‎"Camera offline" error despite live stream and recordings working as expected | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
davey_d's profile
Community Admin

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

Thursday, February 22nd, 2024 6:55 PM

In Progress

"Camera offline" error despite live stream and recordings working as expected

We have been seeing rare reports of users seeing that your Outdoor Camera is reporting as “offline”, even though the camera itself seems to function as normal. The camera is able to livestream and record, and the Check Connection feature in the SimpliSafe® app also reports a good connection.

As a reminder, the Outdoor Camera has two different wireless connections: the internet connection through your WiFi router, and the local radio connection to your Base Station. In order to ensure proper function, we need to make sure that your Outdoor Camera is set up for good reception for both -  you’ll want to make sure that your camera is not only within range of your WiFi router, but also closer to your Base Station. We do have some tips on the Help Center for best practices.


Previously, we had reported that we included possible fixes in alarm system firmware 2.15, that would help resolve some of these offline errors on the Base Station end. While we still recommend updating to the latest firmware to improve communication, we also continue to investigate. If you have already updated to the latest firmware, and attempted standard troubleshooting, please check in here so we can continue to track your case.

Official Solution

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

5 months ago

Hello all,

An update for this issue: We are still seeing cases, so we have returned it to IN PROGRESS status. Keep us updated here if you are still seeing this issue on your app.

9 Messages

9 months ago

I have an outdoor camera that keeps sayings its offline even though the connection test states good signal (not fair) and sufficient bandwidth. Even when the message is there I can always connect to the camera and see the video with the normal startup delay. `

Right after I finish watching a live stream the camera states offline. Clearly its not offline since I have no issue connecting to it.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Outdoor camera keeps saying offline

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

Hi @les101 ,

Glad to hear that a reset worked for you. That's what I would have suggested. It sounds like the issue was that the camera was not correctly syncing with either the app or the Base Station. If you see this again, let us know and we'll take it to our engineering team.

5 Messages

I have the exact same issue happening on two different cameras.  I have a mesh WiFi network and used the cameras originally with two mesh nodes no more than 15 feet line of sight from each camera.  I then purchased two different brand range extenders and used them on a different WiFi network.  Same issue.  I can connect on demand without issue.  Both cameras have good signal strengths and throughput.  They detect motion and report the motion event as expected.  Still, the app shows off line just like les101 reports above.  I'm an embedded systems engineer and this sounds like a firmware issue to me, either in the cameras or in the base station.  I cannot believe that we are the only ones having this issue.

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

@mdehrnsb​ where are those cameras located? Presumably outside of the house?

One important thing to note is that while the camera feed goes through your home's WiFi, they also need to link with your Base Station. It's possible that the issue here is that the signal to the _Base Station_ is being blocked.

I would suggest testing just one camera by moving it temporarily into the same room as the Base Station. If the incorrect "offline" status goes away, then we know that my theory is correct. Then maybe you'll want to move the Base Station closer, or just in a different spot where it might have a better time linking with those cameras.

1 Message

9 months ago

I have 2 outdoor cameras and recently got a notice that one had a low battery. I have a spare battery that I keep charged and put that battery in the camera. I could not get the camera to connect to my alarm system. I charged another battery and put it in the camera and everything works. The first replacement battery (the one that would not allow the camera to connect) may be faulty. I plugged the battery in to charge and the top to lights are on; one solid and one blinking. None of the bottom three lights on the battery are on. Again, do I have a bad battery?

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

@mleebear​ When you plug in the Outdoor Camera's battery, you should see one solid light and one blinking light, as that indicates that its currently charging. Once those three lights are illuminated, that indicates that the battery is completely charged. 

However, if you had previously charged that battery all the way and the Outdoor Camera would not turn on once it was inserted, that could indicate a problem with the battery itself. Especially since you plugged it in again and it and the lights indicated that it was actively charging. In that case, I would recommend contacting our Support team for further assistance.

1 Message

8 months ago

There are three cameras on my system that seem to be acting as you mentioned above. I called into tech support yesterday when three cameras were showing offline. Yesterday, they were not picking up motion, but normally displaying live feeds. Those three cameras were removed from the system and readded. The firmware was updated to 2.15.8.0 as well. That seemed to fix the offline status for the day and they are now consistently showing offline again. They are picking up motion even though they show an offline status. Check connection is showing good connections. Are there any updates on fixing the offline status?

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

@AmandaD23​ Our engineering team is continuing to investigate this error. I've added your case details to their ticket to help them find a solution. 

2 Messages

4 months ago

I can see live streams and get motion notifications on my wireless outdoor cameras but when I do the connection check, it reports they are offline.

2 Messages

One of the two cameras now show offline in the camera menu of the app even though live and motion events record.

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

@hpark​ Our internal teams are still investigating this issue to find its root cause. I've added your case details to their ongoing ticket to look into further.

2 Messages

4 months ago

I am having the same issue with my 1 external camera.  I can receive motion detection alerts, watch the alerts, but it states my camera is offline

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

@MarkMcFarlane​ sounds like this might be a textbook example of what we mention in the top post - the link between your camera and WiFi router is okay, but the connection to the Base Station (which uses local RF) might be weak. Have you already tried temporarily moving the camera closer, e.g. inside the house?

(edited)

2 Messages

The camera is located 5 feet from the base station

Community Admin

 • 

5.7K Messages

@MarkMcFarlane​ that's definitely odd. And they're in the same room with nothing in between? I'll be sure to pass your info on to our investigation team.

1.4K Messages

4 months ago

I've had it also recently, it comes and goes. Perhaps rebooting wifi and doing a base reset will help a little.

No rhyme or reason determined yet.

Same cameras, same distance, same base location, and NO, no interference and my walls didn't get any thicker, we have no baby monitors, and the same.miveowave and garage door opener, tv remotes are good, 😆.

I've already played musical base station to test and that meant nothing 6 feet from a camera.

Unless the base stations RF signal weakens somehow, there is no "normal" explanation.

Currently its not there for a week or so now, but was a week or two ago for several days or more. Unexplainable.

No ISP issue I cold track down.

I blew out the base a couple times, rebooted wifi 15 times probably over the last month, including with inside tech, who has disappeared again. 😂 

WiFi dropped the other day, only on the base station, probably 15 times in two days and is now acting normal, for a while...thats a known ongoing issue foe some folks.

No introduction of any devices that haven't been here before or were already here to begin with.

There's an "unknown at this time factor" involved. Wifi, ISP, base station component degradation, firmware clogged, app? All?Who knows?

App has been flakey for quite a while, poor battery charge level feedback to the point, it's unreliable to even believe the app charge level.

Won't always collect sensors status when arming etc. without multiple retries. Arms but fails sensor status 3 times. Cache is cleared daily, app was just reinstalled 🙄 a couple weeks ago.

During the day when the batteries should be black and charging, some are 100, which may not reflect charging, one is 90 and green, but should be black.

There's a plethora of app and firmware bugs, I'd recommend someone fine tooth comb thru them and debug it.

The more improvement you attempt to make, the more bugs are introduced.

Most or many above are longggg, ongoing issues.

Example, the green 90 in pic should show charging, I can refresh until I'm blue in the face and no change. Typical of late as well.

6 Messages

4 months ago

Same issue for me that I noticed a few days ago. I reset my base station and camera but no luck. I hope a software update will fix this given that it seems to be a common problem

2 Messages

3 months ago

Hi, that exactly what is happening with two or one outdoor camera(s) in recent days. I have never had this problem before - it start 6-7 days ago very suddenly. I’ve installed 5 cameras (1 indoor & 4 outdoor). All cameras seemed to work ok in every mode just „off line” info is jumping between two or staying on one. Any help, please? 

1.4K Messages

@jerryazak​ If you haven't already, I'd try a modem and/or Wifi reboot. If that doesn't help, then a base reset by removing a battery for a few minutes and restarting.

If these fail, unfortunately its a call to support probably.

Community Admin

 • 

3.4K Messages

@jerryazak​ Our devs are working on a solution to resolve this incorrect Offline message in the app. But in the meantime, moving the Base Station to a more central area to your home so that it is closer to your cameras can help as well.

New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Article and please be sure to review our Community Guidelines before posting.