Does Simplisafe Camera Require Wifi

simplisafe-300x250usjc — Chris Monroe/CNET

Nov 2021

SimpliSafe Home Security has quite a track record. It won a CNET Editors' Choice Award dorsum in 2014 afterwards exploding onto the still-burgeoning DIY home security scene. Then in 2018, when the third-gen system launched, information technology impressed us over again -- and it's remained one of our top DIY home security picks always since (only Amazon's Ring Alarm Pro system has bested its score).

SimpliSafe's packages start at $229, technically speaking, just you tin can almost e'er find them at steep discounts on the company'south site. At the time of today's update to this review, for instance, the basic package only costs $196 and the most generous i (which includes 13 sensors and accessories alongside the base of operations station) costs $404. I'll practise a more thorough breakdown of the prices compared with competitors afterwards in the review, just suffice information technology to say, it's a solid deal.

The arrangement is but equally capable every bit earlier, likewise. Information technology works reliably, the devices on offering cover everything you'd need (including an outdoor camera, released in the second half of 2021) and you can bag 24/7 professional monitoring alongside your local alarm for $18 per month.

In short, SimpliSafe is notwithstanding fantastic -- even if it's non quite as dominant as it once was.

Like

Easy to install and operate
Great customizability

Don't Like

Limited smart home integrations

Getting started

We've tested SimpliSafe a number of times, but our latest examination, in August and September of 2021, was of a package that totaled virtually $827 -- or $630 if I opted for a complimentary two-week trial of the 24/7 professional monitoring service. Yes, the company really incentivizes signing up for a monthly subscription.

Part of SimpliSafe Abode Security's appeal is that you tin can also build your ain custom system with the specific sensors that make sense for your living space. To practise and so, you lot'll showtime with the mandatory base station and keypad, which together cost $185, so add together additional devices a la card. Hither's the total menu:

The $169 video doorbell is purchased separately from your security package, oddly enough -- which brought my total, with the promotion, to $630.
Screenshot past David Priest/CNET

Burglary sensors

Entry sensor: $fifteen
Motion sensor: $thirty
Wireless Outdoor Camera: $170
SimpliCam: $99
SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro: $169
Glass suspension sensor: $35
Panic button: $20
Smart door lock: $99

Hazard sensors

Smoke detector: $30
Carbon monoxide sensor: $50
Freeze detector: $xxx
Leak detector: $20

Add-ons

Keypad: $70
Key play a joke on: $25
Siren: $60
G sign: $4

I used three entry sensors, one motion sensor, 1 of each camera, along with a glass interruption sensor, leak detector, freeze detector, panic button and cardinal play a joke on. The single biggest factor in my total price was the three cameras -- without them, my full with a subscription would've concluded up at $272 (more than on the cameras later).

When it comes to the sensors, SimpliSafe's pricing is nicely positioned: information technology'southward not as inexpensive as Wyze'southward Monitoring system, where move and leak sensors are both $ten a piece, and entry sensors are $25 for 3. But it'south consistently cheaper than, say, Abode'south comparable devices (Dwelling house's entry sensors, for example, are $38 each).

Even though SimpliSafe'south devices toll a bit more than Wyze's industry low, they feel much more solid, and they look amend, too. In my time with SimpliSafe, all the sensors performed every bit expected.

Once your system arrives, it's up to you to install it yourself. SimpliSafe made this really, really easy. Each sensor comes with a preapplied sticky tab on its detachable backs. Only peel and stick -- no wiring necessary. If you need to motion something, the sensors detach from their backings, exposing the sticky tabs for piece of cake removal that won't impairment your walls. The only affair you'll need to plug in is the base station.

That said, SimpliSafe does offering professional setup help for $79 if yous need it, simply also notes that 97% of its customers set their systems upwards themselves.

With your sensors in place, you lot'll put the keypad into pairing mode, and so pair everything up by pressing a push on each sensor, then giving it a proper name on the keypad. From at that place, yous can brand any final tweaks to the system settings by logging in to SimpliSafe's web portal, or past using the SimpliSafe app. The whole process took me less than an hour; information technology's not quite as simple as with Dwelling (where all the devices came already paired), only it'southward about as painless as self-installs can get.

The other big question you'll ask yourself once the hardware is installed is, which subscription tier do you want to utilize? You tin can self-monitor SimpliSafe Home Security for free, but professional monitoring starts at $18 (upwardly $three since the beginning of February 2022). That price isn't bad, but it's neither as cheap equally Wyze ($v per month) nor as smart as Band ($20 per month). For many, it provides a happy medium, though the college tier subscription, which introduces more smart home integration and SMS alerts, costs $28 per month. Once again, that toll isn't bad, but it'south inching upward in an incredibly tight market.

The SimpliSafe base of operations station quarterbacks all of your sensors and houses a siren as well as Wi-Fi and cellular connections to the company's monitoring service.

Chris Monroe/CNET

How information technology works

The SimpliSafe Dwelling house Security arrangement'south sensors keep in constant contact with the base station, which relays everything to your telephone (or, in an emergency, to authorities) via Wi-Fi. The base station too includes a 24-hour battery backup and a fee-free cellular connection to the company's monitoring service -- if the power or the Wi-Fi always goes out, it'll withal be able to call for aid. This jail cell fill-in is one of SimpliSafe's standout features, and it'south one of the big ways the service differentiates itself from more affordable alternatives like Wyze and Ring Alarm, which don't offer that actress prophylactic measure (although the more recent and more expensive Band Warning Pro does).

SimpliSafe's approach also separates the almost sensitive system components from the keypad, the part that beeps and asks for a Pivot if the alarm is always tripped. In many cases, that beeping keypad is probably the first affair that an intruder would try to nail in order to close down the system, only doing then wouldn't make a departure.

You tin can arm and disarm the system using the keychain fob accessory.

Chris Monroe/CNET

The arrangement offers three modes during use: Off, which is pretty self-explanatory; Abroad, which artillery the sensors; and Home, which leaves some sensors on just disarms things like motion detectors and then you tin can movement around within without setting anything off. By default, SimpliSafe gives you 30 seconds to disarm the organization upon entry (you can customize that length of time in the app).

To disarm the system, press the off push button on the central fob or in the app, or enter your lawmaking using the keypad. Y'all can assign specific codes to specific users or guests, and you tin can as well ready a duress lawmaking for situations where someone is forcing y'all to disarm the system against your will. Punch information technology into the keypad, and information technology volition appear as if the warning is canceled and the system disarmed, merely SimpliSafe will still send in the regime.

If you're paying $28 a month for the full system controls, you'll be able to arm and disarm the system from the SimpliSafe app, or arm it on your mode out the door with a quick voice command to Alexa or Google.

If the alert is e'er tripped, your phone will ring and a SimpliSafe representative will ask if everything's OK. They'll also enquire for your rubber give-and-take -- a hugger-mugger password of your selection that acts like an extra vocal Pin for the organization. Fail to give information technology, and they'll still ship the regime, no thing what else yous say. Similar the duress lawmaking, information technology's a nice, actress layer of protection.

SimpliSafe also lets you specify which sensors volition trigger an entry delay and which ones will trigger an instant alarm. You lot'll probably want a chance to disarm the system if you trip a contact sensor or a motion detector, for instance, while a drinking glass break sensor alarm might merit an instant alarm with no filibuster (again, y'all tin personalize this, in case y'all're prone to dropping plates or have kids effectually the house).

Yous can also gear up secret alerts that can ship yous a SMS, e-mail or app notification without tripping the warning at all. Hide a contact sensor on the inside of your liquor chiffonier, for instance, and yous'll become an alarm if your teenager ever tries to sneak a sip.

Our examination canis familiaris Dolly wasn't able to set up off the SimpliSafe motility detector. It does a bully task of distinguishing between people and pets.

Chris Monroe/CNET

You're on, cameras!

SimpliSafe's system has been among our favorite dwelling house security systems for a number of years -- but that doesn't hateful it doesn't have room to abound. Certain, the sensors -- those crucial $.25 of connective tissue for whatsoever skillful habitation security arrangement -- offering solid value for the price, but the cameras aren't quite as unmitigated a success.

These days $99 indoor cameras and $169 video doorbells are adequately standard devices, even when yous're buying them stand-alone from top brands like Google Nest, Amazon Band or Arlo -- and SimpliSafe's options simply don't stand upward to those elevation devices.

The video doorbell offers all the basics you'd wait, like ii-way talk, motion alerts, night vision, live feed monitoring and storage (with camera plans starting at $x per month). Only its wide-bending lens means you don't go a groovy view of your actual doorstep, where packages are commonly left. What's more, the doorbell can't be ready wirelessly -- which is a real bummer, since many customers looking for DIY home security kits won't have doorbell wiring, or won't be allowed past their landlord to fiddle with it.

simplisafe-cam — SimpliSafe'due south new outdoor camera is a solid add-on to its security lineup.
Chris Monroe/CNET

The indoor camera, which again comes with all the nuts, like a 120-degree field of view, move detection and dark vision, is a piffling more impressive. It includes a privacy shutter, like Arlo's indoor camera, and person alerts using heat sensing.

The outdoor photographic camera is the latest improver to SimpliSafe's lineup, and it'due south the most impressive of the cameras. Information technology costs $170, simply you'll get a lot out of it: alive monitoring, two-way talk, 8x digital zoom, dark vision and a built-in siren. The outdoor camera was a breeze to install and use, and I loved that it came with a built-in spotlight. The i disappointment there was that I couldn't manually control the light, setting times for information technology to turn on or off, or simply switching it on when I wanted.

For $170, though, the outdoor light is a solid deal.

System functioning

SimpliSafe's approach to DIY security is appealing, but information technology'southward all for nothing if the sensors don't work reliably well. Dorsum in 2018, we put the sensors through a weeklong battery of tests, and the results were solid.

The open/closed contact sensors were the most reliable, triggering the alarm each and every time they were supposed to. The movement detector performed well, as well. It was able to distinguish between people and small pets just fine, and information technology caught our reviewer walking through the room about 95 percent of the time. The other 5%: a test where something seemed to hiccup and information technology was a few minutes before any move was sensed. That wasn't a keen result, only it was the just true misfire across several days of testing.

The leak detector was another standout, firing off an alert as shortly as it entered water in each of my tests. The one drawback to that level of sensitivity -- it likewise went off at ane point when someone picked information technology up and moved it. That's not a huge deal though, especially for something you're going to toss under your sink and forget about.

Next upwards, the freeze detector. By default, it will ship an alarm if it ever senses ambient temperatures below 41 F or above 95 F, just you can set those thresholds to whatever points yous similar. It worked equally expected over the long run, but it only takes readings and sends them to the base of operations station once per hr. That'southward a impact more sluggish than yous'd like for especially sensitive temperature monitoring, merely for nigh people, information technology'll do the chore you need it to do.

The terminal barrage of tests was aimed at the glass break sensor. Like the name suggests, information technology'll sound the alert if it ever hears a window suspension -- and SimpliSafe claims that its calibrations are precise enough to distinguish betwixt a broken window and a broken plate. Translation: It was time to interruption some stuff!

Nosotros started by trying to trick the sensor into sounding a fake alarm. We tried dropping a light seedling, loudly clinking glassware together, playing glass-breaking sound effects at full volume and even tossing keys confronting the wall, as 1 follower suggested on Twitter. Nothing worked -- the drinking glass-break sensor wasn't fooled.

2nd drinking glass suspension sensor exam, this time with a small pane of glass pilfered from a motion-picture show frame. Did Non trigger the alarm. Might take been muffled by the towel? Hmmm. pic.twitter.com/HYYrNLTrgU
— Ry Crist (@rycrist) March 22, 2018

That all made for a promising start, simply then we tried breaking a small pane of actual glass. (We stole information technology from a picture frame -- apologies to the CNET Smart Abode staging crew!) To our surprise, that didn't set the glass break sensor off, either. Maybe it idea it was a plate?

The team at SimpliSafe suggested we attempt dialing the sensitivity up -- turns out there's a slide switch on the back of the sensor with three settings. We fix information technology to "high" and tried again, this time with an actual window purchased at a junk store. That did the trick -- across multiple tests, the drinking glass break sensor caught us smashing the window each and every time.

In the end, we'd call that a successful result, but we'd definitely recommend starting with your drinking glass break sensor set to "high" and dialing down from there every bit needed. As for u.s., the glass break sensor might exist one that we'd be comfortable skipping.

Smart security, yes; smart domicile platform, no

Something else worth thinking about as you lot're shopping for a home security system is whether you're interested in something that volition tie in with a larger home automation platform. If so, SimpliSafe might non be your best pick.

Certain, the SimpliSafe system works with Alexa and Google Banana, and information technology offers an integration with Nest that'll allow you monitor your thermostat from the SimpliSafe app and tether its dwelling and abroad modes to whether or not your system is armed. That's skillful enough for virtually, but if you lot desire to add things like smart bulbs and smart switches to your setup, y'all'll have to control them separately from your security system. As mentioned already, yous're also stuck with SimpliSafe's cameras -- and there areplenty of cameras that we like amend.

Meanwhile, the SimpliSafe Smart Lock is a decent and relatively inexpensive addition to the arrangement, merely it's a bit more limited in features than some stand up-alone smart lock competitors.

The area of smart home integration feels particularly underdeveloped since Amazon shook up the smart abode security industry in belatedly 2021 with its best-in-class Ring Alert Pro -- which not only offered security measures to rival SimpliSafe'southward, merely also plenty of surprising and genuinely useful integrations with things similar cameras, lights, video doorbells, Alexa and Wi-Fi half dozen.

The old SimpliSafe system in its bad-mannered teenage years.
SimpliSafe

Other concerns

With an old-school, wired security system, you lot'd have to live with the worry that someone could deactivate your system past cutting a wire. Wireless systems like SimpliSafe eliminate that issue -- but what if someone manages to block the system's wireless transmissions? Wouldn't that take the same effect? Equally commenter Joe Duarte points out, security researchers have no shortage of questions like those virtually SimpliSafe and other systems similar it.

We looked into jamming back in 2015, and tested SimpliSafe's protections against information technology. The company says that it uses a proprietary antijamming algorithm to detect if a sophisticated thief is trying to mess with your system. If information technology does, SimpliSafe will immediately notify you about it. That's what happened when we tested it out. With the right equipment, we were able to block a transmission to the base station, but not without SimpliSafe sending us an alert informing us of the jam.

Bottom line: Jamming attacks like those are absolutely possible, but also exceedingly rare and difficult to pull off. A SimpliSafe representative claims that, to date, the visitor has no record of whatever client e'er being jammed. Even so, if a would-be thief were to attempt it, they'd come up against a functional layer of defense. That's more than enough for me -- just brand sure to pay attention to whatever interference alerts, and don't just dismiss them.

Every bit for other concerns like replay attacks where a hacker would endeavor to intercept your keypad's code, SimpliSafe says that all arrangement transmissions are encrypted, and also points out that its hardware allows for over-the-air firmware updates, making information technology much easier for the company to respond to evolving threats and vulnerabilities in existent time.

SimpliSafe Home Security: Final thoughts

SimpliSafe's approach combines practise-it-yourself appeal with live monitored peace of mind. The SimpliSafe system offers excellent value relative to the competition, information technology'due south remarkably easy to ready up and use, and information technology doesn't feel (or expect) like a compromise pick. In fact, its layers of protection are nearly as comprehensive as DIY security gets. We'd like to meet more smart home integration every bit SimpliSafe continues to develop, but the company is besides growing in other means -- introducing an outdoor photographic camera, for case, and partnering with RapidSOS to meliorate 911 response times.

We've seen new competition sally from names similar Ring, Wyze, Abode, Vivint and ADT. Shopping around is e'er wise, merely for most folks interested in straightforward home security, we experience confident saying that SimpliSafe is amidst the best options on the market.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/security/simplisafe-home-security-review/

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Does Simplisafe Camera Require Wifi