Site Camera Troubleshooting Guide

Note

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	Verify camera is powered on and connected to network. If possible, turn the camera off, and on again.
	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)	Try resubmitting original camera authentication details. 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	Follow guide here to set Unifi camera to Standalone Mode. Copy RTSP URL from the camera's web server and add that stream into the Add Cameras module.
	You are trying to add a third-party camera but don't have the camera's username/password, or the RTSP URL	If the username and password has been changed from the default and misplaced, it may be that the only option is to perform a factory reset of the camera and then use the default. If the camera is new and no configuration changes have taken place, the default username and password should still apply. The RTSP URL will remain the same in either case. This information should be available on the camera manufacturer's website or in the camera user manual.
No Video Feed or "Camera Offline" error	Camera physically disconnected or powered off	Verify that camera is powered on and connected to the network. If possible, turn the camera off, and on again.
	Camera has incorrect network settings	Verify IT settings and any specific firewall or VLAN settings. Check if the camera's IP settings has changed recently, and update the IP address.
	Gateway is offline or disconnected	Refer to the Sites Gateway Troubleshooting for more information.
Streams are live but showing black screen	Incorrect video encoding	Adjust camera's video settings to .h264, lower resolution. Disable any third party camera optimizations or encoding enhancements.
Playback is laggy or loading poorly	Network Issues (Limited Bandwidth, etc)	Check if streams are loading on default resolution. Verify network settings and bandwidth speeds are within acceptable ranges (www.speedtest.net). Verify that streams are not being viewed on multiple devices or browser tabs. Connect cameras directly to the 8 port switch at the back of the Gateway.
Playback is laggy or loading poorly	Viewing device has poor connectivity or playback	Confirm that you are using an updated version of Chrome or Firefox. Follow our guide to clear cache and update your browser. If problem persists, try a different device or network.
Streams are monochrome or in low-light mode	Low-light functionality being incorrectly triggered	Adjust infrared/low light settings in camera settings. Verify the 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.
Online cameras showing offline on the dashboard	Time drift	For more information, see Online cameras showing offline on the dashboard
Samsara camera asking for username and password	This is not expected behavior, the root cause of this is currently under investigation by our Engineering team.	Reach out to sites-support@samsara.com to resolve. Provide the following information: Gateway and camera information Date and time of the event
Camera not self-discovering	Camera is offline or not on the correct network Self discovery tool failure	For more information, see Problem: Camera Did Not Self-Discover.
Camera footage is blurry	Camera requires manual focus adjustment.	Reach out to sites-support@samsara.com to resolve.
Camera feed displays a pink overlay	Camera feed may be impaired and need manual adjustment.	Inspect the camera lens to ensure it is clean and there are no obstructions. Reboot the camera. If the Samsara dashboard continues to display the still for the camera feed with a pink overlay, reach out to sites-support@samsara.com.

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