@cmassey84 Hello and Thanks for the writing.. I do agree that it would be a good idea to have something in place to inform and address the client base and a Mailing list of Email or even a Webpage that one could visit even with System offline and we are working on a repair or something with an idea of time for completion would be great and I hope they at some point make that happen...
I wonder if maybe something like that isn't in play because it might lead to deeper confusion in the event that someone didn't update the page or has a Online message when Really it is offline and others are trying to reset their cameras to get it back on to find out now they are even worse off then when it would stay on with their NVR or DVR or BI but now it is offline and no longer able to get back until after Server is restored...
While I don't Endorse the idea that No info is better then Wrong info that might be why there is no info?
Now to go do a Reset on my Doorbell lol
Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Hi James,
Those are valid concerns, but I'm of the belief that an informed customer is better than a confused/frustrated customer (I used to be an IT help desk technician back in the early days of my career).
I too am hopeful that Amcrest is working on a notification system. As for the concern that a "false alert" email may inadvertently be dispatched, or their cloud health "dashboard" website/app may show the wrong status, the onus is on Amcrest to provide timely accurate information to their customers. It's something they're going to have to manage through IT governance. Other companies do it. As an example off the top-of-my-head, Samsung sends me email notifications whenever there's a cloud outage or upcoming firmware update that may impact the availability of my SmartThings hub. I've owned their hub for about 5 years now and have yet to receive a false alert.
And to your point about customers resetting their cameras unnecessarily due to a false alert, well, I've done that because I wasn't sure if there was a temporary weekend cloud outage or if the problem was on my side (Amcrest Smart Home account, non-responsive device firmware, poor WiFi signal strength, DHCP conflict, etc.) I first check to see if my NVR is still connected to the doorbell camera and if so, I leave it alone and assume the cloud will be back up in a few days. But that's not always a sure fire method. This most recent outage from a couple days ago proved that. My NVR lost its connection to the doorbell camera and the SmartHome app showed the device as "offline", so I assumed it was a problem on my side. So, I proceeded to delete the device from my app, perform a factory reset on the doorbell camera, then re-add it. Its voice prompts confirmed that it was connected to WiFi, but then when I attempted the final step, adding it to my Amcrest account, it timed out with an unspecified error. That's when I knew there was likely a cloud outage and I would have to try again in a few days. During this time, the doorbell camera announced (at full volume) that it was "connected to wifi" every 15-30 minutes in non-stop loop, grabbing the attention of the neighbors walking by. As a temporary measure, I've found that placing a piece of electrical tape over the speaker greatly reduces the volume. The other workaround is to perform another factory reset, where the ring will flash blue non-stop, but at least it won't keep talking like a broken record, haha.
Anyway, I'm hopeful Amcrest will figure out a solution soon.
Time to leave work and enjoy my evening.
PS: I was able to successfully add back my doorbell camera last evening with zero problems. My doorbell camera is still accessible from the Smart Home app, so I assume the cloud is back online and everyone else should be able to add their cameras back too.
Thanks,
Chris
Those are valid concerns, but I'm of the belief that an informed customer is better than a confused/frustrated customer (I used to be an IT help desk technician back in the early days of my career).
I too am hopeful that Amcrest is working on a notification system. As for the concern that a "false alert" email may inadvertently be dispatched, or their cloud health "dashboard" website/app may show the wrong status, the onus is on Amcrest to provide timely accurate information to their customers. It's something they're going to have to manage through IT governance. Other companies do it. As an example off the top-of-my-head, Samsung sends me email notifications whenever there's a cloud outage or upcoming firmware update that may impact the availability of my SmartThings hub. I've owned their hub for about 5 years now and have yet to receive a false alert.
And to your point about customers resetting their cameras unnecessarily due to a false alert, well, I've done that because I wasn't sure if there was a temporary weekend cloud outage or if the problem was on my side (Amcrest Smart Home account, non-responsive device firmware, poor WiFi signal strength, DHCP conflict, etc.) I first check to see if my NVR is still connected to the doorbell camera and if so, I leave it alone and assume the cloud will be back up in a few days. But that's not always a sure fire method. This most recent outage from a couple days ago proved that. My NVR lost its connection to the doorbell camera and the SmartHome app showed the device as "offline", so I assumed it was a problem on my side. So, I proceeded to delete the device from my app, perform a factory reset on the doorbell camera, then re-add it. Its voice prompts confirmed that it was connected to WiFi, but then when I attempted the final step, adding it to my Amcrest account, it timed out with an unspecified error. That's when I knew there was likely a cloud outage and I would have to try again in a few days. During this time, the doorbell camera announced (at full volume) that it was "connected to wifi" every 15-30 minutes in non-stop loop, grabbing the attention of the neighbors walking by.
As a temporary measure, I've found that placing a piece of electrical tape over the speaker greatly reduces the volume. The other workaround is to perform another factory reset, where the ring will flash blue non-stop, but at least it won't keep talking like a broken record, haha.Anyway, I'm hopeful Amcrest will figure out a solution soon.
Time to leave work and enjoy my evening.
PS: I was able to successfully add back my doorbell camera last evening with zero problems. My doorbell camera is still accessible from the Smart Home app, so I assume the cloud is back online and everyone else should be able to add their cameras back too.
Thanks,
Chris
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
Bumping this thread from last year, my devices have been offline for 2 weeks now, both my new motion flood and doorbell. I know they are connected and working as I can ping them and also look at them thru an ip camera app. Anyone else having this issue? I’ve tried 2 different phones and removing and adding the cameras back to my account.
Thanks
Kyle
Thanks
Kyle
Re: Amcrest Smart Home "Server" down?
@cyipher Hello and Welcome to the forum
So not sure what area your in. I am in the NE side of the USA and all my devices on the Smart Home app are online and even though looking over them all the fastest device to load was my Flood light camera. The others did load just took 2 seconds longer
Have you tried your app in both in and outside network settings of your phone? I ask because one of the things I noticed some weeks ago was I was having issues within my own Network to access my Smart Home products in app, However turning on my Cell Network my cameras worked and was able to load in app. After a couple of days on the weekend my network connection at home went off line around 3am until almost 4am. I am guessing what ever they did in that almost hours time has fixed the issue because I can again access my Smart Home devices in and out of network. Not sure what or why.
I know there was some others that was having some issues that have been fixed after they contacted support.. Maybe there is another server that works in your area that needs to be Rebooted or something have you filed a ticket with support?
So not sure what area your in. I am in the NE side of the USA and all my devices on the Smart Home app are online and even though looking over them all the fastest device to load was my Flood light camera. The others did load just took 2 seconds longer
Have you tried your app in both in and outside network settings of your phone? I ask because one of the things I noticed some weeks ago was I was having issues within my own Network to access my Smart Home products in app, However turning on my Cell Network my cameras worked and was able to load in app. After a couple of days on the weekend my network connection at home went off line around 3am until almost 4am. I am guessing what ever they did in that almost hours time has fixed the issue because I can again access my Smart Home devices in and out of network. Not sure what or why.
I know there was some others that was having some issues that have been fixed after they contacted support.. Maybe there is another server that works in your area that needs to be Rebooted or something have you filed a ticket with support?
Be Safe.