Alert Security Systems

[jnoring]

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Robear777 wrote:

I believe that the software causes the cameras to start sending high quality video feeds to the alert system on the Internet but nothing tells the cameras to stop and that Comcast eventually shuts down my connection.

If that is the case

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It is definitely not the case.  We don't want to stream video through our servers 24-7 either, because that obviously isn't cheap.  Not sure what the issue is--I'll review the thread--but I can assure you this isn't it.

[uptown]

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Robear777 wrote:

I’ve never had problems just having the equipment installed; all of my issues start within hours after using the Logitech software to view live streams from my cameras.

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This is the same with me.  If I just have everything plugged in, I can access my cameras remotely using the web interface or the iPhone app .... but once I launch the desktop software, everything locks up requiring me to hard-boot my PC, router, home plugs, etc. to get things working again.

[Robear777]

Greetings jnoring, I’m not a hardware expect but I have wondered what the various lights mean on the Logitech network adapter. Whenever the network is down due to this issue, both of the lights on top of that device are solid (on and non flickering) and both of the lights on the front of that device are solid too. I’ve watched the behavior of those lights when the device is first plugged in, I’ve watched their behavior when the internet cable is unplugged and when either the router or the modem are disconnected and the only time they are all solid is after the use of Logitech’s software has crashed my system. Is there a way to query the Logitech homeplug network adapter for error codes?

[David001]

It can be that my problem started first when I registered an Alert account on the web.

Now I tried to disconnect the camera and I could see about the same amount of data going upstrem through the router so it is probably not the camera streaming. I have not checked these values before in the router so I did not knew they were so high, much higher than downstream values. It should be the opposite I thought.

[Robear777]

Hopefully someone from Logitech will eventually be able to reproduce and debug this problem. I’ve tried a number of things at my home and have found that use of the Logitech Commander always results in the crash of my network. In some cases the crash happens within a few hours, in some cases within 24 hours, but the result is always the same… A network that is normally very stable crashes after using Logitech’s software.

Per Cat’s suggestion here is one of the tests that I tried… I used the Logitech software then disconnected my router from my internet modem. About six hours later I checked both the Logitech network adapter and my router and things appeared to be fine (all lights looked normal). I then plugged the router back into the modem; the result, unfortunately my network did not allow computers to access the internet… I realize now that I should have separately reset the devices starting with the Logitech network adapter, then the router, then the modem and retested the internet between each (perhaps next time).

Over the weekend I also tried using the Logitech Commander software and then excessively used my internet for watching Netflix videos, streaming Pandora music and more… Checking to see if I could crash the internet faster by pushing the limits of my provider... To my surprise the network worked fine for nearly 24 hours and didn’t crash until the next morning. This time the lights on the Logitech network adapter were different from prior crashes; instead of showing four solid lights all were dark except for one on the front.

I’m done working with this for now. There are other people in this thread who have a similar problem (rschaar, uptown, deetucks and David001). Hopefully one of them will spot a clear trend and report it here. The Logitech team should be Alert to the fact that an issue exists and multiple customers have experienced it. Hopefully anyone else experiencing this problem will report it here too. I realize that it’s difficult to assign resources to a defect that only a few people are experiencing so anything you can learn here will help. I’ll try to provide gather more information over time but for now I’m done testing this (sorry I have other things to work on).

A few notes on my system: I live in a two story house with one Logitech camera on each corner of the house and one inside. My network was pre wired by the builders; my hardware includes a HP computer with Vista Home Premium, an Apple Airport Extreme router and a Comcast provided cable modem (Arris TM602G/CT). When I run the Logitech Alert Commander it finds about 3 out of 5 cameras, then finds more, then loses some, then finds some, then loses some but it rarely displays all five cameras at the same time (I tolerate this because some coverage is better than no coverage but I’d love to see a more stable connection).

BTW, did anyone determine if there is a way to get error information from the Logitech adapter? There are several possible combinations of lights on that adapter (off/solid/flashing for each of four lights); does anyone have a state table that describes the various possible error conditions? I believe that the problem is in the adapter and that when it gets in a funky state it brings down the network; of course, I’m just throwing darts here hoping that someone from Logitech will figure this out and fix it… One more thing, as David pointed out in his recent post, I also have an Alert account and the problem may have started after I opened that account… On the other hand, I’ve added another camera and there have been a couple software updates since I opened that account so one of those may be the culprit… At one time things worked fine and now they don’t; throwing darts in the dark isn’t much fun until you hit something.

[uptown]

I don't have a solution, but I'll throw my specs into the list.

• Windows 7 Ultimate x64
• Home-built Core 2 Quad Core Q9450 CPU
• Asus Rampage Formula x48 motherboard
• eVGA NVidia 8800GT video card
• 4gb ram
• Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR3700 
• One inside camera in the same room as my PC but using the power line adaper for the network signal to the camera

Camera works fine when connecting over the web or the app (provided the Logitech servers are up) but when I launch the desktop software, things rapidly grind to a halt for the PC on which the software is running, and any other devices using WiFi on my network are no longer able to access the Internet.

In my mind, the desktop software is definitely to blame, but I don't have access to enough information to know where things are breaking down.  The net result is that I'm unable to use the service in a way that actually provides me with video archives of the activity in my apartment.  I can use the product to periodically check-in on things .... but I'm unable to record to my PC since the software causes a total network failure.

I've tried to go through the forums here to work on a solution, but at this point I feel as if I'm the owner of a security product that provides no security unless I happen to catch the even as it's happening.  Even then, I'd have no recorded record of the incident ... so again ... it's useless.

Logitech, is there any recourse here?  I'm not sure how to fix your product or software, and it's clear that there are a number of us experiencing an issue that's beyond the scope of what a typical product setup and installation should entail.  Right now I feel as if I've invested my money in what could be a good product if it were to do what it's advertised to do, but I'm the owner of a "lemon".  I have one family member that's asking for a recommendation for a product like this ... but right now it's not something I think I could recommend to friends or family.

[CatLogitech]

Hello uptown,

I requested jnoring to look into this for some feedback, but is your camera not recording to the SD card either?

Such as if you unplugged the camera and took out the SD card then put it in a card reader on your computer, do you see any recordings?

[uptown]

I don't use the SD card.  I'll need to check, but I'm fairly certain it's not in the camera since I never intended to use it in a non-networked configuration.

[CatLogitech]

The only way the camera would record is if the MicroSD card is in it. The way the camera work is that they record to the SD card then download to the Logitech program, so anytime the computer is off or the software is closed it would record to the SD card.

The MicroSD card is also pre-installed in the camera. The SD card you see in the box is an adapter so that you can put the MicroSD card into that and then put it in a card reader.

If you were using a 3rd party program then that program would not need the SD card as it is recording live feed.

[uptown]

Thanks for the clarification.  I'll take a look at the SD card tonight to see whether current recordings exist on the card.  If that's how it works, I'm sure they'll be there.

The destination computer remains on at all times, but since I'm unable to run the software, there's no way for the camera to sync its data back to the PC.  If there was an incident, I suppose some useful video might be on the SD card for me to review ... but if an intruder sees the camera and decides to include that in their "shopping list" of things to remove from my apartment, it won't do me much good once it's gone.