I’m giving up. At best this is a product that has code in alpha development, and the overall aspect as a functioning alarm system has not been fully thought out. Biggest issues are:
- geofencing is not reliable at all (even with the latest iOS patches)
- no way to arm/disarm via a keypad, button, RFID, which means guests have no way to disarm
- no siren, but then again with all these faults a siren would only make things worse
I wish this thing would work. I’ve been patiently trying for quite a while.
Jeff
I give up
j2carte
We use our system daily but have geofencing disabled for now. Once that improvement is fully functional, I'll turn it on. I'm looking forward to bringing smoke alarms and camera online, and will use a keypad if that becomes available too. In the meantime, it seems to me the system does everything promised when we bought in.
Re: I give up
I admit I'm near my.breaking point.
The system.just isn't reliable. It was good for awhile and just yesterday while it appeared system was rebooting due to new firmware, it would not reconnect with my garage door sensors... Middle of the night it connected and disconnected making loud announcements and waking up the whole family... Garage sensors still not connected
I've had a water sensor go bad on me, and start reporting false positives, unfortunately again in the middle of the night waking us all up.
Geo fence imo should not have been released, it's nowhere near reliable.
And every time I go into the app, sometimes it'll change modes all by itself.
Oh, and not even had the system a year and had to replace my Telo twice already due to faulty speaker...
Unfortunately I thought the home security would be as stable as the home phone service and purchased over $500+ worth of sensors...
The system.just isn't reliable. It was good for awhile and just yesterday while it appeared system was rebooting due to new firmware, it would not reconnect with my garage door sensors... Middle of the night it connected and disconnected making loud announcements and waking up the whole family... Garage sensors still not connected
I've had a water sensor go bad on me, and start reporting false positives, unfortunately again in the middle of the night waking us all up.
Geo fence imo should not have been released, it's nowhere near reliable.
And every time I go into the app, sometimes it'll change modes all by itself.
Oh, and not even had the system a year and had to replace my Telo twice already due to faulty speaker...
Unfortunately I thought the home security would be as stable as the home phone service and purchased over $500+ worth of sensors...
Re: I give up
I feel your pain. Anybody know if there is a used market for the sensors. I've had the Ooma Telo for years, problems free and I love it. But I'll have no need for the motion and door sensors. It's a wasted investment at this point, would be great to recoup a few bucks.
Jeff
Jeff
Re: I give up
Some random thoughts:
There are sales on eBay of used sensors. I would describe the sales pace as tepid. Demand for these sensors is only as good as Ooma's system its overall demand. Some sold for about $20 a sensor in late April. More recently a four-pack sold for $35.
Ooma is desperately trying to figure out how to monetize its systems. The company has never made a profit in its history. It's sitting on a pile of cash from the IPO, but that will eventually run out. And the question is, will they have turned a profit by then, or will they have to put themselves up for sale? The financial state of the company actually jeopardizes not just their security system offerings but also their free home phone service, which as others have noted, is really good.
I will say that the Ooma system is decently reliable in my experience. But it can be buggy on occasion, and the geofencing works so-so. I just don't think Ooma product engineers fully appreciate the utility of a keypad for arming and disarming, as this one addition would have largely solved a lot of customer's key complaints. For what it's worth, Netgear Arlo's geofencing is completely non functional, and that company is completely non-responsive to bugs with their cameras. I have more of a bad taste in my mouth from their company than from Ooma.
I've been closely watching what Ring/Amazon is going to do with their system. I'm holding out hope for Ooma as someone who has also invested in a bundle of sensors. I really hope they can figure it out.
There are sales on eBay of used sensors. I would describe the sales pace as tepid. Demand for these sensors is only as good as Ooma's system its overall demand. Some sold for about $20 a sensor in late April. More recently a four-pack sold for $35.
Ooma is desperately trying to figure out how to monetize its systems. The company has never made a profit in its history. It's sitting on a pile of cash from the IPO, but that will eventually run out. And the question is, will they have turned a profit by then, or will they have to put themselves up for sale? The financial state of the company actually jeopardizes not just their security system offerings but also their free home phone service, which as others have noted, is really good.
I will say that the Ooma system is decently reliable in my experience. But it can be buggy on occasion, and the geofencing works so-so. I just don't think Ooma product engineers fully appreciate the utility of a keypad for arming and disarming, as this one addition would have largely solved a lot of customer's key complaints. For what it's worth, Netgear Arlo's geofencing is completely non functional, and that company is completely non-responsive to bugs with their cameras. I have more of a bad taste in my mouth from their company than from Ooma.
I've been closely watching what Ring/Amazon is going to do with their system. I'm holding out hope for Ooma as someone who has also invested in a bundle of sensors. I really hope they can figure it out.
Re: I give up
I thought the Ring system was blocked by the courts for infractions against ADT? I had that ordered prior to installing the Ooma system.
I hear you about financials. Been there done that. But the answer is to go into the new venture full on, and get it right. This effort looks like two engineers working in their garage. They try, but clearly missing the mark. I really wanted this to work, but at this point I need an alarm, not a science project.
And yes, geofencing is tricky. Gets even crazier when you have multiple users in the home. A simple keypad, or RFC arm/disarm device, or Bluetooth? A simple pad next to a door would have been good. But then you need a delay added to the device that monitors that door so you have time to open/disarm alarm. To think of it what they should have done is bought an alarm from ADT, determine the basic functions of a home alarm system, make sure to cover the basics, then add the sizzle like geofencing down the road.
I hear you about financials. Been there done that. But the answer is to go into the new venture full on, and get it right. This effort looks like two engineers working in their garage. They try, but clearly missing the mark. I really wanted this to work, but at this point I need an alarm, not a science project.
And yes, geofencing is tricky. Gets even crazier when you have multiple users in the home. A simple keypad, or RFC arm/disarm device, or Bluetooth? A simple pad next to a door would have been good. But then you need a delay added to the device that monitors that door so you have time to open/disarm alarm. To think of it what they should have done is bought an alarm from ADT, determine the basic functions of a home alarm system, make sure to cover the basics, then add the sizzle like geofencing down the road.
Re: I give up
ADT got a judge to block the system temporarily last fall. Then they reached a settlement sometime over the holidays, then in January Ring announced their security system would be released this summer. Then in February Amazon bought Ring. So I'm not sure where it stands currently, but I'm pretty sure a Ring/Amazon security system is on its way. Which should make Ooma really nervous -- because the Ring offering was monitored by a human and had battery backup and cellular backup -- two huge gaps in the Ooma system.jeffr wrote:I thought the Ring system was blocked by the courts for infractions against ADT? I had that ordered prior to installing the Ooma system.