How to Fix Delayed Notifications from Your Yi Camera
A security camera's value depends on timely alerts. When you receive a notification for motion that happened minutes ago, it can be both frustrating and concerning. This delay, often called lag or latency, means the person or event that triggered the alert could be long gone by the time you see it.
This guide will explain the common causes of notification lag with Yi and Kami cameras and provide you with clear, actionable steps to make your alerts arrive faster.
Understanding the Notification Journey
To troubleshoot the delay, it helps to understand the path an alert takes to get to you:
- Motion Detected: Your Yi camera detects movement.
- Video Uploaded: The camera uploads a short video clip of the event to Yi's cloud servers.
- Processing: The Yi servers process the clip and generate a push notification.
- Notification Sent: The notification is sent via Apple's or Google's push notification service to your phone.
- Alert Received: Your phone receives the notification and alerts you.
A delay can happen at any stage of this journey, but it's most often caused by a slow link between steps 1 and 3.
Step-by-Step Guide to Reducing Notification Lag
Work through these solutions to improve the speed of your alerts.
1. Check the Camera's Wi-Fi Connection
This is the most common cause of lag. A weak Wi-Fi signal means it takes a long time for the camera to upload the video clip to the cloud.
- Check Signal Strength: Open the Yi Home app, go to your camera's Settings > Device Info. Look for the Wi-Fi Signal Strength. If it's "Weak" or only one or two bars, you've likely found your problem.
- Improve the Signal:
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to the camera.
- Move the camera closer to your router.
- If you can't move either, consider a Wi-Fi extender or a mesh Wi-Fi system to improve coverage in that area.
2. Reboot Your Network and Camera
A simple reboot can clear up network congestion and temporary glitches.
- Unplug your Yi camera.
- Unplug your internet modem and router.
- Wait for 60 seconds.
- Plug the modem back in first and wait for it to come online.
- Plug the router back in and wait for it to start up.
- Finally, plug your camera back in.
3. Adjust Camera Settings
- Reduce Video Quality: If your network is struggling, recording at a lower resolution can help. In the camera settings, if you are recording in "HD" (1080p), try switching to "SD" (720p). The smaller file size will upload faster, resulting in a quicker notification.
- Alert Frequency: In the Smart Detection settings, if your Alert Frequency is set to "Low," it introduces an intentional "cool-down" period between alerts. For the fastest possible alerts, set this to "High," but be aware you may get more notifications.
4. Check Your Phone's Settings
Sometimes the delay isn't the network, but your phone's operating system.
- Disable Battery Optimization: Both Android and iOS use battery-saving features that can delay notifications from apps that aren't used frequently. Go into your phone's settings, find the Yi Home app, and make sure it is exempt from any battery optimization or "deep sleep" features.
- Check Notification Permissions: Ensure the Yi Home app has full permission to send you notifications immediately.
- Check Your Phone's Connection: If your phone is on a weak Wi-Fi or cellular data connection, it will be slow to receive the notification.
By strengthening the Wi-Fi link to your camera and ensuring your phone is set to receive alerts promptly, you can significantly reduce notification lag and get alerts that are timely and actionable.