Geo-Fencing

[j2carte]

One thing I should mention - I have. my Telo directly connected to a port on my cable router and have both powered through a UPS. I rarely have a problem with connectivity so my only real issue is with geo-fencing. I'm encouraged to read about Apple users who now have more stable geo and look forward to the same thing for Android.

[AnthonyH]

Hello all, version 1.8.4 of the Android Home Security app has been released to the Google Play Store. Version 1.8.4 on Android has exhibited significantly better performance during testing. Please let us know if you see otherwise.

[thomasm]

Your latest version sucks. Yesterday shortly after installing it the app reported I arrived home. I was home all day. Just now while having breakfast in my kitchen the app reported I'd just left home and was switching to away. I suggest you review your update and REMOVE IT OR FIX IT. Switching back to the previous version which luckily I archived.

[j2carte]

Also noticed several random events in the log overnight where a phone left home and then returned either exactly 5 or 10 minutes later, all while hooked to the charger and laying on the kitchen counter.

I have set one of our phones to not affect the home or away mode to try to isolate the offending device and will post results later.

[AnthonyH]

I see. thomasm and j2carte, we've been colloquially calling the issue that you're experiencing "ghost notifications." This happens when iOS or Android (it happens on both) loses track of your location and then finds you again. Android app version 1.8.4 fixed situations where signals to our servers were not being received at all. As a side effect, it also made ghost notifications more common because those signals are now actually succeeding instead of completely failing like in previous versions.

We have a server-side fix coming for ghost notifications that will benefit both iOS and Android users. Android users will still need version 1.8.4 or later.

[thomasm]

In my case your"ghost" explanation makes no sense because geofencing works perfectly in v. 182. If the phone lost its location wouldn't 182 also change modes? I'll try your next update but I'm very happy with 182 as it works perfect for me. I just hope you don't force a new version on users by discontinuing support for older versions on the server side. I don't remember how many apps I've written off when this tactic was employed before the release version was working properly.

[j2carte]

I confirmed both Samsung Android Note 5 phones are now running 1.8.4 and still getting the random left / returned events. I noticed that while on NIGHT mode, these events did not trigger a mode switch to AWAY (or any other mode). This morning I disabled geofencing on my phone before I left home hoping part of the problem was two phones with the same model name. When I left, the system was in HOME mode because my wife was still home and her phone was still enabled for geofencing. About 2 hours later my phone alerted me that my wife's phone had left home (and then returned a few minutes later) - but without her. The system also switched from HOME to AWAY and back again. This happened three times before I remembered that the motion detector would trigger an alarm if this happened while my wife was moving around the house. As a result, I've had to disable geofencing on both phones. I did leave geofencing enabled at the system level just to trap any more messages in the log.

Can someone tell me if this is typical of Android phones to lose location sensing occasionally and then regain it 5 minutes or 10 minutes later? I don't think the "regain" is random because the log shows it is always either 5 or 10 minutes after the phone runs away from home.

[thomasm]

On my Android phone I have location set to "high accuracy". The selection menu explains that this setting uses mobile networks, GPS, and Wi-Fi to estimate location. While at home (connected to my Wi-Fi) the phone changed modes several times. No, I don't think the phone is losing it's location info. I think the home security app is failing to properly retrieve that info or is just getting confused.

[murphy]

Is your internet provider Comcast? Comcast does not keep their geolocation data up to date. Any web site that uses Comcast geolocation to get my location gets a location that is a half hour drive from my actual location. It has been that way for at least 10 years.

[j2carte]

No, Cox which seems to be quite good.