Twice now the power went out at my house. Since both the db camera and panel are on battery (or the latter has battery backup) and I thought I had cellular backup (maybe I don’t) I was surprised to see that I could not connect into the DB camera remotely. Does this mean the camera doesn’t have cellular backup functionality. Isn’t this something it should have?
However, what is REALLY concerning is that when the power and wifi came back on I still couldn’t connect into my DB camera remotely. The troubleshooter on the app is telling me I’m supposed to remove the battery pack. How do I do this when I’m not at home? Isn’t the point of having security system is that these things run continuously and without a hitch when you are traveling. This is a pretty big security lapse if I have to be home to reconnect my camera every time I have a power outage. Shouldn’t security systems continuity of service under all conditions or at the very least, restored service without me having to physically be home. If there is something I can change on my end to make sure this doesn’t happen again (other than dropping another $275 for a new camera) Please let me know. Thanks
It looks like you have a VDB780B, is that correct?
The IQ Panel 4 alarm panel has built in cellular communication. Cellular is its primary communication source. It has backup battery.
Video cameras, including the VDB780B communicate through your internet. They do not use cellular communication.
During a power outage, your internet router has no power and communication using your internet is interrupted.
An UPS (uninterrupted power supply) can help for short term power loss by plugging your router into it, as well as the Smart Chime the VDB780B connects to, but for a sustained power outage which knocks out your internet, it can take your router and/or modem a while to reconnect after power is restored.
The troubleshooting step I think you are referencing is power cycling the VDB780B to try to reconnect. That is just a general recommendation and not specific to a situation where your internet isn’t working due to power loss. Power, and internet access, must be back up first.
It did but it took me a couple of tries removing the battery pack etc. However, again, my real concern is that this happened twice while I was out of town and had to go without camera access until I returned. How do I fix that? Thank you.
Generally the Doorbell should just be able to reconnect. Failure to reconnect after a power outage is restored is going to involve the router or access point as part of the troubleshooting. The VDB780B is battery only and will remain powered but unable to connect to the internet while the power is out.
When power is restored it should automatically reconnect after a short time for the router to boot up, the Smart Chime to power on, and internet connectivity to re-establish etc.
If you are consistently seeing the doorbell unable to reconnect, the first thing I would try is setting address reservation for the Smart Chime in your router settings.
To do this you would need to access your router’s configuration settings. We can help refer you to instructions or a manual if you confirm the model of router you are using. What model of router do you use?
Here is an xfinity support thread discussing how to set address reservation for a device. A couple posts down there is a list of steps. Try this for the W115C smart chime to make sure it isn’t having trouble with DHCP reconnecting. That is the device the VDB780B directly connects to, and then the smart chime acts as a wifi extender, connecting to your router.
Many Alarm.com cameras support onboard SD card recording, however the VDB780B video doorbell does not support onboard SD card recording. It records only to the cloud.
A list of cameras which support onboard SD recording is in the link above.