No Contract. No Footage. No Point.
You paid full price for SimpliSafe cameras that paywall video saving behind a monthly subscription. Without the plan, they do not save footage. With the plan, they disconnect from Wi-Fi and miss the event anyway. You bought the hardware. You are renting the right to use it.
The Problems SimpliSafe Customers Keep Reporting
These are the five problems SimpliSafe customers report most often - across Trustpilot, Reddit, and SimpliSafe's own support forums.
Cameras disconnect, miss events, and only capture people walking away.
Users frequently report cameras disconnecting from Wi-Fi, failing to record in time, or only capturing the back of someone as they walk away. The motion trigger fires too late, or the camera was offline when the event happened. Sensors go offline, trigger random alarms, and need frequent resets - customers describe the system as requiring constant "babysitting" to stay functional.
This is not a setup problem. It is a fundamental limitation of wireless, Wi-Fi-dependent consumer hardware. A camera that needs resetting every few days is not protecting your property on the days it is offline. For why hardwired systems avoid this entirely: PoE vs Wi-Fi comparison.
"No contract" - but the cameras are useless without a subscription.
Despite being marketed as contract-free, key features like saving video clips, event history, and smart-home integrations all require a paid monitoring plan. Without a subscription, your cameras offer live view only - no saved footage, no history, no evidence. You paid full price for the hardware and it becomes significantly less useful the moment you stop paying monthly.
This is the same model as Ring and every other consumer camera brand: sell you hardware at a premium, then charge you monthly for the ability to actually use it. The "no contract" marketing is technically true - you can cancel the subscription. You just cannot use what you bought.
Prices rise every year. Loyal customers get the worst deals.
Long-time customers complain about monitoring prices increasing almost every year, with little or nothing offered to retain them. Meanwhile, new customers get aggressive discounts on hardware and plan pricing that existing customers cannot access. You pay more per month the longer you stay - the opposite of how loyalty should work.
"Have you tried resetting it?" That is the support experience.
Reviews highlight long waits on hold, repeated troubleshooting scripts that do not resolve the actual issue, and staff who cannot fix underlying technical problems. Some customers describe feeling misled or poorly treated when cancelling - including one case where an entire system configuration was deleted after ending the monitoring plan.
For a system that is supposed to be protecting your home, "have you tried resetting it" is not an acceptable answer to a camera that keeps going offline.
The system misses real events. You think you are protected. You are not.
The app and newer AI features are criticised as buggy: setup loops, difficulty recognising devices, and lag when arming or disarming the system. Some users report the system missing events entirely - a garage door left open all night despite the system being armed, alerts that never fire, notifications that arrive minutes late.
A security system that misses events is worse than no system at all - it gives you a false sense of protection. You go to bed thinking everything is armed and monitored. It is not.
SimpliSafe Is Not Cheap Once You Add the Subscription
SimpliSafe: hardware + subscription over 5 years
Hardware: £200-500+ for a starter kit with cameras and sensors
Monitoring plan: £12-25/month for video saving, smart features, and professional monitoring
Annual price rises: monitoring fees increase almost every year with no improvement in service
Without a plan: no saved video, no event history, no smart integrations. Hardware functionality gutted.
5-year total: £920-2,000+ (hardware + subscriptions + price rises)
Doberman: one-off purchase, yours forever
Hardware and installation: £950-2,500 for a 3-6 camera PoE system, fully installed, with NVR and 30-day local recording
Monthly fees: zero. Local recording. No cloud. No subscription.
Without a plan: there is no plan. Every feature works from day one, forever.
Recording: continuous 24/7. Every camera, all the time, for 30 days.
One-off cost: £950-2,500. You own everything. Every feature included.
A professional CCTV system costs roughly the same as 3-5 years of SimpliSafe hardware plus subscriptions - except you own it outright, it records continuously, it does not disconnect from Wi-Fi, and there is no monthly fee to keep it working. For a detailed cost breakdown: CCTV costs in Leicester.
SimpliSafe vs What We Install
| SimpliSafe | Doberman | |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | Event clips (subscription) | Continuous 24/7 |
| Storage | Cloud (paid plan required) | Local NVR (no fees) |
| Connection | Wi-Fi dependent | Hardwired PoE |
| Video without plan | Live view only, no saves | 30 days stored locally |
| Night vision | Basic consumer IR | 25m+ commissioned after dark |
| Monthly cost | £12-25+/mo, rising yearly | Zero |
| Smart features | Paywalled behind plan tier | All included, no plan |
| Sensor reliability | Wireless, frequent dropouts | Hardwired, zero dropouts |
What You Get Instead
Hardwired PoE camera systems using UniFi Protect equipment. Every camera runs on a single Cat6 cable - no Wi-Fi, no batteries, no disconnections. The system records continuously to a local NVR inside your property. Every feature works without a subscription.
Cameras that never disconnect
Hardwired PoE means power and data on a single Cat6 cable. No Wi-Fi dependency, no signal drops, no "babysitting". The camera runs 24/7 regardless of what else is on your network. No resets. No reconnecting. No gaps.
Every feature included. No plan required.
Video saving, 30-day history, motion detection, AI alerts, remote access - all included from day one with no subscription. There is no "basic" tier. There is no paywall. You paid for the system. It works.
Evidence-quality footage, not motion clips
4K continuous recording with matched lenses. Identifiable faces at 8-15 metres. 25m+ night vision verified after dark on your property. Not a motion clip that starts too late and shows the back of someone's head.
One person who fixes it the same week
The person who surveys your property is the person who designs, installs, and supports your system. No hold queues, no troubleshooting scripts, no "have you tried resetting it". Local to Leicester.
Why Customers Switch from DIY Systems
"Had SimpliSafe for two years. The outdoor camera disconnected at least once a week. When someone actually tried our side gate at 3am, the camera was offline. The Doberman system has not dropped once since install - and it records everything, not just motion clips."
- Homeowner, Oadby, 2025
"I was paying £20 a month to SimpliSafe just to save video clips. The Doberman system records 24/7 to a box in my cupboard. No subscription. No cloud. I should have skipped the DIY phase entirely."
- Homeowner, Wigston, 2024
The pattern
Customers come to us after 1-3 years with consumer wireless systems. The story is always the same: the cameras disconnect, the footage is not good enough when something happens, and the subscription costs add up to the point where professional CCTV would have been cheaper from the start.
When SimpliSafe Is the Right Choice
We would rather be honest than oversell you. There are situations where a DIY system like SimpliSafe genuinely makes more sense than professional CCTV.
You are renting
No drilling, no cable runs, take it with you when you move. For a rented flat where the landlord will not allow permanent installation, wireless DIY is your only realistic option.
You want a basic alarm, not CCTV
If all you need is entry sensors and a siren - not cameras, not evidence, not footage - a simple wireless alarm is cheaper and adequate. Do not spend £1,500 on cameras if a £200 alarm solves the actual problem.
Budget is genuinely limited right now
If the choice is between a £200 SimpliSafe kit today and no security at all, get the SimpliSafe. Something watching is better than nothing watching. You can always upgrade later when circumstances allow.
The SimpliSafe Cycle Every Customer Knows
Buy a SimpliSafe kit for £200-400. Easy setup. Feels like a smart DIY move.
Discover you need the £12-25/month plan to save any video or use smart features.
Cameras disconnect from Wi-Fi. Reset them. They disconnect again. Reset them again.
Something happens. The camera was offline, or the clip starts too late, or there is no saved footage.
Price rises. New customers get better deals. You are paying more for the same problems.
You search "CCTV installer Leicester" and find us.
From DIY to Real CCTV in 3 Steps
Free site survey
We visit your property, assess coverage zones, identify camera positions, and design a system around your specific layout. We will tell you honestly whether professional CCTV makes sense or whether your current setup is adequate.
Install day
Cat6 cable runs through walls and soffits. Cameras mounted at 3m+ height. NVR set up inside your property. The person who designed your system is the person who installs it - no subcontractors.
Night commissioning
We return after dark to verify every camera view in real conditions. IR range, street lamp glare, facial identification distance - all checked and adjusted. Your system is not finished until it works at night.
Skip the Subscription. Own the System.
One-time cost. No monthly fees. No feature tiers. No paywalls. Hardware-only pricing - installation quoted after your free site survey.
3-camera
~£950
inc. VAT
5-camera
~£1,900
inc. VAT
10-camera
~£3,520
inc. VAT
Every system includes UniFi Protect cameras, UNVR recorder with local storage, MicroSD failover on each camera, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. 2-year warranty on all equipment.
What SimpliSafe Cannot Guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
Not happy within 30 days? We remove everything, make good the fixings, and refund in full. No subscription to cancel. No configuration deleted out of spite.
2-year warranty
All equipment covered for two years. If a camera fails, we replace it. No hold queues, no troubleshooting scripts, no weeks-long wait for a fix.
Night commissioning included
Every system verified after dark. IR range, facial ID distance, glare - all checked in real nighttime conditions. Not a camera you stuck on the wall and hoped for the best.
Zero features behind a paywall
Video saving, motion alerts, remote access, AI detection, 30-day history - every feature works the day we install it and every day after. There is no plan. There is no tier. It just works.