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siameselynx

10 Messages

Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 12:50 AM

Closed

Outdoor cameras - motion detection delayed

Hello everyone,

I installed two outdoor cameras and set the sensor sensitivity to high. I get so many alerts (as the zoning seems still not working) but the start of the recordings seem to be delayed 2-3 sec. For example, I had a delivery guy bringing a package to my porch ~20ft from the road and the camera caught only the delivery guy leaving the porch.

Anyone any ideas what can be wrong?

Post

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Updated 

1 year ago

3.5K

51

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

KNOWN ISSUE: Outdoor Camera Delay

Official Solution

davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

3 years ago

Hi @siameselynx,

It's both! And yes, we've been hearing some reports of sluggishness from the Outdoor Camera - perhaps partially a side effect of the camera's Deep Sleep feature that helps preserve battery life.

Improved responsiveness is definitely a focus for future firmware updates. Stay tuned.

(edited)

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siameselynx

10 Messages

@davey_d​ thanks!
Is there a way to have the recording running 24/7 to make sure every event is captured?

3 years ago

0

kennybryant

99 Messages

@davey_d​ Looking forward to this update. My outdoor camera is missing a lot of stuff. I have it set to people only and medium sensitivity. I tried high, but the battery drains quickly. Also the activity zone blocking does not work well at all.

3 years ago

0

davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@siameselynx​ our cameras are all intended for quick response (like the rest of the security system), not so much surveillance. So unfortunately no, continuous recording is not possible.

3 years ago

0

worthing

702 Messages

@siameselynx​ 

The good news is you can get this functionality in a camera that costs $35. Check out the Wyze Cam v3. You can add an SD card to it and it can record EVERYTHING for a period of time. It's been extremely helpful in filling in the gaps when my SimpliSafe equipment starts recording too late or doesn't record at all.

It also has quite a bit of functionality that gets asked for here pretty regularly (time stamps on video, schedules for on/off, alerts, a MUCH better night vision, etc.) so there's a lot of value in that $35 camera. Please note that for some functionality you will need a CamPlus license which is a few bucks a month or you can get deals if you buy for a year.

3 years ago

siameselynx

10 Messages

@worthing​ thank you very much for chiming in. Just ordered a couple of cameras to test. I wish SimpliSafe had something similar.

3 years ago

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Accepted Solution

pjanits

29 Messages

3 years ago

Mine too. I guess that's the way it is until they fix it. If ever. I spent an hour with a tech from SS on the phone moving the camera all over the front porch, no change. 1. the sensor range is about 10 feet. 2. I think it takes too long to wake up from deep sleep. By that time the guy is on his way out. So if you want to catch someone breaking in you will need a different camera.

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gregter

64 Messages

3 years ago

Seems everyone is having this issue. Davy?

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siameselynx

10 Messages

3 years ago

Is this a community help site or is actually someone from the company monitors the threads? 

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hallethan89

2 Messages

2 years ago

In the first 2 days having the camera someone has already set off the motion sensor attempting to break in, but I’m only getting an image of their back as they walk away. I’m freaked out. When is SimpliSafe going to post an update? The police can’t identify a person by the back of their head

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wumbe

3 Messages

2 years ago

my simplisafe outdoor cameras have the same annoying problem of activating just in time to get image of someone's back as they walk away, unless they are walking quite slow. but the response time isn't consistent.  I am grateful for this community because it saved me from spending 2 hours on the phone with a simplisafe camera help agent. 

(edited)

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stevec101814

9 Messages

2 years ago

We have the same problem.  Our camera faces the street, but people/cars don't show up until they're leaving.  Couple this with the faulty grid blocking to blank out certain areas of the view, and it makes me wonder what amount of quality control allows these to be sold with these basic functions not working?  

I sure hope the software update fixes this, these should not have been sold until they're ready for market.

(edited)

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siameselynx

10 Messages

@stevec101814​ @stevec101814​ I returned my cameras and seems couldn't make better. I followed the advise from @worthing and got bunch of Wyze cameras, you can get them with cool floodlight under $50 and they're much superior to the SimpliSafe exterior one.

2 years ago

Captainks

7 Messages

Agreed!  I've got even-cheaper ones (Anran) in my backyard for critter alerts.  I can get an alert and get to video/microphone ability within seconds.  The pain is they're not integrated with SimpliSafe, but... maybe I need to head that way as well for my security system. :(

2 years ago

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seong76

2 Messages

2 years ago

@davey_d I have the same problem with my outdoor camera, which is really frustrating to say the least.  I have the "Sensitivity" set to "High" and "Motion Type" set to "People Only".  Please escalate this issue to the Engineering and Product Management teams, before Simplisafe starts to lose customers.

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@seong76​ I'm assuming you're talking about the delay in recording, like OP (and not any of the other issues raised by our fellow members). A firmware update was rolled out recently that improves response time a bit, but our engineering team continues to work towards optimizing.

2 years ago

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saadsyed1390

2 Messages

@davey_d - when was this firmware update rolled out and what is the version? I installed my camera yesterday and the response time is abysmal. In fact I’m regretting purchasing anything SimpliSafe at this point.

2 years ago

davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@saadsyed1390 I'm sorry to hear that.

Outdoor Camera Firmware 1.6 was rolled out last month. If you've only just installed your camera, it might take a short while before it automatically updates to the latest version. And of course, 1.6 is just the beginning, and there will be further optimizations on the way soon.

2 years ago

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jdnels2

12 Messages

2 years ago

Just adding the the same comments. I also have an Arlo system I was going to retire. The SimpliSafe cameras are not adequate.i have a lot of videos with no people or anything in them. I can always compare to my other system to see what I missed. It's terrible. I have the sensitivity to the max. It's like a 30 second delay in recording time from the motion trigger. How can this even be sold as a security system?

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bsevennine

4 Messages

2 years ago

I've been a SimpliSafe Customer since 2018. I like a lot of things that they do, and have done... 

But once I realized that Delivery People, (UPS, FedEx, USPS) all seem invisible to my Outdoor Camera, 

I've been upset. I've worked with their Tech Support on this issue 2 or 3 times; only to find out later, that the problem persists... It's a security camera that is not detecting the motions/events fast enough.

At first I thought that the Delivery guys carried company devices (Delivery Trackers/Timers) that just happened to interfere with my Camera, but now I really feel that the SimpliSafe Cameras were just not up to par, when they were rolled out... 

We need Camera replacements or Updates now; before something gets stolen off of my porch, and I have No evidence!

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@bsevennine​ so sorry to hear that your Outdoor Camera isn't performing as expected. We did roll out an update that helps with boosting response time, and there are more updates to further optimize coming in the future.

One thing that can help right now though would be to think about the positioning of your camera. Recordings and notifications are triggered by a motion sensor, which works a lot like the Motion Sensors you'd have inside the home. That means it would perform best when subjects are moving across the camera's view, rather than moving directly towards it. You might just want to try moving the camera to a different spot, further to the side, and that might be enough.

2 years ago

0

bufordH

6 Messages

2 years ago

I just installed an outdoor camera and thought the extreme delay in waking up was a bug but I guess it's a feature. How on EARTH did a security company think that this was an acceptable delay? A lot of times people just run up and kick a door in or steal a package off the porch and by the time these cameras finally wake up they'd be gone or I'd just see their butts running away. This is completely unacceptable! I love the Simplisafe alarm system and have had mine for over a decade so I figured I'd incorporate the cameras but OOF this is a swing and a miss. 

I know you say your engineers are hard at work to improve this but are they really? Because Nest cameras are lightning fast with motion detection recording but these SS cams are a joke. 

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cornettandstevens

2 Messages

2 years ago

Very disappointed also about the long delay.  There should be an adjustment whether to save battery power versus delay to make everyone happy.   I have mine hooked to solar panel so I'm not concerned that it saves battery life and drains too much.  The deep sleep mode should be adjustable. 

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guiip35

17 Messages

2 years ago

Like everyone else - very dissatisfied and disappointed with this camera, it’s terrible

all I get in response is that “feedback will be shared with the appropriate team” which is meaningless 

it’s a shame. The rest of the system works really well. 

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tehodge90

2 Messages

2 years ago

Any updates on this problem SimpliSafe???

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sethman

8 Messages

2 years ago

Camera was working up until a few weeks ago - camera points up my driveway and now camera motion sensing occurs only when someone leaves my house or when someone is practically under the camera and it's too late to see them as they are at my door which is not within range of the camera. 1.7 firmware update is in place.

What's going on?

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

Apologies for the trouble you've been having with your camera. Would you be able to say when this behavior started happening? It sounds like from what you've said, there's an even bigger delay before recordings start, which is the opposite of what the latest firmware update should have done.

 

I would suggest (if you haven't already) starting with a hard reset, by pressing the button in the back for 16 seconds. When you release, your camera will reboot into setup mode, and you can set it up again through the app.

 

If a reset doesn't help, please give us a call at 800-548-9508 and our Support team can assist with further steps.

2 years ago

0

DBNet

26 Messages

@davey_d  That's just it...Support can't help as this is an engineering/design/firmware issue.  These were not well thought out security cameras when you have cameras that are 1/4th the price out that not only do better, but more. I wanted to have one place to go...So I am new to SS...but now because of the cameras, it is a regret as I need to use other cameras to get the REAL picture of what took place.  It should NOT be like this.

Heck, if the camera is powered, it should never sleep and thus should be fast and be able to do real digital monitoring of motion using pixel detection.  It should not rely on a sensor that you need to be within 10 feet of to work and NOT moving towards the camera but more sideways to trip the sensor.  Just what I want, the side of someone or their back after they passed.  No, I want someone image of the approaching the area I am covering.  SECURITY CAMERA after all. :)

The SS security system itself is just fine, you all can do that and seem to do it well for many years with many customers...But these cameras are a total joke and you know support can't do anything to help and you do have to know that.

SS should make this right and release real cameras and take back these cams. As a new customer, I am happy with the Alarm...but wanted cams to go with it and it seems that SS should have never going into the camera area unless they were willing to do it right. At the price charged for them, they should be really good.

Thank you for listening. 

David

2 years ago

jdnels2

12 Messages

I completely agree that these systems were sold as security systems and clearly are not. False advertising. I could have everything stolen right outside my house before the cameras ever triggered. I have a Arlo system actually side by side with my front cameraa now and there is no comparison. Arlo picks up motion and records things coming down the street if I want. These cameras get people leaving my driveway or porch. SimpliSafe should take all of these cameras back and replace them before there is a class action against them. 

2 years ago

maceachernbarb57

2 Messages

August 2022 - still same issue. Definitely not what was advertised! These SimpliSafe cameras are Definitely Simply Do Not Buy! 

2 years ago

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laistrop

2 Messages

I agree on these cameras. They are terrible!  Person is only recorded from behind and leaving my front porch; NEVER when they are walking up to the porch. 
I would not recommend their cameras!! 

2 years ago

0

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