Troubleshooting | Kaptivo says offline

One of the most common questions to Kaptivo support goes someting like this,
"When I try to connect to my Kaptivo, it says 'Kaptivo not online', what do I do?".

If you have this question, or see the images above, it is because your Kaptivo is not reaching out to our cloud services.

This means one of two things;

(a) your Kaptivo is not connected to your network, wired or wireless. Make sure you've visited www.kaptivo.com/setup and followed the instructions to connect your new Kaptivo.

(b) your Kaptivo is being blocked from getting to our cloud services.

Are you setting up a new Kaptivo?

if you are just setting up your kaptivo for the first time, it is possible you have a kaptivo with very old firmware. In normal circumstances your kaptivo will auto-update over the internet, however if someting is blocking the device from reaching our update servers this wont happen and you will need to manually update the firmware.

1. download the latest firmware to your computer from here https://support.kaptivo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011113373 - this is not an application you run, this is a file you upload to your kaptivo device.

2. Go to www.kaptivo.com/setup and follow the Wi-Fi  setup instructions to access the admin web interface. 

3. go to the Device tab, scroll to the very bottom, select & upload the new firmware package.

Once uploaded the camera may reboot, then you should check to see if it can register to our cloud service.

Was your Kaptivo previously online and connected to kaptivo.live?

If it worked previously, did someting change, perhaps you moved locations and the new network connection is not set properly or could there be new network firewall settings?

If you are able to connect to the admin web interface of the kaptivo, by opening a web browser and going to its IP Address, check the diagnostics tab for more information about network connectivity.

Is your kaptivo setup in cloud-mode or local hosted on-prem mode?
A Kaptivo in “local mode (self-hosted)” will only support access by devices on the local corporate network (or vpn connected) and does not reach out to our cloud services. 
If your device might be setup locally hosted then the way to reach it is by browsing to its IP Address.

If you look at the Kaptivo control pad, is the small LED red or green?
(A) If the control pad LED is flashing red for more than just a moment, there is a hardware error. Check cables and connectors connecting the control pad to the camera arm. Try the hardware reset button at the bottom of the control pad. If neither of those works, open a support ticket. 
(B) If the control pad LED is red, then it hasn't detected a network connection. If Kaptivo was connected by Wi-fi then it has lost that connection if it's connected by wired Ethernet, there may be a problem with the cable or with the network switch. Check cables and connectors connecting the control pad to the camera arm. Replace the Network Cable. Try the hardware reset button at the bottom of the control pad. Check with your network team the the network switch port is active.  
(C) if it is flashing between red and green, then your Kaptivo is currently in wi-fi self-configuration mode.  You likely tried to setup a new device using wi-fi, but forgot to leave wi-fi setup mode when done.

Is your Kaptivo connected (wifi or wired ethernet) to your network?
If the Control pad LED is solid red, you need to connect to a network.
If the Control Pad LED light is green, you've got network connectivity, and someting is blocking it. 

Does the network that the Kaptivo is connected to require any form of authentication (ie web login page on a guest wifi) or a web page where you have to click "accept" before getting to the Internet? That won't work with a Kaptivo. 
also, the Kaptivo cannot have both connection types active at once, if the Ethernet and Wifi are both connected it can cause problems, or if you've connected a Kaptivocast accessory directly to the wired port, but configured the Kaptivo camera for wi-fi network access, for example.

Could the Kaptivo be getting blocked by a firewall or network security device?
If you have ruled out network connectivity locally. Can you try another network, maybe even your phone's personal hotspot, just to see if its network firewall blocking you?

If you suspect a change in the network security (firewall) settings, check with your network team that your Kaptivo can reach out using TCP on port 443 to *.kaptivo.live and *.kaptivo.com. 

If you know the IP Address of the Kaptivo, could you ping the kaptivo from your local laptop, or open a browser session to the IP Address of the Kaptivo to get to the web admin interface? Once connected, could you check to see what the diagnostics tab tell us?

If you don't know the IP Address (then how did you rule out network connectivity issues, make sure to you check that you are receiving an IP Address from DHCP once you get to the admin interface), the easiest way to get to the web admin interface may be to follow the wifi setup process shown at https://www.kaptivo.com/setup Following the wifi setup you will be able to connect to the kaptivo’s admin web interface and check various settings like the network configuration (IP Address), and you will be able to see the diagnostics information.

If you have come to the end of this article and are still struggling with "Kaptivo Offline" problems, you should open a ticket with Kaptivo Support. Be sure to include your Kaptivo ID and the fact that you've gone through all these steps. Let us know anything you may have discovered along the way, including the output of the diagnostics tab.