11 Messages
A small list of issues that I consider deal breakers (#1-3) and I'm less than five days in...
The following reasons are why I will likely take advantage of the 60 day return policy.
1.) Outdoor cameras battery draining issue. All cameras are at FW v1.15.6.391
2.) The lack of notification control for outdoor cameras in off and home modes like the indoor cameras. I've noticed that it's been requested by the community for about a year leads me to believe this won't be implemented and for me this is a very big deal. The snooze feature was a pretty lame attempt to address this glaring shortfall.
#3 isn't actually an issue: If you actually want to check the status of your cameras you go to "Cameras" from the main page and pull down to refresh. If there's any changes to their health the "My System" -> "Camera Settings" page will have updated accordingly as well as the current page.
3.) While recharging an outdoor camera's battery (battery removed) I noticed it still showed a charging icon and 'good' for WiFi on the camera page. So I tried both 'live view' and 'connection test' knowing full well they'd fail. I really did it in the hopes that the camera page would update and show it as offline after the failures, which it didn't. Hours into the recharging effort the camera still showed a charging battery icon and a good WiFi connection despite being offline. Not sure if the solar panel being plugged in had something to do with the charging battery icon though battery not present. But the "Good' indicator for the WiFi connection is just plain wrong. This is also a huge confidence killer. How can I trust what the alarm app is telling me? I know for a fact now that it doesn't necessarily represent the health of the alarm system overall. This one is the worst shortfall of the four listed here.
4.) Latest version of app has a "Video Verification" popup that will not go away despite being enabled.
captain11
Captain
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5.9K Messages
9 months ago
@crimso I am about 11+ years in with Simplisafe with my 2nd system with over 50 devices (including cameras) and have personally recommended and placed almost 40 with friends, neighbors, coworkers and family. Possibly my experience with Brinks, and then ADT for 10+ years did a lot to influence me in my dedication to SS. Don't get me wrong, there are many things they can improve on but, in my opinion, do very well overall and the best solution, in terms of features, price and support, in the market.
First, battery. Goor or bad, I never believe anyone's claim on battery life, period, whether that be Apple, Google, or anyone else. I installed my two outdoor cameras with AC power from the start. I know three families that use the solar panels. Not an excuse for SS and happy to report that during the beta the claimed battery life on the new SA cameras were acutally exceeded.
Second point, this has been raised before and I believe (you can verify by looking at the feature status log...yeah hard to find...that their profuct dev team are actively working on this, ability to configure notificatons based on system mode. If I am incorrect on this, hey SS, its been requested enough times for you to do it.
Update: Found this issue, status is submitted but final dispostion not determined. Should note SS did a small improvement in this area (emphasis on small) where you can snooze the camera for 30 or 60 minutes. It was a quick add.
3. Sloppy coding if this is widespread and now that you reported it, SS, you should look into it and address it.
4. My app works fine, have not experienced this. Using a Pixel 6a, Android 13, fully updated and latest SS app. (No Apple products in my household, thank you). Suggest you call support to troubleshoot.
If you are wondering, FastProtect actually works as advertised. I was skeptical at first and tested it live myself twice. Monitoring agents and equipment was spot on. I always go with "trust but verify" :-)
Lastly, if you do return your equipment (make sure to call and get RMA at day 55, no need to get into a gray area) whoever you do decided to go with, suggest you do not go with ADT.
Good luck, live long and prosper!
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.5K Messages
9 months ago
Hi @crimso ,
Thank you so much for your feedback. We really value your input, and reviews like yours help us significantly as we continue to improve our products and services. We're sorry to see you go, of course, but thank you so much for giving us a try.
Regarding the rapid drain issue, and as you note, our dev team is still working on the rollout for firmware 1.18, which aims to address that issue. But there are a couple of other things we can try - particularly replacing the units, as we know that the issue is affecting only some Outdoor Cameras. I would really suggest giving that a try before giving up on the Outdoor Camera entirely!
But as for tying Outdoor Camera Motion to the state of your alarm system, that request is indeed pending, and I can confirm that it is in development. We'll keep this thread updated with any news in the future.
Again, thanks for letting us know your thoughts. We are already actively working to address all of your concerns.
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