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Sunday, January 31st, 2021 12:37 PM

Outbuilding can not connect to sensors

Just set up my new system and Having an issues with sensors outside the house. I have a 24x32 pole barn that we are converting to a guest house. I have a motion sensor, door sensor and a siren out there. I am constantly getting notices that these items are not responding. It's like they can't see the base station. The Luther building is located about 50' away from the base station and it does have metal siding. Is there any way to "extend' the range of the sensors or maybe add in a hard wired system out there? I wouldn't be opposed to another base station out there except I don't want to pay for two Monitoring's...

Captain

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6.2K Messages

4 years ago

@chad01 first, congrats on your new system.  Now onto your issue...sorry, two base units won't help in one system. You could have two bases but it would be two completely different systems, but it would work.  From an operational perspective, it may also be more convenient. That said, the issue is the metal siding.  My daughter has sensors in her detached garage, vinyl siding and the base is at least 50+ feet away with no issues.  The only solution I can think of is to move the base near a window in your house if you can reduce the 50 feet.  Finally, you can see what other forum members suggest or call SS for assistance.

1 Message

4 years ago

I have a similar problem. It would be great if SimpliSafe could come up with a wired/wireless extender or even better the ability to piggyback my mesh wireless network. My house has thick stone walls and I am struggling to cover front and back doors. this is not a large house, just an old one.

1 Message

3 years ago

I have the same problem with my metal building. I did not have this problem with the first Simple safe they came out with. You cannot get a hold of anybody at Simply safe and get a straight answer. Finally one person told me they change the frequency of the sensors that caused this problem. The first system I bought work perfectly in my building.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

Apologies for the inaccurate info, but no, the Gen 3 system doesn't use a different frequency. I'm not quite sure what was different with your Original system - maybe the old sensors were positioned in a way that enabled the signal to scrape through. But metal structures have always been a problem, due the physics involved with the wireless signal.

9 Messages

@markwells150​ 

hey Mark you are right. SimpliSafe customer service is a joke. You will never talk to the same person and they will never transfer you to someone who actually knows anything about the system. Ring has recently come out with a similar system and it's better and cheaper. Unfortunately you have to start over with the cost of a new system. 

742 Messages

3 years ago

There is a fully unsupported alternative that you could try but you may damage your equipment and it's an ugly ugly hack.

You can take the sensor apart and add an external antenna. If you're close enough now that it's staying connected some of the time then an external antenna should do the trick.  This will require you modifying the sensor (making an opening for the wire) as well as figuring out where the current antenna mounts to the board. (That part is easy - it's readily identifiable.) There is no official documentation for this, obviously, but I've seen one or two people comment here and/or on http://reddit.com/r/simplisafe  saying they've made it work.

Edit: If you were to google "add external antenna to simplisafe" (no quotes) you might find relevant articles. Again, this is fully unsupported, may not work, may damage or destroy your equipment, etc. Proceed at your own risk.

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19 Messages

Hey @worthing​ I have solder over 50 of these, feedback has been great. There are more details in this larger thread 👇

https://support.simplisafe.com/conversations/product-requests-and-suggestions/sensor-range-extenderboosterrepeater/6190c6688ea41ebb06225bfd

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