The Guardian
Setting up your camera
Everything you need is in the guide below. Most people are up and running in about twenty minutes, plus the charging time.
The Guardian User Guide
32 pages. Full setup for both the Wi-Fi and 4G versions, the settings we recommend, where to mount the camera, and troubleshooting.
Download the guide (PDF)Opens on any phone, tablet or computer. You can print it if you would rather have it on paper.
Four things to know before you start
These four cover almost everything people contact us about. Two minutes here will save you an afternoon.
- Charge it for 8 hours before you do anything else. Even if the camera has some charge on arrival, give it a full 8 hours from a wall socket first. A camera low on battery fails part-way through setup and looks like a fault when it is not.
- Do not use a fast charger. Use a standard USB wall plug with a USB-A to USB-C cable. The USB-A end is the larger rectangular one. If both ends of your cable look the same, it is the wrong cable. Neither the plug nor the cable is supplied.
- The app is V380 Pro, not V380. There are two apps with similar names in the app stores. You want V380 Pro. The plain V380 app will not find your camera.
- 4G version: check the SIM before you buy it. Not every plan works in this camera. See the next section.
Which SIM card works (4G version only)
Skip this if you have the Wi-Fi version.
Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all work when you buy the SIM directly from them. So does any plan running on the Optus or Vodafone network. What does not work reliably is a plan that resells the Telstra network — Aldi Mobile, Boost, Belong and Everyday Mobile are the common ones.
Why
The Guardian's 4G radio works on the 850, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz frequencies. That covers the main frequencies all three Australian networks use in cities and towns, which is why buying direct from any of them is fine.
Two things narrow it down. The camera does not support the 700 MHz frequency that Telstra and Optus fall back on outside towns. And resellers on the Telstra network are given a smaller coverage footprint than Telstra's own customers get, around two thirds of it. Put those together and the camera runs out of signal in places where your phone would not.
If you are not sure whose network a plan uses, it will say so on the provider's website. If your property is well outside a town, check the coverage map for your exact address before you buy.
What to buy
- A prepaid or month-to-month data SIM, 5–10 GB a month.
- Standard micro SIM size.
- Activate it in a mobile phone first and confirm the phone can load a web page on mobile data. An unactivated SIM looks exactly like a faulty camera.
APN settings
You will need this during setup. Type it in lower case and leave the username and password fields completely empty.
| Your SIM is from | APN | Username | Password |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telstra | telstra.internet | Leave blank | Leave blank |
| Optus | yesinternet | Leave blank | Leave blank |
| Vodafone | live.vodafone.com | Leave blank | Leave blank |
Some older Telstra prepaid SIMs use telstra.wap instead, so try
that if the first one does not connect. If you bought your plan from anyone
else, their APN will be on the paperwork that came with the SIM or on their
support page.
Quick fixes
The full troubleshooting section is in the guide. These are the four we are asked about most.
The camera will not charge
- Check you are not using a fast charger. This is the cause the large majority of the time.
- Use a USB-A to USB-C cable into a normal wall socket. Not a laptop port, not a car charger.
- Switch the camera off while it charges.
- Test the cable on another device to rule it out.
- The indicator light turns green once the battery is full.
Guide: Section 4
The 4G camera says Offline
This is normal at first. Work through it in this order.
- Wait three minutes and keep tapping. Tap the camera on the app's home screen every 20 seconds or so until it prompts you to set a password. The camera comes online as soon as the password is set.
- Check the SIM works. Put it in a phone and load a web page on mobile data with Wi-Fi off.
- Check your signal in that exact spot. One bar is not enough for video.
- Start again with the APN set manually. Reset the camera, remove it from the app, add it back, and when it is detected tap APN Configuration rather than Continue.
Guide: Sections 9 and 14.2
The Wi-Fi camera will not connect
- The camera joins 2.4 GHz networks only. It cannot use 5 GHz. Most routers broadcast both under the same name, so your phone may be on the wrong one.
- Set the camera up standing next to the router, then mount it.
- Check the Wi-Fi password character by character. One wrong character gives you no useful error.
Guide: Sections 8 and 14.3
Adverts in the app
V380 Pro shows adverts. To hide them, go to Profile → Settings → Advertising → Block Ads. This hides them for 15 days, then you tap it again. It is free.
One tip worth reading before you drill
The panel is on a 1.8 metre lead. Put the panel in the sunniest spot you can reach, facing north and tilted about 30 degrees, and put the camera where it can actually see something. Somewhere shaded from the worst of the afternoon sun is ideal, because it keeps the battery cooler and lasting longer.
Mount the camera 2.5 to 3 metres up, tilted down slightly, with the antennas upright. Connect it in the app and check the live view on your phone before you drill anything. Section 11 of the guide covers the rest.
Still stuck?
Email customerservice@sentinelcameras.store and tell us your order number, which version you have, what the camera is doing, and what you have already tried. A short screen recording, if you can manage one, usually turns a week of back and forth into a single reply.
These sometimes filter out our replies before they reach you. If you have a bigpond.com or telstra.com address and have not heard back within a day, check your junk folder, then write to us from a different address. You can also reach us on live chat.