This is a troubleshooting guide for Samsara and Third Party Cameras on our Sites platform. If you are unable to restore functionality of your Sites cameras, please reach out to our Support team through sites-support@samsara.com and detail the troubleshooting steps followed. 

Problem Description

Possible Causes

Steps to Resolve

Unable to activate or add camera

Camera physically disconnected

  1. Verify camera is powered on and connected to network.

  2. Power cycle camera, if possible

Check Sites Gateway

Follow Sites Gateway Troubleshooting if Gateway is offline or not connecting. 

Camera on unique network settings

Verify IT settings and any specific firewall or VLAN settings. 

Connect cameras directly to 8 port switch behind gateway and attempt to reactivate. If activation succeeds, double check original network settings or set up additional cameras with direct connection.

Camera authentication required/reset (due to network or power outage)

  1. Try resubmitting original camera authentication details

  2. Submit manufacturer camera authentication details, if available

Duplicate camera IP already exists in organization

Reach out to sites-support@samsara.com to resolve

Unifi Camera unable to be added

  1. Follow guide here to set Unifi camera to Standalone Mode.

  2. Copy RTSP URL from the camera's web server and add that stream into the Add Cameras module.  

No Video Feed or "Camera Offline" error

Camera physically disconnected or powered off

  1. Verify camera is powered on and connected to network.

  2. Power cycle camera, if possible

Camera has incorrect network settings

  1. Verify IT settings and any specific firewall or VLAN settings

  2. Check if camera has changed IP settings recently and update IP in camera settings. 

Gateway is offline or disconnected

Follow Sites Gateway Troubleshooting if Gateway is offline or not connecting. 

Streams are live but showing black screen

Incorrect video encoding

  1. Adjust camera's video settings to .h264, lower resolution

  2. Disable any third party camera optimizations or encoding enhancements

Playback is laggy or loading poorly

Network Issues (Limited Bandwidth, etc)

  1. Check if streams are loading on default resolution

  2. Verify network settings and bandwidth speeds are within acceptable ranges (www.speedtest.net)

  3. Verify that streams are not being viewed on multiple devices or browser tabs

  4. Connect cameras directly to the 8 port switch at the back of the Gateway

Viewing device has poor connectivity or playback

  1. Confirm that you are using an updated version of Chrome or Firefox

  2. Follow our guide to clear cache and update your browser

  3. If problem persists, try different device or network

Streams are monochrome or in low-light mode

Low-light functionality being incorrectly triggered

  1. Adjust infrared/low light settings in camera settings

  2. Verify camera is not in range of reflective surfaces or other IR cameras

Unable to see some or all views

Device and Views are not tagged

(Requires Full-Admin) Verify that all cameras in the affected views are Tagged with the user's Tag permissions. Follow Set up Users with Roles and Tags  for setup and editing instructions.