29 Messages
series of close notifications, only the first with video
Why would an outdoor camera send multiple notifications with a timestamp 0-3 minutes apart, but only the first has video. The second two, in this particular case, with the same timestamp, report "No Video We did not receive this part of the recording from your camera" Interestingly, the second notification (the first with no video) appears to be 16 seconds long, and the third notification (the second without video,) appears to be 30 seconds long. The original notification, with the video, is 27 seconds long.
captain11
Captain
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6K Messages
2 years ago
@galenwork There are two factors at work here, the strength of your WIFI signal and up / down speeds. Lacking the connection check tool that the Simplicams and front doorbell has (in development for the outdoor camera), suggest the following test. First, if your resolution is 1080, go into the app and step down to 720. Then walk into the field of the camera (at night with the spot on is the easist) to get it to start recording. Walk out of the field of view, count to 7 and then re-enter. Repeat. If you get your 3 videos it is a sign your connection is too weak and slow. If it doesn't work at the reduced resolution, I would call support to work with them to troubleshoot. I should note I have Google WIFI, which is a mesh system, and can see in the Home App that the camera connections to the closest point (I added it specifically for my two outdoor cameras) that the signal is "good" on one and "great" on the other.
To SS, please deliver the Connection Tool for the Outdoor cameras asap. Thanks!
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galenwork
29 Messages
2 years ago
let's start with up/down speeds. The house has a 1 Gb connection. Typically, it runs about 650Mb down and 150Mb up. So, I don't believe exterior bandwidth is an issue. Interior wifi is a TP-Link mesh with three nodes apart from the core wifi router. Each report having similar bandwidth to the actual connection to the house at any given time. The third node was added yesterday in an attempt to help the troubled camera. It is essentially 10' from the camera on the inside of the same wall.
You didn't mention it, but all batteries on the outdoor cameras are at 100% because of solar panel connections.
All the cameras send timely notifications. All send videos with the notifications, although as mentioned previously, the troubled outdoor camera has of late had some odd video behavior. All but the troubled one can do the live stream reliably. The doorbell connects in <3 secs, which I consider a reasonably appropriate response time. The one interior camera has about the same response. The two of the three outdoor cameras stream in about 8 sec. The troubled camera doesn't want to stream at all it seems, despite it's reliable connection.
Now, a few more details. The troubled camera had been one of the most reliable and active outdoor cameras when first installed. The behavior with missing videos, cascading notifications, and inability to live stream first appeared on March 14, just over a week ago, and prior to putting a node of the mesh network close to it. I pulled the face off this morning to "reboot" it. I also unplugged the base station, hoping that would reorient itself to the network addresses being used. There's been no change in the ability of the troubled camera to stream.
The connection tool would be nice, I guess, but I'm not expecting any revelations given everything else appears to work well through the same network.
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