Cameras & doorbells

[Johnny9]

I can access my wireless outdoor camera over my local area network (WiFi) but I cannot access the camera over the internet when I am away from home. What am I doing wrong? Is the camera not capable of doing this? I like to be able to keep a watch on my home exterior and out buldings when I am out of town.

[AvsGunnar]

@Johnny9 

You should be able to view your cameras via the Smart Home app on your mobile device while away from home.  Cannot view them over the internet via a computer or Roku device outside of network, but you can view them on your mobile device.  Everything is currently done through the mobile app.

With the outdoor camera, the camera is linked to your base station.  Your base station is linked to your network.  You can view them on your Roku devices/RokuTVs that are linked to your account while on that network. (ie. viewing cams on your TV via Roku while on network).

Any remote viewing of camera activity is done via the Smart Home mobile app.

[Johnny9]

I am using the Smart Home Mobile app but still cannot view my camera when away from home for some reason. Anyone have any suggestions?

[AvsGunnar]

@Johnny9 

There have been a couple of firmware updates to the Smart Home cameras recently.  I would start by first removing the Smart Home app from my phone.  Then restart/reboot the phone and reinstall the Smart Home app to my phone.

Then try to connect to the cameras.  If successful, run the firmware updates to the outdoor cam from the Settings.

Settings/Device info/Firmware version

You can also try updating the firmware from the Home page of the Smart Home app, but I sometimes run into some issues there (may take a while to load while checking and verifying versions).  From the Home page, go to Account/Firmware Update

[Johnny9]

I made sure firmware updates are current for both the camera and the basestation. Firmware was updated from the settings menu. I uninstalled the Smart Home app from my phone, powered the phone off and then powered it back up. Reinstalled the Smart Home app. I can see the camera fine when on my local network but still cannot see it when away from home. I have checked every setting in the app and do not see anything that looks out of place. The only thing left that I can think of to do is delete the camera and the basestation from the Smart Home app and reinstall them from scratch? I have a Ring Doorbell and can access it away from home just fine so I don't think there is a problem with phone settings.

[AvsGunnar]

@Johnny9 

That would be my next step. (Deleting the devices and setting them up again).

In order to test if working, simply switch your phone to use your data (rather than connected to your wifi) in order to test if able to view remotely.

As you said, if your Doorbell is working correctly, would assume the cams should also work properly with your phone settings.

I am using an Android for mine and I run into intermittent connection issues and app snafus/errors, but usually just reinstalling the app will fix most issues for me.

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And just to cover all bases, I have to assume you are using the same account for all your Smart Home devices.  (same email).  No chance the doorbell is on another account requiring a seperate login.

[Johnny9]

Well I have deleted both the base station and camera and went through the setup process again. I can still access the camera from my local network but still cannot access it away from home. All Smart Home devices use the same Roku account credentials. I am using an Android phone. During testing I turn WiFi off and turn data on the Android device and get no video. Testing has been done with the base station connected via ethernet as well as WiFi. I have also tested with the camera, base station and router in the same room as well as tested with the camera outside in its desired location away from the base station and router by about 50 feet. I have uninstalled the Smart Home Mobile app, rebooted the Android device then reinstalled the app several times. As the app goes through the steps to connect the camera through the internet this is what I see:   "(1/3) connecting camera by secure channel" passes fine. "(2/3) authenticating" also passes fine but when it gets to "(3/3) getting video data" it fails. After it goes through 3 tries to connect I get the message:   "connection failed, please try" 1) force close app and retry,   2) power cycle camera.  Of course I have tried both of those suggestions with no luck. Today I bought the Roku 360 indoor camera. It works fine connecting through my local network as well as away from home through the internet. I am at my wits end with the outdoor camera and do not know anything else to try!

[AvsGunnar]

@Johnny9 

I think you have tried everything reasonably expected from an end-user in your troubleshooting.

@RokuDanny-R will likely need to bump you up to Roku Support so they can look into your specific issue.  Your OC for some reason is definitely not operating properly (as evidenced by the 360 and the Doorbell working fine with app remotely). 

Of mine, the OC does seem to take a little longer than the other inside cams to load in the app but almost always loads. (When it doesn't, I usually just have to close the app and restart it).  

Now that @RokuDanny-R is tagged, hopefully he will be able to get you sorted out.

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Feel free to post an update when this gets resolved.  Would be nice to see if anything short of a camera replacement under warranty resolves the issue.

[Johnny9]

I certainly appreciate all your help AvsGunnar!  I really like the Roku Smart Home line of products. Hopefully .@RokuDanny-R will be able to resolve this issue. Thanks again for your help.

[RokuDanny-R]

@Johnny9

Thanks for the posts.

I have passed along your information to our Support team. They will follow up and assist you.

Thanks,
Danny