‎Base keeps dropping off WiFi | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
guiip35's profile

Tuesday, August 30th, 2022 8:52 AM

On Hold

Base keeps dropping off WiFi

Occasionally my base station drops off WiFi for no particular reason. Sometimes it will reconnect, but most of the time it will not. I just went to check for updates and the base said it was not on WiFi, despite my app showing WiFi. If I click on WiFi in the app, it will then ask if I want to connect...despite showing as connected....so I click the network that the app ALREADY knows about, and get prompted for a password. I put in the password again, it says I am connected. But I don't get the 'wifi restored' notification. If I go to the keypad it will also show I am on WiFi. If I click to check for updates however, it says I need to be on WiFi... if I then click the same WiFi and enter the password again, I get the 'wifi restored' message

To make this way worse, the system does not even show a warning - there is a one off notification that its dropped. There is no status, no display of ANY KIND that the system has lost wifi. This is just ridiculously bad that this warning is not shown. Yes, the service will work over celluar but that does not mean that users should be left unaware that WiFi is lost as updates can be missed.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Current sofware: 

Keypad: 2.8.2

Base: 2.8.6

No doubt this will be yet another thing that was reported 4 years ago and 'engineering are looking in to'?

Official Solution

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

2 years ago

@guiip35 @rfk91 @rothfn ,

Thank you all for reporting. @guiip35 , if I understand, you're saying that your Base Station seems to be completely forgetting its WiFi connection, without any indication that it was ever connected at all, let alone disconnected? I believe this might be a bug that I am reporting to our engineering team. We'll investigate and get back to you.

1 Message

5 times, that I know about, my basestation becomes disconnected from my Wifi. Side note, until retiring I worked in and owned my own burglar alarm company; 30 years in total. I only mention this because I know about this equipment.

So, again, 5 times that I know of, my base station becomes disconnected. I discover the problem when I return from outdoor walks, go to disarm the system and receive the error message no connection to dispatch center (aka: no wifi connection)

Ive owned 2 Simplisafe systems but now just 1. I have a mesh wifi and the base station, positioned closest to the main wifi hub.

As I am typing this post but for no apparent reason my base station said alarm off two separate times

Ive called in to report this problem twice, the most recent time the individual I spoke walked me through and base station update, battery disconnect reset.

Here we are, yet again.

Is it possible, sophisticated hackers are gaining access to probe, test, gain access etc to the system. Its not a wacko question anymore in this day and age. Do we have 2 factor authentication?

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@Aperson​ If you are subscribed to our Fast Protect™ or Standard Monitoring plans, a No Link to Dispatcher error means that the Base Station is not connected to WiFi, or cell through its cellular backup. SimpliSafe accounts require 2-Step Verification or Multi-Factor Authentication when you log in to ensure that no one else has access to your system.

I would recommend checking the placement of your Base Station. How close is it to your WiFi router? Placing it about 5-10 feet away from the router can help it maintain its connection. It is also recommended that the Base Station is at least 3 feet off the ground and to put it on a wood or glass surface to eliminate potential interference. 

2 Messages

2 years ago

same issue here.

3 Messages

2 years ago

Same issue here, lately.

21 Messages

2 years ago

As you can see from the lack of reply from SimpliSafe on this matter, it’s unlikely that they will look into it. 

with that said - @rothfn have you applied the latest update?


it’s still happening sporadically to me. I’ve installed the latest update but there seems to be no way to know what was added/fixed

3 Messages

@guiip35​ Did check for updates and am current.  It is as if the system is forgetting the wi-fi password at random.

83 Messages

Yes, the system will ask you to log in using the keypad for the WiFi password, only to disconnect and forget the password in a matter of hours or minutes.  It's still going on over a year later in 2024.

1 Message

Same issue.... it's not minutes but happens once a month and then when I enter the right password it never works until I get home. This is REALLY starting to get on my nerves! Fix it already

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@kn6ll​ When was the last time you updated your Base Station's firmware? Firmware 2.16 includes improvements to Wi-Fi stability, so if you have not updated your system to this version I would recommend updating it soon.

Setting up a separate guest network locked at 2.4GHz for your SimpliSafe devices only can help free up bandwidth and improve the Base Station's Wi-Fi connection. 

1 Message

2 years ago

My camera stayed on yesterday when I switched off the alarm via the keypad. The app is now saying 'base station busy' and 'attempting to update settings'. That's been about 12 hours now! 

I recently changed broadband provider, but it's been working fine for a couple of weeks

21 Messages

@40BR​ I doubt this is related to your broadband provider. Sounds like the system has got itself in a twist.

I've also had some weird issue of the keypad saying it has lost contact with the dispatch center - which is extremely concerning - and STILL there are no alerts in my app, and nobody at the other end seems to notice either.

The lack of integration between the hodge-podge of components that make up this system is extremely frustrating. Not least because it makes troubleshooting anything so difficult. If it was not for the fact that monitored services where I live are few and far between I would just bin the whole thing and chalk it up to a bad experience.

This aside - have you tried power cycling the base station? in the past when I have had problems with the base station to the point simple power cycles doesn't help, I've actually ended up removing the battery, waiting a few minutes, and then putting it all back together again. This can be accessed from the panel at the bottom. May be worth a try, but this is just anecdotal in my case, but it did help me - your milage may vary so do whatever you're comfortable with :) If in doubt, raise a ticket!

As it has battery backup, removing the mains isn't enough to give it a full kick - but this fixed my issue of settings not being updated (though once again, it was not obvious from the app until i was trying to change something, so i had no idea my base station had been misbehaving)

(edited)

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Hi there, 

The Base Station and your cameras do connect to the WiFi separately, so if you're having trouble with your Base Station, we're troubleshooting just that component specifically.

@40BR when you changed provider, did you also change your WiFi router? If so, then you likely have a new WiFi name and password, and your Base Station won't switch over automatically. You'll have to reconnect it through the Keypad, under Menu > System Settings > WiFi.

If the Base Station is failing to maintain a connection with a WiFi network that hasn't changed, then yes, a Base Station Reset can work. As @guiip35 says, it involves shutting down the Base Station completely, including taking out the backup batteries. Just like rebooting a computer, that will force the Base Station to restart its software, clear its temp memory, and relink with all connections.

And @guiip35 you mention the "No Link to Dispatch" message. That means that your Base Station has lost connection with the Monitoring Service (either through the built-in cellular connection, or your home's WiFi). The Base Station checks in with the service once a day, and if it doesn't receive that signal, that's when you would get a warning email.

3 Messages

2 years ago

same issue here. frustrating...

1 Message

1 year ago

This is an issue I experienced and was fed up with. I had to swap out a basestation because it kept dropping off wifi and regaining a few minutes later until it won't reconnect ever again. Anyways, tech support was of no help. There is an issue, I believe, with their basestation firmware or wifi module. The one I acquired to replace the old one with is now acting up. It's only been several weeks. Now it's dropping and reconnecting to my wifi all day long. This is very frustrating and SimpliSafe should definitely look into it before starting to lose customers left and right...

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@CekayF​ There's a few different things we can try to troubleshoot this. First, how far away is the Base Station from your WiFi router? It may help to bring them closer together. I would also recommend setting up a Guest WiFi network running a 2.4GHz band and only connect your SimpliSafe devices to it. 

83 Messages

@CekayF​ They've already lost me as a customer.  Do yourself a favor and get yourself a DIY system that has a direct Ethernet connection to the hub or base station.  It can be a hassle depend on where your router or switch is located, but the performance is so much better.  Not just with base station connectivity but also with live camera streaming.

1 Message

8 months ago

Same problem here, started early in 2023, I get a text telling me it has lost connection.  Wireless router shows a strong connection until I refresh then I need to rejoin the network.  Works fine for 10 hours then another message that it is offline.  If I ignore the message it does rejoin on its own sometimes.  Router and base hase been in the same locations for years.  I put a new router in place, much stronger, but it doesn't seem to change anything.  This all appears to be a base unit problem.

8 months ago

The same thing is happening to my base station. I connect to my wifi on the app on my phone, it connects the first try, usually but not always. Then I walk to my handset and try to set the wifi there. I set it and then check for updates and it says it can't check for updates because it isn't connected to wifi. This is getting very old. My 5 cameras are no longer connected to wifi, but I believe all 21 others are connected.

My base station, my whole system, except 2 newer cameras in the past year, is 3 years old. Does this mean I need to change my base station?

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@elizabethcrook01​ assuming that you have a Gen 3 Base Station (you can tell just by looking at the Base Station) then you already have the latest version of the hardware.

The firmware updates keep the Base Station up-to-date with the latest features and bug fixes.

From what you describe though, something unusual is going on with your network. It shouldn't matter where you set the WiFi - either through the SimpliSafe app or your system's Keypad - they're controlling the same setting in the Base Station. So the WiFi network saved in it should be sticking.

Meanwhile, your cameras should all connect to your WiFi separately, regardless of whether or not your Base Station is connected.

I would suggest contacting our Support team, if you haven't already. They can take you through troubleshooting steps to get both your Base Station and cameras online. Or if not, we can send you replacements for anything that isn't working properly!

2 Messages

Same issue here...

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@gregburger​ I see that you connected with our Support team, and they were able to help get your Base Station reconnected to Wi-Fi. If anything changes and this issue comes up again, please let us know and we can help troubleshoot further.

83 Messages

@elizabethcrook01​ They've already lost me as a customer.  Do yourself a favor and get yourself a DIY system that has a direct Ethernet connection to the hub or base station.  It can be a hassle depend on where your router or switch is located, but the performance is so much better.  Not just with base station connectivity but also with live camera streaming.

2 Messages

6 months ago

Same issue, been dealing with it for months, finally got a replacement Base Station…and exact same issue started 24hours later. Nothing else has changed on my network, same router etc for a few years. Now the past year I keep getting texts every day that my Simplisafe system has lost its WiFi, for about 10-15 minutes, every day. In other forums online it seems it related to Simplisafe not liking 5ghz or dual 5ghz/2.4ghz systems. But it just started the last year, so I think it’s software related on SImplisafe end…wish they would fix it. Very frustrating. 

(edited)

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@Ssjonker​ I have some great news. Base Station firmware 2.16 might be able to resolve your issue. Head over to this post to learn more!

83 Messages

@Ssjonker​ They've already lost me as a customer.  Do yourself a favor and get yourself a DIY system that has a direct Ethernet connection to the hub or base station.  It can be a hassle depend on where your router or switch is located, but the performance is so much better.  Not just with base station connectivity but also with live camera streaming.

1K Messages

6 months ago

Well if they have lost you as a customer then why you still here? Not being rude but just wonif you are no longer using there equipment and and not a customer anymore then why are we still on here bashing a company? Just a question I have.

83 Messages

@lance843​ That's a very fair question.  I still have my equipment and hopefully they will fix the issue someday.  Being frustrated with a company that basically junked $400 worth of equipment is not bashing them.

(edited)

2 Messages

6 months ago

Umm, the link you posted @davey_d gives a 404 error...I had already set up a spare router I had at home to only 2.4hgz, and moved the base station and keypad to that, so I would stop getting disconnect texts every day...seems to be working well so far, but I should not have to do this. I did notice there was another firmware update the other day, I supposed I could try and put them back on my regular network and see if it has been fixed with that firmware update 2.16.

10 Messages

6 months ago

Long thread.  If this comment was to me, because I want to see if SimpliSafe ever addressed any of the issues or suggestions I faced.  To date, NO.

2 Messages

4 months ago

hi, just leaving a solution here for others that have been caught up with the flawed firmware dropping the wifi.  sorry if this has been already posted.  on your router create an open guest account, hide the ssid and disable the intranet.  name it G2 or something easy but the trick is no authentication.  path out to the network - it will hook up to wifi and all will be good in the world again.

(edited)

1 Message

1 month ago

About done with SimpliSafe.

Update pushed…. All of a sudden it starts dropping off WiFi and alternating with no link to dispatcher.  I even had a smoke alarm go off at 5 am.

i have done everything but the real point is, everything was working for months and months and then it started having a ton of issues, all at once, right after an update.

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