I just got things up and running. I’m home right now and someone came to the door while I was upstairs. They rang the bell, but my phone didn’t ring or call like I thought it would. It also sent me notifications that someone had rang the bell, and that motion was detected. But there’s no video that was sent to my devices of the person coming on my porch or ringing my bell. Is this normal? Are my settings not established to do this? I think they are but maybe I’m confused or not finding the right settings.
Hey, looks like the doorbell did generate a notification in your ADC history, and I see a push notification going out to 2 different phones for the doorbell call.
What model of phone are you working with that you didn’t receive the notification? Can you try testing the button again now?
To clarify, the notification that someone rang the bell will come in as a Push Notification on your phone. Just to confirm, did you not receive that notification?
For the motion, I actually do not see the clip generation in history. Looks like ADC requested the stream but the camera may not have been reachable. This is for the latest test.
I see previous successful motion recordings. Did you receive notification for those?
I did get a notification, but no recorded video. And there’s no video that’s shown in my history since either.
I also didn’t get a call when the button was pushed. Or does it not come through like a normal call? I was upstairs and busy when the bell rang. I heard it, and checked my phone to see if it would call me or show me stream/video, but there wasn’t one.
The notification that someone rang the bell will come in as a Push Notification on your phone, not a phone call.
You’ll get a push notification on your phone which you can tap to open the video feed in the app and two way audio.
I think you are not seeing the motion recording because the doorbell call occurred simultaneously. Can you please try testing just the motion schedule first, then press the button and test the doorbell notification?
I’m not sure why I thought it would be a call. That makes a lot more sense.
Don’t know why it didn’t record video. That’s concerning if someone comes to the door with nefarious intentions, that I want to have on camera. But I guess we can see if it continues to happen before I get more worried.
Okay so I just tested and the motion detection worked fine and sent me a video. When the notification came through on the button test it couldn’t connect to my phone. Which may or may not be related to the issue of there not being video of whoever just came on my door and rang the doorbell earlier. I’m really hoping that’s not a recurring issue.
The internet is great here. It’s fiber, and the wireless has been working great on everything so far (but it hasn’t been long - all new - so this might be the start of spotty service from my provider. Who knows?)
I also thought the phone would make a sound of some kind when the doorbell rang but it doesn’t seem to. Is that a thing I can make happen in the settings?
Is there any difference in operation when the phone is on your wifi vs when just connected to mobile data?
I also thought the phone would make a sound of some kind when the doorbell rang but it doesn’t seem to. Is that a thing I can make happen in the settings?
On Android you can get to app notification settings by logging into the ADC app, tapping the settings menu > Notifications > Sounds. You can customize the alert sound for alarms and non-alarm events.
I haven’t noticed a difference. But I also haven’t been looking for a difference, so I’m not sure yet. I’ve been home (and therefore on WiFi) a lot lately. When I’m not home, I have no idea if people are approaching the doorbell cam without it recording, you know? Or did you mean a different way in “difference in operation”?
Also just want to thank you for all the help. This is my first home and it’s been a whirlwind with a bunch of stuff going on. I appreciate the guidance with the system.
When the notification came through on the button test it couldn’t connect to my phone. Which may or may not be related to the issue of there not being video of whoever just came on my door and rang the doorbell earlier. I’m really hoping that’s not a recurring issue.
Try disconnecting wifi on your phone and attempting the doorbell button call. Are you able to more easily connect or do you not notice a difference?
Usually the limitation on connecting to the video stream is the upload speed of the location or the wifi bandwidth at the Skybell, but it would be good to check if your phone being off the Local wifi network results in faster connection.
I didn’t think it would be the connection. But I just ran a few tests on it. Both worked, but for one of the tests using wifi the response was very delayed. That’s troubling as this is the fastest internet I’ve ever had, and I’m not running many devices on it at the time. Pretty much only the alarm system and two laptops and two phones.
Hopefully this was a one-off. It seems that every other time someone has come on the front porch, the camera has captured it and saved the video. The upsetting part was the one time it didn’t was one of the very few times that it wasn’t me coming on the porch. And the video I need captured is when it’s not me.
Previous speed test was done inside. The one below was done outside, just now, a few feet away from the doorbell. (So even further away from the access point.)
You are correct, the speeds (especially upload) was dramatically slower. But still fairly fast, yes? At least fast enough to handle the action in question, I would think.
I’m also using an acer chromebook, a fairly cheap device, to run these speed tests, so it’s likely not the most accurate picture of actual speeds.
To answer your second question, I just measured; the access point is 18 feet from the doorbell, with only the wall the device is attached to standing in between.
Those speeds are way more than necessary for a solid connection.
Wifi is not infallible though. What you saw may simply be a hiccup in your router and the doorbell connecting. If you notice that video devices are seeing some supervision errors a reboot of the router would be a good step.
If you notice this happening again one thing you might try is pairing the doorbell again but use manual settings and set a static IP address, or set address reservation in the router for that device MAC.
So… The only problem with that option, if the need ever arises, is that the home builder installed the doorbell and threw away the box. I’m not sure where the MAC address is listed other than that. Is there a way to get the MAC without the box?
Ah, no worries, that should be on a sticker inside or on the back of the doorbell.
There is an easier way in this case since it is already connected on your account: you can log into the Alarm.com website and navigate to Video > Settings > Video Device Info for the doorbell and the MAC will be listed along with other parameters.
So, to return to this issue, I’ve had packages delivered two days in a row now, and neither time did the doorbell camera detect motion or record anything.
Yesterday the system was actually Armed Away when it happened. I thought maybe I need to increase the sensitivity, so I set it to max. Well today the camera still didn’t detect the motion of the delivery man with three boxes being dropped off. You can clearly see the boxes in my live view and they were dropped off pretty close to the door. So I would think it would’ve triggered it.
This is mostly only concerning if someone steals future packages. I would like it if the system caught them in the act.
First thing I would try is to delete the motion rule then reboot the camera Hold the button on the doorbell down for ~50 seconds until the LED turns blue then wait until it turns solid green again.
After the reboot, recreate the motion rule, wait at least five minutes, then test. Any change?
If not, try deleting the doorbell (Through Video Device Info) and re-adding but use manual settings and static IP as described above.
