Geofencing and timeout

Tips, tricks and frequently asked questions
ubik
Posts: 152
Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 10:45

Geofencing and timeout

Post by ubik »

Hi,
in the last days I am experiencing some problems with my Welcome camera because it is not capable anymore to understand that I left the house.
I set the timeout for considering the person as away from home at its minimum (1 hour) and at the same time I enabled the geofencing feature in my phone app, allowing it to use my position to help Welcome understand that I am away.
Untill the last reboot which I performed a couple of days ago (because FTP upload was not working) the Welcome camera used to understand when I left the house and if not I was set as away one hour after not being seen.

Now the Welcome camera simply does not understand that I left the house and I am not set as away after the timeout.
Before someone asks I can guarantee that settings on my phone have not benn changed and that Positioning setting is set to let Netatmo app know my position (High accuracy mode, using both GPS and WiFi)

Is someone experiencing this problem?
Can someone from Netatmo understand what is happening?
Brieuc_Netatmo
Posts: 3088
Joined: 02 Jan 2014, 11:20

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by Brieuc_Netatmo »

Hello,
Could you please let us know with which exact device/OS version/app version it happens?
Did you try to uninstall/reinstall the app?
Brieuc - Netatmo Team
ubik
Posts: 152
Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 10:45

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by ubik »

Hi,
I am using a Samsung Galaxy Note II, running on Android 4.4.2, app version is 2.0.2.0.
My wife is experiencing the same problem with a Samsung Galaxy s4 mini running Android 4.4.2, app version 2.0.2.0 and she is experiencing the same problem.
I did not try to uninstall/reinstall the app, but I just noticed that there is a just released version 2.0.3.0, I am installing it right now and I hope that it will solve this issue.
Last edited by ubik on 21 Nov 2016, 10:57, edited 1 time in total.
camillo777
Posts: 54
Joined: 14 Nov 2016, 12:31

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by camillo777 »

Brieuc_Netatmo wrote:Hello,
Could you please let us know with which exact device/OS version/app version it happens?
Did you try to uninstall/reinstall the app?
Hi Brieuc,
I noticed when using that maybe you could easily add to the camera logs, also some other logs like:
- device geofenced in
- device geofenced out
- timeout all people are considered out
- change from day to night vision
Also for troubleshooting this behaviour, if it is a problem of the Android device, camera or not.

Thank you,
Camillo
ubik
Posts: 152
Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 10:45

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by ubik »

Hi,
I upgraded the app to version 2.0.3.0 and the geofencing feature is still not working.
This morning the camera did not detect that I and my wife exited the home area.
Moreover, my profile went automatically into "out of home" mode after the 1 hour timeout period, while my wife's profile is still detected as "at home" even if she is unseen since 3 hours.
I have to manually set "everyone left the house"...

Can someone from Netatmo clarify how the geofencing works? Is it based on:
1) recognizing that the device is connected to the same network as the camera?
2) detecting the position from the phone localization feature (based on GPS/Wifi/Cellular network)?
3) both?
This would help in doing some tests
camillo777
Posts: 54
Joined: 14 Nov 2016, 12:31

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by camillo777 »

Yes geofencing on mobile I confirm it does not work.
I have to set manually "out of home".

Support gave me this hint (did not try yet but I think it will not help):
Sometimes you phone cannot detect that you left. Please remove the tick "it's me" then tick again


Today even the settings to automatically set "out of home" after 3 hours did not work!
I am still at home after I was seen last time 8 hours ago.

:x :x :x

Camillo
ubik
Posts: 152
Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 10:45

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by ubik »

I already tried setting "it's me" option off and then on again and it seemed to work for a couple of days on my phone, but not on my wife's phone. After two days it stopped working again.
As a workaround I am using an IFTTT applet that sets the home as empty when I exit the area surronding my house. It is not perfect, but it works better that Welcome camera's native geofencing.
Honestly I would not recommend buyng a welcome camera because of the many software defects which prevent it from being a great product and also because the support is questionable.
camillo777
Posts: 54
Joined: 14 Nov 2016, 12:31

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by camillo777 »

Hi, I am experiencing also the "Set away if not seen for N hours" is not working.
I am at home even after 3 or 8 hours even if it is set for 2 hours.
This is really annoying and it is not clear to me what is happening...
Is it in the app or in the camera software?
ubik
Posts: 152
Joined: 20 Sep 2016, 10:45

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by ubik »

Anyone cares at Netatmo?
What a poor support service from Netatmo, no reply neither from support page nor from this forum!
Florian Netatmo
Posts: 74
Joined: 19 Mar 2015, 18:17

Re: Geofencing and timeout

Post by Florian Netatmo »

Dear ubik and camillo,

Sorry for the delayed response.

Let me explain more deeply how it works.

First of all, there are 2 ways to be considered "At Home": being recognized by Welcome or setting it up manually. No geofencing here, even for profiles with the "This is me" feature enabled.

Then, to be considered "Away", 2 scenarios :
- Profiles using the geofencing with the "This is me" feature
In that case, the "Consider people away after N hours" is not taken into account anymore. Welcome waits for the GPS's out-of-zone signal to consider someone "Away" or 24 hours without activity.
- Profiles not using "This is me"
In that case, the "Consider people away after N hours" applies.

Now, concerning the troubles you are experiencing, could you please check if the location of your home is correct? To do so, go to the Settings -> Select your Home -> Location

Let me know if it works.

Florian
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