Uninterrupted Power Supply

It should not fail. The Base Station has a backup battery. While it does not last as long as SimpliSafe claims (24-hours), it takes over immediately in the event of a power loss. If your Base is not doing so, it needs replacement.

Some do have their Base connected to a UPS. While power outages are now a recurring problem in northern California, I find the backup battery contained in the Base Station to be sufficient.

and simplisafe has shut down.

What, exactly, does this mean? Does the base station just power off as soon as the power goes out? Are you getting an error message? If so, what?

As noted above, there are NiMH rechargeable batteries in the base unit so the base unit should stay on-line unless the power is out long enough to drain the batteries. If you unplug the base unit and it powers off immediately then I'm guessing it's one of the following:

- The NiMH Batteries are failing or have failed entirely and won't hold a charge
- The NiMH Batteries aren't properly connected or the tab wasn't fully pulled out of the base unit (or tore off) to enable the batteries (You can unplug power from the base unit, remove a screw on the bottom of the base unit and pull out the bottom to confirm the batteries are connected properly)
- Some other hardware failure in the unit itself

You should call SS support and work with them to determine the root cause and if the base unit itself is faulty, or it needs new batteries, they can instruct you on what to do. (Please DO NOT put Alkaline batteries in the base unit!)

There have been lots of threads on batteries and ways to extend standby time. UPS is one way.

Based on my own testing in one of those threads, the evidence suggests the battery state of charge monitor has a flawed setpoint and or calculation.

The batteries actually do have the capacity to go 24 hours, give or take, but the base detects them as low prematurely so you only actually get around 6-8 hours standby. But, if you temporarily remove a battery then put it back in, you get another 6-8 hours standby. You can do that at least three times and the total hours ends up right around 24.

Obviously I'm not suggesting one should have to do that. SS should look into the battery monitor system to be sure it's properly tuned for the discharge curve of NiMH batteries. I think it is not.

Older UPS were designed to provide a lot of power for a short period of time in order to cleanly shut down your system..  There was so much inefficiency in the conversion from DC to AC that even with minimal draw, they did not last for more than a half hour or so.  The newer ones may be more efficient.

I have a Cyberpower which my SS and my exterior camera system is plugged into, and the "estimated remaining time" it displayed was pretty good I thought.  Of course, it could be "mistaken".  I don't recall for sure how long it claimed, and when I went to check it just now, I found the battery completely dead.  I think I can get a replacement battery for it.

It even has a couple of USB outlets, so could power the interior cameras as well; I've just not drilled a hole through the wall to wire them..

I installed a UPS to my system.   I have been using used cheap older Craigslist UPS units and modify them to have extended run time. Many times, the UPS batteries are dead and the unit is sold cheaply. I add an external SLA wheel chair battery of much bigger capacity than supplied with the unit. I add a fuse and a power pole connector as well. UPS units are made to provide power for a short time. Mine are 1500 va ...1500 watts... but I rarely run more than 200 watt load, so there is no long term overheating of the UPS unit.   The UPS units are made with 12 and 24 volt batteries. I have put 2 of the 12 volt batteries in series with a 15 amp fuse in the middle for the 24 volt units. The darned original UPS batteries are expensive. 

I have yet to measure the watts required to run this SimpliSafe base station and components like inside cameras. It can't be much at all.  However, my UPS also runs my modem, Wifi, and several inside cams that have 15 foot USB extension cables to power them up. That way, if some joker switched off my outside 100 amp breaker on the utility meter, I have the complete ability to view cameras and have all of the glass break, window, door, and water monitors function properly.  I have several 1500VA APC brand computer UPS units modified to run extended times and have my older Lorex camera system powered up by one.

Just don't forget that your Modem and WiFi also need uninterrupted power to send you alarms and video.

I am happy with my new SimpliSafe system and really appreciate all of the fine tuning capabilities that can be done with my phone. It's miles ahead of my 5 year old wired camera system which is still operational. 

I wish they would design a module to plug in to a wall outlet to announce utility power failure and report when it goes on again.  A neighbor had a circuit breaker in his garage trip when he was away and the utility power shut off. When it came back on, the garage freezers and fridge tripped the 15 amp breaker as they all tried to start at once. That night I did not see his neon light clock on over the garage door, and I called him to ask why it was out..  He drove home in time to save all of the food from spoilage.  A SimpliSafe power failure monitor might be a good addition to their product line for applications like this.