Customer Ratings & Reviews

Couldnt get inside camera to link up to the system thru the wifi

Received my Simplisafe system and was impressed right off the bat by how wonderfully everything inside was packaged. Separate boxes for each thing, great, easy to follow instruction manual and using the downloaded app it's a breeze to install. Comes complete with a nicely designed base station which you can leave lit with a band around the bottom or it still works with the light off. There is also a battery operated outdoor camera, 3 entry detectors, a super looking keypad, motion detector and a real nice black indoor camera. The system has cellular (a Verizon sim card is installed - saw the outer card inside box) and works on wifi. It took me about an hour to set everything up, including the outside camera which is now facing my backyard. I must say the yard images, especially at night, are awesome. Crystal clear. I also like the fact I can be in the house or wherever and using my phone app I can speak right through the camera speaker and it comes across very understandable and plain. Works great when a family member is outside cooking on the grill...no more running to the back door to find out when food will be done...all I have to do is stay in the kitchen and ask through the Simplisafe app. The outside camera has a wide angle view and a motion sensor on it. Battery life has been exceptional considering. Been using a week and the battery is still at near full charge. You can check it on the app as well. One thing I will note is that once in awhile the signal will drop from that particular camera and it goes offline but not sure why as it's right outside the back door of the room my router is in. The inside camera is in the same room and I never get a dropped signal on that one. At any rate the camera is also easily removed for a battery charge when needed as it's mounted magnetically. The keypad has an AWAY, HOME or OFF feature and I have it inside by my garage entry door. Mounted easily and is staying well attached with the tape on the backside of holder. Same with all my door sensors. They mounted perfectly and are staying well affixed. Simplisafe does give you a bag of extra tape just in case though, which is really thoughtful of them. You can purchase a number of accessory items such as a take along key fob (which I plan on buying), water and smoke detectors, glass break sensors, doorbells, locks, etc. Since I already have an older wired brand system installed with police monitoring inside my home I am basically using this as a backup system at present time so no need to do a monthly plan. However the Simplisafe plan is super reasonable compared to what I pay per month now so I can see in the near future deciding to abandon my current paid plan, save some money and go with Simplisafe. For someone needing a good, high quality security system I can definitely recommend this setup. In my opinion, especially considering what I (and no doubt many others) now pay monthly to other security companies, it's a superb value and I rate at a 5+ stars!

The simplisafe home security system is very easy to install. When opening the box there was a packet with instructions. I jumped the gun and downloaded the iphone app and started installing the system using the iphone app. This worked pretty well. It was very easy to install this way. I added the base station, motion sensor and window/door sensors without any trouble. This kit has 2 camera's. One indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor camera has a battery that needs to be charged before using, so I did have a delay with installing the outdoor camera. My indoor camera makes an audible click when I turn it on from the app, I don't know why it does this, but it does. From the time I press the watch live button on my iphone to the time I see a live feed is often less than 5 seconds. When I first got it, it may have taken 10 or more seconds, but there was a firmware update and it seems faster now. The outdoor camera always shows as offline when I open the app, but it generally shows me a live feed now within 10 seconds or so. When I first got it, it was taking a few minutes to show a live feed. When opening the app, it generally takes less than 10 seconds to open the app. Sometimes less than 5. The controller is designed to be installed near your front door. The mount can be double stick taped to the wall, or screwed to the wall. The controller then slides up and out of the mount. From the app, you can select overview, cameras, or timeline at the bottom of the screen. From the overview, it offers free monitoring for the next month and doesn't seem to go away. At the top, it has off, home or away. The timeline shows any camera motion detected from the outdoor camera and a test signal received at least once a day. From the app you can access settings, manage monitoring, set up a camera, get help & support, shop sensors, get free monitoring and sign out. This system doesn't track my iphone and ask me if I would like to turn the alarm on when I leave like my other security system did. With this system you can give them your contact information and if you pay for monitoring, they will provide 24/7 emergency response to your alarms. You can get alarm & security alerts for friends & family, record & save video evidence on up to 10 cameras, faster emergency dispatch with video evidence. I do have to say that this system was very easy to install. The hardest part was finding a place to install the base and finding a place to put the camera that required an AC outlet. Everything else was very easy.

HAVEN'T INSTALLED IT YET SO I CAN ONLY GIVE IT A MIDDLE STAR RATING

Great value when purchased onsale. App and keypad glitches.

If you need a home security system you've come to a place.

Overall, the system and its peripherals were pretty easy to set up. They were mostly ready to go out of the box, with only the camera battery needing charging. It was an excessive amount of packaging though. They went for an “unboxing” experience. Video on the two cameras is clear, but the software to start them up is extremely slow. It has to wake up the camera, activate the live view, and then finally display it through the app. By the time you get it loaded, whatever triggered the motion alert will be gone. The interior camera requires a usb power cable and does not come with a wall brick, which is baffling. It has to be mounted on a stand and can’t be mounted to a wall. The alarm software has three modes: off, home, and away. It needs another setting or the option to add additional modes such as night mode. I would like to see more flexibility in arming different aspects of the system.

Lets start with the good bits. The installation for every single item in here is seamless. Download the SimpliSafe app and simply follow the instructions. 1st up is the base station, you will need a WiFi connection and a SimpliSafe account to start. It takes about 2-3 minutes to do its routine and get set up. After that, you can setup each device 1 by 1, every item takes about a couple of minutes again, but there is no hassle at all. If you wish to setup cameras then that is done after all the other devices are setup. I setup the keypad, the 3 sensors and the motion sensor, and all of it took about 10 minutes. The camera setup is pretty easy as well, but post setup is where the disappointment starts. There is absolutely no recording with the cameras without you paying for a subscription. Not even when your camera detects motion, there is no recording of what it saw. All you get is a notification on your app. If you see the notification 30 mins late, you are out of luck. All you see is live view. If you do not setup a plan, you keep getting notified about it every time you open the app. Without the plan, you still get to set the home and away modes, so that the alarm will open if the doors open, and within the allotted time the pin is not entered on the keypad. There will be no call out to the emergency services though. Here's the kicker, there is no consistency in what plan is shown on the mobile app and on their website. You might see 2 plans on the website, but then you see some different plans on the app. Its just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, when pricing and the features are not clearly laid out and transparent. And there needs to be consistency irrespective of the platform. I did get 30 day free trial to begin with, so I caved in after a week and started the trial for the highest plan - 24/7 monitoring with visual confirmation and unlimited recording. I have no issues with any of the hardware, their UX or the experience. But given that almost all other companies out there provide limited recording for free, SimpliSafe really need to consider where they stand on this, or they will get left behind. And also the pricing and features need to be clean and transparent.

I abandoned my ADT Security system a little while ago and was searching around for something to replace it, more of an all in one system. I looked at Ring security systems but needed an expert in the field similar to ADT. Bring in Simplisafe, much like ADT, they have window and door sensors you can install easily yourself (ADT has to bring a technician out for this at an additional cost) and the system is somewhat easy to set up and configure to your residence. The app to configure is friendly and lets you set the system up the way you want to unlike ADT where they force you to sign up for various money grab options. Of course there are additional fees if you want a higher tier configuration however, in all this is not a bad system and I would recommend it. However, I notched it down a star due to the fact the price tag for the system does not calculate to what you get in the box, I feel this should be priced lower at more like $150-199 than $349 for all that you get.

This SimpliSafe Security Bundle is an easy to install system with a variety of features. The subscription monitoring service is affordable and the best part is that no contracts are involved. Sensors can be mounted, removed, or replaced without damage to the walls and there's even the ability to permanently screw in some accessories. This bundle comes with an adequate amount of sensors to cover entry points, however, I did wish a few more were included to help with windows. Nevertheless, there's always the option to add more additional sensors. The downfall of this product could be that sometimes the mobile phone notifications can be slow to send or the live feed of the camera can take some time to retrieve. Yet, the camera quality is great, and the keypad keeps great track of knocking when a sensor is open. Overall, this is really great product for general security needs.

Who can use the SimpliSafe Home Security System with Outdoor Camera? This is interesting to my wife and me in that we want to keep our home safe, not only when we are home but when we are away, which we plan to be often in the upcoming months as we have our first recreational vehicle (which happens to be a conversion cargo van). In our research on what security system we chose, we wanted to make sure we have one on our van. We follow several Van Life couples on YouTube and most of the ones we follow use SimpliSafe! With that in mind, it was one of the first ones we investigated. And to answer the question of “Who can use the SimpliSafe Home Security System with Outdoor Camera” turns out people who live in houses, apartments, and condos can use the SimpliSafe Home Security as well as those whose homes are on wheels! *Note: My wife specifically requested 2 outside cameras that she could access at will when she felt unsafe or curious about outside noise. SimpliSafe, while it comes with only one camera in the kit, it allows for additional cameras to be added. More on that below. Why do you need a home security system? The larger the community the larger the crime within the community or at least that is what it used to be like. My wife tells of growing up in the country and never having the house locked at night, nor churches or schools. That doesn’t happen today. In fact, I suspect that country people tend to have more security systems on their property. It is an instinct to want to protect your family and your property from harm or theft. During the 2020-2021 pandemic we have seen crime rise across the country. SimpliSafe Home Security Systems help to relieve the stress caused by this rise in crime. Can you check on your home (or RV) when you are away? Now for my wife, she wanted a system that would record incidents as well as ones that she could check on our house when we are traveling in our conversion van. SimpliSafe only allows this with a subscription to their cloud server. Some will think of this as excess, but there are two levels of subscription. One subscription level, and the one we will get, is a ‘SELF MONITORING’ security which allows you to (1) Call Police, Fire, Medical (2) cameral recording (3) Flood, and Extreme Heat monitoring for as little as $10 a month. The second level of monitoring, which is just a little more than the self-monitoring costs, is the ‘INTERACTIVE MONITORING’ where an actual person is monitoring your system and alerted for changes. This is an extra level of security. Perhaps you are unable able to call for assistance. The professional monitoring your system will make that call for you. This is a feature that many will find worth every penny. Consider your elderly parents or grandparents who are living alone this past year. To have the confidence that they are being watched over when you can’t be there to check on them. What do you get in the SimpliSafe Home Security System? Inside camera, door, room, and window motion detector Outdoor camera Base station with loudspeaker and remote control. The system is blue tooth capable and accessible via a phone app. Setup and Installation Setup and installation are straightforward. Using the SimpliSafe app on your smartphone, you follow the guided setup to set up the device(s) you want to have active on your system. It is literally following the steps and setting things up. The system we have comes with a 30-day trial of the interactive monitoring system mentioned above – which of course means you have to provide a credit card number so they can bill you at the end of the period. Once configured you get emailed some resources to aid you with using the system and avoiding false alarms – including 72 hours of being in Practice mode – which does not automatically send authorities during this time as you get used to the system. How does the outdoor camera work on an RV or Van? The outdoor camera is a two-piece. One piece of the camera is a base that is permanently attached. The camera itself attaches to the camera base via a very strong magnet. I wouldn’t recommend driving with the camera outside, though it might be fine. It is better to take it off when your home is moving, especially at highway speeds. Would you recommend getting the SimpliSafe system? Absolutely! If you are like many people who are spending more time away from home in their recreational vehicle, then you might want to get two systems, one for your home and one for your recreational vehicle. If you are a permanent van life RV life person whose home, like a turtle, is on 4 wheels and moves frequently, then you may want to get just one system and add more cameras. You will need to access your personal needs, but SimpliSafe is a great tool to protect your family and home!

I've been testing the simplisafe home security system (with indoor and outdoor camera) for a little over a week and overall, I have mixed feelings about it.  -Pros All the components are aesthetically pleasing and don't stand out. Setup was very easy. All I had to do was download the app, create an account and the app walked me through the rest of the setup process. All the instructions were clear and virtually fool proof. During set up, all the sensors immediately connected to the base station and subsequently maintained a solid connection. Also, anytime one of the sensors was triggered, the base station immediately responded with an audible tone. After setting up the sensors I set up the cameras. Again, it was a simple process and the cameras maintained a good connection. - Cons If you don't subscribe to the optional monitoring service, the cameras only show live video and do not record, provide alerts, or do anything of value. Also, without a subscription, there is no smart home integration. With all that being said, I feel that the simplisafe security system is a good DIY security system. However, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that does not want to subscribe to monitoring. 

This is the ultimate DIY security system. Very easy to set up! Everything comes in individually boxes. The base station is practically plug and play. The camera mounting is literally two screws. The video quality is good. Could be better but it works for my purposes.

This SimpliSafe Home Security kit is an incredibly simple and effective way to make your home more secure. The included bits will give most people enough to start, including window detectors, a motion detector, two cameras, keypad, and base station. This really is a great solution for anyone that feels they need to add an additional layer of security to their home, though to unlock the true benefits, you'll unfortunately need to subscribe to one of SimpliSafe's monthly plans. Setup was relatively straightforward, with the entire process being orchestrated by the mandatory smartphone app. The app overall works pretty well and gives you all the available customizations, but I did have an initial issue getting the base and keypad connected. Once I got past that issue, though, I had no issues hooking up the window and motion sensors, nor any issues getting the cameras online. Speaking of the cameras, there are two in this bundle; a wired indoor cam and a wireless, enhanced outdoor camera. To start with the indoor cam, it's merely OK. It has motion detection and night vision, both of which work well, but its video resolution is only 720p, which is low for cameras these days. One positive here is the privacy shutter that's active until you engage the camera, or it detects motion and needs to start recording. This gives the additional feeling of privacy, knowing you're not being recorded/watched when you don't intend to be. Overall, this is a good enough camera, but a higher resolution would be a big plus, and also note that this camera CANNOT be used outdoors. This is where the wireless outdoor camera comes into play. Not only does it have an upgraded 1080p sensor (which honestly is still a bit weak given the competition these days), it's weather resistant and can be mounted outside (though, it should be noted with a least some shelter). This camera can be run wired or wireless, where you should get at least 3 months of battery life. This is pretty solid and should be adequate in most cases that necessitate running a wireless camera. If you're looking to utilize said cameras to their fullest extent, you're going to need to pay a monthly fee to subscribe to SimpliSafe services. This concept is far from unique to SimpliSafe, but it's definitely an added expense that adds up over time, especially for those not expecting to need a plan up front. From what I could tell, the cheapest entry is the 9.99 per month plan. Again, this is fairly in line with the industry, but definitely needs to be considered (and likely should be considered essential) when thinking about getting a SimpliSafe product. Beyond the pricing of the SimpliSafe plans, there are three main issues I see with this kit, and the SimpliSafe offering as a whole. One, there is no local storage video recording option available; recordings are all stored remotely on their cloud service and accessed via their app. This puts you at the mercy of a third party having access to your video content, which some won't care about, but which will be a deal breaker for others. Two, the cameras operate on the 2.4ghz Wifi band, which is a negative to me. The 2.4ghz band theoretically provides better range, but it typically cluttered by many other devices/networks and tends to be the worse option over 5ghz for me. Third, there's no option to integrate with Google Home (or Alexa for the Amazon users). While this feature would make the system technically less secure, it'd add a litany of benefits for anyone that uses Google Home to orchestrate their smart home. The kit isn't perfect, but it does many things well, like ease of use, ease of setup, and including a range of sensors to help people build out their safer home. Overall, I'd recommend this as a solid option for anyone looking to add a security layer to their house.

I really like the simply Safe alarm system! The setup was extremely easy, just make sure you hold each sensor against the wall for more than 30 seconds. If you don't put pressure on the sensors, and hold them for at least 30 seconds, they tend to fall off during the night. After set up I had to try out everything to see how it works, and so far so good! The sliding door sensor and the front door sensor are pretty accurate, and the window sensors work perfectly! What I don't like is the app, and how long it takes to open up and engage. If I have someone coming by the house, and they forget the code, and I try to log in and shut off the alarm before it goes off, the app usually takes too long to load. Other than that, I plan on getting the simply save doorbell to add to this. The price may be a little high, but I really think it's worth it.

Good system, decent app, quick self setup. This is the second time I've used this product.

Great security system . Beautiful display , easy set up and affordable price

I set up this entire system including outdoor camera in less than an hour! The monthly fees are super affordable for monitoring and the peace of mind is so worth it. All of the extra features you can add to this as well make it an excellent choice for home security and video monitoring.

good product, easy to install, operate, staff on phone and in store were very helpful.

this was the best buy and it was easy to hook u and connect.I would recommend