‎Out of range issues at ~50ft | SimpliSafe Help Center
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dylan2955

3 Messages

Thursday, November 18th, 2021 10:17 AM

Out of range issues at ~50ft

Hello,

I have had the SimpliSafe system for a couple of months and have been noticing frequent issues with some sensors.

I have a seperated garage that is 40 feet from my home and about 50 feet from my base station.

For the first two months or so I had almost no issues, now my sensors are constantly disconnecting. Is there anything I can do to fix this/increase range?

Couple notes:

There is no metal in between the base station the garage, only some wood and siding. There is nothing in the yard, all open space.

Question

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Updated 

2 years ago

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captain11

Captain

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5.2K Messages

2 years ago

@dylan2955 my daughter's house, vinyl siding, has a detached garage at about the same distance and the sensors are fine. Weird that all was lkay for  awhile and now having issues with some os them.

Try:
-moving your base. If possible, keep off the floor, away from electronics.
-change batteries
- swap locations of a sensor giving you an issue with one that is not

Sensors do fail, as batteries, and hopefully some troublshooting will help you nail down the root cause.  If all else fails, call SS and troubleshoot.

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davey_d

Community Admin

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4.6K Messages

2 years ago

Hi dylan2955,

Since you mentioned that the sensors are in your garage, physical interference due to metal siding, mesh insulation, brick, etc., would have been my first guess.

Second is - do you have a remote controlled garage door opener? That might be causing interference as well. Some of those units have the ability to change frequency, and that might help.

- Davey D.
Community Development Manager
SimpliSafe Home Security

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route_66_guy

174 Messages

2 years ago

I had the same problem with a sensor on my storage shed mounted on a wooden door, which is about 70 feet from the Base Station..  As an experiment I opened the case of the entry sensor, found the antenna and soldered a 2 inch piece of small wire to the existing antenna that now exits the plastic case. It's worked ever since and have never had anymore failures to connect to the Base Station. It's not an approved fix by SimpliSafe and they'll probably delete my post!

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captain11

Captain

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5.2K Messages

2 years ago

Route 66 Guy It is great to see you posting again! I have no doubt your post will not be deleted,  as there are many, many hacks that have come before, including yours, and they are still there. Finding them is another story. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family,

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route_66_guy

174 Messages

2 years ago

Well thank you!  I just checked that entry sensor and the piece of copper wire I used is just a bit over 2 inches long and I positioned it so it is between the 2 shed doors and not behind the wood. I don't know the frequency of the signal from the sensor to the base station but the length of the antenna extension seems to work. I did that mod almost a year ago and it's worked ever since.

Happy Turkey day to you as well.....

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syldietsch

1 Message

2 years ago

Hi Route 66 Guy.  Can you possibly post photo of antenna.

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route_66_guy

174 Messages

2 years ago

I don't see a way to post photos on the current forum.  I opened the case of the entry sensor, then soldered a 2 1/4 inch piece of bare copper wire to the end of the internal antenna. I made a small hole in the cover for the wire to pass through and put the cover back onto the sensor. Remounted the sensor with the wire pointed down. It's never failed since I did the mod. It would be nice to be able to see the signal strength and battery levels of all the sensors, but that currently isn't an option.

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chad01

3 Messages

2 years ago

I have a small metal building about 40' away. The sensors do not work unless the garage doors are open. I've also built a new pole barn beside this one and would like to be able to tie them in to the SimpliSafe. Does anyone know if there is another way to make these sensors work? Like through a wifi extender placed in the building? I thought about feeding an ethernet cable to the other buildings and hard wiring a wifi extender router to boost signal but I don't think it will work on separate wifi signals will it?

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worthing

Advocate

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561 Messages

2 years ago

Only the cameras use WiFi. All of the other sensors use RF so a WiFi extender won't help with sensors at all.

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dylan2955

3 Messages

2 years ago

Hello all and thank you for the replies. Couple notes I would like to add:


  • My base station is currently on the floor, but not near any other electronics.

  • The base station will be off the floor when the new furniture arrives, but I don't think it can really move much closer

  • Batteries: Both the base station and sensors are new with fresh batteries

  • The walls the base station needs to "go through" to connect to the sensors will be plywood and vinyl siding, no metal and unfortunately not even insulation.

  • I have tried swapping the sensors with other new sensors and receive the same results

  • The issue appears completely intermittent, one week I will have no issues and the next week it will be daily.

  • I do not have a garage door opener. I also have next to no electronics currently in the garage


  • Lastly, the "mod" mention by route 66 really intrigues me and I will be cracking one open as soon as I get home!

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