and have had no trouble using them outside and they are cheaper than the outside ones. As far as the Sync Module 2 goes, taking the flash drive out and putting it in my computer seems easy to me. I get a lot of motion so I just clean the files and pop the drive back into the module.

What would be the good size thumb drive you recommend, if you do two modules, I am planning to have two modules, and 4 cameras total, 2 cameras per module.

Hey enjoy ur vids. I just switched to T-Mobile 5G home internet. Getting great speeds right out of the box. I also have four blink cameras around my property. We I made the switch from Cox to T-Mobile I haven’t been able to get my sync module to work. And can’t find any info about it. I not sure if I need to buy a new sync module or use a vpn. Or what any advice? I know you have a lot of videos on gateways and blink. Do you use t.hem together?

I have 2 outdoor cameras. One is getting out of reach and losing connection. I dont understand if its not connecting to the sync module 2 or if its losing my wifi. Do the cams connect to the wifi and the sync? If so, is there a way to connect just 1 camera to a wifi extender?

just bought the 3 camera kit. Really helped knowing about the usb storage

I have the Sync 2 model with 3 cameras does this count as one device for the subscription or do you have to buy for each camera?

Does the module 2 has less delay on live streaming? I have the first gen module, this thing lagging 3 to 5 seconds most of the time specially using live stream. I have good range of wifi and average internet speed. Also, the battery indicator always showing low even after replacing it with brand new battery.

How much (in terms of hours) you can save up using the 128gb usb that you have???? Nice video btw

What is the Thumb-drive max capacity that can be used for local storage with the sync module 2?

As of a few days ago, my sync 2 module, quit recording anything, get motion alerts via Alexa, but nothing via app, or saved to USB. No subscription, two cameras for 2+ years. Any thoughts?

it seems to store files in DMS format, can't share that video anymore, people can't open it...work around for that?

Thanks for the great info. I had one question. I read a review saying that after the subscription is over the live view clips will no longer be saved to local storage, only the triggered recordings get saved. This would be a deal breaker for me in my case, because if motion triggered an alert, I would want to live view to see what was going on. From my understanding of the review, without the subscription, if I live viewed what was going on it would cause the recording to stop and nothing that I viewed live would be saved to local storage. Is this your experience? I hope this question makes sense.

Does the app itself still give you notifications when the motion detector detects something and start recording? Or do you have to check the storage if there's a new file?

Thank you!!