HomeKit Secure Video Not recording

I recently encountered an issue with my LogiTech Circle View Doorbell camera, which is compatible with HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV). After some troubleshooting, I discovered that the underlying problem was related to the network configuration. I’d like to share my experience in case it helps others facing similar challenges.

Here’s what I found:

Network Architecture:

• • I maintain multiple VLANs in my home network, including separate segments for IoT devices and cameras.
  • My setup includes an Apple TV (ATV) as the HomeKit hub, as my HomePod didn’t perform optimally in that role.

Camera and IoT VLANs:

• • I connected my ATV to the IoT VLAN and the LogiTech camera to the Camera VLAN.
  • Both the IoT and Camera VLANs have WiFi networks that operate exclusively on the 2.4GHz band (important: avoid 5GHz).

iPhone Configuration:

• • My iPhone is on a separate VLAN from both IoT and Camera.
  • I’ve set up one-way communication from iPhone VLAN to both IoT and Camera using firewall rules.
  • The camera VLAN is blocked from internet access, while IoT devices have internet access (primarily for updates).

Critical Consideration:

• • HKSV requires two-way traffic between the camera and HomeKit hubs (ATV or HomePod). At least this is what I discovered from hours of working on this.
  • If you’re using separate VLANs, ensure that this two-way communication is allowed.
  • If you have a single VLAN with both IoT and cameras connected, ensuring that they operate on the 2.4 GHz band (rather than 5 GHz) is crucial for HKSV functionality.

In summary, if you’re experiencing HKSV issues, consider implementing separate VLANs for better network segmentation. It’s a highly recommended practice for maintaining security and optimizing performance. I discovered in my logs, after configuring my VLANs, that my LogiTech doorbell camera was attempting to communicate with a server in China—an occurrence I found quite peculiar.

Same issue here. Have two Eve home cams, iCloud+ with 2TB space, Apple TV as the HomeKit Hub. Cannot see any timelines or any indication whatsoever of any recordings. Can see live stream from the cams.

Have tried booting the Apple TV as well as the home routers and the cameras, didn't help. I guess next thing to try is to remove the cams from home and add them again to see if that helps.

iamcrypto wrote:

• If you’re using separate VLANs, ensure that this two-way communication is allowed.

If you have a single VLAN with both IoT and cameras connected, ensuring that they operate on the 2.4 GHz band (rather than 5 GHz)•  is crucial for HKSV functionality.

I'm running Unifi and the Apple TV 4K is connected on 5Ghz while the HKSV cameras are all on 2.4GHz. The live stream works good but the cameras miss events. I.e when it should record and store an event (for example I pass by), it doesn't. Sometimes no events are recorded for 3-4 days on some of the cameras.

Ouch, that's frustrating. Perhaps you will have to try Official Apple Support and see if they can help. A quick skim of Set up HomeKit Secure Video on all your devices - Apple Support suggests that the only key requirement is that you're using the one Apple ID for iCloud and all of your HomeKit equipment. In fact given it is supposed to work with iOS 15 new architecture might not be needed after all.

tt2

You might need to remove the accessory it and then add it back to your Home. This worked recently for my Eufy camera when nothing else I tried did. You likely need to be using the new Home architecture as well.

tt2

Any luck?

I’m having a similar issue where my HomeKit stopped recording video as soon as I added a second a camera. Recording stopped on both cameras. But notifications still work. I removed and readied the cameras and restarted the whole network. Nada works.

There is nothing in Apple’s support site specifically for HomeKit so the previous advice seems not too helpful.

Things to try when it should otherwise be working are rebooting your router, whatever device is acting as your home hub, and the camera itself. I've put my camera on a smart socket so I can reboot it remotely when it isn't talking to home kit properly.

tt2

Tried everything and homekit secure video not recording. Wait till Apple is addressing the problem and come out with a fix. Not going to waste time for a known problem that has no solution till today.

Apple had asked me to remove the Eve then do a factory reset of the camera then add back to the Home. When you removed the cameras dis you try that?

When I did that, I ended up with one new recording on the timeline about 12 hours later, but nothing else. I could not get it to trigger before or after the event that DID trigger a recording.

OK so what happened is that after my home router got a firmware update _and_ I went and picked up the cameras to reset them, those that were pointing outside of the window, I got a notification. It said my face was identified and then I saw the recording in the camera timeline.

Two things: 1) it may be that there was something wrong in the router and the update helped. 2) I am stupid enough not to understand that Eve indoor cams do not detect movement through the window.

Eve Home do state this fact on their camera support page in the FAQ list. In the product description they do only discuss pointing the cam inside the home and using motion detection there. I could not find that they would explicitly say in product description - for stupid persons like me - that the cam does not detect movement through the window.

So just packaged the cams and will return them to Apple Store, since it is less than two weeks since I bought them. Case closed for me.

HomeKit secure video recording is not working. Should be one of the IOS update has inadvertently break it and nobody in Apple is rectifying the problem.

Tried all of those as well as removing, readding and resetting the cameras to factory settings. I’m currently working with Apple Support at the Engineer level.