‎App Unable to function through VPN | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

2 Messages

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023 8:09 PM

Closed

App Unable to function through VPN

So... After the 5.7.0 update, security conscious customers (like us) that use a VPN are out the cost and installation of our cameras because the app no longer functions (Check connection error). Your 5.9.0 provided no resolve. We either have to run an open home network or abandon using our mobile devices.

Desktop app connects through VPNs.

Deleted app on phone, tablet as app is none functional.

This conversation has been merged. Please refer the main conversation:

SimpliSafe App “temporarily unavailable” when VPN is active

This post was created from this reply on different post

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

1 year ago

Hi @irewoulfe ,

Thanks for reporting. I'll have to take this to our dev team to investigate further. As far as I'm aware, we don't put restrictions on the app relating to VPNs, so I'll have to dig into this a bit deeper.

Based on the app version numbers, it sounds like you're working with the Android version. But it would be useful to have more info that I could take back. For example, which VPN provider are you using, and is it the same between your desktop and phone? Also, what symptoms are you seeing - error messages, screens, etc?

2 Messages

I can confirm that the Simplisafe android app no longer works through a VPN, a VPN being a fundamental piece of mobile technology security which is confusing and disappointing.

If you are a security conscious user, at this time Simplisafe does not offer you the ability to use your mobile devices securely on android.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@budingles​ Echoing Davey, you should be able to access the mobile app with a VPN on your device, but we'll want to bring this to our internal teams if you cannot. If you could tell me which VPN you have on your mobile device, if it's the same VPN you have on your desktop, and which error messages you seen when trying to access the mobile app, I will bring this to our devs.

4 Messages

Am having issues using Android app 5.12.1:23008 with ExpressVPN.  Just never connects.  Seemed to start a few/several weeks ago.  App works fine via direct cell data.  Will also ask ExpressVPN but fairly sure SS worked fine for many months on EVPN.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@bbqraterSome VPNs will adjust their ad-blocking algorithms from time to time. Doing so can create an issue with loading the mobile app. Many VPNs let you allowlist domains and apps to prevent this from happening. I would try allowlisting simplisafe.com on your VPN to see if that helps.

742 Messages

1 year ago

I just tested on my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 13 (August 5 security update) using each of the following VPN services:

Google Fi VPN

Google One VPN

Private Internet Access

Bitdefender VPN

While connected to each VPN I confirmed I could do all of the following from the SimpliSafe app (v 5.12.1):

Livestream a camera

Set alarm to Home

Set alarm to Off

Refresh Settings

View Timeline

I'm not sure if y'all have resolved this issue or not but if I can help troubleshoot or provide additional info to get others up and running, please let me know.

7 Messages

10 months ago

I can confirm that even now - January 2024 - SimpliSafe cameras do not work with VPNs.  This is utterly unacceptable and total incompetence from a so-called "security" company.  I was on the phone with an agent for nearly an hour and she could not figure out how to resolve this.  What's even more disappointing is that this issue has apparently existed for months based on this thread and SimpliSafe's so-called "engineers" apparently have ignored the problem.

If any agent of SimpliSafe would like to actually help resolve this problem, they are free to contact me.  But it is beyond clear at this point that SimpliSafe customer support has no idea how to solve this problem.

(edited)

742 Messages

See above. I have tested thoroughly with multiple VPN services connected via a client on multiple devices and have not experienced any issues which would suggest that this issue is either VPN specific or a configuration issue. 

What service are you using and how is it configured?? Are you connecting to your VPN service at the devices level or router level? Also what does, "doesn't work" mean exactly? I don't want to make any assumptions when trying to troubleshoot.

7 Messages

@worthing​ Surfshark, using WireGuard tunnel on DD-WRT.  

By "doesn't work," I mean the camera outright does not function.  It shows the same connection error as the guy who initiated this thread referenced.

4 Messages

@worthing​ can confirm as of 2/25 Simplisafe support has confirmed that the app will not work with VPNs. Please fix this immediately. 

4 Messages

9 months ago

This may be useful or not....

I use Apple and had just experienced this issue as well.

I use NordVPN and have reached out to their product support.  We will see what the response is.

Contacted SimplySafe, they said nothing is wrong. 

I can say, with VPN off, I can connect. VPN on, I cannot.

Somebody does not want to play well with others in the sandbox and I don't know enough to say who it is.

Not sure if it is a SimplySafe Issue or a NordVPN issue. 

I cannot say exactly when, but I noticed it as of yesterday.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@jhfisher3485​ I have heard of VPNs adjusting their blocking algorithms from time to time, it could be that NordVPN just switched up theirs. We have not made any changes to our app that puts up restrictions related to VPNs.

2 Messages

I also had the same problem using NordVPN with the Simpilsafe app not working. The cause it the protocol NordLynx and the add on threat protection lite or full turn on. To stop SimpliSafe from not working, turn off the threat protection OR change the protocol to OpenVPN. See link for protocol info: https://support.nordvpn.com/hc/en-us/articles/19482810153745-Which-NordVPN-protocol-should-I-choose. I have a ticket in with NordVPN and they are investigating.

7 Messages

@emily_s​ It's not just NordVPN.  I have Surfshark and have the same problem.

2 Messages

I am experiencing the same issue with Nord VPN. Can connect as long as it is paused or off only. As soon as VPN is turned back on, connection issues return. Spent an hour on support with Simplisafe last night and they had np clue the VPN was the issue. I have had the Simplisafe app and the same Nord VPN for about 5 years now with no issue until this week.

2 Messages

@gti572000​ I had the exact same issue, and successfully resolved it the same way. Turned Threat Protection Lite off, and the Simplisafe app immediately began working again with no issues.

9 months ago

I have Nord and mine now stops working since last few days 

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@chrismichaelcampbell​ If your temporarily disable NordVPN are you able to access your account through the app? NordVPN may have recently updated their algorithm that causes this log in issue.

2 Messages

I'm not the original poster but I can confirm that the app suddenly does not function with NordVPN. I have had both on the same andriod device for years and now in just the past 2 days I'm unable to connect. Turn off the vpn and the app works prefect. 

4 Messages

9 months ago

As of yesterday evening, 2/21/2024, my SimpliSafe app on Apple IOS will not work with NordVPN. As others have stated, when NordVPN is off, everything is fine.  When on, nope. It appears that SimpliSafe updated their app on 2/21/2024.  NordVPN updated theirs a week ago. Everything was OK until the SimpliSafe app was updated. It's ironic that to protect my home I have to compromise my online security.

4 Messages

9 months ago

Well, I did at least get a response from Nord:

"Thank you for your letter.
 
We want the issue gone as much as you do. But, to help us solve it faster, we need you to provide us with some additional information.
 
Here’s what we would like to know:
 

  • If you’re getting any error message(s), please attach a >screenshot< to the reply;
  • Have you tried disabling the >CyberSec/Threat Protection Lite< feature in our application settings?
  • Let us know if you’re using any type of antivirus, ad blocker, or different VPN software alongside NordVPN, as they might be interfering with our service.

 
Also, please visit dnsleaktest.com while being connected to NordVPN and perform these steps:
 
1. Take a screenshot of the IP address that is shown on the main screen of the website;
2. Click "Extended test", wait for the test to fully finish, and take a screenshot of the IP addresses shown in the result.
 
This information will help us identify whether there are any issues with your connection.
 
Waiting for your reply!"

Unfortunately, I am not sure of when I will be able to attempt it or, be able to undo what they are asking me to do. 

I am just good enough to foul things up really well.

4 Messages

Hi all, I just disabled the Cyber Sec/ Threat Protection Lite setting in my ios NordVPN app and that does appear to work. It appears the SimpliSafe ios app is now working at the same time my VPN is on.  Will chime back in if it does not continue to work for some reason. I'm not sure I am still keen on not being able to use that feature but at least it doesn't appear that I have to pause (disconnect) VPN protection to remotely access my SimpliSafe system. 

2 Messages

9 months ago

Resolution. I also tured off NORD threat protect and SimpliSafe app works.  The NORD VPN is still working.  

I think people that started throwing sand at SimpliSafe need to not be so triggered.   SimpliSafe has Security concerns to protect our data too. Where do the attacks come from? VPNs.  Like Nord and express. The Nord threat protect light is an issue on the Nord side. And you VPN users should also know threat blockers like porn blocks also stop working on VPN. And where is the greatest threat on the internet?  Porn sites.  So get over yourselves and realize internet security has many layers and often when running VPN, it’s the VPN either doing the blocking or letting it in by killing your filters. 

742 Messages

First let me say that I'm glad that the workaround (I won't say "fix") is relatively easy and doesn't require those affected to stop using their VPN entirely. 

That said, I think it's worth noting that we started with, "The SimpliSafe app doesn't work with any VPNs!!" and now it seems that the real issue can be accurately summarized as,  "One component of one VPN service is preventing the SimpliSafe app from working." The scope of the problem conveyed by those two sentences is very very different. :)

2 Messages

9 months ago

Same symptom for the last several weeks from a user here in Northern Virginia using doorbell camera only and NordVPN. Tried ALL the usual troubleshooting steps many times.

Connectivity seems to be a weak link in the SimpliSafe product, which is why I still use only the doorbell. Based on the connectivity issues I've had, I don't want to buy a SimpliSafe base station.

That said, when it works, it works very well. 

Thanks to the contributions on this thread, I found turning off NordVPN's "Threat Protection Lite" feature has resolved the issue. Please note that until recently this feature and SimpliSafe have worked fine together since I bought the doorbell camera several years ago. (Yes, I update the SimpliSafe and NordVPN apps regularly.)

Tech Support wrote: "One component of one VPN service is preventing the SimpliSafe app from working. The scope of the problem..."

Great--sounds like SimpliSafe Tech Support now has more clearly defined the issue and has a target for resolving it. We look forward to being able to use VPN features and wish you success in fixing this issue! Thanks for your work.

742 Messages

@onepulse

Given how the Threat Protection Lite service works and what it does I don't know that simplisafe can solve the proble. It seems.far more likely that some portion of the SimpliSafe infrastructure has been flagged by NordVPN as potentially dangerous and blocked by the Threat Protection Lite. If that's the case that's almost certainly going to be an issue Nord needs to resolve.

Had anyone actually asked Nord if they're working on a solution?

2 Messages

Can NORDVPN whitelist them?

742 Messages

@onepulse​ 

Tech Support wrote: "One component of one VPN service is preventing the SimpliSafe app from working. The scope of the problem..."

I wrote that and I'm not tech support. Also, I'll say it again, given how the service that you're disabling to make NordVPN work again works by blocking sites using DNS this likely isn't an issue SS can fix on their end. (Unless they get an entirely new set of public IPs which isn't going to happen.)  You all should be opening tickets with Nord, not just SimpliSafe.

I could 100% be wrong here but it seems very unlikely given how the product works.

2 Messages

9 months ago

Yep — I had the same issue with SimpliSafe & NordVPN - one day SimpliSafe worked and the very next day it did not.

 SimpliSafe tech support told me they were aware of the situation & were working on it.

NVPN tech support suggested turning OFF threat protection lite — that fixed the problem with SimpliSafe now working again (but, of course, I have no NVPN threat protection.)

I used to have a Pixel (Android) smartphone. The Android NVPN app allowed “split tunneling” that basically turned off NVPN for selected apps/sites.
This is what iPhones would need to allow SimpliSafe to work with threat protection lite turned on.

However, NVPN tech support replied “Unfortunately, we do not support the Split Tunneling feature on IOS devices and we cannot provide any estimation of when this feature would become available.”

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