SS3, how to verify cellular?

What I ended up doing to check cellular was as follows:

1) Select the "Forget Network' option under WiFi settings on the keypad
2) Unplug and remove a battery from the base station (more on this later)
3) Reinstall the battery and plug the base station back into power
4) I then put the system in test mode - I got a call from COPS almost instantly
5) At this point I tried using the mobile app. It was somewhat slow, just like SS2 used to be
6) Reconnected to my WiFi

So. I was told that the base station will stay connected to your network even after telling it to "Forget Network' until it power cycles again. I verified this by seeing if the base station was still connected after telling it not to be, and it was. A power cycle finally kicked it off the network so I could test the cell functionality.

Well... I hope the bad guys who cut my internet are willing to go thru all that for me lol. Seems like it should auto switch. Mine came with vodaphone so im wondering if im even connected.

The SS3 base should auto switch if the internet connection is lost - but the only way to test the auto switch from WiFi to Cellular would be to turn off your router / modem / gateway and then perform the various tests - trigger the alarm / send test signal / connect with the app / connect from the online dashboard.

Andy's procedure (nice write up and good info about the reboot) is great for testing the cellular connectivity.

The weekly auto test doesn't specify how the test was sent, WiFi or Cellular, or perhaps there are two test signals sent but only one log entry. I asked about it in another thread a while ago and SimpliSafe responded with a very vague non-informative answer.

It would be nice if the keypad would show the cellular carrier and cellular signal strength in the diagnostic info.

I decided to call SS to see if they were seeing me.  They answered in 30 seconds by the way!  He said I had a cell signal but it was very weak.  They are sending me a Verizon card.  Add me to the list of Vodaphone failures.  But its no big deal really since cell is backup.

Good to know that SimpliSafe can see the cell signal - I think I'll give them a call and see how strong my connection is.

Call now, theres no wait.  Took the guy a while to get all the info tho.

Just got off the phone with them - 6 minute wait (not bad at all) - I have a T-Mobile card with a strong signal so I'm good.

I will say this tho, this is a problem with Vodaphone and not SS.  Vodaphones coverage map said I should have a strong signal so SS was going by misinformation from vodaphone.  Not much they could have done in this situation.

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So, I'd like to start by saying that SS's customer service was excellent. That said, during  a recent power outage I realized I received no alert and realized that I must not have cellular connectivity. When I called and ran through their diagnostics we determined that T Mobile was a "no show" in my area. They are sending me a new Verizon module. Hopefully, that works. I have the same issue as other posters; if they test connectivity daily via wifi then, logically, they have to also test cellular connectivity if not daily then at least periodically.  I have been burglarized a couple of times and,in each case, the thieves pulled the electrical meter. I would argue that if they were going to test anything it should be the cellular connection

Simplisafe should be testing both means of commmunication on a regular basis.  I've noticed from my timeline with the current generation hardware, that the system sends a test signal daily, but it doesn't give any indication by which means the signal was sent, nor does the system give any indication of the strength of the cellular connection.  This subject prompted me to test my own cellular connection by turning off my WiFi and then placing the alarm system in test mode.  The immediate push notice followed by a call from the monitoring service proved that my cellular connection is working.  Otherwise I'd have no idea.

Knowing that the current generation hardware uses WiFi as the primary communication method, I've plugged my wireless router and modem into a common consumer-grade UPS, which I've found will let them continue operating for several hours during a power failure, maintaining two modes for security system monitoring.

On the keypad, press menu and enter your pin number.
Select System Settings, select Diagnostics.
Press the right arrow until you get to Cell.
It will display your carrier and signal strength.

^ it no longer will show cellular strength, nor true status of cellular connection - this an effect of the latest OTA update (in November 2019).  It will show "disconnected" until one manually turns off their wifi to test it - or if there's a wifi  outage.

Coltmaster,  Okay, got bored and was able to see the cell signal changing so it must be seeing the signal at all times. I think I misunderstood what you said anyway. Have a great new year!

I think the comment was that it used to show that, and after an update, no longer showed it.