Cameras & doorbells

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I recently purchased one of the wireless outdoor cameras and cannot get it to be triggered by ANY motion. The camera is set up properly. It is connected to the app. I can view the camera's feed. It will even motion tag moving objects, like cars, but it is never triggered to record anything - be it video or photo.

I have tried all the usual advice provided here, such as updating firmware, making sure all the motion detection features are on, turning sensitivity to 100, deleting conflicting schedules and rules, restarting my modem and routers, restarting the camera, deleting the camera, deleting the app, etc.

I have tried ALL the usual advice - none of it works. Please don't simply copy/paste the usual support reply listing all of these steps -  they are not the solution here.

When deleting the camera and re-connecting it to the app, the camera will function properly for a few minutes, being triggered by me placing it back on its mount. After that - nothing. I've deleted and re-added the camera dozens of times. It'll trigger and record properly for a few minutes and then stop until it's deleted and re-added again. I've even resorted to placing the camera in a location facing a main road with lots of traffic, turning off the cooldown period, and waiting for it to be triggered by a passing car. Again, the camera will tag moving vehicles with a green box - so it is fully aware of the movement - it simply will not be triggered to record video or even a photo. Yes, I have a subscription active.

This camera absolutely refuses to record motion of any kind after a few minutes of being set up. Again, I even set the cooldown period to ZERO and it still won't record anything. It's been facing the highway for about 6 hours now and has recorded exactly zero motion events - despite tagging every car that drives by with a green box.

AGAIN: I have tried ALL the usual troubleshooting tips - I require something more than the usual copy/paste replies I see in every post here. I need actual support, not repeated FAQ copy/pastes.

Thanks for any help that anyone can provide - this is extremely frustrating.

PS - I should note that I have an indoor Roku camera that functions just fine and records motion exactly how I programmed it to - so I'm not new to setting these cameras up. I require actual support, not the usual copy/paste replies.

[Starz]

I don't have an answer for you sorry!! I am struggling with the same problem and cannot find any help. I purchased these cameras because I had very questionable neighbors move in and since buying these cameras my home was broken into. My outdoor camera did not record them breaking into my home thank God my indoor camera was working in recorded them in my home or I would have no evidence of who was in my home.  Paying for a subscription, why??

[Anonymous]

I bought mine specifically to monitor my car which is parked on a street with lots of break-ins. Without motion-activated recording it's nothing more than a paper weight at this point. It works fine for about 5 minutes after being deleted and re-added and then simply stops being triggered by any motion. It'll even watch as I walk to my car, open the door, get inside, and drive away - all without ever once being triggered. And the camera is mounted on a wall that's only a few yards from my car. Meanwhile, the indoor camera works absolutely perfectly. If it was waterproof I'd just get another indoor camera and use that instead as the outdoor camera appears to be completely useless.

[RokuTakashi]

Hi, @Anonymous

It's our greatest pleasure to welcome you here in the Roku Community.

We appreciate you for sharing this information with us, and we'd be more than glad to assist. We understand that your Roku Outdoor Camera is able to detect motion. Kindly perform the steps below to adjust the motion detection sensor on your camera.

1. Tap Home from the navigation bar
2. Select your camera or doorbell
3. Tap Settings in the corner
4. Tap Detection settings
5. Move the slider(s) to adjust detection sensitivity settings

For more information, you can visit this support article for guided steps at How to adjust motion detection settings

Please let us know what you find out.

Best wishes,
Kash

[Anonymous]

Comment deleted because it posted twice.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the reply, @RokuTakashi

Oh, I've already done that a long time ago. Sensitivity has been set at 100 for a while now. My camera is not terribly far away from moving cars. It's also only a couple yards from the base station. I am quite confident that my wifi is not the issue.

I do, however, have some news to report:

I accidentally left the Smart Home app open with the camera feed playing for about 30 minutes. When I came back to my phone, I found that the camera had suddenly begun picking up and recording motion again. As I live next to a road with regular traffic, the camera was being triggered about once every 1 to 2 minutes or so. Everything was working like clockwork, so I closed the app and assumed the issue had fixed itself.

About an hour later I opened up the app again to see if it was still recording. During the 60 minutes the app had been closed, not one single event had been recorded - despite a multitude of cars having driven past the camera during that time. Much to my surprise, however, while I had the feed open the camera once again began recording motion events as cars drove by.

Curious, I closed the app again for about 15 minutes. During that time at least a dozen cars drove by - and not one triggered the camera. And yet, while the app was open with the feed displayed, cars were once again triggering the camera to record motion.

I've spent the evening playing with this phenomenon and have been able to reliably recreate it over and over and over again. The camera WILL NOT record ANY motion whenever the app is completely closed. The camera WILL, however, record motion whenever the app is open with the camera feed playing live. Again, I have been able to recreate this phenomenon reliably over and over again. I even tried deleting and reinstalling the camera and it continues to behave this way.

This issue seems to be related to the app. It appears that when the app is closed the camera is put to sleep or something. I notice the blue light even turns off whenever the app is closed - this does not happen with my indoor camera. Something about the app is causing the camera to cease recording - perhaps even cease functioning?

Again, I've tried the same old tired tips that get posted here a million times over - they don't fix a darn thing. But I can reliably trigger the motion recording by turning the feed on in the app - after which it ceases to function the second the app is closed. Happens every single time.

Perhaps this will help someone figure out what the heck is wrong here.

Edit: Because I'm sure it'll be asked: the Outdoor Wireless camera is updated to the most current firmware and I am running the most current version of the app on the most current version of Apple iOS on an iPhone 14 pro. My modem and wifi are all up to spec according to Roku's requirements, there are no rules or schedules getting in the way, sensitivity is at 100, the camera is very close to the base station, and the moving objects I am using to test the camera are not much further away. I have reset and reinstalled both the app and the camera numerous times. It's fully charged. I have thoroughly gone through all the settings and am familiar with the app as I have had an Indoor wired camera for months now.

[RokuERey]

@Anonymous,

Thanks for the extra details!

It seems like we'll have to dig in more into this case and we'll need your help.

Please share with us the details below.

• Log ID: From the camera, go to settings gear > support > submit log
• Firmware version

Once we have information available we'll be able to forward this to the appropriate Roku team for further investigation.

Thanks,
Rey

[Melcrowne]

This is EXACTLY what is happening to my new Roku outside camera.  It is nonstop alerting when I have the app open but as soon as the app closes...no alerts.  Ever.  

[Melcrowne]

And I guess I will clarify that no events are being logged at all unless the app is open.  It is not just the notifications...it is the whole system is not operating unless the app is open on that specific camera.  

[RokuEuniceL · Accepted solution]

Hi @Melcrowne,

Greetings from the Roku Community!

We appreciate you letting us know about your problem with the Roku Smart Home app that alerts you nonstop when the app is open but doesn't alert you when it's closed. We will work with you to know what went wrong so we can assist you further and fix the issue. We recommend performing the below steps to see if you can resolve the issue:

1. Ensure that the Roku Smart Home app and outdoor camera's firmware are up to date.
2. Ensure notifications are turned "on" in Settings.
3. Ensure push notifications are "on".
4. Ensure that the Roku Smart Home app is allowed to send notifications to your mobile phone. Check your Apple or Android app permissions.
5. Check that your detection settings are turned "on" in the Events Recording setting.
6. Ensure that there are no event recording schedules.
7. Restart your Roku Camera.
8. Check if there are any scheduled rules that might affect notifications.
9. Sign out and sign back in from the Roku Smart Home app.
10. Uninstall and re-install the Roku Smart Home app.

If the issue persists, factory reset your Roku Camera, delete it from the Roku Smart Home app, and set it up again. You can also restart your network router and ensure that your Roku Outdoor Camera SE is not very far from the connection. Once you are able to receive notifications when the Roku Smart Home app is closed, you can check out this support article on how to reduce the number of unwanted Roku Smart Home notifications.

Please don't hesitate to inform us of the outcome.

Sincerely,
Eunice