‎Cameras *Constantly* Disconnecting | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
jmf726's profile

Sunday, May 28th, 2023 7:44 PM

Cameras *Constantly* Disconnecting

My cameras are extremely unreliable and disconnect constantly for the last 3 years, usually when I need them most. I've tried everything I can think of, I've posted my complaints to Reddit (and will continue to do so), and searched online and in these help pages for troubleshooting tips, followed all suggestions, nothing has worked. I've spoken to customer support about this several times, and it's clear I know far more about the system than they do, they are zero help. It has become very clear that this is 100% a design defect in the SS cameras, full stop.

  • I'm an engineer, and extremely technical (I'm also a lawyer, but let's hope that's not needed).
  • Customer for 3 years.
  • Premium Plan.
  • 61 total SimpliSafe devices and sensors.
  • 1 doorbell camera, 5 indoor cameras (black 1080p version), 3 outdoor cameras (black 1080p version with outdoor kits), all cameras set to 720p.
  • Connection test for cameras shows good connection to WiFi.
  • Google mesh router with 5 endpoints, WPA2 security, mesh test is good.
  • Cameras are connected to a 2.4Ghz only guest network with unique SSID.
  • All cameras are within 20 feet of an endpoint, most have direct line of sight.
  • I've tried removing, re-adding, resetting the cameras many times, no effect.
  • My home is standard wood frame residential construction, no metal reinforcement in the walls.
  • No other devices, including other types of cameras, have ever had an issue connecting to the WiFi.
  • All devices have the latest firmware installed.

I've got a lot invested in this system, and if it's not reliable, it's worthless to me. I need a solution now. This is mostly all I see, every day:

Official Solution

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

1 year ago

Hi @jmf726 

Thanks for checking in. Our Support team is trained for the most common connectivity troubleshooting, but from your description, there's something a little different going on that's causing your cameras to be unstable. I've requested an escalation, and a specialist will be reaching out to get to the bottom of it!

12 Messages

@davey_d​ It's not only the cameras. The three door locks lose connection regularly, but less often. Someone suggested that I have TOO MUCH WIFI. Sounds like a SS product defect to me.

12 Messages

@davey_d​ I disabled and moved some Google access points to reduce/spread out the WiFi, and it made it much worse.

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@jmf726​ the Smart Locks don't use WiFi - they link with the Base Station using local RF. So that seems to be a totally separate issue. I would hazard a guess that the agent you spoke with was maybe talking about too much interference, which is certainly a possibility.

But when the Specialist is able to reach out, they can help with more advanced troubleshooting.

12 Messages

Yeah, I'll just be sitting here holding my breath that someone will reach out to me. It took me 3 phone calls, spoke to 8 different people, cost me 2.5 hours - just to TRY to get a mount for my camera. I even used pictures. They sent me the wrong mount, then a power adapter, still waiting for the right mount. Switching customer service to a poorly trained team in India was a brilliant move.

12 Messages

Regarding interference, nothing else I have on my network has ever, not once, lost a connection to WiFi.

Captain

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6K Messages

1 year ago

@jmf726 I am not a lawyer (although when I was working spoke with a lot of them to negotiate sales contracts for medical equipment), not an engineer but would consider myself tech enough to work through most things. "Only" 51 items on my SS3 system, including doorbell pro, two outside cameras, 1 Simplicam and two Life Guard cameras.  All work fine most of the time (>95%) and are reliable. So....your cameras drop, mine don't (and since I have placed over 35 other systems and most have cameras and if they ever have issues, I hear from them...) what is the difference between your setup and mine? Don't know, but willing to invest the time to find out.  

If you are interested, swing over to the chat area of the community and let me know you're in and we can take it from there.   Being a customer 10+ years, overall and most of the time I am a happy camper with SS.  Will do whatever I can to get you there.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day holiday.

(edited)

12 Messages

@captain11​ I think the difference is that SS cameras do not work with mesh networks, and SS needs to admit that.

Captain

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6K Messages

@jmf726​ I will have to politely disagree. I know at least six customers, add me for seven, that have mesh and cameras work fine. I have Google WIFI with two outdoor cameras, doorbell pro, 1 simplicam and two LG cameras. Do I run into dropped connections? Occasionally but nothing even near the extent that some have reported.

(edited)

17 Messages

@jmf726​ 

  I agree. I have a Comcast/ Xfinity mesh with pods and I have constant connection issues. I mean constant.

   I can't tell you the number of hours and days I've spent with trying to move pods and change positions of cameras and install repeaters and way too reinstall them. It's their cameras.

12 Messages

1 year ago

So far SS hasn't offered any solutions, or reached out in any way, to solve my problem.

12 Messages

1 year ago

SS customer service is so aggravating, I sometimes look around for a hidden camera to see if I'm being pranked.

10 months ago

Any solution for this? My indoor cameras are unreliable and always disconnects too. Im an IT professional and I know that my cameras are close to my mesh and always have wifi signal so SS cant give my this BS "maybe your cameras are away from Wifi" etc. My mom's cheaper brands are more reliable and did not disconnect once while connected to wifi. Seems like theres a flaw with the SS cameras, too weak in gathering signals.

(edited)

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@kenjon_martinez​ You can run into a "Camera Disconnected" error for a few reasons, like if the Base Station needs to be reconnected to Wi-Fi or if your Wi-Fi network/password recently changed.

First, I would reconfirm the Wi-Fi credentials for your Base Station to ensure that it's connected to the same network as your cameras. You can check this in the SimpliSafe mobile app by navigating to the three-bar menu icon on the top left corner > My System > General Settings > WiFi Network. 

I would also recommend using our in-app Connection Check tool to test your network's connectivity. This article in our Help Center lists out the steps to run a Connection Check and provides additional troubleshooting steps depending on your results.

3 Messages

I have also run into an issue where checking for updates on the keypad will make it lose the password to the WiFi, which sounds like a firmware bug. So maybe the issue does lie not in the camera's connections but the main unit getting disconnected due to a firmware bug.

3 Messages

8 months ago

I would like to add to this. I do NOT have a mesh network and I use to work in IT also. I consider myself advanced level in terms of tech handiness. That said, I have had issues with the wireless outdoor cameras since I bought them around 2 years ago. They have had the most frustrating level of unreliability I have seen from a product before--but printers might be the only one to even come close. That said, I tried for months troubleshooting and diagnosing, and updating settings on my router. I have tried everything I can think of unless there is a distinct issue not with mesh specifically but more advance 802.11 AX routers. Earlier this year I could not even get the cameras to go online. When I first set them up it was easy (about 2 years ago) and then something happened where they went offline and never came back up. I removed them and they refused to complete the setup. So, I let them sit for a few months, and something happened after trying the troubleshooting again. I got them back and connected. Fast forward to now, and they are staying online about 25% of the time. Motion detection works without issue, but don't even try to view the clip of the motion. It only gets the clip about 1 out of 10 times. And FORGET about doing the live view. I can spend 15 minutes rotating between the cameras before one of them comes online for live view. And if I switch back to another camera? There is not a guarantee that I will get the one that was live back on. Interference should not be an issue either from what I can tell. The cameras are within 50 feet of the router, and have no problems. But what is strange is that the indoor camera has started acting up now. It goes offline frequently, and I have to remove the camera and start over again many times. And even stranger now is that the keypad will show that it has lost the WiFi connection somehow. Nothing has changed and nothing else in the house full of devices has this issue. It is a SimpliSafe issue only. Really I just want the cameras fixed since I paid for them, but the other quirks of the system that was otherwise flawless for the first 6-12 months and I was recommending to everyone has just added to the frustration. We have a second location that has the SimpliSafe setup (no outdoor cameras) and that one NEVER has issues and has been online for over a year. It has more interference due to location and even weaker and older WiFi, yet does not have this issue. So, again, it might not be mesh, because that is not my issue though my ASUS router has the ability to become a mesh, it is configured now to be a standalone. It might be newer protocols.

~Sincerely, a BIG (former) SimpliSafe fan

1 Message

8 months ago

Unfortunately, for the past almost year and a half I’ve also had the same issues consistently with all cameras, and have noticed recently that my keypads are no longer running at 100% as they used to (they lag a lot which causes my alarm to go off) and have also had several smoke detector false alarms, sometimes at 3am.

I just this morning needed my front door camera to work, as someone came banging on my front door and I couldn’t safely see who it was, and the motion detection didn’t even alert me someone was there. I love the piece of mind SS offers, but it’s shattered useless when these issues repeatedly happen with no patch or logical solution. 

these issues need a software patch, there’s no way all of these problems many customers are constantly experiencing are user error or circumstantial. 

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2 Messages

6 months ago

I am having same issues with cameras- the tiny on and notify with no motion and won’t turn off until battery dies. Then doorbell and outdoor cameras have the flashing blue light, but no notification.

the solution I’ve leaned a is to remove and reinstall, but what a pain! Especially if I’m not home! The system is dead in the water until I physically can remove and reinstall.

talked to support who acts like I’m the only one who ever had this problem. Wish I hadn’t gone with SS, exploring options.

oh, also told not to let batteries get below 50%

3 Messages

I wish I had read this before leaving Cove. 

3 Messages

6 months ago

Good day, well it would seem this problem is a reoccurring problem. I just installed SS a week and a half ago and have already run into the outdoor camera disconnection issue as well as a motion sensors losing connecting EVERY night between 10 and 4 am. Now I am a software engineer with system much more complex than SS (trust me) and consider myself a beyond novice level installer of these systems and it make no sense that this is a daily issue. The outsources customer service staff is rude and irritable at best. After a 30 min call of me TECHNICALLY explaining the system I have spec by spec and eash specs capability I was told I'd get a free wifi extender to extend my signal. Now I live in a condo with a wifi coverage rectangle 24 feet up, 8 feet down, and 22 feet in width my furthest camera is 17 feet from the base station in straight line distance. There is no reason it requires a wifi extender  but that was the scripted fix from customer service. 

Less than 2 weeks after spending over $1000 on a small home security system I am much less secure than I was with my previous system. Awesome 👌 

(edited)

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@BillyOcean​ I'm sorry to hear about all this trouble. Have you tried using our in-app Connection Check tool? This will scan the connection between your Outdoor Camera and Wi-Fi network and provide troubleshooting steps based off the results to strengthen their connection.

This guide in our Help Center will take you through the steps of running a connection check and provides additional insights into what the results mean.

What specific error message are you seeing regarding the Motion Sensor? If the Motion Sensor is offline, that means that the battery within it isn't seated properly or needs to be replaced. If it's a Not Responding error message, it could either mean that the sensor's battery needs to be replaced, or there's a weak connection between the sensor and Base Station. This Help Center article will help troubleshoot the Motion Sensor if it isn't responding.

And if you'd like, I can get you in touch with our Specialist team for some further troubleshooting.

3 Messages

Hello Emily,  my apologies took so long. I have and I have the simpli safe wifi extender for 3 months now. For the most part the signal will not get above fair and my basement cam disconnects and comes back online later. It's been alright the last couple of weeks so fingers crossed. 

1 Message

4 months ago

I am having the exact same problem with the cameras disconnecting.  Run the connection test on all cameras and signal strength is good on all. The only way to get them back online is to  reinstall them. After reinstall they work fine for a couple days then start to disconnect again.  I have had this system with the cameras for 4 years and never had trouble like this.  The only difference is there was a firmware upgrade and right after that my troubles started. This is very frustrating.  I believe it is a Software problem with the upgrade from simplisafe.

2 Messages

2 months ago

I have this same issue. It is rare for all of my cameras to work at the same time. It seams as though one will always be offline. Will still get notifications that the camera went off but wont actually record anything and can't view the camera.  Don't know how something can go from full connected to no connection so fast and often.

17 Messages

@CoryH​ 

   Okay. I thought it was just me and that maybe there was a problem with my internet connections throughout the house but I have put six of my Comcast pods throughout the house and moved pods and moved cameras and I still never seen that. Have all the cameras up at once or if it does happen it's a surprise! 

   I really thought the problem might be with my cable company and their Wi-Fi, but more and more I'm believing that the cam is just unable to hold a good connection. As soon as all of my cameras kick on at one time, I inevitably lose at least two or three of them. Of course, no matter who you call, whether it'll be a cable company or SimpliSafe daypoint fingers at each other and basically just try to get you off the phone with some sort of textbook solution that doesn't work..

3 Messages

2 months ago

I have the same issue. Starting about a year and a half ago. Indoor camera and My wireless garage camera drop internet. For 3 years this was never an issue. Now I am constantly having climb a ladder. Take the wireless camera down, reset the the Wi-Fi and then it stays for maybe a day, maybe two. It's getting much worse. I have called SS support many times. They even sent me brand new cameras to replace the old cameras with. New cameras, old cameras. Same. I am looking to change systems very shortly. I am tired of the camera and the front of my house not working. 

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@curtisfamily4​ If you haven't already, I recommend using our in-app Connection Check tool. This will check your cameras' upload and download speeds and provide additional troubleshooting steps to help improve their Wi-Fi connection. We list out the steps to use the Connection Check tool, and steps to take based off the results, in this Help Center article.

2 Messages

I like how this is always the recommended fix even though it never fixes anything.

3 Messages

@emily_s​ I have used this tool many times. When wifi is connected it show a strong connection to the camera. This doesn't help with connection dropping. The main advice is move camera closer to your router. The camera is right outside of the room that has the router. This does not help 

17 Messages

2 months ago

I've had the system for 5 years and it's been this way since I've had it. No matter what I do to improve the signal to the cameras there, they are offline so often. I feel like I have a 50/50 chance when there's an issue that I need to review or an incident. They even kick off when I turn the system on and off and go back to review the cameras offline. They even kick off when I turn the system on and off and go back to review and the cameras offline.

2 months ago

We are extremely frustrated with the persistent camera issue we are experiencing. Despite our best efforts, we face constant disconnections with certain cameras, while others work flawlessly. Engaging with your support team (SS) has not led to any resolution.

Additionally, we encountered a door lock issue in the past. After being sent multiple replacement locks and a new home base, only to face the same problem repeatedly, we eventually switched to a more reliable lock system.

The camera issue, however, remains unresolved despite all troubleshooting steps we have tried. Recently, $500 was taken from us, and the camera cut out, leaving us with no record of what happened. This is unacceptable and extremely disappointing.

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5 Messages

2 months ago

We have the same issue. We have 4 indoor cameras and a Mesh wifi system. The signal is strong at each camera position (tested with the SS app). They are frequently 'disconnected' when we need to check on something. Very frustrating.

1 Message

I might as well add to the list of frustrated customers/experiences - although the unreliability I experience is primarily with my doorbell pro cam. As some noted, it will alert me on motion (sometimes even branches swaying) but if I try to review the recording or use it to talk through, almost always fails with the “disconnected” error. I have a wifi extender 7 feet from the door, backend Deco mesh network. This could become a consumer protection issue if Simplisafe doesn't address it holistically soon.

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