New GL-A6Eb Live Stream not working
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John, as noted in my previous post, I tried a couple of new things today. My conclusion is the camera and or the antenna are defective. I now think the camera and the antenna are returns that were repackaged and sold to me as new. Please bear with me as I detail how I have come to that conclusion.
Just to eliminate another variable, today I purchased a new micro SD card. I bought a 64B, U3 Scandisk card. I replaced the original SD card I had purchased (a 128GB, U1 PNY card). I read that a U3 was better than a U1, a higher capacity card is not necessarily better and Scandisk makes a better card than PNY. I installed the card and formatted it. There was no change in camera operation. The Live Stream button was still gray with no functionality.
To clarify again, I am a repeat Spartan Camera customer. My first camera was a gift from my son. I activated it and installed it on our property in Jan 2024. It is a model GL-ALTEb. It has always worked great including the Live Stream. Our property is 2.5 hrs driving from our home. That is why I wanted to be sure my new camera, the GL-A6Eb model, worked before taking it up to and installing on the property. Access to the camera beyond that is not easy given the distance.
The second thing I did today was do a signal strength test. I was able to locate an area about 5 miles from our home that had a strong AT&T signal: 5 bars. I took my new camera to that location and set it up including hooking it up to the solar panel. Everything worked good and faster except, to my complete disappointment, the Live Stream feature would still not work. The Live Stream button was still gray. At this point I am going to insert a screen shot image showing how my two cameras are displayed on opening the Spartan Camera app.
You can see in the image below, both cameras show everything the same except the Live Stream button is green for my first camera, but gray for my second camera. There is not an app problem.
Next, I will insert an image showing the Status Report for the GL-A6Eb camera after I set it up in the area with the strong cell signal. You can see the signal strength is reported as Excellent with a value of 71. The signal strength, the internal voltage and the external voltage for the GL-A6Eb, were all better values than those for my first camera, the GL-ALTEb model. Yet, the Live Stream works fine with the GL-ALTEb model, but not for the GL-A6Eb model. Something is definitely wrong with the GL-A6Eb camera.
So, even with a very strong cell signal the Live Stream on the "new" camera, the GL-A6Eb model, would not work. The camera did take motion activated pictures and did deliver the corresponding video upon request with about a 3-4 min delay time. In other words, all aspects of the GL-A6Eb camera seem to work except the Live Stream feature. The camera, the GL-A6Eb, is clearly defective. I have spent hours and hours troubleshooting and following your advice to try to resolve the Live Stream feature issue.
So now I will get into why I think the camera, the GL-A6Eb, that I purchased directly from Spartan is a possibly refurbished/repackaged model that was sold to me as new. Recall I first got on the Tanner thread as I had at the time a similar issue. My registration was denied. I subsequently noticed the IMEI number registered for the camera did not match the IMEI number on the bar code sticker inside the camera. The last four digits were different. I am positive I correctly typed the IMEI number, the one that came with the camera as I received it on the inside of the camera. The only way I could now register the camera was to delete the camera, but first I had to cancel the data plan as I had already added the GL-A6Eb to my existing plan which I had set up for my first camera when I activated that one back in Jan. So now it makes sense to me that the GL-A6Eb camera that was sold to be new was likely a return. The camera likely did not work for the original purchaser. It was returned, Spartan refurbished it. Thought it worked and resold it. I happened to get it. How else could it already have an IMEI number registered for it with an IMEI number that did not match the IMEI number on the new sticker inside the camera?
Here is more evidence the camera was not new. The antenna shows markings of abuse. It appears someone beat it against some type of hard surface. I will attach an image showing the marks on the antenna. I only first saw these beat marks today as I was setting up the camera outdoors to run the tests I ran today. There was better light outside in the sun than in the house and it was really the first time I had looked closely at the antenna. I hope you will believe me that I did not make these damaging marks on the antenna. The antenna arrived in the box with the camera sealed in a clear plastic bag, but it was likely just repackaged. I will insert an image showing the marks. You can zoom in to see them better, all are on the
thicker side of the antenna.
So, that's my case that the camera/antenna are used and defective. I would like to start the process to send back the camera I recently purchased, the GL-A6Eb camera in exchange for a new one, really a new one, not a refurbished one or otherwise previously used. Please let me know how to get that exchange process going. I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this. I appreciate your persistence and patience with me, but it is time to replace the camera, especially now that I am certain I received a used camera that still does not work. The solar panel works fine. I will hold on to that to use with the replacement camera unless Spartan prefers I send back the full order. I hope all this made sense to you. Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Paul
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Paul, if you email support@spartancamera.com they can help you get things straightened out. I would also send them a link to this thread.
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