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Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 10:51 PM

Outdoor Camera not launching live view

​My outdoor camera has stopped providing a live view. It says waking up, then connecting and then it just gets stuck on the launching live view message before telling me it is not connected to the network. It is connected to wi-Fi I’ve reinstalled it and reset it but still no live view. It detects movement and records correctly though!? It’s only been installed 3 days! Looking good for the future! 🙄 any ideas anyone? ​
​thanks!​

1 Message

9 months ago

I was having same issue. Removed camera from app and then from base station. 

then I could only add it from the base station and had to finish setup from app. Very annoying but seems to be working now. 

2 Messages

9 months ago

The problem is annoying.  Plus : what if I am traveling (that's when I need those Cameras the most) , how am I expected to do this easy plug unplug! The software should restart if it is not responding! 

1 Message

8 months ago

Same issue. It’s not like I can easily get to the camera to re-pair it since I’d have to climb up a ladder again every time. Simplisafe really needs to fix these connection issues with cameras. It’s quite frustrating. 

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

8 months ago

Hi folks,

For the Outdoor Camera, there are two major connections that can greatly impact the time to livestream (TTLS). The camera sends and receives data through WiFi, but it's woken upon and activated from the Base Station (which uses local RF, and not WiFi).

For both wireless connections though, it helps to consider what's in between. WiFi has a recommended range of about 150ft, and similarly, the Base Station can communicate with components up to 500ft over open air. But both can be severely impacted by walls or other dense physical objects (especially metal) getting in the way. So it might help to move either the camera or your Base Station and WiFi router (or consider WiFi extenders) to improve performance.

Of course, our dev team is still hard at work on improving performance from the firmware side. We've made some progress, but the effort is ongoing. We'll keep you updated!

4 Messages

8 months ago

With all these streaming and connection issues, I just let the battery run out and put the camera in a drawer. After seeing some of these comments about firmware updates and using cellular vs wifi, I decided to see if anything improved. Well now, after charging up TWO batteries, the outdoor camera does nothing but flash a red light. I tried both batteries and when I connect the batteries to a charger there are three white dots. According to help FAQ, flashing red means low battery? I tried connecting the USB cable to the camera while a freshly charged battery is installed as well and there’s still nothing but flashing red. I’ve tried holding down the pairing button, uninstalling from the app (can’t reconnect it because the camera won’t do anything), made sure keypad/base firmware are up to date….I’m so done with this system. Is there a place to send my components so they don’t have to go to a landfill?

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@B_bryce​ flashing red very slow means that the battery is low.

But flashing more rapidly means that the camera is not able to connect to WiFi. So it sounds like you're not having a battery issue, but a WiFi issue.

Though you mention that you've already tried a hard reset by holding down the pairing button. Do you wait around 30 seconds, or until you hear the camera ding? That would indicate that it's been successfully reset, and can be set up through the SimpliSafe app again.

15 Messages

7 months ago

Since my Outdoor Cameras were updated to 1.20, the "Watch Live" feature in the web app has been unreliable for the cameras in Performance Mode.

When I click on "Watch Live" on the web page, the status bar says "Contacting Camera", "Streaming", and "Live", but then the video window just shows a gray rectangle with "Watch Live" in the middle, instead of the live video feed. Sometimes it works, but it usually takes a few tries.

"Watch Live" consistently works correctly with my camera that isn't in Performance Mode, which leads me to think that it might be a timing issue -- maybe the Performance Mode cameras are responding too quickly for the web app?

The problem occurs on both Chrome and Edge browsers in Windows 10. I have no problem viewing the live video in the Android app.

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@JoeRollerfan​ This is the first time I'm hearing of something like this. Since you're only experiencing this issue while using the web app, I would try clearing any cookies on your browser to see if that helps.

15 Messages

@emily_s​ I've tried that, it doesn't help. You aren't able to repro this problem using cameras in Performance Mode?

5 Messages

@JoeRollerfan​ 

Hi Joe, could explain Performance Mode?

15 Messages

@jdshatswell ​ Performance Mode is a new feature of the Outdoor Camera introduced in firmware version 1.20. More info here:

https://support.simplisafe.com/conversations/announcements/outdoor-camera-gets-even-better-with-performance-mode/6579cd8519f03b1e47ebd9ff

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3 months ago

These outdoor cameras are really next to useless. Half the problems seem to be the app but also seems like when they go to sleep, they get suck at getting live view. I have one sitting literally under an eero mesh extender with 1GB service in this house and the only thing in the way is a glass window. I have at least 500mb/s wireless at the point of the camera and it still often won’t connect. Base station is maybe 30 feet away. I think these things were really just very poorly designed and simply don’t work well. I’ve tried removing, re adding, re everything. Moving the base station is a tap dance too but I’ve inched it here and there. These things just don’t work. I guess they’re going to serve as overpriced dummy cameras until they can ever get this fixed. 

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@NotthishouseyoudontTo help preserve its battery life, the Outdoor Camera enters “deep sleep” when it is not actively recording motion or a live stream is in process. The Outdoor Camera does rely on its connection to the Base Station to wake up and begin recording or starting a live stream, so moving the Base Station even a little bit closer to the Outdoor Camera to ensure there are fewer obstructions in the way can help it wake up quicker. 

We also have the Performance Mode feature for Outdoor Cameras on firmware 1.20 or higher. When the camera is connected to a continuous power source, like our 25-foot Power Cable, the camera will remain active, which helps with quicker time to live stream. For more information on Performance Mode, check out this article in our Help Center.

5 Messages

Do I need to change the settings for Performance Mode?

Community Admin

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5.6K Messages

@jdshatswell ​ Performance Mode activates automatically if your Outdoor Camera is connected to a power source (either the Solar Panel or the Power Adapter accessories), and the battery is at 90% or higher. It will automatically turn off if the battery every gets below 70%.

There's no way to enable or disable Performance Mode except by plugging/unplugging from a power source.

1 Message

3 months ago

This system is useless.  I've spent over 6 hours in 2 months messing with these cameras and on the phone with customer service. I've done everything in the book and can never get a live stream except on the doorbell. Is there a solution to this or did i waste $500?

This comment has been converted into a post

1 Message

1 month ago

+1 for turning WiFi off in the phone, and just using cellular.  That solved my live stream outdoor connectivity issues. 

SimplySafe — Stop denying that this WiFi-vs-cellular isn’t a clue to the outdoor camera issues. 

5 Messages

1 month ago

I’m having the same issue. The camera records when there is movement, but if I try Live stream, it says waking up camera then connecting and then launching live view. Then it just spins and never opens up. I’ve done all the trouble shooting steps and sometimes it works for a while, but then reverts back to not opening up. This is a common issue by the amount of posts that are posted. SimpliSafe needs to address this issue!

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@sabre370​ How far away is the Base Station from the Outdoor Camera? In order to wake up and launch a live stream, the Outdoor Camera relies on its connection to the Base Station, as well as its Wi-Fi connection.

It can help to move the Base Station closer to this camera to reduce any interference between the two devices and improve the camera's performance. And this guide in our Help Center will also assist with troubleshooting the camera's connection to improve its time to livestream.

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1 Message

I am having the same exact issue. Worked totally fine for several months. It is not a Base Station issue. It just gets stuck in launching live view. But when there is motion, it is no issue. This seems to be a software issue on the simplisafe side. @emily_s what is the fix here??

5 Messages

@emily_s​ I believe it's a software glitch. Since the camera in the backyard wasn't waking up and livestream was just spinning, I decided to try the front door camera. It's just as far from the base station as the backyard camera. It launched livestream right away. I then went back to try the backyard camera again, and this time it opened up without any issue.

The strange thing about this is that even when livestream fails to open, the camera still detects motion and records. I go to timeline and even though livestream didn't open, I see the recorded video. So moving the base station is not the answer because the camera is working, it's just not waking up.

5 Messages

(Update)
I just tried launching livestream today and the outdoor camera worked with no problem. I did not change any settings, I did not move the base station. Battery is at 65% and signal is reading good on the camera. Yesterday it wouldn’t launch until I tried viewing the front door camera (which is mounted on the opposite side of the house). There is definitely a glitch somewhere in the software. 

4 Messages

1 month ago

Same issue but on different cameras at different times. One of six cameras will not livestream while the other 5 will stream just fine. I’ve moved several of them to new locations but it keeps happening. Status will show wifi connection as good.

3 Messages

16 days ago

Has there been any resolution to any of this? The app gets stuck in "launching live view" all the time. My husband is out of town and I heard a creepy noise outside and wanted to check our cameras and can't see. Not only frustrating but scary and I'm so sick of this happening. It shouldn't be this hard to just be able to check the cameras outside and it absolutely shouldn't require me physically going out there to hard reset them... that completely defeats the purpose. 

Community Admin

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3.1K Messages

@e_van1020​ The Outdoor Camera relies on both its Wi-Fi connection and connection to the Base Station in order to live stream successfully. If a live stream will not load, there may be some interference at play hindering the camera's connection. 

If you haven't already, we recommend checking out this guide in our Help Center to troubleshoot these connections and improve the camera's time to live stream. 

5 Messages

15 days ago

Update to my original post.

I purchased two range range extenders to expand my wi-fi network and that seems to have fixed the problem with my cameras not launching Live View. My camera signals are all reading good and since installing these extenders, Live View has been opening up without issue. Hope this might help the rest of you!

5 Messages

@sabre370​ 

Which WiFi range extenders do you get?  Brand and model number?

Thank you 

JD

5 Messages

I bought eero range extenders through Amazon. I bought them because I already had a eero router for my internet and install was simple. 

4 days ago

Putting the base station closer is no solution. I have one camera in the front and one in the back of the house. Moving base station to one closer puts it further from the other one. What if you had 4 outdoor cameras? 

please get this system reliable. Look at all the folks on this thread alone that have cameras that will not stream. They pick up motion and upload so they’re connected, but will not stream? Why? 

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