‎Outdoor camera slow - will Power Adapter disable Deep Sleep? | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

2 Messages

Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 8:46 PM

Outdoor camera slow - will Power Adapter disable Deep Sleep?

My outdoor camera detects motion but it is so slow waking up (for battery conservation) that I only see the person walking away with their back to me.  If I buy the cable to keep the camera powered up all of the time will my sensitivity increase (camera doesn't need to wake up for recording)?

Accepted Solution

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

3 years ago

Hi fredmcbride,

Unfortunately no, using the charging cable will not change the Outdoor Camera's deep sleep behavior.

However, better response time is one of the top priorities for Outdoor Camera development. We'll let you know when the next update is on the way.

2 Messages

@davey_d  

Ok.  Thanks.  Hurry up the new programming.  I want to see who's coming, not who's going.  Also, why isn't the camera awake full time when it is plugged in versus on battery.

742 Messages

@fredmcbride​ 

Also, why isn't the camera awake full time when it is plugged in versus on battery.

This is the functionality I want as well. (And I know we're not the only ones.) If I have a camera and it's plugged into AC, I want to be able to pull it up in a browser or app and watch real time video, 24/7, for as long as I want to.

Please add this to your list, SimpliSafe.

3 Messages

@davey_d​ 3 months later and still trash wake time... Doesn't sound like it's a top priority... smh

5 Messages

9 months later and same issues. Mine are going back in the box this weekend. The more I read about this issue the more I wish I had known this prior to purchase! Useless at night which is when I needed the most.

4 Messages

@fredmcbride​ I am very surprised to hear this as I have the indoor camera in an exterior case and it works flawlessly even on medium sensitivity. If somebody walks in front of it it is instantaneous. It is powered by a power cord. I just received the outdoor camera and am having the same issue on a warmer day I'm going to test my cord for my other camera on this one as well because I would be very surprised if it did not fix the issue.

1 Message

3 years ago

I still can't get mine to connect to wifi. I have subscription with gen 3 and 2 indoor cameras.  Out door won't connect for setup 3 feet from router. And yes it is 2.4ghz with good signal. 

This comment has been converted into a post

4 Messages

2 years ago

I also want this functionality

7 Messages

2 years ago

Agreed!  I just installed mine last week and... since the camera takes 20-30 seconds to wakeup, door-knockers just leave.  With this delay, what's the point of having a microphone if they person isn't there to hear me speak?  For this fairly-expensive camera, how did this not get tested in QA before sold? :(

And I'm with @fredmcbride.  The camera must wakup to take a recording so... wakeup the network communication as well.

Screw the battery life! 

I've got a 2nd battery ready to go.  And I'll hard-wire for power if needed.

Just get it fixed!

2 years ago

Just bought a new Gen 3 system with the security cameras.  The Wake-up is an issue as it takes time.  When I am at home and have to wait for 10-30 seconds to see who is at the door this fails to meet any standard as a security camera.   IN fact, it is difficult for me to see how this keeps one safe - and should not be sold as a "security camera".   With the Old/Gen1 system I just placed their indoor cameras on my covered porches - and they worked great (as I had power).  These are disappointing - and misleading as being sold as a security camera.  Has anyone else raised this marketing as an issue?

105 Messages

2 years ago

NO, you're lucky to see what you do. Both of my cameras wont record until the person is long gone, and they're hooked up to a power source. SimpliSafe outside cameras are worthless. Tech support won't help either.

2 Messages

2 years ago

Bumping this, ridiculous that it’s takes me 40 seconds to view my security cameras.

2 years ago

#@davey_d  - can you respond to this comment?  How are these sold as Security cameras when the camera does not wake up and you miss 10-40 seconds.   If there is an intruder trying to get in, that time makes a lot of difference.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@churchill_dadorder​ with regard to the original question, the answer is the same. The Outdoor Camera's deep sleep comes on even when plugged into AC, or fitted with the Solar Panel.

But our engineering team is very aware that many users are still seeing extended wake-up times, and further efforts to optimize performance through firmware updates is ongoing. The latest version is currently firmware 1.10, and more are on the way.

@davey_d It would be interesting to know what the real issue is.  These cameras can be coded in their firmware/software to send a low-impacting video stream to keep the camera in a always-awake mode when plugged into a power source.  People who run off a battery may have a difference issue, but you can also send a period low-impacting traffic stream to keep the wifi connection alive w/o draining the battery.   Hope they figure this out soon, because someone may call this out publicly.   I like Simplisafe and hope you release a fix soon.

1 Message

2 years ago

I'm going to add to the chorus here.  Brand new $1k+ system, 3 outside cameras all within good wifi range connecting to a $300 Netgear AX5400 router.  Whole house is only 1900 sqft and the router has 2500 sqft of coverage.  1 camera can't be more than 15 feet away from the router and they are all painfully slow to wake up and watch with slow jerky video.

If you can't fix the problem this whole brand new system was a waste of time and money.  At least expose the power settings and let the end user pick their poison.  I don't have them hard wired but I do have spare batteries.  I'd rather change the batteries weekly or even hard wire them (POE preferred) than have this level of performance.

2 Messages

2 years ago

The wakeup lag and performance is definitely something ALL of the professional paid reviews forget to mention.

You don’t know before purchasing and running the system that the video takes 1min - 2mins to wake up. When it does connect, the connection sometimes shows a black screen so you’ll have to try to reconnect. After that reconnect, the video feed isn’t continuous it’s choppy at best and it still tends to drop or lose connection. At which point you’d start from the beginning.


Can’t figure the reason the Company thinks they can give, (after EVERYONE who’s bought the product and experienced the exact same drawback/flaw) that would truly calm the customers but eventually…someday in the future, after they’ve recouped their R&D, we’ll be lucky to finally get the option to keep it connected instead of it going into a hibernation mode. What ever they fix, stop advertising this thing and fix yourself immediately SimpliSafe.

 It’s past the point of excuses. Just fix yourself. Thanks in advance!

*My current setup - Hard wired power running through garage. Mesh router with excellent connection mounted to the ceiling directly behind camera. 

(edited)

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

We sincerely understand and share your concerns. We acknowledge that there are indeed many users who are seeing these lag issues, but it doesn't affect everyone. Our engineering team continues to work hard to tackle the issue with ongoing firmware updates. 

1 Message

It seems like this privlem is affecting everyone who cares about the lag time. I have a new system out the box and the problem is the same. I thought Simpli Safe was better than this. Highly disappointed 

agree -this affects everyone with these cameras..... but most don't register their complaints. or don't notice.

1 Message

@davey_d​ If your response was 1yr ago, the issue has not been full investigated and more than likely just put on a back burner for someone else to review. I have the same issue and this has been going on since I installed the system a year ago. I have also come to find that doorbell camera (recently installed) goes off line often and doesn't come back on for at least 30-45min. It is not my internet or wifi as everything else is working perfectly. My laptop is on and connecting with no issues, my tv connects with no issues, my cell phone - no issues. When I try to troubleshoot (as per SimpliSafe instructions) it asks me to to check my wifi, the base station and to put in my password for my wifi - and still does reconnect. This is a real problem, anyone can break in before the camera wakes up. If I'm home and have it in Home mode, no alarm will go off and I can't connect for 20-40 seconds -that's dangerous. This should be TOP PRIORITY, otherwise sell your system and its components cheaper than what is advertised and advise people of what they're getting, slow connections - either that or make your system work on 4-5G.

One other thing, it's bad business when someone pays full price for a component that doesn't work and when you send them something to replace it, you send them something that is refurbished - totally unacceptable!

4 Messages

2 years ago

I suggest to everyone to buy the indoor camera with the outdoor case for now anyway because it will notify you instantly of a person approaching at which time you can manually pull up your outdoor cameras if necessary. It should obviously not be this way but until they get it figured out it's a workaround

742 Messages

@jparker21417​ 

Giving SimpliSafe more money for a workaround for a product that doesn't work as expected seems like a poor use of money. 

6 Messages

2 years ago

Please update to allow always on. The deep sleep is ruining the experience. 

137 Messages

@jbrucato​ amen!

1 Message

2 years ago

Joining those who have become vocal about dissatisfaction with the slow "wake-up" of the outdoor "security" camera. This really needs to be addressed and should be of the highest priority for SimpliSafe. As was pointed out, seeing the back side of someone leaving your property does not provide the identifying facial features so important in investigative follow-up, nor does it help when wanting to see who is on your front porch before opening the door. Curious, is this a technical issue, or a cost issue? Either way, please fix. Thank you.

1 year ago

Just received my outdoor camera a month or ago. I'm in agreement with those complaining about this camera taking too long to "wake up". My camera is hardwired; I'm not concerned about battery life. What I do want, is to be able to click on the camera and go live immediately. You could try limiting the "deep sleep" feature for when the camera is in battery mode or better yet, program an enable/disable option on the app and let us choose.

Thanks.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@riveramendezivan​ Our engineers are currently working on a feature to improve the Outdoor Camera's wake time when it is connected to a Solar Panel or power cable. Once it is ready to roll out to users, we'll let everyone know in this thread.

1 Message

Seems SS is BS on “squelch”

a simple receiver function .

my thoughts 

6 Messages

@riveramendezivan​ I believe it’s to save storage space and make money selling services you don’t provide. Offer a real cloud service that’s reliable and charge extra if you must, but have a system that works!

1 year ago

I have the same problem. My cameras are connected to a power source and the time it takes to "wake" the cameras is just ridiculous. If you actually needed to view them because of a security concern, they would be completely useless. The only thing worse than not having a security system is having a useless system like this that gives you a false sense of security. Fix this or I'm getting rid of my system. 

(edited)

@prisaznick​ Yeah. I mean, I even have had these cameras send me a motion alert and when I click the aleet notification to view the camera it says the camera is offline. Since these complaints go back years it seems unlikely SimpliSafe is ever going to fix the problem. Anyway, I’m sure the CEO of the company doesn’t use these cameras for his home security.

105 Messages

"Our engineers are currently working on a feature to improve the Outdoor Camera's wake time when it is connected to a Solar Panel or power cable"

I have been hearing this for a long time and nothing comes of it. Simpliunsafe will keep on saying it so people will keep buying their junk system. Does anybody really think that after all these years of people complaining about this same issue that they couldn't have solved the problem by now? They don't care about their customers, just their customers money. What really shocks me is that customers haven't come together and filed a lawsuit against them.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@michaeljameshill85​ we hear you. Our engineers have been hard at work on reducing the lag time, and we have been making progress over the last few firmware updates, but we have some way to go.

Currently, the Outdoor Camera behaves the same way while it's plugged into a power source, vs when it's fully on battery power. But we do have a request in development to disable that deep sleep when a power source is connected. If you follow that thread, you'll get an update when the feature is finally available.

It also helps to know that the "wake up" command comes from the Base Station. The lag could be an indicator that the camera is too far away from the Base Station, or there are too many obstructions getting in the way of the signal. That's why we often suggest moving the Base Station closer, or to a different spot, to improve the response.

742 Messages

@davey_d​ 

"It also helps to know that the "wake up" command comes from the Base Station."

Wait, how does this work? Or rather when? If the camera detects motion it can't wake itself up? It has to notify the base station to send a command to wake it up? Surely that can't be right.

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@worthing​ The Outdoor Camera does need to receive a signal from the Base Station to wake up and begin recording. The process is as follows:

  1. The camera's motion sensor tells the Base Station that it senses something through RF
  2. The Base Station then gives the Outdoor Camera the signal to wake up from deep sleep, which is also done through RF
  3. The camera's onboard computer processes the image to see if there's actually someone or something there
  4. The recorded footage gets sent to the user through Wi-Fi

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