Disable Outdoor Camera Deep Sleep when connected to Power Adapter

Great solution!!

@eazyeazy You are definitely not alone with your request.  When I got my first outdoor cam (now have two) I quickly found that the battery just wouldn't cut it in the greater Chicagoland area, and the idea of climbing a ladder to swap out batteries in the winter when the windchill would be a balmy -24 or so didn't appeal to me for some reason. :-)

Purchased and installed AC adapters for both so the battery issue is no longer a concern. What did disappoint me was the outdoor cam still needed to be "awoken" from its sleep and go through the mutliple stages (and 7-10 seconds) to start a live stream).  Yes, the outdoor camera and simplicams spoiled me, and are almost instaneous after many firmware updates.  I sent an email and asked why can't the outdoor cam work the same and was advised they are "working on it".

Okay, Simplisafe: hint, hint. This is where you respond  with specifics other than "we have passed this on to our dev team" . For the record, and in fairness, the response time for the outdoor camera has improved since released, but still not to the performance level of the simplicams and doorbell pro.

BUMP

I have two outdoor cameras setup at different angles on the carport.

I am able to make it from the house into a vehicle before either camera wakes from the deep sleep.  Because I am in the vehicle the camera no longer registers/recognizes person motion and goes back to sleep.  If I wait until the camera goes back to sleep, then I can pull out of the carport without even registering a recorded event.

The cameras are at best just a deterrent.

The cameras do not work well with mesh wifi.  The cameras come no where close to the 3-6 month advertised battery life.  The cameras are not capable of scheduling detection/notification periods.  The cameras take extremely too long to wake up and record anything of meaningful value.

I originally had posted the protected by simplisafe sign and stickers around the house.  I am considering taking them down because of the well known and documented issues with these cameras.

This is a big "ME TOO".  It is annoying to get a motion detection and see the last few seconds as someone walks away.  As long as the camera is hard wired, this is a no brainer.

This happens to me all the time. In spite of being plugged into USB power. It literally missed the first 10 seconds of someone breaking into our car.

@davey_d This is great news!!! 

@davey_d​ I am a new Simplisafe customer. I was thinking about purchasing the camera and hardwiring it. But after reading about this problem I will hold off until this feature is added. It sounds pretty unusable with a 5 second wake up delay!

@davey_d​ Any idea when this update will be released, and will the feature also be available in the door bell?

@suntereo​ It’s 5 seconds if you’re lucky. You usually have to try 2-4 times to get them to come on at all. They usually cycle through (waking camera, connecting, displaying live stream…camera disconnected). SimpliSafe outdoor cameras are complete junk. In fact, the whole system is junk. I am out of the Country visiting family over the holidays and a door entry sensor for an area containing a safe with firearms, jewelry, and cash just randomly disconnected for the first time even though the system is less than 6 months old.

@worthing​ more info coming very soon. Stay tuned.

Is there any more news on this yet?  My outdoor cameras are still pish.  They take far too long to wake and often don't catch the triggers. Regret investing in this system, especially as you cannot use Arlo cameras with the system

@temporary2008​ You cant use anything with this system except their hardware.

You're a day or err months late and a dollar short on performance mode.😉

This performance mode feature was implemented with OD cam firmware 1.20. We're currently now at 1.33.

It may work with power cables and thin walls, but has never really worked for me on 5 outdoor cameras and using solar. Once or twice, here or there. Pathetic.

Then again, depends on construction, wifi etc. and might not work either.

2 Doorbells are inferior as well with my construction. Hit or miss. Good, then terrible.

Plus you'll need Mesh wifi & signal strength that will reach the Dragon spacecraft when in orbit.

Performance Mode, Advertised here to work with solar or power cables. Mine are worse now with 1.33 or the last few firmware iterations.

They all were about 8 seconds to live view, some are now 12 to 14 seconds until awakened the first time. Then they improve progressively, until they fall asleep again. Then rinse & repeat.

If someone has solar OD cams and performance mode that actually works "consistently", I'd like to hear about it. I won't be holding my breath for that reply.

@temporary2008​ This feature has been implemented. If you plug your Outdoor Camera into a power source, Performance Mode will kick in which allows the camera to stay awake - resulting in quicker recording and livestream times. For more details, check out our Performance Mode for Cameras article in the Help Center.