88 Messages
“Device Connection Problem” error message
For the last few weeks at least, I’m consistently seeing a “device connection problem” error message when trying to use the app. This happens any time I try to refresh settings in my system, general settings or device settings. Also happens when trying to arm or disarm in the app. This happens every single time. I don’t think I’ve had a successful connection once. Base is connected to cellular only, not to Wi-Fi. Base has been sending push notifications when armed or disarmed from keypad for the most part and sent notification during an accidentally triggered alarm. So it seems it can send out but can’t receive connections initiated through the app. I also tried the web app and that gave the same error.
Is this a known issue now for base stations using cellular only, or is it just my system? It used to work fine. If this gets escalated, please have the technician contact me by email, as I’m not available by phone during the day.
Thank you!
emily_s
Community Admin
•
3.4K Messages
1 year ago
Hi @Boring_Joe,
If you're still receiving push notifications, we know that the Base Station and app can still communicate. If you haven't already, I would try resetting your Base Station with the following steps:
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djayhjr
1 Message
11 months ago
hello, I seem to be having exact same issue - reset and no change - app on iphone recognizes 'away' status but throw's up a ' device connection problem' ... 'device is unable to connect' when i try to refresh in order to see current temp senor readings. It does work when I log into SimpliSafe website on my pc which suggest to me the base station, cell tower, etc is all working - is the app not working? i downloaded latest version other day and no change. Some setting on my phone timing out? Please let me know any thoughts. The house is rural and no internet - reason i have Simplisafe to begin with is ability to work basic security via built in cell signal only. Also, winter is here, my need to monitor temps is critical. Thanks.
(edited)
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lubowsky
6 Messages
10 months ago
I have the same frustrating issue when I attempt to read the temperature from my freeze sensors. This has gotten worse over the many years I have owned my system. At first getting connected required three or four attempts, each getting Device Connection Problem. Today I have already made a dozen attempts and still don’t connect.
of what use is the Simplisafe system if it doesn’t allow communication?
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york1account
5 Messages
10 months ago
Not sure this is related to a cellular connectivity problem. I use my system seasonally to check the temp in my house over the winter. I reactivated it today and encountered this problem when trying to refresh the home page by pulling it down. The reason I think it might not be related to cellular issues is because I can retrieve the temperature in the house by using the web app and it works fine (I hear the resync message from the tower). I can also retrieve the temperature from the app (not from the web page) by accessing the page for the freeze device and then backing out to the page that has the the resync wheel icon in the upper right corner. When doing this I also hear the resync message from the tower and it works fine. If it is a cellular issue why does it work from the web page and using the method I described for the app?
I also noticed in settings that I can see the device settings but get an error message when trying to see the system settings.
It would be helpful if others on this thread would try the methods I used to retrieve the temp to see if you encounter the same behavior.
I’ve tried lots of things to overcome this issue powering down the tower, restarting the phone, reinstalling the app, installing the app on another device at a different IOS level and it still does not work. The tower is in the same location that it has been for the last 6-7 years. Also, I use an AT&T cell card in the tower.
Seems odd that this problem thread started in September of this year and several others are now reporting it issue. Can anyone at Simplisafe provide any other options other than to move the tower?
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york1account
5 Messages
10 months ago
Since my earlier post I’ve moved the tower to a second story window in the house. I use AT&T for my mobile phone and I can see at least 3 bars on my phone at that location. I tried testing the app and had the same results.
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york1account
5 Messages
10 months ago
Thought about this overnight and decided to run a few more tests this morning.
First - I returned the base station to it’s original location (from the top floor by a window to the ground floor of my house). The base station immediately recognized the power outage and I received a message by text. When I plugged the base station back in immediately reported that power had been restored (by text msg). The time stamps on the text messages were one minute apart.
I then ran a few timing tests -
Test # 1 - attempted to refresh the home page in the app by pulling it down. After 60 seconds the error message appears listed at as the title of this support thread. I tested this method twice and the timing was consistent.
Test # 2 - attempted to refresh the temperature from the device screen. I went into the window for the freeze control device (from within the app) and hit the refresh button (two arrows, circling each other). For about 30 - 45 secs (right after completing test 1 and launching test 2) I get the message “base station busy”. After this time period expires the refresh works and I can see the updated temperature at on the device page. Also I sure the temp is updated because it shows a different temperature than what was previously listed. I also hear the message “your settings have been synchronized” and see the blue light flashing on my base station. It is also important to note that when I run test # 1 and it fails the temperature listing at the bottom of the page disappears. Some time after running test #2 the temperature appears at the bottom of the app home page with the temperature reading that was retrieved from test #2. This take a good bit of time - maybe 15 mins (and I might close and reopen the app in that time frame).
Test # 3 - attempted to refresh the temperature reading from the web page. I logged into the web page and pressed the refresh button at the bottom of the page. The page refreshed with the new temperature reading in 14 - 15 seconds. I also get the message “your settings have been synchronized” Btw - this method will also give the “base station busy” message if used right after trying to refresh the home page in the app and getting the error message.
Ok - what might this be pointing toward and what follow up steps make sense?
At least in my case, this is not a cellular communication problem unless you are using two different forms of contacting my base station from your server (one method for test #1 and a different method for test #2 and 3. There is too much consistency in the results for test 2&3 vs test # 1 for this to be a communication problem. The power message also support this position.
The error message in Test 1 and the time period suggest that a timer is set for 60 seconds before the timer pops and issues the message. It does not seem to be based on receiving an error back from the server the indicates a hard problem (the timer could be set at the mobile app level or the server). The “base station busy” message seems to indicate that the server continues to try to honor the request even after the error message is displayed in the app.
Both of these findings suggest the place to look for the issue is either in the behavior of the refresh action of the app or the code path within the sever for that action. It could be a malformed request from the app, a different path for communicating with the tower or some form of sever error that is causing this. I would also suggest looking for changes - either mobile app or server related that were introduced just prior to the first post in this listing.
Hope this helps in your debugging of this issue. I’m certain we would all be happy if you could fix this before the really cold weather sets in.
Feel free to contact me if you need anything else to help with your debugging effort.
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york1account
5 Messages
10 months ago
IOS levels for the two different mobile devices (both iPhones) are 16.7.2 and 17.1.2
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lubowsky
6 Messages
10 months ago
Thanks York1, I have tried those things but all I get is the Connection Problem message.
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