‎Simisafe is unreliable | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
gaflaxm's profile

Monday, January 10th, 2022 5:26 PM

Simisafe is unreliable

-cameras cut out (recently had a theft and camera didn't record)   Simplisafe claims their cameras are "Steadfast & reliable" "Built to work in any environment. That way you don't have to worry about your security feed cutting out when you need it most.Stable Wi-Fi coverage"

2 Wi-Fi antennas provide a strong connection to your router — no matter where your camera is."   I work in tech and tested the bandwidth of my router and extenders.   All tested 100%, yet cameras and recordings consistently cut out.  False advertising!! 

-simplisafe claims motions pick up unique human signature, will not get false alarms from pets,  NOT TRUE, I get false alarms from my cat all the time.  

-camera solar panels don't work, not keeping camera charged, I still have ro manually charge the battery, panel is getting 4+ hours of direct sunlight as recommended. 

-customer service and technical support is terrible.  They are not properly trained.  They transfered me multiple times and are ill prepared to address issues.  After 4 calls and over 2 hours speaking with various tech and cust service reps they were unable to address my camera and motion sensor issues. 

When I asked to speak with a manager I was told none were available. I let them know I had a theft.  They apparently escalated my case, over a week ago but have not heard back. TERRIBLE!!

-unable to set notification schedules like all other products on the market.  You should be able to control when you receive event notification

-doorbell is low tech.  Unable to change ring tones on the simlisafe base.  When someone rings the doorbell you should be able.to set a chime on your mobile device as well, as RING, and other video doorbells offer.   All it sends is a basic notification, which doesn't draw your attention..

Simplisafe needs to step up their game. 

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

3 years ago

Hi gaflaxm,

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. It sounds like you've got a few major concerns that we should address, not least of which that break-in situation. I'll be requesting a call from a specialist who will take care of you.

14 Messages

3 years ago

I've been waiting over a week for an escalation specialist to call me back.   While I was speaking with them.last week she said they had to evacuate the building and then I never heard back.  She also promised to send.me a replacement outdoor  camera, I never received that.   Customer service is nonexistent

41 Messages

3 years ago

Plus they suck for requiring a subscription plan.... just because you simply want to interface your SimpliSafe hub to Amazon

It can be "Simpli" if your willing to pay money year over year...that ALL other smart devices provide for FREE 

1 Message

3 years ago

I’ve had a very similar experience. Cameras constant disconnect then in the timeline you see “automatic test signal received” bs. Both cameras didn’t pick up an attempted burglary at my house. Pointless POS if you ask me. Absolutely zero faith in this system. 

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Hi ,

 

That "Automatic Test Received" means that our website received a signal from your Base Station. Your cameras are a different connection entirely. So we'd need to troubleshoot them separately.

If you haven't already, give us a call at 800-548-9508 and we can go through it with you step by step.

4 Messages

3 years ago

I have the exact same experience. Streaming is fine most of the time, except when 2 or 3 cameras decide they are not connected anymore and then randomly start working again hours later. Nearly all my recorded videos have issues with playback from the web and mobile apps, which in my case meant no video of package thieves, etc. Simplisafe is simply unreliable. I would never recommend this system to anyone in this condition.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@hanhuijun​ sounds to me like we should be troubleshooting wireless reception for those cams. Have you already been working with our Support team at 800-548-9508? There's a few tricks we can try to get those cams to 100%.

4 Messages

I haven't committed the hours needed to call in yet, however, I have exchanged emails. Here's what they linked me to, which is what the apps link you to, so why did I even bother...

https://support.simplisafe.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035378952-What-does-Unable-to-Stream-Video-mean-

4 Messages

I should add that 3 of my cameras are literally next to my Wifi router @ 300Mbps.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Thanks for the info. That 300mbps sounds like the download speed. Do you have a similar upload speed? With three cameras, we recommend a dedicated 4.5mbps (on top of anything your other WiFi devices are using) for best performance.

 

But if it's not reception/range or bandwidth, then the issue might be with your router's security settings, or how the traffic is managed. Our Support team over the phone should be able to dig deeper.

5 Messages

@hanhuijun​ have you tried moving your tower closer to the router. That solved my issues. 

35 Messages

2 years ago

I've consistently had similar problems, especially with my front door bell. Initially I thought it was my doorbell transformer but after replacing that it is still having issues. And many times after catching an incomplete or missing video situation I've been able to live stream with no issues at all. 

I fail to understand why the doorbell does not have built in storage and all video is copied there as well as streaming to SS HQ servers. That way even if there is a temporary loss of network video can be recovered later. 

I really hope there is a new version of the doorbell coming out soon as it is beyond irritating at this time. As soon as I start having to integrate devices from a different system like Ring my reasons to stay with SimpliSafe start to diminish and I don't want to do that but eventually will have to. 

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@s13nOur cameras are designed for immediate response, to support the main security system, rather than for surveillance. Which is why they only have enough memory to facilitate streaming, not buffering or delayed transmission.

But the issue you're describing is likely caused by either not enough bandwidth, or inadequate reception - both from the transmission being interrupted somehow. Assuming you've already done the standard troubleshooting (for bandwidth issues here, and for signal strength here), I can put you in touch with a specialist who might be able to try a few further steps.

4 Messages

2 years ago

Yeah. You guys should give it up. You sell a "monitoring" system, not an "alarm" system. It's a good enough toy if you want to check on your bird feeder or something but if anybody out there considering this has anything valuable to protect this is not for you.

Last week my outdoor camera was stolen from it's mount. I figured at least I should have a decent video of the punk that swiped it, right? NO! All of the videos are stored ON THE CAMERA!! Even older videos I'd saved of previous trespassers were gone. There is NO 'cloud' storage! Now that is a horrible, horrible, design flaw if you ask me.

Forget about customer service as well. I've had to deal with so many issues that at this point I know more than they do. It's obvious there are just reciting the same help screens you have already looked at and tried with no luck.

I'm shopping for a real alarm service now. When I get that installed I'm taking a sledge hammer to this SS junk.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@almorris apologies for the confusion. Our cameras basically only have cloud storage - the "Timeline" is a record of data stored in the cloud. So the issue for your cam is that the footage was somehow interrupted from being sent to the cloud.

Since you mention that there was an actual incident, I will go ahead and request a call from our Specialist team to take care of you. Please keep an ear out for a call from them.

(edited)

4 Messages

2 years ago

I might also mention that it took about an hour and several layers of "support" to tell me I was out of luck. I don't think they even know there is no cloud storage. They kept telling me to "check my timeline". Yeah, no kidding. Where do you think I'd be looking?

35 Messages

@almorris​ well there is cloud storage - but only if it got uploaded which requires network connectivity to SS.  Theoretically that goes over cellular network so it works even without WiFi but it's unclear to me if that is really the case since why do they always ask about your home network bandwidth?   I have a feeling the cellular connection is only for sensors not cameras.  If WiFi is down and sensors trigger they are blind and all recordings are lost.   Cameras should a) have builtin storage, b) use WiFi to copy to base station and the cloud as they are recording and event, c) base station should upload over cellular in case of WiFi issues.

But, folks looking for an alternative - IME good luck in the SS price range.  It is frustrating that it is almost good enough to be really good.  But glitches like this make you feel like it is unusable.  

And the problem for them is once someone starts integrating other cameras and devices they are on a slippery slope to ditching SS completely.  

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@s13n just to clarify here - only the Base Station communication can go through the cellular backup. All cameras connect to the service through your WiFi router directly, and uses WiFi only.

1 Message

I am pretty much done now with Simplisafe. I have so many issues with doorbell cameras being slow or not recording, sensors not repsonding to fell as if my house is never really truly protected. Tonight as I am waiting for trick or treaters, the doorbell rings and I receive notification 9, 10, 11, 12 minutes AFTER the doorbell actually rings. And the icing is the video does not actually record and I get the usual "we did not receive this part of the recording...." I JUST had purchased a new outdoor camera and sensors and what a waste of money. Should have gone with ADT when we moved in as had our neighbors. Grrrrrr.

15 Messages

8 months ago

Our outdoor cameras have never been reliable . . . literally years of "removing" and reinstalling (adding).  We've probably done 10 resets; at least half dozen factory resets.  No improvement.  WiFi signal is good.  We added SimpliSafe's recommended WiFi signal extender.  No joy.  There is absolutely no incentive to subscribe to camera monitoring if the cameras are totally unreliable.  Now we're going to replace the cameras with new ones.  Please stand by . . .

Hopefully this will resolve the issues.  Is there anything more frustrating than seemingly never-ending troubleshooting of tech devices?   Today was over 2 hours, without a fix.  

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