‎Unreliable Cameras | SimpliSafe Support Home
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luckey_richard's profile
luckey_richard

3 Messages

Sunday, September 25th, 2022 11:35 PM

Unreliable Cameras

It's a full time job trying to keep these unreliable cameras working. They only work half the time, the other half they are not responding or off line!! I'm regretting switching from ADT because I just didn't have unreliable service. My simplisafe system was well over $2,000, and turning into a horrible investment. Every single internet speed test we've conducted shows exceptional fast speeds. We sit in the drive way and out in the backyard streaming sports games and 4k video on TVs without missing a beat, so I know it's not an internet issue. The problem is definitely Simplisafe! Don't even get me started on the fact my system is less than year old and now the batteries won't hold a charge 2 weeks.

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Updated 

28 days ago

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7

Official Solution

davey_d

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

2 years ago

Hi,

Really sorry to hear that you've been having such a hard time with your Outdoor Cameras. I would caution that being able to stream 4K video isn't really a fair comparison, since that would rely on your download speed - whereas sending video from your cameras would use upload. And many ISPs do offer vastly different upload vs download speed.

That being said, there's a few other factors that can affect your cameras' performance. One of them is reception; not just how much bandwidth is available, but how strong that signal is from your camera. The further the camera is from your WiFi router and your Base Station (because it does need to connect to both), and the more interference is in the way, the more difficult that communication becomes.

Have you already been working with our Support team? There are a few troubleshooting steps we can try to get your cameras working better.

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luckey_richard

3 Messages

I was able to make some "additional investments" and the system is working a lot better. I had to purchase a $1,000 mesh wifi system to get the cameras to work, although they still only work about 85% of the time. I also had to buy solar panel chargers for every outdoor camera to help keep the batteries charged. The system works good, but I ended up paying around $3,500 out of pocket to secure my home, plus $30 per month for monitoring. In the end I'm not sure this was a better investment than signing a contract with a large provider like ADT.

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9 months ago

mlanzer

2 Messages

@davey_d​ 

I haven't even had my system for 3 months, and it's impossible to keep all these cameras connected. I look at my brother's Google camera and how it constantly records and how it can constantly pull it up, and it makes me feel like I wasted my freaking money. Download and upload speed aside, large company should be finding out ways to better compress their data. You don't need 100 MB a second to stream a decent video. The video that it streamed is junk.

I'm extremely unhappy with my product, I'm looking for alternatives. Instead of selling us junk cameras, simply safe should be working with companies like Amazon and Google to integrate their camera systems into your security network. They have it figured out, you don't.

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8 months ago

emily_s

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@mlanzer​ I'm really sorry to hear about all this trouble. There are a few troubleshooting steps we can take to keep your cameras online and connected.

First, have you tried using the Connection Check tool in the SimpliSafe mobile app? This is a diagnostics tool that will scan your cameras' connection to your Wi-Fi network and provide any additional tips to improve their connection. To access this tool in the mobile app, navigate to the "Cameras" tab on the bottom of the screen > tap the gear icon in the top right corner > select [your camera] > Connection Check > Start Connection Check. 

We also recommend setting up a guest Wi-Fi network locked to 2.4GHz and connect your SimpliSafe devices to it to help with their connection.

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8 months ago

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mlanzer

2 Messages

My wifi is fine. Your outdoor cameras are trash. I'm opening a BBB case to request a full refund of the outdoor cameras. 

(edited)

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1 month ago

luckey_richard

3 Messages

2 years ago

Simpli-poor Quality 

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dauidus

1 Message

2 months ago

I agree.  The outdoor SimpliSafe cameras are absolute junk.  One is plugged into a SS solar panel that gets 6+ hours of direct sun a day.  Battery never gets above 9% and dies every day.  2 others are constantly connected to direct power - they are sitting at 54% and 69% battery, while showing no charge.

And, when they do charge, they only pick up about 1/5 of the motion directly in front of them.  Often takes 20 seconds to connect to a camera from the app.

We were duped by the marketing strategies of a predatory company that does not care about fixing these obvious software issues.  We wasted our money.  SimpliSafe knows this, yet won't admit there is a software problem with their devices.

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emily_s

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@dauidus​ Were your Outdoor Cameras' batteries charged completely prior to setting up the Solar Panels? The Solar Panel is designed to top off the camera's battery, not charge it all the way from a low percentage, so that could be one factor. 

But your two cameras that show no charge, is the Solar Panel plugged into the Outdoor Camera all the way? I would try unplugging the Solar Panel and then plug it back in, making sure that the plug is flush with the Outdoor Camera.

And in order to wake up and begin recording, the Outdoor Camera relies on its connection to the Base Station. Moving the Base Station to an area where its closer to the Outdoor Cameras can help with their recording and wakeup time.

But if the above steps do not help, I would recommend contacting our Support team next and they can help with further troubleshooting.

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2 months ago

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dlpsr

1.1K Messages

1 month ago

I have 14 other brand cameras as future replacements for now. No base necessary.

I can open 7 of the competition cameras to live view in just 2 or 3 seconds, where I'd be waiting 8 seconds for just one of these SS to open. Individual cams, live in 1 seconds on some,  3 at worst. I'm talking in the competition app not web app.

In addition, I get about 6 to 1 events vs these. You don't know what is being not seen until you compare.

These SS cams are from 2017 to 2019. Ancient. My other cams are mfg. 2023.

Cheap cameras yes, but they work.

Obviously I have mesh for both. $200-$300 mesh refurbished Orbi. Old mesh fits this old technology. 

I'm moving on,  maybe lol. Someone DM me when the class action starts.🤣😉

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