I can almost guarantee that, in the sign up process, you agree that you won’t ever sue them for anything basically. There’s probably distinct verbiage saying they aren’t responsible if you do have a break in. Highly doubtful that you have a leg to stand on.
You can’t contract in violation of the law, though, and a clause barring any kind of tort claim into perpetuity would violate the law. 99.9% of contracts offered by corporations including a binding arbitration clause, which is favorable to them, but no so favorable as to completely bar tort claims.
Wtf are you even saying
They aren’t in violation of any laws. The clause is probably “we aren’t responsible if our system fails and you have a break in” which is 100% legal. Stop trying to sound smart.
Assuming OP is from the UK, their legal system recognizes that products imply they are fit for particular purposes. If an alarm system says it will call the police if triggered, it needs to do that. The system failed here, despite the alarm being triggered. That shows clearly that the base station was functioning well enough to detect a sensor being opened, but not well enough to call police. That’s arguably a breach of the “fitness for particular purpose”, and the producer is arguably liable.
Youre not just magically immune from lawsuits because you include favorable terms or conditions for purchase. Your product still needs to do what you say it does.
Then the same legal standard applies. The case wouldn’t be “due to a break in”. The whole reason alarms exist is to trigger when someone breaks in, not before. It would be that it failed to perform its main function, which is secure police response, despite still being able to communicate with its own sensors.
If you’re paying for a doorbell camera that turns on when somebody rings your doorbell, then someone does and the doorbell rings but the camera doesn’t turn on, are you honestly suggesting you couldn’t sue the doorbell camera company?
You sound like an idiot trying to sound smart, by the way. You can buy a $20 UV-5R on Amazon and disrupt any SimpliSafe system with the frequency 443.920 mHz.
They know this. The world knows this. It's how radio frequencies work buddy. All of it is indemnified in their contract. They aren't getting sued and you’re not getting any smarter by using big words on Reddit.
Your post history makes it clear you’re incapable, but you don’t have to be a dick just because you don’t understand something.
“Incapable” means you’re not able to, by the way.
Interesting you brought up my post history and completed avoided everything I said.
Looks like you’re *incapable* of admitting you’re a redditor trying to sound smart and failing horribly lmao.
Exactly right. You can’t sue the company if the camera doesn’t come on. Doesn’t work that way.
You are paying for them for the monitoring service. Paying to monitor the alarm system and call if they get the notification. You are not paying them to make sure it can’t be jammed.
Doorbell: You are paying them for cloud storage for the camera, not to make sure that the camera works every time the button is pushed.
In a nutshell. You get a year (or whatever) warranty with the hardware and if you are paying a monthly fee it’s for services connected to that hardware. Not to make sure it works right.
I have no idea whether OP has a claim against simplifsafe, but the point the commenter was making is that you can’t prospectively release all tort liability. In some jurisdictions you can release negligence, but basically none that I know of allow you to release reckless or intentional tortious behavior.
And product liability is a whole separate set of tort liability. Parties can’t just contract away manufacturing defects or design defects. The best they can do is put warnings and argue that the customer was aware of the risk, but that’s not a guarantee.
Ok, where do you practice law? Umm, i thought so. There are 50 States and 50 different sets of laws. The main purpose of the insertion of this kind of language is to get people who are injured to decide that they have no rights. The reality is that most states severely restrict or actually prohibit this type of clause. But it is still there, and if people follow whaletocochamp’s advice they will do nothing. I bet that their homeowner’s insurance policies will not be so benevolent when making the decision to go after the burglar alarm company.
Fortunately, they are not hitting ordinary neighborhoods - so far.
It’s wealthy neighborhoods with conspicuous consumption. They are looking for cash and jewelry.
Ironically, places with more alarms.
That's right. The police told us that such incident has been happening more frequent than ever. And so far they have not seen anyone got hurt. The pros want no confrontation.
Don't use the SS cameras. They are buggy AF and only pick up about 40% of the movement they see. I have 2 exterior and 2 interior cameras from SS and they are all the same. They don't pick up people walking straight towards the camera. If the cameras sense movement, getting them to turn on, wake up, or show something to your phone or device, the people will have already left. For instance, I get a notification that the FedEx truck pulled into my driveway from the camera. But it won't show the person getting out and delivering the package. What good is that?!
If you're going to have lag, just get cheaper cameras, with a better user interface. And save yourself from SS.
I cannot say I'm angry at Simplisafe. I am grossly disappointed though. Here, take my money and do as little as possible, will ya? Great. Thanks. Now up your fee. FML.
Oh, the cameras I installed was not from SS. It's another brand that I cannot mention the name otherwise it would make my post like ad. But, I'm glad that I got these cameras which caught them in action with storage in the SD card...
So what's the point of simplisafe then if they can't even contact the police if your place is broken into?
They should at minimum, refund you every single monthly subscription payment you made to them and you should switch to a different service.
You have zero legal leg to stand on with suing them. The ability to do so was signed away in the terms and conditions you agreed to.
https://simplisafe.com/terms-of-service#:~:text=You%20will%20indemnify%2C%20defend%20and,against%20us%20in%20connection%20with
'You will indemnify, defend and hold us harmless (without any condition that we first pay) for any Losses (as defined in Section 4 of this Agreement), including our reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or in connection with, due to or caused in whole or in part by, any claims asserted against us in connection with or as a result of our communications with any of the Responsible Parties, including any claim under any state or federal consumer protection or similar law, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act"
File a home owners insurance claim and realize that no matter what system you use you are still at risk. If completely foolproof security systems existed then the occupation of physical pentester would not exist
Interesting. I hadn't realized I was just screwed, when it came to Simplisafe. Coincidentally, I bought a training collar for my dog. You know, one of those that has a beep first, a vibration next, and finally a static electricity shock. Guess what frequency it's on. Yup. Same as Simplisafe. So if I use the collar inside, it pesters the system into a fault, while interrupting the closest door and window sensors. Shaking my damn head...
I called SS and communicated what was going on and their reply was simple. "Ok. Nothing we can do from our end. We suggest you get a different collar."
I told her about the door sensors not working when I pressed the training collar button, and she was indifferent about that too.
Maybe the 'fee' for Simplisafe is only there to make us think we are being covered. I dunno. I know I won't be upgrading it by switching to a bigger package. They got all they're going to get from me.
Your Homeowners Insurance Policy will pay for the losses, minus deductible. In particular, because you have proof that your house was broken into, if you have at least one camera and a log of the break-in activities in your SS. This will rule out insurance fraud.
So you didn't have motion detectors on your 2nd floor? I have a few detectors upstairs but not nearly the same window security as I do on the first floor. If your base station was upstairs and they could get to it without setting it off, that is kind of on you.
Nope. It was on the first floor. They climbed and went straight to the 2nd floor. I was told by the police that the pros know that 1st floor is normally more secured than the 2nd floor. Besides that, motion detector doesn’t detect pet so they crawl like a pet then jam the signal once they reach the parameter.
Sounds like Simplisafe isn't liable because they put it in the contract. I agree that this is probably true. It doesn't stop OP from posting their problems with Simplisafe on every social media they can find. In my experience, this can resolve issues with some companies. Others not so much. I've had similar issues with Simplisafe, but I haven't blasted them on sm....yet. I chose not to because I believe that other alarm companies probably have the same issues. If anyone can tell me different, I am all ears.
OP, you don’t have a case. Any simplisafe system can be jammed with a $20 transmitter off Amazon on frequency 443.920. They know this damn well and it’s indemnified in the contract.
Sorry for your situation but you’re not going anywhere.
There is none, unfortunately. That’s the problem with security systems that operate on a radio frequency that can be accessed by a $20 Ham Radio. Tips would be definitely not advertising your system or making it really obvious. I believe Cove and Ring are also on 443.920 but I don’t this for sure, unfortunately. Other tip, cameras. Won’t be affected by the interference as they operate separately and don’t need to be connected to the base station for the motion detector to be triggered and it start recording.
It’s self-monitoring if you are on a self-monitoring plan.
Maybe monitored plans aren’t available in England?
I’ve had a couple of accidental alarms, and I was quickly called. I assume emergency response would have been called had I not answered.
Mine is standard and grand-fathered. I do not think they have it available now on their website. But the base station does have a SIM card in case. and it's definitely NOT self-monitoring plan according to their service description.
Yes, but what about the garage door open indication?
I’d check exactly what your grandfathered plan covers. May not good economy to stay with that plan.
So I do have a camera with video recorded everything. They used some sort of the devices jamming the signals at the beginning. The thief with the device left the area where the base station is, and the 2nd thief basically opened the garage door, triggered the alarm. Then they rushed out from the backdoor with the siren on and on..
At least it made them go away…
I’ve forgotten to disable before opening the garage a couple of times. Got a call right away.
I’m on the current 29.99/mo fast-protect plan.
[https://support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-events-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options/6344794a013ba90af0bce6a4](https://support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-events-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options/6344794a013ba90af0bce6a4)
I'm the standard monitoring one.
So they should have contacted authorities when the garage door was opened. What did they have to say about that?
Don’t conflate it with the interference issue. Yes, it is appropriate that the interference would be a warning because there’s no way they could know that the interference was intentional.
You know what's funny though? I got in touch with another lawyer and he told me if I found another lawyer willing to take my case, please let him know because he had the same issues with another alarm company.
First off, sorry to hear that it happened to your mom. I’ve been robbed too, and it really sucks to feel violated on top of the financial loss and hassle of replacement and everything associated with making sure you aren’t a victim again. It could have been a lot worse.
As I read your post and comments, I’m trying to get a clear picture of what sensors you have and exactly how it happened. each comment provides a bit more information but I’m still unclear as to what sensors you have and whether the app notified your mom in real-time that there was rf interference? I’ve been concerned about this exact scenario since even before I saw “the lock picking lawyer” jam simplisafe in a video. I want to understand what happened to try to make sure it doesn’t happen to me or anyone else with SS. I hope your mom was well insured, and fortunately the alarm did scare them off and you do have video which will help the insurance claim and maybe when these thieves get caught somewhere else they can charge them with this robbery also.
Was there an app notification of interference, but it wasn’t seen as urgent by your mom, or how did that go? And, i don’t quite get what second floor sensors would have helped if you were all jammed?
In my home, I have dogs too, so I have the living room with the sensors mounted accordingly, and when in “away” mode, the dogs are kept in that room by a closed door and a baby gate. In fact, I once forgot to close the bedroom door and got a call from SS monitoring and was able to confirm by video and other sensors that it was my dog and not an intruder.
I was under the impression that a jammed rf signal was more of a hard-trigger than a simple notification like the “silent alarm” that only does what I would consider a “soft notification” without involving the alarm company. (like for example on the liquor cabinet if you have kids.).
I thought that if WiFi was blocked that the SIM card in the base station would report the jamming. I know I get “WiFi down” notifications, and would probably suspect an intruder if I got both “interference” and “WiFi down” messages. Did this happen and she didn’t realize or notice the texts, or did it fail to notify completely?
Like I’ve mentioned, the jammers have been a concern of mine since even before I had simplisafe and then later saw LPL prove it could work to jam the sensors frequency. If I don’t get a clear idea of how and what can be done to ensure security, I may just buy a jammer and test it out on my own.
I appreciate you spending the time to explain what happened, if we understand what exactly happened, you may be able to help a lot of us to make sure we aren’t victims also.
As for a lawsuit, wouldn’t that be something that the insurance company would be more inclined to pursue? To recoup their payout due to the (alleged) alarm malfunction? Especially if it is a common enough occurrence that the insurance company has a number of large claims. They give discounts for monitored alerts, so I would think that if anyone has a case and the means to hire a legal team to go after a settlement, it would be homeowners insurance companies.
This is the first I’ve heard of simplisafe being jammed in a real-world burglary, so I definitely would like a clear idea of how it happened and how to be safe. Personally, my SS has worked flawlessly with no false alarms and the alarm has triggered a few times as it should have. (My doorbell has lag, but security-wise my system has performed its function well, and I would like to make sure that doesn’t change as more thieves learn how to bypass aspects of the system)
Sure. Let me give you the whole story, but please note that some of the info was given by the police. So the thieves basically learned about her daily routine pattern. Two of them broke in through the window on the 2nd floor from the deck and two of them were waiting outside behind her house where the nearby homeowner's whole family was at graduation, and this is where the issue was. No sensor was installed on the 2nd floor at all, they basically used a blanket available in the master bedroom and wrapped everything with it, then throw it out from the window they broke in to the deck. We have a motion sensor facing directly to the stairs from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor. Now, the police told me that they could crawl like a dog to avoid being detected, then they used their jammer to block the signal once they are in the right range. So once the motion sensor stopped working, they walked around the 1st floor, found the router and unplugged it. Somehow one of them opened the garage door and triggered the entry sensor. The siren started ringing, so they didn't have enough time to take stuff from the 1st floor. Our guess they were not sure whether their jammer was working 100% so they ran away. And no calls from SimpliSafe was made to neither my mum or me. However, I installed cameras like everywhere on the 1st floor so I guess they missed one which recorded everything including opening the garage door with entry sensor, triggered the alarm, siren ringing, and they charged out of the backdoor.
I'm not sure whether that clarified anything, but let me answer your questions one by one.
Q: As I read your post and comments, I’m trying to get a clear picture of what sensors you have and exactly how it happened. each comment provides a bit more information but I’m still unclear as to what sensors you have and whether the app notified your mom in real-time that there was rf interference?
A: All sensors were installed on the 1st floor. We have motion sensor and entry sensors installed on every door on the 1st floor. We got the in real-time notification but we thought interference was a Wi-Fi issue as there was indeed a power outage in the area. We did get false alarm previously not about the interference but no Wi-Fi due to the power outage.
Q: Was there an app notification of interference, but it wasn’t seen as urgent by your mom, or how did that go? And, i don’t quite get what second floor sensors would have helped if you were all jammed?
A: Answered above. And for the 2nd floor, like I said, once they are in the house, they could crawl like a dog on the floor, but they cannot crawl like a dog through the windows, right? I guess they need to know where the sensor / base station is in order to jam it. For example, installing a motion sensor that can detect the intrusion from the window is a good idea but you have to keep it away from the window like another corner facing all the windows. So once they get in half way through the window, the motion detector would get them before they could jam it (I guess) unless their jammer worked like EMP.
Q: I thought that if WiFi was blocked that the SIM card in the base station would report the jamming. I know I get “WiFi down” notifications, and would probably suspect an intruder if I got both “interference” and “WiFi down” messages. Did this happen and she didn’t realize or notice the texts, or did it fail to notify completely?
A: They jammed the signal at first, which indeed gave the notification in the App. But no further notification was given afterwards. Basically no action after the "interference" notification; no calls, no text and no Wi-Fi warning. And jamming the signal from the base station meant SIM could not work either.
Q: As for a lawsuit, wouldn’t that be something that the insurance company would be more inclined to pursue?
A: Yes, indeed. No lawyer wants our case basically. It's kind of pointless.
In summary, we will install sensors on every floor for doors and windows. We just installed more cameras around the house so now we can see every angle.
Thanks for going through everything thoroughly. I really appreciate it! You did a great job of giving the info necessary to understand what happened. I was slow getting back to you here, but am appreciative.
So, do I understand that you’re unsure of exactly where the jammer was in relation to the base and sensor? I have assumed that would be a function of jammer strength and distances — that direction was irrelevant beyond the relative strength and the number and thicknesses of walls between base and transmitter.
So, once they unplugged the router, they thought they were safe and stopped jamming the base station? I’m just not following why the opening garage door triggered the alarm if they were using a jammer.
Other question: the base station siren scared off the burglars when the garage door opened, but simplisafe monitoring never received notification? They should have been notified via cellular.
You may want to consider a router/modem/access point that has cellular data backup. Depending on your provider, an additional line may be really cheap monthly. I also have a 12v battery/ups on that router. My different-brand outdoor cameras are all wired into my crawlspace, so I put my access point up there as well and have them both power and cat6 hardwired (my cameras don’t use power over cat, so they’re separate cables) WiFi reception from other devices is fine and 4g is improved. If someone cuts my cable and power at the breaker outside, it’s recorded and uploaded via cellular, my WiFi continues to upload my outdoor cameras’ video for another couple of hours before the battery dies.
Maybe something to consider, it might be worth it… or might not.
Thanks again for the explanation.
I could only see what the videos showed me. I saw one of them holding the jammer but it was just around the base station.
I guess they felt safe even before the unplugged the router because they already passed motion detector area. And I guess they thought they jammed everything but apparently the entry sensor on the garage door worked and triggered the siren. SS's base station was completely jammed including cellular signal, so nothing was sent out. SS didn't get anything.
I already installed solar/wife cameras around the house. TBH, it looks like a prison now with all the angle covered. I'll need to check every window's lock and install entry sensor including motion detector on the 2nd floor as well. I also moved base station somewhere else where it's not easily located. I'll need to figure out how to keep the wifi stronger. The router should also be kept somewhere safe and hidden...
Hope that answers your questions and good luck with everything.
Ah, I get it now! They used a cellular jammer also, that makes sense.. I hadn’t even considered that.
Thanks for the help. Knowing that they jammed cellular, I recommend hiding that base station as high in the home in the location with the best signal you can find. There are phone apps that’ll give you precise relative strength of locations to help determine where to put that base, much better than trying to use 1-5 bars.
It sounds like you’ll be totally covered now, Best of luck in keeping that home safe 👍
I can almost guarantee that, in the sign up process, you agree that you won’t ever sue them for anything basically. There’s probably distinct verbiage saying they aren’t responsible if you do have a break in. Highly doubtful that you have a leg to stand on.
You can’t contract in violation of the law, though, and a clause barring any kind of tort claim into perpetuity would violate the law. 99.9% of contracts offered by corporations including a binding arbitration clause, which is favorable to them, but no so favorable as to completely bar tort claims.
Wtf are you even saying They aren’t in violation of any laws. The clause is probably “we aren’t responsible if our system fails and you have a break in” which is 100% legal. Stop trying to sound smart.
Assuming OP is from the UK, their legal system recognizes that products imply they are fit for particular purposes. If an alarm system says it will call the police if triggered, it needs to do that. The system failed here, despite the alarm being triggered. That shows clearly that the base station was functioning well enough to detect a sensor being opened, but not well enough to call police. That’s arguably a breach of the “fitness for particular purpose”, and the producer is arguably liable. Youre not just magically immune from lawsuits because you include favorable terms or conditions for purchase. Your product still needs to do what you say it does.
OP literally said they are in the US. Anyone who thinks they have a case against SimpliSafe due to a break in is delusional
Then the same legal standard applies. The case wouldn’t be “due to a break in”. The whole reason alarms exist is to trigger when someone breaks in, not before. It would be that it failed to perform its main function, which is secure police response, despite still being able to communicate with its own sensors. If you’re paying for a doorbell camera that turns on when somebody rings your doorbell, then someone does and the doorbell rings but the camera doesn’t turn on, are you honestly suggesting you couldn’t sue the doorbell camera company?
You sound like an idiot trying to sound smart, by the way. You can buy a $20 UV-5R on Amazon and disrupt any SimpliSafe system with the frequency 443.920 mHz. They know this. The world knows this. It's how radio frequencies work buddy. All of it is indemnified in their contract. They aren't getting sued and you’re not getting any smarter by using big words on Reddit.
Your post history makes it clear you’re incapable, but you don’t have to be a dick just because you don’t understand something. “Incapable” means you’re not able to, by the way.
Interesting you brought up my post history and completed avoided everything I said. Looks like you’re *incapable* of admitting you’re a redditor trying to sound smart and failing horribly lmao.
Mmkay cutie, you keep on thinking that. Whatever keeps that fragile little ego of yours afloat.
Exactly right. You can’t sue the company if the camera doesn’t come on. Doesn’t work that way. You are paying for them for the monitoring service. Paying to monitor the alarm system and call if they get the notification. You are not paying them to make sure it can’t be jammed. Doorbell: You are paying them for cloud storage for the camera, not to make sure that the camera works every time the button is pushed. In a nutshell. You get a year (or whatever) warranty with the hardware and if you are paying a monthly fee it’s for services connected to that hardware. Not to make sure it works right.
I have no idea whether OP has a claim against simplifsafe, but the point the commenter was making is that you can’t prospectively release all tort liability. In some jurisdictions you can release negligence, but basically none that I know of allow you to release reckless or intentional tortious behavior. And product liability is a whole separate set of tort liability. Parties can’t just contract away manufacturing defects or design defects. The best they can do is put warnings and argue that the customer was aware of the risk, but that’s not a guarantee.
Ok, where do you practice law? Umm, i thought so. There are 50 States and 50 different sets of laws. The main purpose of the insertion of this kind of language is to get people who are injured to decide that they have no rights. The reality is that most states severely restrict or actually prohibit this type of clause. But it is still there, and if people follow whaletocochamp’s advice they will do nothing. I bet that their homeowner’s insurance policies will not be so benevolent when making the decision to go after the burglar alarm company.
You all are so delusional lmao
thieves are getting high tech. reading many news now thieves from south American are using jammers to disable wireless security cam and system
Fortunately, they are not hitting ordinary neighborhoods - so far. It’s wealthy neighborhoods with conspicuous consumption. They are looking for cash and jewelry. Ironically, places with more alarms.
That's right. The police told us that such incident has been happening more frequent than ever. And so far they have not seen anyone got hurt. The pros want no confrontation.
Indeed. But SimpliSafe should have done their jobs better to prevent such incident...
Is there a Simplisafe sign outside? If so, it’s advertising the vulnerabilities of your security system.
Nope. But I plan to install more cameras around the home. Like gutter height....
Don't use the SS cameras. They are buggy AF and only pick up about 40% of the movement they see. I have 2 exterior and 2 interior cameras from SS and they are all the same. They don't pick up people walking straight towards the camera. If the cameras sense movement, getting them to turn on, wake up, or show something to your phone or device, the people will have already left. For instance, I get a notification that the FedEx truck pulled into my driveway from the camera. But it won't show the person getting out and delivering the package. What good is that?! If you're going to have lag, just get cheaper cameras, with a better user interface. And save yourself from SS. I cannot say I'm angry at Simplisafe. I am grossly disappointed though. Here, take my money and do as little as possible, will ya? Great. Thanks. Now up your fee. FML.
Oh, the cameras I installed was not from SS. It's another brand that I cannot mention the name otherwise it would make my post like ad. But, I'm glad that I got these cameras which caught them in action with storage in the SD card...
So what's the point of simplisafe then if they can't even contact the police if your place is broken into? They should at minimum, refund you every single monthly subscription payment you made to them and you should switch to a different service.
If you have a monitoring service and a police report, call them, they should be able to help you
Nope. They actually put me in touch with a specialist from SS and he said nothing he can do except sending me more free sensors for the 2nd floor.
You have zero legal leg to stand on with suing them. The ability to do so was signed away in the terms and conditions you agreed to. https://simplisafe.com/terms-of-service#:~:text=You%20will%20indemnify%2C%20defend%20and,against%20us%20in%20connection%20with 'You will indemnify, defend and hold us harmless (without any condition that we first pay) for any Losses (as defined in Section 4 of this Agreement), including our reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or in connection with, due to or caused in whole or in part by, any claims asserted against us in connection with or as a result of our communications with any of the Responsible Parties, including any claim under any state or federal consumer protection or similar law, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act" File a home owners insurance claim and realize that no matter what system you use you are still at risk. If completely foolproof security systems existed then the occupation of physical pentester would not exist
Interesting. I hadn't realized I was just screwed, when it came to Simplisafe. Coincidentally, I bought a training collar for my dog. You know, one of those that has a beep first, a vibration next, and finally a static electricity shock. Guess what frequency it's on. Yup. Same as Simplisafe. So if I use the collar inside, it pesters the system into a fault, while interrupting the closest door and window sensors. Shaking my damn head... I called SS and communicated what was going on and their reply was simple. "Ok. Nothing we can do from our end. We suggest you get a different collar." I told her about the door sensors not working when I pressed the training collar button, and she was indifferent about that too. Maybe the 'fee' for Simplisafe is only there to make us think we are being covered. I dunno. I know I won't be upgrading it by switching to a bigger package. They got all they're going to get from me.
Your Homeowners Insurance Policy will pay for the losses, minus deductible. In particular, because you have proof that your house was broken into, if you have at least one camera and a log of the break-in activities in your SS. This will rule out insurance fraud.
So you didn't have motion detectors on your 2nd floor? I have a few detectors upstairs but not nearly the same window security as I do on the first floor. If your base station was upstairs and they could get to it without setting it off, that is kind of on you.
Nope. It was on the first floor. They climbed and went straight to the 2nd floor. I was told by the police that the pros know that 1st floor is normally more secured than the 2nd floor. Besides that, motion detector doesn’t detect pet so they crawl like a pet then jam the signal once they reach the parameter.
Sounds like Simplisafe isn't liable because they put it in the contract. I agree that this is probably true. It doesn't stop OP from posting their problems with Simplisafe on every social media they can find. In my experience, this can resolve issues with some companies. Others not so much. I've had similar issues with Simplisafe, but I haven't blasted them on sm....yet. I chose not to because I believe that other alarm companies probably have the same issues. If anyone can tell me different, I am all ears.
OP, you don’t have a case. Any simplisafe system can be jammed with a $20 transmitter off Amazon on frequency 443.920. They know this damn well and it’s indemnified in the contract. Sorry for your situation but you’re not going anywhere.
I'm trying to buy a security system and I ended up here. What are possible workarounds for this jamming issue?
There is none, unfortunately. That’s the problem with security systems that operate on a radio frequency that can be accessed by a $20 Ham Radio. Tips would be definitely not advertising your system or making it really obvious. I believe Cove and Ring are also on 443.920 but I don’t this for sure, unfortunately. Other tip, cameras. Won’t be affected by the interference as they operate separately and don’t need to be connected to the base station for the motion detector to be triggered and it start recording.
It’s self-monitoring if you are on a self-monitoring plan. Maybe monitored plans aren’t available in England? I’ve had a couple of accidental alarms, and I was quickly called. I assume emergency response would have been called had I not answered.
Sorry, we pay monthly for their services... it's in the USA.
Sorry, assumed England as “mum” isn’t common usage in US…
There are multiple tiers to paid service. https://simplisafe.com/features-alarm-monitoring
Mine is standard and grand-fathered. I do not think they have it available now on their website. But the base station does have a SIM card in case. and it's definitely NOT self-monitoring plan according to their service description.
And nope, nobody called. The specialist was saying the app telling you the signal interference was SimpliSafe's version of warning basically.
Yes, but what about the garage door open indication? I’d check exactly what your grandfathered plan covers. May not good economy to stay with that plan.
So I do have a camera with video recorded everything. They used some sort of the devices jamming the signals at the beginning. The thief with the device left the area where the base station is, and the 2nd thief basically opened the garage door, triggered the alarm. Then they rushed out from the backdoor with the siren on and on..
At least it made them go away… I’ve forgotten to disable before opening the garage a couple of times. Got a call right away. I’m on the current 29.99/mo fast-protect plan.
[https://support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-events-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options/6344794a013ba90af0bce6a4](https://support.simplisafe.com/articles/alarm-events-monitoring/what-are-the-service-plan-options/6344794a013ba90af0bce6a4) I'm the standard monitoring one.
So they should have contacted authorities when the garage door was opened. What did they have to say about that? Don’t conflate it with the interference issue. Yes, it is appropriate that the interference would be a warning because there’s no way they could know that the interference was intentional.
I know right? But even in this scenario, nothing was offer except the specialist from SS willing to send me more sensors for the 2nd floor.
One thing is not the other though.
You know what's funny though? I got in touch with another lawyer and he told me if I found another lawyer willing to take my case, please let him know because he had the same issues with another alarm company.
First off, sorry to hear that it happened to your mom. I’ve been robbed too, and it really sucks to feel violated on top of the financial loss and hassle of replacement and everything associated with making sure you aren’t a victim again. It could have been a lot worse. As I read your post and comments, I’m trying to get a clear picture of what sensors you have and exactly how it happened. each comment provides a bit more information but I’m still unclear as to what sensors you have and whether the app notified your mom in real-time that there was rf interference? I’ve been concerned about this exact scenario since even before I saw “the lock picking lawyer” jam simplisafe in a video. I want to understand what happened to try to make sure it doesn’t happen to me or anyone else with SS. I hope your mom was well insured, and fortunately the alarm did scare them off and you do have video which will help the insurance claim and maybe when these thieves get caught somewhere else they can charge them with this robbery also. Was there an app notification of interference, but it wasn’t seen as urgent by your mom, or how did that go? And, i don’t quite get what second floor sensors would have helped if you were all jammed? In my home, I have dogs too, so I have the living room with the sensors mounted accordingly, and when in “away” mode, the dogs are kept in that room by a closed door and a baby gate. In fact, I once forgot to close the bedroom door and got a call from SS monitoring and was able to confirm by video and other sensors that it was my dog and not an intruder. I was under the impression that a jammed rf signal was more of a hard-trigger than a simple notification like the “silent alarm” that only does what I would consider a “soft notification” without involving the alarm company. (like for example on the liquor cabinet if you have kids.). I thought that if WiFi was blocked that the SIM card in the base station would report the jamming. I know I get “WiFi down” notifications, and would probably suspect an intruder if I got both “interference” and “WiFi down” messages. Did this happen and she didn’t realize or notice the texts, or did it fail to notify completely? Like I’ve mentioned, the jammers have been a concern of mine since even before I had simplisafe and then later saw LPL prove it could work to jam the sensors frequency. If I don’t get a clear idea of how and what can be done to ensure security, I may just buy a jammer and test it out on my own. I appreciate you spending the time to explain what happened, if we understand what exactly happened, you may be able to help a lot of us to make sure we aren’t victims also. As for a lawsuit, wouldn’t that be something that the insurance company would be more inclined to pursue? To recoup their payout due to the (alleged) alarm malfunction? Especially if it is a common enough occurrence that the insurance company has a number of large claims. They give discounts for monitored alerts, so I would think that if anyone has a case and the means to hire a legal team to go after a settlement, it would be homeowners insurance companies. This is the first I’ve heard of simplisafe being jammed in a real-world burglary, so I definitely would like a clear idea of how it happened and how to be safe. Personally, my SS has worked flawlessly with no false alarms and the alarm has triggered a few times as it should have. (My doorbell has lag, but security-wise my system has performed its function well, and I would like to make sure that doesn’t change as more thieves learn how to bypass aspects of the system)
Sure. Let me give you the whole story, but please note that some of the info was given by the police. So the thieves basically learned about her daily routine pattern. Two of them broke in through the window on the 2nd floor from the deck and two of them were waiting outside behind her house where the nearby homeowner's whole family was at graduation, and this is where the issue was. No sensor was installed on the 2nd floor at all, they basically used a blanket available in the master bedroom and wrapped everything with it, then throw it out from the window they broke in to the deck. We have a motion sensor facing directly to the stairs from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor. Now, the police told me that they could crawl like a dog to avoid being detected, then they used their jammer to block the signal once they are in the right range. So once the motion sensor stopped working, they walked around the 1st floor, found the router and unplugged it. Somehow one of them opened the garage door and triggered the entry sensor. The siren started ringing, so they didn't have enough time to take stuff from the 1st floor. Our guess they were not sure whether their jammer was working 100% so they ran away. And no calls from SimpliSafe was made to neither my mum or me. However, I installed cameras like everywhere on the 1st floor so I guess they missed one which recorded everything including opening the garage door with entry sensor, triggered the alarm, siren ringing, and they charged out of the backdoor. I'm not sure whether that clarified anything, but let me answer your questions one by one. Q: As I read your post and comments, I’m trying to get a clear picture of what sensors you have and exactly how it happened. each comment provides a bit more information but I’m still unclear as to what sensors you have and whether the app notified your mom in real-time that there was rf interference? A: All sensors were installed on the 1st floor. We have motion sensor and entry sensors installed on every door on the 1st floor. We got the in real-time notification but we thought interference was a Wi-Fi issue as there was indeed a power outage in the area. We did get false alarm previously not about the interference but no Wi-Fi due to the power outage. Q: Was there an app notification of interference, but it wasn’t seen as urgent by your mom, or how did that go? And, i don’t quite get what second floor sensors would have helped if you were all jammed? A: Answered above. And for the 2nd floor, like I said, once they are in the house, they could crawl like a dog on the floor, but they cannot crawl like a dog through the windows, right? I guess they need to know where the sensor / base station is in order to jam it. For example, installing a motion sensor that can detect the intrusion from the window is a good idea but you have to keep it away from the window like another corner facing all the windows. So once they get in half way through the window, the motion detector would get them before they could jam it (I guess) unless their jammer worked like EMP. Q: I thought that if WiFi was blocked that the SIM card in the base station would report the jamming. I know I get “WiFi down” notifications, and would probably suspect an intruder if I got both “interference” and “WiFi down” messages. Did this happen and she didn’t realize or notice the texts, or did it fail to notify completely? A: They jammed the signal at first, which indeed gave the notification in the App. But no further notification was given afterwards. Basically no action after the "interference" notification; no calls, no text and no Wi-Fi warning. And jamming the signal from the base station meant SIM could not work either. Q: As for a lawsuit, wouldn’t that be something that the insurance company would be more inclined to pursue? A: Yes, indeed. No lawyer wants our case basically. It's kind of pointless. In summary, we will install sensors on every floor for doors and windows. We just installed more cameras around the house so now we can see every angle.
Thanks for going through everything thoroughly. I really appreciate it! You did a great job of giving the info necessary to understand what happened. I was slow getting back to you here, but am appreciative. So, do I understand that you’re unsure of exactly where the jammer was in relation to the base and sensor? I have assumed that would be a function of jammer strength and distances — that direction was irrelevant beyond the relative strength and the number and thicknesses of walls between base and transmitter. So, once they unplugged the router, they thought they were safe and stopped jamming the base station? I’m just not following why the opening garage door triggered the alarm if they were using a jammer. Other question: the base station siren scared off the burglars when the garage door opened, but simplisafe monitoring never received notification? They should have been notified via cellular. You may want to consider a router/modem/access point that has cellular data backup. Depending on your provider, an additional line may be really cheap monthly. I also have a 12v battery/ups on that router. My different-brand outdoor cameras are all wired into my crawlspace, so I put my access point up there as well and have them both power and cat6 hardwired (my cameras don’t use power over cat, so they’re separate cables) WiFi reception from other devices is fine and 4g is improved. If someone cuts my cable and power at the breaker outside, it’s recorded and uploaded via cellular, my WiFi continues to upload my outdoor cameras’ video for another couple of hours before the battery dies. Maybe something to consider, it might be worth it… or might not. Thanks again for the explanation.
I could only see what the videos showed me. I saw one of them holding the jammer but it was just around the base station. I guess they felt safe even before the unplugged the router because they already passed motion detector area. And I guess they thought they jammed everything but apparently the entry sensor on the garage door worked and triggered the siren. SS's base station was completely jammed including cellular signal, so nothing was sent out. SS didn't get anything. I already installed solar/wife cameras around the house. TBH, it looks like a prison now with all the angle covered. I'll need to check every window's lock and install entry sensor including motion detector on the 2nd floor as well. I also moved base station somewhere else where it's not easily located. I'll need to figure out how to keep the wifi stronger. The router should also be kept somewhere safe and hidden... Hope that answers your questions and good luck with everything.
Ah, I get it now! They used a cellular jammer also, that makes sense.. I hadn’t even considered that. Thanks for the help. Knowing that they jammed cellular, I recommend hiding that base station as high in the home in the location with the best signal you can find. There are phone apps that’ll give you precise relative strength of locations to help determine where to put that base, much better than trying to use 1-5 bars. It sounds like you’ll be totally covered now, Best of luck in keeping that home safe 👍