3 Messages
Outdoor Camera NOT connecting to wi-fi
Evening - my Simplisafe system is otherwise working pretty well...the outdoor camera though is a notable exception. When I first installed it ~1 month ago, it connected to wi-fi, but the battery died every 2-3 days. After getting tired of charging it that often, I tried to remove the camera from the system and re-install it. Lo and behold, now the camera won't connect to my wi-fi network (the same one it could connect to before).
I've tried just about everything I've read to get the camera to connect to no avail. The reason I fear it might be something with the camera is that I tried to connect inside the house (see photo). I'm roughly 10 ft from the base station and the white block you can see in the background is a node in my mesh wi-fi network, so its super close.
The only thing that's occurred since the camera connected the prior time is a firmware update for the base station. Has anyone else noticed any second order impacts after the most recent firmware update?
Any ideas/help would be most appreciated!!
Accepted Solution
pottsz
3 Messages
2 years ago
Following up on my original post…somewhat sheepishly…on the camera install process the point at which the app tells me it is “connecting” there is a prompt on the keypad acknowledging that an install is in progress. Once I clicked on the right arrow everything connected and the views of the camera work on the app!!
An assist to Jet (sp?) at SimpliSafe support for the walk through.
Still not sure the battery life issue that caused all of this is resolved, but I’m putting the camera install/setup issue in the win column for today!!!
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Accepted Solution
massy91
5 Messages
2 years ago
@massy91
It has finally worked! It is updating!!!
I kept trying and trying, I guess I needed some luck from the community. Now, These are the last changes I had to do for this to finally work!
- For WiFi 6, disable 802.11ax / WiFi 6 on the 2.4Ghz band! (Now, My indoor camera connected before just fine without me having to change this setting, so I am not sure what is different about the wireless outdoor camera)
- Control Channel MUST be 1, 6, or 11 (I think this was the blockage all along!) I came across this thread https://community.simplisafe.com/conversations/wireless-outdoor-security-camera/outdoor-camera-not-connecting-to-wifi/61c28605e4279c627b167443 and it is indeed needed. I have had my control channel to set to Auto and it would pick a different one since it was less congested.
- The last piece is Authentication Method! It must be WPA2 encnryption. I had thought about this a while back and had changed the encrption to WPA/WPA2. But a couple of minutes ago, while doing these changes, I decided to select only WPA2. So it seems that it must be WPA2 only.
- I had to forget the network from my mobile and reconnect to it after all this changes. Consider this if needed.
I would recommend to perform these changes one by one to see which one will unblock you!
This has been a long journey. I hope this help! Now that I know the outdoor camera works, I can now create a complete separate network for them, since I have some other devices in my 2.4Ghz and I would like to keep the highest encryption available and take advanatge of the less congested channels!
I hope this helps someone else! Cheers!
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longuser2701
7 Messages
2 years ago
I’m having the exact same same issue with my 2 outdoor camera’s. They sent me 2 new batteries thinking they were the problem. New batteries in and they still will not connect or even light up.
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tls
61 Messages
2 years ago
SS does recommend using a mesh network setup. I set mine like this.
https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035743071-WiFi-Extender-Supplemental-Instructions
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pottsz
3 Messages
2 years ago
I'm still learning with the system, so found a few other data points here that I think further confirm the connection issue isn't wifi, but something with the app.
1. I have eero mesh wifi and that app lets me see what devices are connected to my wifi network - that app shows the outdoor camera connected to the 2.4Ghz band of the network (as intended).
2. When I put the system in "test mode" and press the button on the back of the outdoor camera, the base station repeats back to me that its connected.
Therefore, the issue as far I can diagnose is with the Simplisafe app and NOT with the wifi network. Everything looks to be working/connecting as it should except for the final outdoor camera set up in the app.
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.4K Messages
2 years ago
@pottsz,
So the symptoms are that your camera had previously been connected, then the battery died. You then attempted to disconnect the camera and reconnect it, but now it's not longer able to do that.
When you disconnected the camera from WiFI, did you reset the camera? You do that by holding the button in the back for 16 seconds. When you release, it should reboot into setup mode, ready to be set up again.
If that doesn't work, the next step is to get you a replacement. GIve us a call at 800-548-9058 and we'll send one out ASAP!
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longuser2701
7 Messages
2 years ago
I just called Customer service and they are sending me 2 new camera's. I'll report back when they arrive and let you all know if they will connect or not.
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longuser2701
7 Messages
2 years ago
OK, as promised, I am reporting back to you all. I received 2 new replacement cameras today and I then fully charged both batteries that came with them. I next confirmed that my system was up to date and the phone app was up to date (which they both were). I then followed the "new camera" setup procedures on the phone app and BAM!!! they both fired up and work flawlessly. Batteries are showing full and all of this on my first try!!!!! Now, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they continue to work.
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massy91
5 Messages
2 years ago
When I found this post I felt positive I would make my brand new outdoor camera work, but no luck. I have been trying to setup this camera for 4 months now. I am very tech savvy and have tried absolutely everything, including replacing my home network mesh network with brand new routers, disabling 5ghz altogether, testing different 2.4ghz networks, disabling firewall, changing DNS settings, etc., etc. etc. Oh, as well as opening port
8890. I have come across so many posts online during these 4 months and have tried everything.
Given the fact that all my network devices, including another simplisafe camera has no issues at all, I am beliving is the device itself. I have now deviced to conact support since I have exhausted all troubleshooting and alternatives.
Thank you for all of you who take the time to provide suggestions to the commnuity.
(edited)
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patricko
1 Message
2 years ago
I found this post trying to troubleshoot my connection. I had done everything found so far (ensure 2.4ghz, ensure control channel 1/6/11, ensure WPA2, ensure battery fully charged, etc. etc.) and still the camera would not connect to my Wi-Fi. It would connect to my phone as a hot spot but not my Wi-Fi.
I have a complicated network setup - a main router w/ 2 WAN gateways (regular and VPN), several access points (some w/ wireless capabilities), and a lot of VLANs configured to keep everything isolated. My issue came down to this: each gateway in the router needs an IP address to use for monitoring to ensure the gateway is online and can reach the internet . I had used 8.8.8.8 (Google [primary] public DNS) for my VPN-only gateway and because the IoT VLAN can't route to the VPN VLAN, ultimately the devices connected to the IoT VLAN couldn't ping 8.8.8.8. I discovered this after ~6 hours of configuration changes, changing various wireless settings, trying other wireless access points, bypassing firewall rules (temporarily allowing everything), etc.
I switched the VPN gateway to use Quad9 public DNS for its monitoring freeing up Google public DNS so now every VLAN can hit 8.8.8.8 and the camera joined flawlessly. A lot of devices hard code things like this in them to be able to verify that they themselves can hit the internet and since Google public DNS has like 100% uptime it's a commonly used IP.
So, if you too have done everything else imaginable try something simple and see if you can ping 8.8.8.8 from the network the camera is on...
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cbacheller
1 Message
2 years ago
All,
Its unbelievable to me that this issue is so written about and none of the security techs when calling support didn't know these basic modem issues. Frankly, if I was less knowledgeable about logging into my local modem settings, most people would give up and send back these outdoor camera units. SIMPLI SAFE should take note.
I disconnected the 6mgz, my channel was 6 by default and I couldn't find a way to change that, and I changed the 2.4mgz to WPA2 and voila! The modem came with WPA3 by default and they wouldn't let change it through the web browser, it had to be through their app.
Both Comcast Xfinity and SimpliSafe were clueless and I spent more than 10 hours on the phone with them ultimately blaming each other.
SimpliSafe - please take note, you need to get ahead of this.
Good luck! Hoping you stay in business!
Craig
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