Eufycam 2c failed to request.(-203) - Hopefully fixed now

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I have had a Eufy Homebase 2 and 4 EufyCam 2C installed and operating well for about 2 years. The other day 2 of my cameras went offline, both in the back garden! I tried the following to resolve the issue:

  1. Deleted each camera via the Eufy app and reinstalled them. They would work indoors but more or less as soon as I took them outside, they would lose their connections. Sometimes briefly they would connect for a few seconds then go off again. They were both fully charged so power wasn’t the issue and I hadn’t moved the Homebase 2.

  2. Checked all devices for software updates, but they were all up to date!

  3. Deleted the Homebase 2 from the Eufy app and reinstalled it, and of course all 4 cameras. The 2 front of house cameras worked straight away as they had been when the rear garden ones had failed. But the rear garden ones still would not work.

  4. Tried moving the Homebase 2 to a different location and plugged in an ethernet connection. Still no joy!

  5. Looked online and many people had stated that often the WiFi single power in the Homebase 2 deteriorates over time (most stated 2 years) with very little you can do. Some mentioned intrusive work inside the Homebase 2 itself, but I am not confident enough to do that.

  6. I procured a new Homebase 2 from EUFY, and that arrived promptly. I then went through the set-up process again, and guess what; yes, the front cameras came up lovely as they always had, but the two in the rear garden wouldn’t.

  7. I then had a thought, I wondered if the cameras could be fully reset and found online that they could by repeatedly pressing the SYNC button at the top of the camera 5/6 times until it bleeps a few times! I then deleted those from the Eufy app and reinstalled them! This seems to have resolved the connection issue, so all cameras now work!

Now I’m not sure whether I jumped in too soon to replace the Homebase 2 wasting £70, or if I had more than a single event which incurred replacing the Homebase 2 and fully resetting the eufycams. I could test it, but because it’s a bit of mission to reinstall the old Homebase 2 and all the cameras and it still may not work, so I can’t be asked at this time! So as long as it all worked before and you haven’t changed anything, it’s probably worth trying the full reset before you go down the route of buying a new Homebase.

I’m hoping this post may help others from having to lay out more ££££’s in the search for answers. I do think EUFY themselves need to up their support, listen to their customers and act on some of the issues we are having to deal with as the kit is not cheap!

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I can’t get the stupid thing set up

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Hi. For anyone who might read this reply in answer to your post. I have a camera outside which is 60 meters from my Homebase 2. Camera worked perfectly for over a year then suddenly kept going offline and then failed to request -204. I followed everything you said in your post. It worked near the Homebase but not outside. I have no idea what made me do it, but I picked the Homebase up, turned it upside down for a couple of seconds, then turned it back to its upright position. Before I put it back down on the table, I pushed the power lead and the lead connection to my modem firmly, and hey presto. The camera now works again 60 meters from my property. It might work for others. Hope it helps someone.

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Is it possible that when you set it back up that the orientation was different? The Homebase has 3 antennas inside. 2 for 2.4Ghz and one for 900 Mhz. I have found that just changing the Homebase to another position will allow connections to some devices that won’t ordinarily connect.

Here’s what the internals look like.
Imgur

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Just happened to me but with the homebase 3. Resetting the homebase 3 in the app seemed to work for my two cameras. Silly thing to happen considering the price of each camera and the homebase 3.

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This randomly happen to me too. It usually the camera that are using battery (my outdoor, doorbell), the 2 that are using outlet (360 indoor are not affected). Not sure what the problem is. Would get -203 and can’t connect at all. Reset does nothing, and usually come back the next day.