Sensors keep going offline

Hi @rongalla,

It's great that you've tried three different sensors in the same spot, because that confirms that it's not a hardware issue. There just really is something in that particular position that makes it a dead spot.

Have you already tried moving the sensor to a different position on that same window?

The other thought is that you might just want to cover all four windows with a Glassbreak and Motion Sensor, and use those Entry Sensors somewhere else.

Yes If I move the sensor half way up the window it solves the problem. But why don't the other three windows have the same problem? It makes no sense. There is virtually nothing between the four windows and the base station.

The trickiest part about troubleshooting the wireless connection is that we aren't able to see the signals themselves. But at least you were able to figure out a way to get the sensor working.

It certainly looks as if this issue can not be resolved. I have sensors going offline randomly. Different day different sensor. Open and close the door or window and the sensor goes back online and will stay that way for days weeks or months without another issue. Then suddenly its back. All I ever get from support is that its interference which is no help.

I have an ORBI mesh wifi network does that qualify as interference?

Is Simplsafe ever going to have some kind of signal extender or multiple base station capability?

Something need to be done as I am loosing my confidence in this system.

@rongalla Imagine wireless devices like a room at a party. You can make out who is talking by listening for the specific sound of their voice. WiFi sounds totally different from the SimpliSafe equipment's radio, so when the Base Station is listening for sensor signals, it can normally tell them apart. That is, unless those sensors are right up against one of your WiFi access points. Those tend to be fairly powerful - so it would be like having someone shouting right next to you, making it difficult to hear conversations.

But the more likely cause of interference would be any device that operates in a similar frequency to the SimpliSafe components - so similar that the Base Station can get confused. The sensors use a very low frequency, so we're looking for simpler, lower-powered devices that you may not normally think are a problem. The common examples I typically give are remote controlled garage door openers, ham radio setups, and wireless weather stations. But there are also some smart switches and smart bulbs that operate in the same frequency range as well.

And as you can gather from my analogy, a range extender wouldn't necessarily be helpful in this case. Whatever the cause of the interference is, it may still be a problem no matter how close are far the components are.

We also don't want to forget about physical interference. You said that there isn't much between the Base Station and those sensors that are having trouble. But where is the Base Station itself? If it's sitting on a metal shelf, inside a closet, or on one of those wire shelving units, that could potentially block signals, at least some of the time. Moving the Base Station to a different spot, even just to test, might help in figuring this out.

Same issue here since update. At 4:21 am for the past two days one sensor keeps going offline. All batteries were installed at the same time when the sensors were purchased. 4:21 am...seems odd that it would go offline two early mornings in a row at the same time.

Did you ever get a resolution to this problem.  I am having the exact same issue.

This started happening to me right after the last update. It never happened before.

I think mine started after update as well.  System worked ok for about a year.  Now every day at least one sensor has an issue of not responding or showing open when it is closed.  Have changed batteries, put in new sensors, called tech support.  No resolution.  Had old SimpliSafe version 1 and never had an issue in a townhouse with 5 floors.  New system base station is on same floor, 10 - 20 feet from the sensors with no obstruction and I get errors.  Moving base station does not help.  Very frustrating. 

Incredible!  Test b4 you deploy Simplisafe!!!  My system is doing the same thing.  drops and may or may not re-activate sensors on it's own.  different sensors each day.  new batteries, no help.

My reply got deleted when after typing it it made me sign in and refreshed the screen. Will try again with more brevity. Happens to me. Have a motion sensor now offline. Had the security system almost 6 months. Replaces or had it happen 4-5 times now. Same thing. Reset, delete and reset back up. Mailed me new sensor and reset up again. I Cant get to motion sensor to do those steps. So trying to do the same troubleshooting steps showing that it’s not an issue and it’s just a faulty unit or batteries or interference is frustrating. My house is 1200 sf and nothing is new. Works for awhile. This motion sensor went offline while empty today. Startled thinking it was sensing motion. But no. Just offline. So instead of sleeping and being secured,  motion is offline and in an area I can’t get to. I’ve heard enough times that the offline happens, and sometimes supposedly it goes back online by itself. I don’t have time to call and I can’t access the motion sensor to do the same things they had me do the other times. The other times it was the garage door sensor (although that one was just showing open) and then a window and a slider and a bedroom window and now a motion sensor. It works for a few weeks to a few months before it happens again. Oh well. Every security seems to be made now wireless.  I Used to have multiple brinks hard wired systems in multiple houses. That system worked flawlessly. Miss that one. Brinks doesn’t seem to do that anymore nor does it seem anyone else. So good luck to those having this issue. 

The issue appears to be related to IPv6 on the gateway. Simply Safe is compatible with 2.4 GHz, but many gateways now support IPv6, leading to compatibility challenges. The drops may occur as the Simply Safe base station switches between connections on the gateway, causing network congestion with simultaneous 5G and 2.4 GHz. If you're familiar with your gateway settings, adjusting channels and creating a separate 2.4 GHz network with a unique ID and password could potentially resolve the issue.

The issue appears to be related to IPv6 on the gateway. Simply Safe is compatible with 2.4 GHz, but many gateways now support IPv6, leading to compatibility challenges. The drops may occur as the Simply Safe base station switches between connections on the gateway, causing network congestion with simultaneous 5G and 2.4 GHz. If you're familiar with your gateway settings, adjusting channels and creating a separate 2.4 GHz network with a unique ID and password could potentially resolve the issue.

I'm having issues as well with sensors dropping. One is a water sensor, the other a motion detector (the newer model). On install, neither had issues. No problem connecting to the base station, etc. However, I had to manually reset the base station after it got stuck in a loop regarding a temperature sensor that I couldn't cancel. I unplugged the base station, removed the batteries, reinstalled the batteries and plugged it back in. I then reconnected the sirens, because it always drops the sirens after I do a hard reset. No issues, until a day or so later, I got a notice that the water sensor at issue was offline. I replaced the battery and reset it, and it resolved the issue. Then I got an error about the motion detector. Same issue - replaced the battery and reset it, and it came back online. Now it drops the same 2 sensors randomly, and then subsequently reconnects them - maybe a day later, maybe several days later. I've even removed them from the system and reinstalled them as new sensors, but it keeps happening. Note they will come back online after a period of time without any action from me, but then they eventually drop again. They have been in the same locations for at least a year, and never had an issue until I did the base station reset recently. Based on the fact that they've always worked well, I can't see that this is interference, nor is it a battery issue as those have both been replaced. There's some issue at the base station.