Outdoor cameras - motion detection delayed

@bsevennine​ yes, but when someone steals  packages off your porch or tries to break in your car, no opening sensor is triggered. These should not be marketed as security cameras. Honestly, there should be a class action against them for complete refunds or cameras that actually work. 

@bsevennine​ - You bring up an interesting finding with sensors. Several weeks ago I installed my motion sensor (didn't have a need for it previously) in the hallway and I set the Alarm "Off" Mode to Secret Alert. I just wanted to test out this sensor again because I was so frustrated with the entire system. I noticed all my cameras activated when the motion sensor was triggered. The time response for the cameras to turn on was quicker than the built-in motion sensor on the Outdoor Camera. I repeated the process several times because I couldn't believe it. 

As a test, I was thinking to place the motion sensor under the Outdoor Camera just to determine which one of the sensor detects motion faster. My guess would be the motion sensor and not the Outdoor Camera built-in motion sensor.

Just to sum it up... SimpliSafe has a serious issue with the Outdoor Camera built-in motion sensor. It makes no sense to place a non-water proof motion sensor under your Outdoor Camera to trigger video recording.

Oh yes and more importantly ... Wyze v3 Camera is impressive with quick video response time with Artificial Intelligence features. If all works well I'm switching over.

@DBNet​ almost thinking about a class action suit. These cameras are worthless

Useless, this is why I refuse to recommend SS to friends.

@cmcan​ sorry to hear that the latest firmware update hasn't helped. We do have more performance improvements on the way.

In the meantime, there are a few things you can try on your side. Primarily, the Outdoor Camera does need to maintain connection with the Base Station when it is triggered. So it helps to move the Base Station closer to where the Outdoor Camera is.

Of course, our Support team at 800-548-9508 can help with further troubleshooting.

Thought I got a bad device and wasted hours on this. Too bad the support only suggested I remove and re-add my outdoor camera. My current outdoor camera is on v1.7 and I am still only get the back of heads - of people moving across the frame NOT towards - in all of my videos. I love the doorbell camera, oh well. Going to return and switch to ring. Easy fix.

Installed two outdoor cameras yesterday, total garbage. Once the cameras go live, there is a 5-10 second delay in footage being delivered to you. My arlo door bell literally notifies me instantly of motion and in live view the delay is minimal. Complete disappointment. 

Simplisafe sent me a replacement camera and sorry to report.... that did not fix the motion sensing issues. I have top of the line, highest speed Internet. My spotlight Ring camera on my garage has no issues. Every technological device that I use works perfectly fine inside and outside of my home. 

The base station is in a location for which that cannot be the excuse for the poorly designed Simplisafe outdoor camera. 

I will be buying my second Ring that does exactly what it is supposed to.... provide some security. 

Simplisafe... you need to speed up your firmware fixes... If this worked, I would have purchased a second one and now I am not. 

@Camerashy​ no, that's not how our cameras work, at all.

The Entry Sensor "trick" works because there are two different ways that the cameras can be triggered. First, there's any alarm-type events from the main alarm system - arms, disarms, and actual alarm triggers.

The second is from the camera's built-in Motion Sensor. The problem that users are encountering in this thread is that to preserve battery life, the camera goes into a 'deep sleep' state, which is what is causing the delay. Our engineers have already made improvements to the wake from deep sleep in the last firmware update, and more are on the way.

But in the meantime, it's helpful to know that part of that waking process does involve communicating with the Base Station. So performance will be much more improved if you move the Base Station closer to the camera, if possible.

@davey_d 

It SHOULD NOT need to use the BASE STATION for low Freq connection.  When both are on Wi-Fi (Base and Cam), both should be talking over Wi-FI.  Even more so, if the camera is POWERED, it should always be active and both connected to Wi-Fi all the time and be able to motion sense all the time.  Again, it should NOT be require to be able to talk to the Base over the low frequency radio link once set up. It should be able to talk to it over the Wi-Fi network without issue.  Whoever made these cameras for you all sold you really poor cameras and you sold them knowing this...Or soon after you starting well them, you surely knew it.  Yet here we all all, still with useless cameras that capture as people leave.

These cameras are just not made right for security cameras it is not funny...even more so when it is PART OF A SECURITY SYSTEM!!!  

My home is large enough, 2900 sqft I can't even cover some of the places I want to as the Base is too far away.  Every heard of a repeater?  You all should surely use them.  Google does for their system and so does Nest, & Amazon.  Heck even Zwave, Zigbee and others. 

Your alarm system has done well in the market for it was simple to set up, not costly for monitoring (Which is no changed again), as soon as you started to do things like cameras and locks, you all lost your way with poor design and usability. 

It really is poor when you unlock a door using a keypad and not only does it turn off the alarm...which is good...but it also unlocks all the other door locks you have, which is bad. (I have 4...Unlock one, the other 3 also unlock.)  You know what, when you arm the system it does not reven relock the doors.  You need to look at the app to see the status and that is only good if it can talk to the lock which also goes to sleep.   How is any of this a good thing?

As other have said...Stay away now from what was once a very good alarm system as they clearly have lost direction or at least engineering talent.  So much poor logic thought in operation went into the cameras. I have Cameras 1/2 the price that not only do more and have a better image, but also alert me faster! 

David

@aac​ Did they support-team offer anything that was truly helpful?  Or did they just throw up their hands... as we have done? 

They have NOTHIING to offer and they know it. 100% failure on all SimpleSafe cams.  All off mine will be going back to Costco and will end up putting in ReoLink using one of their NVR's.  All and all, better quality and much better performance at a much lower price.

SimpliSafe is a nice security system, bu they failed on who they choose to make their cams.

​@bwest312​ Agree with you as a security system, it works just fine, and actually very well, as long as your sensors can reach the base unit.  I have 3 that can not and they do not offer any type of repeater which would be a no brainer. (I would think.)   

But the cameras are the WORST!  I am not installing Reolink for cameras replacing each of my SS cameras and returning them all. (Seeing I got them from Sam's, this will not be an issue.) 

But yes, to make it even worse, SS just does not seem to care and are not looking to fix the issues or even comment about it.  Yet they still sell them and that is a very poor thing for a company which makes me think of even replacing the security part even though it works (for the most part.)

Example of just a dumb thing....I have 4 door locks, if I am outside and I UNLOCK one door, all the doors UNLOCK!  They DO NOT auto lock when you leave the home, thus you have doors that are now just left unlocked.  This shows you that they really are not thinking this through as far as security.