‎Outdoor camera is worthless | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

2 Messages

Thursday, April 14th, 2022 6:53 PM

Closed

Outdoor camera is worthless

Mounted to monitor sidewalk to front door  installed looking front door to sidewalk. By the time the camera ‘wakes up’ the only video is of them walking away. No frontal video. I spent a lot including the solar option and its worthless

I’ve Explored settings and there is nothing to trigger faster. 

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

KNOWN ISSUE: Outdoor Camera Delay

Official Response

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

3 years ago

So sorry to hear about your experiences. We did release an update earlier this year with some improvements to performance. But our engineering team continues to work on further optimizations.

3 Messages

3 years ago

I am having the same issue. I have been experimenting over the last month with different settings and have even tried changing the location for a different angle, nothing is working. There are a lot of complaints, and the response from customer service reps is that it is a "top priority", but that remains to be seen.

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

@Austin​ we hear you. As I mentioned in a different comment, we've made some progress, but we're still working on it and more improvements are on the way.

5 Messages

These cameras are such a waste of time and money.  Customer service is the worst!  They just lie to get you off the phone or passed to the next.  I was told my order from 11/21 would be delivered this week and it hasn’t even been processed.  Email was sent out it will be another 5-6 months for smoke detectors.  Took too long to get cameras so can’t return to Best Buy.  I 100% regret SimpliSafe.   

3 Messages

2 years ago

I have the same issue... very slow to wake-up. It's not worth the money. I'm thinking of mounting it on a tree in the yard.  In addition, while I receive audio from both the outdoor and indoor cameras, pressing the microphone alerts me it needs permission... which, I don't think can be forced.

26 Messages

2 years ago

As a new SimpliSafe user, came here looking for fixes to LATE recordings of video from the outdoor cameras.  I can have like 4 to 5 seconds of missing beginning video thus missing "the action".  VERY SLOW to start to record and even worse is getting them to WAKE  and stream the live video.  That is IF it starts up at all.  60% of the time I need to go out of the app and then back in just to see a live view.  

But the late recordings are just not acceptable. 

5 Messages

2 years ago

Oh my gosh, the outdoor camera drives me insane. I purchased the power cord thinking it would help with the "waking" of the camera.

It does NOT help at all. In fact, the power cord is worthless. It is not needed. 

The power cord does NOT charge the battery

The camera does NOT work while the battery is out (being charged) 

Therefore, the power cord is never needed!

Here's what happened today. Someone left my house, the camera recorded 22 seconds. While backing out, there was a collision with another vehicle. It wasn't recorded. Customer service says "only records while there is motion" THE VEHICLE was MOVING!  I have it set to all zones, and high sensitivity. 

Simplisafe has really dropped the ball on this outdoor camera. There should be settings where we can choose how long we want the video to record. I'm okay charging the battery more often. I NEED it when I NEED it. 22 seconds is never enough time to give enough information. 

I have so much money invested with all the other devices, it's crazy to think about switching.

Seriously, UPDATE this camera or stop selling it. AND, stop offering the power cord. It's useless! I'm sending it back to get a refund. 

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

@gailw​ apologies for the trouble you've had.

The Power Adapter should be keeping your camera charged. But it currently does not affect the Deep Sleep behavior of the camera.

Our engineers are well aware of the feedback from users like yourself, and we're continuing to work on improvements, especially to performance. Keep an eye out for future firmware updates on the way.

26 Messages

2 years ago

@gailw ... Not sure on what you mean with the power cord as it does keep the battery full and it show on the cameras page a charge symbol (really looks like a dot on the app) on the battery. 

I really think that if the camera is on a power source, it should be always awake as it has power and does not need to conserve power.  This should be something one would think the team could do with a firmware update. (If it already does this, I can't tell for being on battery vs being on a power source the camera works and reacts the same....Poorly. 

But I do not see the battery discharging and I run it with full detection and spot light. (But again, it still has issues.)

David

5 Messages

@DBNet​ 

hmmm, it didn't keep my battery charged. I had to remove the battery and charge it. While the battery was out, the camera would not operate. 

Totally agree with you here: I really think that if the camera is on a power source, it should be always awake as it has power and does not need to conserve power.

5 Messages

2 years ago

I would return them if you're still able to get a refund.

6 Messages

2 years ago

i am experiecing a similar issue, what are your guys settings? are they accepting refunds due to this issue?

the other thread mentioned an update to fix it, when is that coming out?

New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Article and please be sure to review our Community Guidelines before posting.