Forum Discussion

Benaya's avatar
Benaya
Binge Watcher
9 months ago

Outdoor Wireless Camera stopped working--again!!

My camera stops working now about 3 times a month for no reason.  I go through all the troubleshooting steps, including removing the camera and base, pairing, etc. and can sometimes get it to start--then in a week or so it happens again>. It's hard for me to have to take an hour dealing with resetting--usually at very inconvenient times.  At times, it will stop and then start again in a period of time, without my doing anything. The last time it happened, I I decided to order a different brand but when this camera began working again, I returned the other because I preferred not changing cameras, but now I regret it because this camera is unreliable, which isn't ok for my needs.  Tonight, it's stopped and then started again by itself about 4 times.  Very frustrating!!  

9 Replies

  • mlm44's avatar
    mlm44
    Roku Guru
    9 months ago

    The most frustrating thing about Roku Smart Home products (cameras, lights, plugs, etc.) is that sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It is very unpredictable and unreliable. I'm convinced that at least some of this is being caused at the back end servers. Roku needs to get their act together.

    • Benaya's avatar
      Benaya
      Binge Watcher
      9 months ago

      Thanks--. Have you stuck with Roku or tried any other brands?

  • Dfresh567's avatar
    Dfresh567
    Roku Guru
    9 months ago

    Benaya mlm44 

    Sorry to hear about what you're going through. From what you're describing I can understand feeling frustrated. Going through the initial set up of your camera and feeling confident that ou wont have any issues after is reasonable.

    I'll do my best to try to help. Also, I wouldn't jump to this being a Roku back end issue as someone else posted. As there's a lot of information I'm curious about to be able to know what is causing this.

    I've been using Roku home and have multiple roku cameras and have luckily never had a single issues so I can attest that the system can work 100% flawlessly for some .

    I by no means want to minimize twhat your having to deal with though

    The first thing I wanted to ask is what have you tried so far in terms of troubleshooting? This would be super helpful to know so I can give you some recommendations from there.

    • mlm44's avatar
      mlm44
      Roku Guru
      9 months ago

      I've had multiple Smart Home products since late 2022: cameras, bulbs, plugs. Everything on my end is set up correctly. The problems come and go. It is a back end issue. Roku needs to stop telling customers that they need to troubleshoot endlessly. It really is endlessly. I've sent in countless logs, posted here many times, and sooner or later the issues disappear without any changes on my end. It is either firmware, back end, or both.

      I am still researching other brands and have not made any decisions, although I will likely go with a HomeKit enabled solution. I will not be purchasing any more Roku Smart Home products, though. Almost two years of frustration, it's not worth it.

      • Dfresh567's avatar
        Dfresh567
        Roku Guru
        9 months ago

        mlm44 Benaya 

        I'm wondering if there is any other aspect of your Wifi or location that could be playing a part, to an extent of the underlying issue. I say I know what it causing it would be foolish of me cause I don't have enough information to state that as face. Maybe you know him and seen the cameras and every aspect that is needed to be able to say what the cause of the problem is.

        What I can say is I have every roku home product hooked up to my smart home app since they've launched the application and I honestly have never had a connectivity issue. I can say that cause thats been my experience

        In trying to help individuals I will go on the message boards of a 3 to 4 of the biggest players in this specific market and individuals owner other company products are writing messages that are identical to what I've seen here.

        I encourage you to take a look different website forums. A lot of times issue can be troubleshooted. Due to tha all the majority companies in this space developed forums likes these. Put money and resources into trying to help individuals manage this issues.

        I wouldn't say home cameras, security systems like we see with Roku having reached maturity in regards to technological developments. I would say the days of ordering a company to come in, install cameras, have a call center and mass produced signs given to a customers given out to be put in your front yard saying...this home is protected by..are over clearly.

        Back to changing to another brand. You could but we're still living in 2024 and to some degree the issues we're having given 5 years will be long gone and then they'll be new issues related to the latest technology that is out.