‎Wireless Interference Detected | Page 2 | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
geochemom's profile

Thursday, February 10th, 2022 3:15 PM

Wireless Interference Detected

What does "wireless interference detected" mean?  Happening about every 5 seconds

This post was created from this comment on different post

1 Message

8 months ago

I got this wireless interference message last night for the first time after many years. I spent an hour clearing it at the keypad and then it coming on again. Finally I pulled out the base station plug and removed a backup battery and put the system out of its misery. Don't know what to do next - all I know is the middle of the night is no time to get that kind of problem!

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@lesyeamans​ If you're getting "Wireless Interference Detected" notifications, that means that the Base Station is picking up on another wireless signal that could potentially drown out its communication to any sensors on your system. 

This would come from simpler devices that broadcast at the same frequency as our sensors, like ham radios, some baby monitors, and remote controlled garage door openers. If you have any holiday lights set up around your house that can be turned on or off via a remote, that remote could be a source of interference as well. 

To stop these notifications from happening, we would need to figure out which device the Base Station is picking up on. We recommend scanning the area around your Base Station and sensors for any wireless devices and turn them off one by one until the "Wireless Interference Detected" notification goes away. This will help pinpoint the device that is causing this, and then it can be moved away from your Base Station and/or sensors.

2 Messages

8 months ago

My system started announcing "wireless interference detected" nonstop.  I got hundreds, if not thousands, of text messages alternating between communication failure and communication restored... all in a matter of twenty minutes or so.

My system has been running without issue for nearly 6 years and this just started today.  Recently, we had a few sensors with low battery alerts... everything was still on the original batteries, so I figured it I'd need to change them all soon.  First thing I checked was the keypad batteries and they were low (yellow on the meter, not red yet).  Replaced those but the issue persisted.

It turns out that the issue was caused by this 5 outlet on/off remote that we just hooked up for turning on and off some Christmas lights around the house. 

The battery in this remote was low and the small LED would stick on red whenever you clicked a button.  I beleive this frequency was causing the issue.  Once I changed the battery in this remote, the issue went away.

7 Messages

8 months ago

There are many reasons these systems might detect wireless interference. (Or, "think" that's the case.)

However, it is shortsighted to lay the blame, completely, on other devices. For example:

Your system is (and has been) working fine. Then, the wireless interference (WI) messages start, as they did with my system a good while ago. In my case, the batteries in one keypad needed replacement. Doing so resolved the issue: TOTALLY.

Nothing needed to be moved, removed or replaced other than the batteries.

My theory: The low battery level caused the keypad's transmitter to emit a weaker-than-normal signal. Which, might have been interpreted by the base station as WI. And, of course, it is also possible that the WI actually existed but was not detected until the keypad batteries discharged to the point where the keypad's signal was weaker. Allowing some other device's signal to override the signal coming from the keypad.

My point is, when you are dealing with wireless devices, whether it's alarm systems, wireless Internet or whatever, do not discount anything. Radio frequency (RF) signals can do some awfully strange things at times.

I understand that most customer service types operate from a script: If "A" is the problem, "B" must be the cause.

My experience (noted earlier - much earlier) in this thread, clearly demonstrates there might, at least, be a "C" involved. And, after dealing with RF stuff for going on six decades, it's pretty clear to me that there's also "D" through "Z" and beyond to consider. Troubleshooting involves many skills, factors, techniques, etc. But, an open mind just might be the most important one.

(edited)

5 Messages

8 months ago

Like all of you, I have been experiencing the dreaded "Wireless Interference Detected" issue the last couple of nights.  Why always at night I’ll never understand, but I digress! 

I have a lamp with a Kasa Smart bulb that has been sitting next to the base station for 3+ years, no issues ever!  A couple of days before the "Wireless Interference Detected" craziness began, my Kasa Smart bulb (5+ years old) failed to work and the on/off schedule was random.  I reset the bulb, re-paired with my app/network and all seem to be working normally again.  Although my lamp was back in action, the SimpliSafe base station started it’s madness of waking the house with voice announcements and device notifications (quickly changed Voice Prompt volume to OFF!).  Night-1, the error broadcasts started about 10:00pm and ended at 8:00am the next morning.  The “Detected/Resolved” messages cycled every 2-5 mins.  As you can imagine, 300+ device notifications!  CRAZY! Night-2, the errors started about 1:00am through 8:00am.  At this point, I remembered the issues I was having with the Kasa Smart bulb.  Starting the process of elimination, I decided to remove the bulb from the lamp and wait for the foolishness to begin on Night-3.  I’m happy to report there were no "Wireless Interference Detected" errors the entire night.  Hoping I didn’t just get lucky, we’ll continue to observe the situation over the next couple of nights.  If it fails, I will update my post.

Both devices work via 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.  I wish SimpliSafe would update their software to connect at 5 GHz.  That would solve so many issues for me!

Good luck my SimpliSafe friends!

5 Messages

@XT5Mom​ UPDATE!  No issues since removing the bulb.  

6 Messages

7 months ago

So no new posts on this thread for a couple of weeks. I sure would appreciate any updates from others. This issue started for us last night in the wee hours. This morning I tried the replace keypad batteries first. Nope. Then I turned her voice off to save my sanity. Updated the software. Nope. I guess next I’ll try moving the base station. 
By the way the base station has been repeatedly losing WiFi and not reconnecting unless I do it manually from the keypad. Separate issue maybe but this kind of repetitive nonsense shouldn’t continue without a true effort on Simplisafe’s part to resolve it. As with other people on this thread until recently our system has been working just fine. 

Captain

 • 

6K Messages

@maggie3126​ Did you try calling support to troubleshoot? My daughter and family came to fivist for Thanksgiving and brought their two baby monitors with them. First night, a  interference alert and moved the base.  (No sounds as the base is set to silent). Next day front door lock wouldn't work, I tried to get it to reconnect and finally called support. Appears I was missing the step of pressing the reset button 30 seconds - I couldn't find that in writing anywhere- and that did the trick.

Try calling and post your experience here if you get a chance. Thanks

5 Messages

@MaggieLM​ any other wifi devices close by?  Start eliminating/moving one by one.  My lamp with a smart bulb sat next to the base station for 5+ years before the issue started. Good luck. 

6 Messages

Thanks for both of these replies! I have not called Support yet. Figured I better try a few more things first. I’m going to try relocating the base and will be sure to hold the reset button in. And while there’s no new WiFi devices nearby we had visitors with devices who left this morning. While the alerts have still been coming all day maybe their items caused the glitch to begin with. 

6 Messages

Update. As of two days ago without me having moved anything it stopped happening. No idea why or how. Fingers crossed it’s “cured”. 

2 Messages

6 months ago

The “wireless interference detected” announcement happened twice back to back, AT THE SAME TIME my indoor house camera shutter opened and closed. Could this mean someone hacked into my system and are viewing the camera?

We have had this system for 2 months and I have to say I’m not impressed AT ALL.  Every single week, sometimes multiple times we are dealing with some sort of issue and low batteries. We are CONSTANTLY replacing batteries. During installation, we had to send back the doorbell camera and 2 outdoor cameras because of equipment failure.  Camera’s do not work properly all the time even though the settings are set properly and we have the latest system updates. SimpliSafe system is  high maintenance and a time suck which we didn’t anticipate nor desire. The system itself is brilliant idea, but the equipment is junk. I work in the tech industry and can say that with confident. If things don’t improve quickly we are ditching the entire system and going back to Habitec. Too much of inconvenience and we are the phone with a SimpliSafe agents weekly, and 99% of the time we cannot understand them due to poor english. Very frustrating. No one should have to spend this much time on a system. 

This comment has been converted into a post

5 Messages

We tried the SimpliSafe cameras and were not impressed either.  Sent it back and kept our Ring cameras.  I'm very happy with the SimpliSafe system in regards to  "entry", but they have work to do on the cameras.  Good Luck!

1 Message

6 months ago

I started having the problem just last night (1/22/2024). Apparently the issue has been going on for two years and no resolution. Frustrating!!!!! What to do??????

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@jmwallace1956​ A Wireless Interference Detected notification means that the Base Station is detecting another wireless signal that could potentially drown out its communication to your other SimpliSafe devices. 

Wireless interference is caused by another wireless device that broadcasts at the same frequency as our sensors, like: remote garage door openers, LED/Christmas lights, some types of smart switches/bulbs/light dimmers, or some baby monitors. This can also be caused by a device that has a very low battery.

To prevent the Base Station from detecting wireless interference, we would want to scan the room(s) where your Base Station and sensors are located for any wireless devices. Once they've been located, try moving those wireless devices to another area of the room, or to a different room completely. 

41 Messages

6 months ago

I have had this wireless interference issue twice. Both times it was my garage door entry sensor. The first time I thought it was just a dead battery and replaced it and also removed and added the sensor again. That was about 2 months ago. Last week, I got several alerts overnight and narrowed it down to the same sensor again. I noticed that although the sensor appeared to be working, it wouldn't chime when the door opened and closed. The only way it was fixed was when I reset it. Since then it seems to be working again. I did call Simplisafe and they are sending me a replacement sensor since that particular one seems to be problematic.

6 Messages

6 months ago

Almost 3 weeks have elapsed with no return of the “wireless interference” messages. That is not to say it won’t return.

@afleck14 mentioned the camera shutter opening and closing. (The telltale click is quite loud). That was also happening to us. So unnerving I unplugged the camera for about a week. However plugged it back in as we only use it to monitor the 4-legged’s mischief when we’re out. I wish I knew what was up with that! (The camera not the mischief.)
Separate issue for a separate post is base station constantly losing WiFi connection and having to be manually reconnected instead of automatically reconnecting as it’s should.  Sigh. 
As to the battery issues, there was some of that at the beginning several years ago but they sent replacement batteries promptly and no issues ever since. The system seems to accurately monitor the battery life.  I’ve also had very good experiences with their Customer Service over the phone. Not so much with the Chat feature. 

This comment has been converted into a post

1 Message

6 months ago

This morning, I encountered this situation for the first time since the installation of my system 7 months ago. I had not added nor changed anything in all that time, so, like many others, I was puzzled as to what could suddenly be causing the interference. Besides a couple of nearby entry devices and the keypad, the only other wireless equipment in the vicinity (which had been there and operating alongside the base all along) was my printer. I powered it off and left it off for a good long while; no more warning/restored alerts or interior camera clicking on and off occurred. I guess that did the trick because, even without relocating the base or the printer, both are working as normal again for the time being. Now to start deleting the plethora of videos recorded during the 2.5 hours it took for me to work out this solution!

3 Messages

6 months ago

I just started getting this alert today.  Coincidentally I started setting up my smart home controller last night, which primarily uses z-wave frequency and protocol.  I'm wondering if that is causing the issue?  I think I read somewhere that SimpliSafe uses z-wave as well, but can't remember where I saw that or if it was a reputable post.

After two years of replies from support saying, "look for other wireless devices", you'd think support could just say what frequency or protocol the sensors are broadcasting on and narrow down the issue.  I'm relatively sure it's not 2.4Ghz (WiFi), so that kind of info would help customers rule-out some devices.

Anyone else use z-wave controllers/sensors/switches in their home?

Tech support said they were "changing my frequency".  Um, really?  How does that work?  You can remotely re-program an entry sensor to switch frequencies?

I'm still inside my 60 day window...I'd really like to get some good answers on this.

3 Messages

Z-Wave is 908.42MHz, so I guess it's not that.

Thanks very much for the info.

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@aweber​ Is this smart home controller in the same room as your Base Station? As Dlpsr said, SimpliSafe sensors do broadcast at 433.92 MHz. If your smart home controller broadcasts at 908.42 MHz and is in the same room as the Base Station, I have a hunch that its still drowning out the Base Station's signal - especially since these notifications began upon its installation. 

If this controller is in the same room as the Base Station, I would recommend moving it into another room to see if that resolves this issue or not.

3 Messages

It's in a different room, but not far away.

I haven't received any notifications that there's still wireless interference since tech support "changed my frequency" (which I'm still baffled what that means...how can they change the frequency?)

Still concerned about it, but nothing more to report the past few days - fingers crossed (which shouldn't be how a security system should be perceived).

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@aweber​ The agent didn't change the frequency of your SimpliSafe devices, but rather they adjusted the threshold at which the Base Station detects interference to make it less sensitive.

If you have not received a notification since working with our Support team, and the controller is active and still in its same space, adjusting the Base Station's threshold seems to have helped.

(edited)

1 Message

5 months ago

I'm getting the same wireless interference message over and over again.  This morning, I move the Base Station and other things around it, changed the WiFi that the Base Station was using to another SSID and still getting the same message, but less frequent.  I also notice there was a firmware update this morning to the Base Station, but that didn't seem to address this specific issue. I replaced the batteries in my Keypad as well and that did not help.

Edit - I just did a reset on the Base Station.  Seems to resolve the issue for now...

(edited)

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@RoarinRow​ I'm happy to hear this this seemed to have sorted itself out! But if you run into these notifications again please let me know and we can troubleshoot your system.

2 Messages

3 months ago

Same here. NOTHING has changed in my home for months. Then at 6am "wireless interference"   IT seems that there is no answer here from support and that any random thing can make the issue go away,  Come on SS what is the fix ?

2 Messages

3 months ago

The "Help Page" just restates everything that has been mentioned here. Check all devices , move it closer, Nothing has worked even changing batteries ,  system is still freaking out.   Wireless interference detected ! And it is not coming from another house. next one in 1000' away

5 Messages

Hi everyone! I was also having a lot of Wi-Fi interference if you find me up in the conversation above but I believe mine was due to a conflict with a wireless smart bulb that was too close to the base station.  Once relocated the smart bulb I didn't have any further issues with Wi-Fi interference.  A problem I did start having last week was my Wi-Fi kept dropping every 5 minutes for about an hour.  I hesitated to contact support but did it anyway.  What the tech had me do was remove the power cord and remove the screw that was underneath which opens up the bottom to expose the rechargeable batteries.  He had me remove one battery and let it set for about 5 or 10 minutes.  I then plugged in the power chord with the back still off and one battery still missing.  Now with power to the base station I connected it to my Wi-Fi.   After a successful connection I put the battery back in, unplugged the power cable allowing the battery backup to continue to power the base station then replace the battery cover and plugged back in the cord.  I was told this was the proper way to completely power down the base station.  Since then I've not had any issues.  

Community Admin

 • 

3.1K Messages

@flatoutfarm​ Is there any major construction happening around your house? That has been known to cause sudden wireless interference detection. And I know that you have not introduced any new devices into your home, but are there any battery-powered devices near the Base Station that could have a critically low battery? If something like a remote or Keypad is near the Base Station and has a very low battery, that could be causing this. 

If there is nothing like this in your home, and you keep getting notified of wireless interference, the next step here would be to contact our Support team so they can take a deeper look into your account and assist you further.

1 Message

3 months ago

I know this is an old thread but I just had this issue for the first time after having my system for about 4-5 years. It turns out my backdoor sensor which is next to my base had lost power and was creating a wifi issue (I guess it has just enough juice to try and turn on/off creating connection issues to the base). I also changed my keypad batteries out as the keypad was acting weird. I've yet to have any issues after pulling the battery out of the door sensor and new keypad batteries. Kind of a scary notification at 11:00 at night home alone. I wish it could just tell you it's a sensor issue and not a whole system error. If you haven't yet check all your battery levels as this could be causing it. Hopefully this helps. 

(edited)

Community Admin

 • 

5.6K Messages

@TishB​ just to clarify a bit, the communication between the Base Station and its sensors is wireless, but not WiFi. So when you see that "Wireless Interference Detected", it's always to do with the sensors and components.

But more specifically, if you're getting that warning, it means that there's another non-SimpliSafe device nearby that's causing the interference. It could be possible that whatever was generating that problem signal just stopped while you were troubleshooting, but could still come back, so it's worth thinking about what that device could be. Do you have a remote controlled garage door opener, a baby monitor, a wireless weather station, or anything like that? We're looking for simpler, "low frequency" devices.

If the issue was with just one specific sensor or Keypad, you would more likely get the "Not Responding" error, which is the general error message whenever that component is not able to talk to the Base Station.

And if the issue is with the WiFi connection, that is, the link between your Base Station and your WiFi router (and the internet), then you'd get the "WiFi disconnected" error instead.

New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Article and please be sure to review our Community Guidelines before posting.