How to Fix Delayed Notifications from Your Kasa Camera
A Kasa smart camera provides peace of mind by alerting you to activity around your home, but that peace of mind is compromised when notifications are delayed. If you're getting an alert about a package delivery after the driver has already left, or a notification about movement at your door minutes after it happened, it's time to troubleshoot the problem.
This guide will help you identify the common causes of notification delays with Kasa cameras and provide step-by-step solutions to get your alerts back to real-time.
## Understanding the Cause of Delays
The journey of a notification from your Kasa camera to your phone involves several steps, and a bottleneck at any point can cause a delay. The most common culprit is almost always network latency. This can be a weak Wi-Fi signal at the camera, a slow internet upload speed, or a poor connection on your phone.
## Step 1: Check the Camera's Wi-Fi Signal Strength
Your camera needs a strong and stable connection to your router to send alerts instantly.
- Open the Kasa Smart app and tap on your camera.
- Go to the camera's Settings (the gear icon in the top right).
- Tap on Device Info.
- Look for the Wi-Fi Signal Strength or RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value.
- Excellent: A signal of 90% or higher is ideal.
- Good: 70-89% is generally fine for reliable operation.
- Poor: If your signal is below 70%, this is very likely the cause of your delays. The camera is struggling to send data, resulting in late notifications.
How to Improve a Weak Signal:
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to the camera.
- If you can't move the router, consider installing a Wi-Fi range extender or upgrading to a mesh Wi-Fi system to provide better coverage to the camera's location.
## Step 2: Test Your Internet Upload Speed
Your internet connection's upload speed is crucial for security cameras. This determines how quickly the camera can send video and alert data to the Kasa cloud.
- Connect your phone to the same Wi-Fi network as your camera.
- Use a speed test app or website to check your internet speed.
- Pay close attention to the upload speed. Kasa cameras need at least 2-4 Mbps of upload speed per camera to function smoothly. If your upload speed is very low, your camera will struggle to send alerts in a timely fashion. You may need to contact your internet provider to discuss a better plan.
## Step 3: Optimise Your Phone's Settings
The issue might be with your phone's ability to receive the notification promptly.
- Switch between Wi-Fi and Mobile Data: If your phone is on a congested or slow Wi-Fi network, it can delay notifications. Try switching to your 4G or 5G mobile data to see if alerts come through faster.
- Disable Battery Saving Modes: Both Android and iOS have battery optimisation features that can "put apps to sleep" to save power, which is a major cause of delayed push notifications.
- On Android: Go to Settings > Apps > Kasa Smart. In the 'Battery' section, select 'Unrestricted'.
- On iOS: Disable 'Low Power Mode' and ensure 'Background App Refresh' is enabled for the Kasa Smart app under Settings > General.
- Update the Kasa App: Make sure you are running the most recent version of the Kasa Smart app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
## Step 4: Reboot Your System
A classic troubleshooting step that often works wonders is to restart your devices. This can clear temporary glitches in the software or network stack.
- Unplug your Kasa camera from the power source.
- Unplug your internet modem and your Wi-Fi router.
- Wait for about 60 seconds.
- Plug the modem in first and wait for all its lights to become stable.
- Plug the router in and wait for it to fully boot up.
- Finally, plug your Kasa camera back in and wait for it to reconnect.
By systematically checking your camera's Wi-Fi signal, verifying your internet speed, and optimising your phone's settings, you can resolve the frustrating issue of delayed notifications and ensure your Kasa camera alerts you the moment something happens.