1 Message
One-month review
It's been a month since I replaced my legacy home security system with SimpliSafe. Satisfied overall but several aspects are disappointing. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
- Price. Equipment and service is less expensive than the competition. My local legacy provider wanted more $ for fewer sensors and features and monitoring service that was $15/mo more.
- Core security devices and sensors. These seem to be decent quality. Nothing I received was dead-on-arrival.
- Setup. Intuitive and easy to set up. Adding devices is easy.
- Interactive monitoring. The remote monitoring service is responsive and reasonably priced.
Cons:
- SimpliCams. I didn't buy the system for the cameras, but SimpliCam leaves a lot to be desired. Image quality is poor, even on the highest resolution. Stuck with 480p in order to keep most of my cameras from disconnecting, even though I have a high-end router and good WiFi strength. The two-way audio is useless (same for the doorbell pro). Full duplex would be nice, but I'd settle for reliability - most of the time the mic button in the app doesn't even work.
The previous cameras I have (which I still use because they're better) came with practical features like an adjustable ball-joint swivel allowing easy positioning of the fixed cameras (SimpliCam only tilts up and down), and an ethernet connectivity option. My old cameras also allowed motion detection to be specified within a portion of the camera's field of view (to exclude moving curtains for example), or to record based on a level of sound detected - these features are present in 5+ year old devices but missing with SimpliCam.
- User interface. We have a webpage, phone app, and keypad options to access and use our SimpliSafe system. Each interface allows you to do certain things, but none allow you to do everything in a single place. It feels like each UI platform was developed independently with little coordination. Again some practical features would be nice like deleting timeline events, forcing firmware update checks, etc.
- Customer service and technical documentation. Not much to say here other than poorly responsive and generally unhelpful customer service, and non-existent or hard to find documentation online. Want to know the dimensions of the water sensors or find out details on the smoke detectors? Good luck.
Summary: I don't regret choosing SimpliSafe but I guess my expectations were too high. I've kept my old hardwired system working as a back-up for now until I'm comfortable SimpliSafe is up to the task. From my Google review: Overall I'm pleased with the system, it's performance and value. SimpliSafe as a company however feels more like an online parts warehouse for a DIY system than an actual security services and solutions provider. If you keep that in mind you won't be disappointed.
Pros:
- Price. Equipment and service is less expensive than the competition. My local legacy provider wanted more $ for fewer sensors and features and monitoring service that was $15/mo more.
- Core security devices and sensors. These seem to be decent quality. Nothing I received was dead-on-arrival.
- Setup. Intuitive and easy to set up. Adding devices is easy.
- Interactive monitoring. The remote monitoring service is responsive and reasonably priced.
Cons:
- SimpliCams. I didn't buy the system for the cameras, but SimpliCam leaves a lot to be desired. Image quality is poor, even on the highest resolution. Stuck with 480p in order to keep most of my cameras from disconnecting, even though I have a high-end router and good WiFi strength. The two-way audio is useless (same for the doorbell pro). Full duplex would be nice, but I'd settle for reliability - most of the time the mic button in the app doesn't even work.
The previous cameras I have (which I still use because they're better) came with practical features like an adjustable ball-joint swivel allowing easy positioning of the fixed cameras (SimpliCam only tilts up and down), and an ethernet connectivity option. My old cameras also allowed motion detection to be specified within a portion of the camera's field of view (to exclude moving curtains for example), or to record based on a level of sound detected - these features are present in 5+ year old devices but missing with SimpliCam.
- User interface. We have a webpage, phone app, and keypad options to access and use our SimpliSafe system. Each interface allows you to do certain things, but none allow you to do everything in a single place. It feels like each UI platform was developed independently with little coordination. Again some practical features would be nice like deleting timeline events, forcing firmware update checks, etc.
- Customer service and technical documentation. Not much to say here other than poorly responsive and generally unhelpful customer service, and non-existent or hard to find documentation online. Want to know the dimensions of the water sensors or find out details on the smoke detectors? Good luck.
Summary: I don't regret choosing SimpliSafe but I guess my expectations were too high. I've kept my old hardwired system working as a back-up for now until I'm comfortable SimpliSafe is up to the task. From my Google review: Overall I'm pleased with the system, it's performance and value. SimpliSafe as a company however feels more like an online parts warehouse for a DIY system than an actual security services and solutions provider. If you keep that in mind you won't be disappointed.
elizabethspears1313
1 Message
2 months ago
I’ve had so many issues. Uuuhhhgggg
A term paper would be shorter for me to write than me writing a review of every little thing that went wrong and had to be corrected and usually needed at least two different tech people to get the right information in the end
Most of them happened within the first four days getting the system set up and calling TECH SUPPORT for help was a nightmare the TECH SUPPORT people don’t know what they’re talking about.
I’m having battery issues with four of my batteries
However, those batteries were not ever a full charge because I hired someone to put the cameras in. But they were at a 40% charge and dropped to 11% within a couple of months
I put in brand new batteries to replace the ones that didn’t hold a charge very long at all in case I got a bad battery or in this case four bad battery batteries
So I did not open the box so I did not see the note that says charge the cameras first for 5 to 6 hours
Because I had my camera system installed for me and incorrectly, assumed that the person installing the cameras would know what to do
And I’m pretty sure he knew that I hadn’t charged any of my camera batteries and He just kept his mouth shut because he didn’t want to come back and do it another day and let me charge the batteries up for 5 to 6 hours.
Most of my cameras have a solar panel. Those cameras are holding a charge of about 40% and a few of them have made it to 100%.
I changed the batteries today. The manual and TECH SUPPORT said I had to take it off-line at the keypad.
But you can’t put it back online at the keypad without bringing the camera close to your iPad and setting it up again-
i’m wondering if I could’ve just changed the batteries without taking it off-line with the keypad but I can’t find that information in the manual
It says how to turn it off at the key keypad to change the battery, but in the manual, it doesn’t say you need to push the button down and re-enter the name of the camera. You don’t find that out until you open your app and there are no cameras listed in the ones that change the batteries
and two tech phone calls got me two different answers. Yes you have to take it off-line on the keypad and no, you don’t need to do that to change the battery - too late I already taken it off-line because that’s what the first tech person said
I am a fall risk that means my friend with a ladder has to come back and get the camera down and then I have to figure out if I can get the camera back online. Apparently, I have to hold the button on the camera down and rename it through the app
I just don’t think there is any system that runs flawlessly
I had the ring camera system that I fussed with for two years before I just gave up. It just wouldn’t work picking up motion.
I’ve read a lot of other problems People are having and I seem to be having the least.
The part about we will give all your money back in two months is not very practical when you have such a large number of cameras installed for you on a two-story tall building
I cannot get up on the ladders. The people that installed it for $1400 do not uninstall anything so I will simply move forward with system that works most of the time, I don’t see that I have any other choice and I will just have to hope that any burglars see the cameras from the street and move on because they’re not gonna know if I’m having a glitch and a camera is down that day
I also read about technical problems from ADT but mostly you can’t get out of your contract with ADT apparently for 3 to 5 years even if you move
So again, I don’t think any system is perfect. And it sounds like I’m having the least amount of troubles. Of course, just typing that means the whole system will probably collapse tomorrow
when your camera is low and the base wants to keep telling you about it every 30 seconds over and over for days and days the best thing you can do is mute your base system until you can get the camera battery changed
you won’t hear any warnings Or the alarm going off if somebody breaks in - but at least you don’t hear the base setting saying your batteries low and over again
Again, no system is perfect. I mean they had to add Don’t forget to charge the batteries first in the supplement instruction book.
REALLY ?????
They do put stickers saying charge the battery On the outside of the envelope that the instructions come in - but again in the original manual they didn’t
I really think that giant corporations shoot for 80% If they can get 80 % Of people happy with their systems they still make money and the rest of us are just screwed
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