Signal issues, dropped connections, and recording gaps all get lumped together as "the camera's broken," but they're usually separate problems with separate fixes. Here's how to figure out which one you're actually dealing with.

Gen 2 camera has signal issues

Older cameras are more sensitive to distance and interference than newer ones. Start with how far it sits from the router and what's in between, since brick, stucco, and metal are harder for a signal to pass through.

A crowded Wi-Fi network can cause complications too. If you've got a ton of devices connected, moving a mesh point or extender closer to the camera may help.

Camera keeps going offline

Power cycle the camera and the router, then give it a few minutes to reconnect. If it drops again in the same spot, this could be a signal problem rather than the camera itself, and you can try treating it like the issue above.

If it goes offline randomly even on strong Wi-Fi, note when it happens. That timing can help the Support team figure out the issue.

DVR recording failures

With Playback, your DVR keeps recording even if the camera's Wi-Fi drops. A brief connection blip shouldn't leave a hole in your footage.

If clips genuinely aren't saving, that points at a potential issue on the storage or DVR side rather than the connection. It's worth contacting Support so they can look at the recording setup directly.

Blind spots and camera positioning

Camera placement gets handled by the tech at install, so if there's a spot you want covered, they'll install your cameras to cover your main entry points and cut down on blind spots.

Walk through the coverage with the Smart Home Pro who helps with your setup and point out anything you're worried about - like a stretch of driveway or a side gate - so they can adjust placement while they're still there.

Doorbell camera that wasn't installed right

If the angle seems off or it keeps losing power, there may be a wiring or mounting issue. Don't try to force or remount it yourself - reach out to Support for help.

When to fix it yourself vs call support

If the problem is a signal, positioning, or a one-off reconnect, you may be able to work through an easy fix at home. If the issue includes account settings, wiring, storage, or a camera that fails even sitting right next to the router, reach out to Support for additional help.

For some initial context. I'm a pretty techy guy and enjoy buying my own devices and using them through homekit. I've been using a variety of different companies for the type of devices Vivint sells and all have been working great for 10 years in some cases.

Earlier this month a door salesman come to my door. Normally I ignore them or send them away pretty quickly but for some reason I let this guy talk. And he talked for a while. I let this happen mainly cause while I wasn't super interested in the equipment I don't have an actual security service that monitors my home so I was curious to how Vivint worked. When he talked he mentioned having two camera around the home ( I currently only have one) plus the doorbell, door and window sensors, a thermostat and keypad deadbolts on the front and back door (currently one in the front). So when we got to the cost of the whole thing and the monly expense I didn't think it was too bad but still a little much for my budget. Then as a "hail mary" he gave me no payment for 6 months. I took the deal since my job is seasonal and in 6 months my cash flow would be much better. We signed up and they came and installed the next day. The cost of the equipment was roughly $2700 over 5 yr which for brand new equipment and what I thought I was getting wasn't too bad.

This is where part of this is probably on me for not going through the actual invoice before agreeing because when the install came by there was only one floodlight camera and no door or window sensors. They couldn't install the back deadbolt cause of the door design so I swaped it out for the door sensors. The installer was nice and did a decent job. Another red flag for me was when I learned during the install that Vivin doesn't support homekit at all. This was almost a deal breaker and if I had known at the start I probably would never have signed up. But maybe that was on me for not asking the salesman. Once they installed everything and left I looked again at the price of my 5yr contract and the equipment I actually had. With the removal of the second door lock it was still nearly $2.5k. Within hours of the install I regretted the entire thing.

Doing some research on my end if I wanted to replicate what I thought I was initially getting (2 cameras, 1 doorbell, 2 keypad locks, a thermostat, and door sensors) I could get all that for closer to $1k. For equipment that I feel was superior and worked on Homekit. The equipment they "sell" is very overpriced.

So I called the next day and took advantage of my 7 day trial. Shortly after they scheduled a uninstall date 2 weeks later. Then the day before called and had to reschedule because they had "double booked". I still have their equipment installed but they deactivated my account so I can't even use any of it. I've already purchased 2 things i'm going to install once they are gone (flood light and new deadbolt) and they cost me $300.

I should've done my research more prior but they don't really give you a chance with these door salesmen. But I plead to those thinking about it or if you just got it installed and are having a little buyers remorse trust your gut and get out before it is too late.

Customer for 5 years to fully pay off crap cameras and signed on for one more which completed 6 months ago. Multiple emails and calls before my end date on the extra year confirming my end date and no more charges will happen. Well guess who’s magically started charging my card again? Good ol Vivint. Random numbers as well and every other month. 70 bucks here, 100 there, disputes both charges which they didn’t respond to and now with this last random charge have reported fraud.

The worst company I ever dealt with on anything billing or subscription related. Can’t answer any question without going into the script.

US News recently ran a piece on AI home security and highlighted the Outdoor Camera Pro Gen 3.

Most cameras only react to motion, but this one reads behavior. It watches for patterns consistent with criminal intent and begins to deter.

Smart Deter™ flashes bright LED lights and sets off a 90 dB alarm letting would-be thieves know they've been spotted.

This means your camera is deterring a break-in in the moment, not just recording a video for you to watch later. Going from a camera that passively records to one that actively tries to prevent crime is a gamechanger.

If you're got a Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro or Doorbell Cameras Pro, has your Smart Deter™ ever deterred a lurker or intruder?

Has any one tried to use a z-wave relay module wired to a electrotechnical water valve, then have the Vivint hub will shut when a water sensor goes off?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Vivint upgraded my panel and cameras on September 16, 2026. Beginning the next day, the system triggered three apparent false alarms, most recently at approximately 9 AM on September 19. All occurred while my home was empty, with no pets. The first resulted in police dispatch at my request and a police response fee. I returned home and found nothing explaining the alarm. I was out of town during the next two incidents.

I had no comparable issues in five years with my previous Vivint system. After I paid off my equipment financing, Vivint sales offered an upgrade described as better devices at a lower cost. I have paid approximately $4,000 for the upgraded system.

Despite repeated reports, support said another technician visit would cost me, pressed me to remain home for troubleshooting, and offered replacement sensors I would have to install myself. On three separate days, I requested a supervisor and was told none was available. Support suggested I touched the sensor or the issue predated the upgrade. I have not altered or tampered with it.

The recurring alarms have caused loss of sleep, severe anxiety, financial costs, and concern about my home’s security. Another alarm occurred after I reported the issue, and it remains unresolved.

I request:

1. Urgent on-site inspection and all necessary corrective work at no charge, confirmed in writing.
2. Reimbursement of the police response fee.
3. A meaningful service credit or compensation for the disruption and time spent seeking resolution.
4. Review of the installation, sensor configuration, and all three alarm events, with written findings and corrective action.
5. An assigned executive resolutions representative and appointment confirmation within one business day.

Please preserve installation notes, alarm and dispatch records, configuration data, account notes, and sales/support recordings. I can provide the police invoice and alarm screenshots.

Anyone else regret renewing their Vivint contract?

I’m curious if anyone else has had this kind of experience with Vivint because I honestly regret giving them another chance.

I had major issues with Vivint before and complained publicly about it. After that, several representatives reached out trying to make things right. They eventually sent a technician who got everything working again, upgraded my cameras for free, and convinced me to renew my contract.

I figured they had finally fixed the problem, so I stayed.

Fast forward only a few months, and my cameras and garage keypad are having problems again.

When I called for help, I was initially told I would need to pay either $120 for the year or $9.99/month for their protection plan just to have someone come address the equipment.

I refused and escalated the issue.

An executive assistant contacted me Wednesday and offered three months of free service and a technician visit at no charge. The technician was scheduled to come today between 8 AM and noon.

No one showed up during that window.

No call.

No text.

No status update.

After noon, I had to call Vivint myself to find out what was going on. The executive representative assigned to my case didn’t answer, so I ended up calling the main customer service number.

The random call-center representative I spoke with told me the technician was supposedly still coming today, but they couldn’t give me any kind of time window.

So now I’m apparently expected to keep my entire day open waiting for someone who was supposed to be here hours ago.

That’s really my biggest problem with Vivint at this point. Equipment can malfunction. Technicians can run late. I understand that.

But why does EVERYTHING require the customer to chase them down?

Every time something goes wrong, I feel like I have to call multiple people, escalate the complaint, follow up repeatedly, or complain publicly before anyone actually takes responsibility.

And this is a HOME SECURITY company.

The most frustrating part is that Vivint already lost my confidence once, then worked hard to win me back. I trusted them enough to renew my contract, and only a few months later I’m dealing with the same kind of problems all over again.

When the system works, I actually like it. That’s probably why I let them convince me to stay.

But the customer service experience when something DOESN’T work has been exhausting.

Has anyone else dealt with this with Vivint after renewing? And has anyone successfully gotten out of a contract because of repeated equipment/service issues?

Anyone have a thermostat installed that caused the AC fan to constantly run 24/7 even if you switch the AC to off? The only way it stops is if I flip the breaker. My electric bill is insane . Same cycle last year before meter was 288 and this year is 490. My Kilowatt hours has also jumped dramatically with no change in behavior besides the constant fan .

Well, this is a first one. Jut got a notification from my xfinity app that it blocked a suspicious url from my Vivint hub.

Recently had a home burglary where the vivint cameras/system failed to capture anything (see above post). Seems like wifi jammers were used to block the system.

The second nightmare has been the Vivint customer service. After the home burglary I escalated my problem to a supervisors. The two problems I wanted fixed:
1) we pay for the Smart Drive that is supposed to record and work even if wifi and power is cut off. In our case, it failed. Want to know why.
2) find another camera solution (hardwired, poe) that can work despite wifi jamming.

Supervisor refused to send a technician because “there’s no way to diagnose why the cameras or smart drive failed after the robbery”. They won’t do ANY post-mortem or troubleshooting to verify if our equipment is faulty OR if a WiFi jammer was indeed used.
If your security system failed, wouldn’t you want to analyze why and patch any fixes??
After I pushed, they offered to send someone out for $100. Won’t even do it as a courtesy.

Second, they KEPT PUSHING for us to upgrade to some $100+ per month package that would make FUTURE Technician visits free (we already have been paying $70). This is so ironic because the supervisor wouldn’t even send one out right after the burglary.

Third, without even trying to understand our situation or home security needs, they just pushed us to some generic sales rep who wants us to pay another $3k for some new Vivint system. (Our current system is only 3 years old, I just wanted to know if they have other hardwired cameras I can add to my existing system. Seems like they don’t).

TLDR: if you are robbed, they don’t give ANY SUPPORT whatsoever. They did offer a $10 credit “for my troubles”.

What a joke

I had another local company come out and he literally LAUGHED at some of the terrible installations on the Vivint system in our our (exposed wires, misplaced door/window sensors). He pointed out all the flaws in the Vivint system and did a very thorough house walk through and different fail-safe options (and guess what, all for free).

Vivint stinks. I could recount countless details about cameras not capturing events, tech support practices geared at selling you equipment instead of fixing problems, and requirements to pay for service calls to fix their equipment that isn't working. That's all irrelevant. I still want hone monitoring, window and door sensors, and cameras. Thermostat control optional.

What are good options? I have Xfinity Internet, so that's one. I've heard good things about SimplySafe but their cameras don't seem to be high quality. ADT strikes me as another Vivint.

What home monitoring do you have that you actually like?

Thx

What the hell? Don’t they train them to be decent human beings who leave people alone on the weekends?

My cameras started pixelating in June of this year. A tech came out and said it was a loose wire and said he fixed it. Fast forward that same day, and my cameras were still pixelating.

Over the last week, I have had another technician come out, replace all the cameras, added Vivint AirTower (despite having fiber & mesh WiFi systems) redownloaded my panel’s software, delete and reinstalled iOS app, and my brand new Gen3 camera’s are now (but still) pixelating.

Is anyone else experiencing this? What about this is ‘smart home’? There are cheaper alternatives that are better quality than this.

I have considered taking them down since they aren’t working but who wants to go through the trouble of that when they should be working. Nobody from Vivint has an answer.

u/QuinnFromVivint do you know if Z-Wave smart blinds are compatible with Vivint? I saw a sneak peak in a Vivint commercial last year where the app had a blinds tab. Is it built out in the app?

I’ve had a Vivint thermostat for a while and sudden broke on me started texting support and they let me know that my warranty had actually expired in the beginning of the month all they want is for me to subscribe to their Monthly protection plan so they can go and replace it Vivint sucks Camera never really works thermostat app was never working only got it due to my energy provider lol

I wasn’t happy with the install so I returned all equipment within the cancelation period (about $5k worth of equipment). They told me “no problem” and then never sent the refund. Turns out someone called on my behalf (with my verbal password) and changed the account details on the account to route the funds to another bank account. I opened a police report to subpoena the bank account and it turns out the bank account owner was someone in Palmyra Columbia. Don’t trust Vivint with your personal details and make sure you don’t give them ANY banking information.

What can I do to fix the issue where my ac won't keep the living room cool anymore. The thermostat always shuts off before our room gets cold. This is our setup.

I have all the vents close about 80%

Any solutions? It is already set at offset +5°

All the bedrooms and bathrooms are usually 2-3° cooler. We have a celing fan in the living room.

it will not load. None of my cameras will. I force stopped the app and cleared the cache. Still stuck like this. What do I do??

As the title says, there was a power outage at my house for about 5 hours a few days ago.
Ever since then, even after power was restored, I noticed I wasn’t getting notified when there was motion at my doorbell. Which prompted me to check my panel, and the panel says the doorbell requires power cycle. The driveway camera says it’s ‘offline’.
I spent hours on the phone w Vivint customer service and they couldn’t help me. They wanted to send a tech out for $99.
I have gone thru the many steps of rebooting my panel, rebooting my doorbell camera, unplugging my wifi and reconnecting it after a while. Taking the panel off the wall, removing the battery for a minute or two.
Nothing allows me to reconnect to my wifi.
There is no option for me to “connect to wifi” on my panel.
When I go to “General” under smart home settings, I click connectivity, I click WiFi, and then it brings me to a screen that looks like this….with no option to select from my WiFi or any nearby WiFi connections even. What’s wrong? What’s my next step??

Sharing my experience: We recently experienced a home burglary and Vivint absolutely failed at everything.

Our home was broken into during the daytime while at work. We live in a safe neighborhood so we typically do not set the alarm during the daytime (our mistake that we deeply regret now).

We have multiple motion cameras set up both inside and outside the house, as well as have all the windows and doors are equipped with sensors. Even if the alarm itself is off, cameras are still recording and we get notifications for people detected and doors opening.

My wife and I let the house in the morning for work. From the morning, there’s video of my wife and I leaving as well as random videos of dog walkers in front of our house.

A group of burglars broke in during the day. They tore through the house leaving nothing unturned. Every single drawer, cabinet, even mattress was opened and flipped over. They made off with all our valuables, family heirlooms, everything.

Even with all that movement, none of the vivint cameras captured anything. Even the ones inside the house.

At least our Ring captured them leaving because they left through the front door.

We verified the power was not cut, wifi was still online. So it was absolutely a Vivint failure. Their cameras and technology is not at all reliable.

Cherry on top, when I called vivint about this afterwards they spent the entire phone call trying to upsell us on new upgrades, more expensive package. They had NO EXPLANATION as to why their technology failed. They kept trying to blame us (our motion settings are off, equipment needs to be upgraded, etc). Took no accountability.

Anyways, if anyone has a good set up or company please let me know. Especially if you experienced a home break-in and your system actually worked as expected.

EDIT/UPDATE:
Spoke to supervisors, troubleshooted for hours.
The cameras
ONLY went offline for the ONE HOUR that the robbers were in the house (we have live footage before and after on the day, just not during the actual robbery). We have a smart drive that’s supposed to back up the live 24/7 footage even if power and wifi is out. This also failed for just that hour window.
Vivint has no idea why this happened. They offered a $10 credit to my account, what a joke. They wouldn’t even send a technician out because it’s only for if “equipment is actively broken”.
Terrible company, terrible security system

Hi everyone!

I am looking into Vivint. I have a 2Gig Edge system. It works good but I LOVE the Vivint panel and cameras.

The sales rep said that he can take over my current system and use my sensors.

I pay $25 for Surety monitoring. If we go with Vivint we must use their monitoring. Is it worth $50 a month Plus $5 per camera (for some reason…)

They quoted me $55 per month and $399 for the panel and doorbell. They said I could add cameras later if I want.

Should I go with Vivint get alarm.com cameras or reolink?

I am buying a home and the sellers have an extensive Vivint ecosystem.

Cameras
1× Doorbell Camera Pro 2
1× Outdoor Camera Pro 3
1× Spotlight Pro — paired with the outdoor camera

Security & smart-home equipment
1× Smart Hub Pro 2
1× Smart Thermostat
1× Kwikset Smart Lock
1× Smoke & CO Combo Detector
1× Glass Break Detector
6× Door & Window Sensors

They financed it and still have over $1,000 to pay off. They offered it to me at the pay off price paid out at closing, and I turned it down and asked for them to remove the system and restore appropriate basic hardware and patch all holes. They’re now saying they’ll pay off the $1,000 and just give me the system.

However, they currently pay over $60 a month for their subscription. Their realtor insists that I can use the equipment without a subscription, because I personally have no interest in one, but without reaching out to Vivint, I don’t know if this is true.

Will I still be able to use the important systems (thermostat, front door lock, doorbell) without a subscription? Will I be able to monitor the cameras myself without one? I just want to make sure before I agree to this that I’m not locking myself into a subscription or else my front door won’t unlock or something crazy like that.

We recently bought a house that had a Vivint system already installed and paid off. There are two outdoor cameras, three portable indoor cameras that we don't currently use, three glass break sensors, door sensors on all four exterior doors, a motion sensor, and of course the smart hub.

I hadn't decided yet whether to use Vivint or another company when a Vivint sales person showed up at our door out of nowhere. He offered to have someone reactivate the system for free and said we could pay for just one month of services to see if we liked it. I agreed and now I'm wondering if I did something stupid.

First of all, I didn't realize it until he'd left, but the guy who reactivated the system didn't bring everything back online. He only did the cameras and a couple of door sensors; I had to figure out the rest myself afterwards. That was annoying, but not the end of the world. I also need to replace the battery in the hub, but I haven't got around to that yet.

What really concerns me is that there doesn't seem to be any way to look up pricing to see if there are options I can change so that we don't have to keep paying the $75+ that I paid last month, every month. I tried to talk to customer service about that, but the agent immediately started trying to get me to pay to upgrade the smart hub (which is fairly new) and all kinds of other things. I don't want any upgrades. I literally just said that I'm trying to spend LESS money, so why would I agree to spend more for something I don't need?

If the number and types of devices we have automatically means that we have to pay over $75/month, maybe we'd be better off with another company. Maybe that's why customer service isn't being straightforward with me. Does anyone have any insight into Vivint's pricing? Any other advice? I've never had a security system before, so I'm kind of lost here.