The convenience of having Blink security cameras monitoring motion near and around your premises is a worthy investment. While you expect the cameras to serve you reliably, there are times when you won’t be able to view your property remotely. Blink camera users have reported several issues they experience with their cameras. Thankfully, a vast majority of these issues can be solved easily.
One of the issues Blink users experience is the Blink camera saying busy when viewing footage. If your Blink camera sends a “busy” alert when you try viewing the footage, you need to identify why you received the notification and then find an effective solution to the cause.
Keep reading to gain insights into fixing the annoying “busy” notification.
Why Is My Blink Camera Busy?
If you get an alert that your Blink camera is “busy” when you try viewing it from a connected device, it doesn’t mean that it is overloaded. Neither does it mean that it has been running for a long time and it needs to be serviced. After all, surveillance cameras are designed to run 24/7 as long as they are configured correctly.
A ‘busy’ Blink camera means your camera is trying to create an active internet connection through the Sync Module. This process often interferes with the internet connection, which prevents the camera from displaying video footage. Further, in this “busy” state, your Blink camera cannot perform any other function that might be of great significance. Since the “busy” state of your Blink camera poses a risk to the efficient functionality of your camera, it is important to find a quick and effective solution.
What To Do When Your Blink Camera Keeps Saying It Is Busy
Your Blink camera needs a 2.4 GHz band network to work reliably and send the footage to your smartphone. The “busy” notification indicates that your camera is trying to connect to the internet.
Now that you know why your camera is busy, here are some common ways to troubleshoot and fix the “busy” alert.
6 Ways To Fix Busy Alert On Blink Camera
1. Check the Internet Connection
You can test your internet connection using a third-party app to determine if it is stable. You can use the RouteThis app on your phone to test the internet.
To test the connection, download and install the app on your Apple or Android device. Next, ensure that your Blink camera and phone with the RouteThis app are on the same network.
Remember, your Blink camera will only connect to a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection.
- Turn off the phone’s cellular data to avoid internet crossover when testing, and follow these steps to check if your internet connection is steady:
- Launch the RouteThis app on your smartphone, then tap on the “Begin” icon to initiate the WiFi internet connection test.
- When prompted, allow the RouteThis app to access your location
- Input BLNK as your password
- Choose the name of the WiFi network you want to use
- Place your Blink camera and phone close
- Tap on the “I Moved It” icon and allow the app to make the diagnosis
After two minutes, check out for the results
If the connection is poor, the app will offer an “Improve Network Health” option that you can consider for further correctional suggestions.
2. Reset the Blink Camera via the Sync Module
Another straightforward way to troubleshoot the “busy” error is resetting your camera and establishing another connection from scratch via the Sync Module. Here is how to go about it.
- Locate the button on your Sync Module’s side, and press and hold it until a red light flashes, then release it. This will uninstall the module on your Blink app.
- Reinstall the Sync Module
- Connect to the internet and connect your Blink app to the camera. This should solve the issue of your Blink saying busy.
3. Power Cycle the Router
If, after carrying out the internet test and finding out that the connection is stable, you still see the “busy” notification, inspect the router physically. Start by checking if all the router cables are correctly plugged into their respective ports and then the power adapter to ensure everything is in place.
Next, check the status light to get an idea of any issues. The status light flashes red if there are problems with the router.
With all the elements correctly configured, power cycle the router by unplugging its power cord, letting it sit for about one minute, and then plugging it back. Turn on the router and allow it to get online. Power cycling should solve the connection issues, and your Blink camera should continue sending the footage smoothly.
4. Bring the Router Close to the Camera
In some cases, the connection is interrupted because the Blink camera is too far from the WiFi router or the Sync Module.
The module should be within 100 feet of the camera and the router a few feet with few or no obstructions for uninterrupted views. If your Sync Module, Blink camera, and router are far apart, you can bring them near each other and check for signal strength.
The easiest way is to move the Sync Module near the camera to avoid interfering with camera tilt angles. Alternatively, you can modify your WiFi to cover a larger radius. When the Blink is within the recommended range and has a steady connection, it will return online.
5. Reboot the Camera
Rebooting the Blink camera has proved to resolve many issues. Thankfully, modern Blink cameras come with only two AAA batteries, making rebooting easy.
To power cycle, your Blink camera, remove the batteries, usually located under the back cover of the device, or unplug it from the power sources if you are still using the hardwired model.
Allow your camera about 10 seconds, reinsert the batteries, and place the back cover. When your camera turns on, reconnect it to the Sync Model and see if the issue is resolved.
6. Contact Customer Support
If you have tried all the above troubleshooting options and your camera keeps saying it’s busy, you can contact Blinks customer support.
They can guide you on addressing the issues or replace the camera if the notification is due to a faulty component. Remember, the warranty will only work if you had bought the camera from authorized Blink sellers or directly from Blink.
Conclusion
Properly configured Blink cameras provide reliable security monitoring for homeowners and business owners. Anytime you get a notification that your Blink camera is busy, know it is trying hard to connect to your home’s network. Whether the problem source is the camera or the network, Blink’s intuitive and user-friendly interface makes it easy to fix the problem. With the above methods, you should get your Blink back up and running.
