Browsing tag
#troubleshooting
- Buying Guide
Counterfeit and Fake Pet Tech: What to Watch For
A fake GPS tracker isn't just a wasted purchase — it can be non-functional plastic that fails exactly when you need it most. Here's how to tell before buying.
- How-To
The Open-Source Community Replacing Feeder Firmware
A small but active group of hobbyists has reverse-engineered feeder firmware to run entirely local, no cloud required — here's what that involves.
- How-To
What Sharing Your Pet Camera Publicly Actually Reveals
A cute livestream clip can reveal your home layout and daily schedule — one real vulnerability means a public link can expose more than you intended.
- How-To
Can a Pet Camera or GPS Tracker Actually Be Hacked?
Two real failure modes: weak default passwords letting someone in, and a company's systems mixing up whose footage goes to whom — both documented.
- How-To
Why New Pet Tech Wants a Firmware Update Before First Use
That mandatory update isn't a stalling tactic — here's what it's actually doing, how long to expect it to take, and what to do if it fails partway through.
- Buying Guide
How Loud Are Automatic Feeders and Litter Boxes, Really
Decibel ratings for this category range from whisper-quiet to genuinely disruptive — here's what the numbers mean and which models actually publish them.
- How-To
What Happens to Pet Tech During a Power Outage
Feeders, self-cleaning litter boxes, and pet doors handle a power outage very differently — some keep working for a week, others stop the moment power does.
- How-To
How Pet Tech Product Recalls Actually Work
What triggers a recall, how you'd find out, and what to do if you own an affected device — explained with two real, verified cases.
- Buying Guide
Why Trial Periods Matter More for Pet Tech
You can't know if your cat will tolerate a new litter box until you try it — how pet tech return windows and trial periods actually work.
- How-To
Why Won't My Pet Camera Connect to WiFi?
The most common cause isn't a defective device — it's a 2.4GHz-only gadget trying to join a mesh router's 5GHz-steered network, which it can't see.
- How-To
Setting Up Geofencing on a GPS Tracker So It Actually Works
Geofence alerts are only useful if the zone size and sensitivity are set correctly. Here's how to configure one so it catches real escapes, not false alarms.
- How-To
How to Stop Your Pet Camera From Sending False Alerts
Why pet cameras over-alert on shadows, curtains, and their own pet, and the specific settings that fix it without turning notifications off entirely.
- How-To
How to Reset a Pet Tech Device When Troubleshooting Fails
Before assuming a GPS tracker, camera, or feeder is defective, a proper reset often fixes it — the general pattern, and when to contact support instead.
- How-To
How to Stop an Automatic Feeder from Jamming (Before You Return It)
Jamming is the most common automatic feeder complaint of all. Here's what actually causes it and how to fix it before assuming the whole unit is defective.
- How-To
How to Train Your Cat or Dog to Use a Microchip Pet Door
Most pets learn a pet door in one to three days with the right approach. Here's the training process, sizing check, and safety considerations to review first.