Outdoor Camera Does Not Support WPA3-Personal or WPA2/WPA3-Personal Mixed Mode

Hi bpan!

Thanks for reporting. I had to do a little bit of digging for this one. WPA2/WPA3 should actually work just fine. It's even what I have set up for my personal system! So there must be some other factor that we're missing that's preventing the router from allowing the connection.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, I would suggest setting up a separate or guest network just for your SimpliSafe components. That way, the rest of the devices in your home can still use WPA3 if they're able.

Good morning everyone.  I tested my Google WIFI AC1200 mesh by turning off WPA3, wifi reset, and came back up on WPA2 only. The outdoor cameras and Simplicams were fine but the doorbell took a bit of coaxing but was fine then too.  Turned back on WPA3, again the WIFI reset (off and then back on) and all is well, connected and streaming nicely.

@Davey, one thing, when I searched for WPA3 in the help center  the only thing I came up with was a posntig I did in 2019 confirming with support by email WPA3 was supported. Save me the email and ask for an article to be created. (Apologies if I missed it!)

I wish I checked here before my debacle last night. Asus ROG AX11000 router with two Lyra mesh nodes.

Guest network setup for 2.4 Ghz using WPA2/WPA3 Personal.

Three indoors cameras on the guest wifi, work properly.

I attempted to add outdoor camera to the same guest network. It would not connect. Looking at FAQ, it mentions the SSID and wireless password cannot be more than 31 characters. My wireless password was over 30 characters. I shortened the password and still couldn't add the outdoor camera.

On a whim I changed guest network to WPA/WPA2 Personal. Outdoor camera connects fine.

First, SimpliSafe needs to fix this in the firmware.

Second, password length might not be an actual issue - that should be reflected in the FAQ.

Third, FAQs should be super-clear about wireless authentication methods to work across ALL devices.

Agreed 1000% on all 3 of your points. I done countless hours of chats with Simplisafe to get the wifi specs and none of them knew anything more than it will connect to 2.4 ghz, apparently they are poorly trained. I had to learn on my own, the limitations of there product, no wpa3 and no wifi 6 enabled on the 2.4 ghz band

Likewise.  After 2-3 hour long chats with SimpliSafe support, none of them brought up WPA2/3 as a potential issue that was preventing my outdoor camera from connecting.  Instead, they opted to A) send me a new camera B) send me a WiFi extender C) tell me to call verizon to ask if they were 'blocking' my camera from WiFi...  I only came across the real issue by trial/error with a guest network with a downgraded security level.

SimpliSafe should 1) train their support staff to know about this issue and 2) bring their security system up to today's security standards.  It makes me question using this brand for my home security system at all.

I had the same problem.   After Asus RT-AX92U router was configured for WPA2/3, I lost 4 days worth of video recording.   I called support and they had no idea what WPA2/3 even was.   Support kept going on about signal strength and 2.4g, even suggested I purchase an extender from them.  I configured the router back to WPA/WPA2 and the outdoor cameras started working again.    Funny thing is out of the 30+ devices on my network only the simply safe outdoor cameras have problems.

Simplisafe is a SECURITY company.  wireless encryption is SECURITY.  WPA3 was certified in 2018 that is 4 years! I too can also say with 100% confidence that the SS outdoor cameras so NOT work with mixed WPA2/WPA3.  Also had to move IoT devices to guest network and use exclusive WPA2, because I don't want my laptop using the older more vulnerable WPA2.  Not a good look for a SECURITY COMPANY.  Decent chance I am returning my whole system...

Hi folks,

I have an update on this issue. I had previously reported that the Outdoor Camera should be able to connect without an issue to networks set to WPA2/WPA3-Personal Mixed Mode.

However, we are now getting reports that this info may be inaccurate. Our dev team is currently investigating the issue. When I have more info, I'll keep you updated.

also having this issue.

update: I sent back my TP Link Mesh router nodes and replaced with a fairly higher end consumer/gaming router, TP Link Archer AX10000 and GLAD I did.  Unfortunately it did NOTHING to help the constant camera disconnects, but as a side note I am getting almost the exact 1gbps bandwidth from my provider! With the mesh product, the top speed I got even wired into the primary node was around 400mbps.  I have heard similar about Eero as well. 

SO, I sent back my SS cameras/doorbell/smartlock and replaced with Eufy.  So far camera and door have not disconnected ONCE.  Too bad as I liked the SS camera design and very importantly wanted to manage everything in one app (oh well).  Here are some things I have found when tweaking the 2.4Ghz spectrum to TRY and make SS cameras behave; they may help you (compiled from what I have read and /or tried)

1)  Dedicate guest or primary 2.4Ghz to a SSID to only be used with your security/IoT devices.  If you REALLY want to rule out other device-interference just use SimpliSafe on this

2) Turn off the auto settings for 2.4GHz, set the channel width to 40mhz, and set channel to either 1,6 or 11 (you can test with other channels as well).  For each channel you test with, you can connect say your laptop or phone to that network and do a speed test to see what upload speed is optimal.  I haven't gotten better than 50mbps. But each camera supposedly needs 2mbps so you can multiply that times the number cameras you have.   Phone is nice as you can go right next to your doorbell and other outside cameras to get a sense of what the bandwidth SHOULD be.

3) If you are using mesh, locate each SS device (by MAC usually) and turn the mesh feature off (if your router supports this). This way it only will associate with whatever is the best mesh node in your house and not bounce around and disconnect.  

4) Turn off fast roaming and beamforming (personally made no difference in my testing)

5) If you can set the Transmit Strength on your router, try a lower setting.  Sometimes the highest signal isn't the best; especially with 2.4Ghz devices as you can get interference from other devices in your house or your neighbors.  2.4Ghz has WAY better signal range and is why most IoT devices use it. 5GHz gets WAY better speeds and why you would use it in a location you know you have signal and not worry about range

6)  SPECIAL CHARACTERS in PASSWORDS! - actually don't THINK that was my issue with SS and router, but with my replacement Eufy cameras I basically discovered after hours of troubleshooting and replacing doorbell that there was an issue with special character in wifi password.  I have heard this elsewhere on here, so it can be prevalent in devices that use same/similar chipsets.  Basically if you have an *  or ' or $ in your password, and it is over 33 bits you may have connection issues.  Eufy as of now do not have this in their KB but support has acknowledged the issue. So, test and adjust as you see fit. 

7) Use <sigh> WPA2.  WPA3 or WPA2/WPA3 mixed appears NOT to work with SS wireless devices

I spent probably 6 hours with Simplisafe on support calls to troubleshoot this; and YES every time you call they will take you through all of the "did you reboot? Are you using 2.4Ghz?" level on BS steps over and over.  Do yourself a favor and make sure to tell them you will not repeat the same steps over and over.  

I kept my base station, indoor camera (as it was free), and the sensors as they are pretty decent.  Simplisafe REALLY needs to get their act together with the cameras. Not a good look.

I just went through this with customer services yesterday.

They are shipping new batteries for the cameras, which I am expecting to accomplish nothing.  I was optimistic they would be additional spare batteries, but they want me to ship the old ones back.  The end result is I have created more busy work for myself.

I did follow many of the recommendations Mcburn13 provided related to the mesh network and it has improved the connectivity.

I am still disappointed in the overall experience of the outdoor cameras.

This is unfortunate.  I just bought a new router and one of the main reasons I did was because I wanted to update to the more secure WPA3.  I falsely believed I could put my router in WPA3/WPA2 mode to support devices that don’t support the WPA3 protocol.  This worked for every device except the outdoor camera (Base station and doorbell camera worked fine).  For the outdoor camera to work, I have to set the router to WPA2.  This completely defeats the purpose of my router purchase.  Is there any plan to fix this?  If not, I may just choose to switch to a security system that can keep up with security standards.

Hi all,

A new update on this issue via our dev team. I was made aware that the Outdoor Camera should actually be able to support WPA3, but there may be a compatibility issue with some router models. Our dev team continues to investigate.

In the meantime, I know it's not the perfect solution, but you could set up a dedicated network just for your SimpliSafe cameras with WPA2, so that at least your cameras are able to connect, while your other devices are not affected.

So the indoor cameras and base station work ok with wpa3?