Hello everyone.
This is my very first post on the forum. I own six (6) cameras (four of V2 and two of V3). I can unequivocally say there is no better value in owning a security or other type of camera than what Wyze currently offers. I truly love the quality and all the features with these cameras.
My post is based on something currently I am or have experienced with my Wyze cameras. This is my story; I have two elderly parents who have been divorced for many years and live some distance away from me (son). My dad is 91 yo and is about 55 miles away and my mom 86 yo. is about 40 is miles away. The cameras allow me the great freedom to monitor them full-time and react in case of an emergency. They both have had falls inside their homes or other serious medical emergencies. These cameras are my eyes, ears and mouth in order to look after my parents. Every once in a while an odd camera would go off-line (once or twice a month) and the only way to correct this would be to drive to their respective residence and physically power-off and on the camera to re-establish the connection. This always remedies the problem.
Obviously the attempt to “RESET” the camera from the app does not work and thus this is my suggestion: Would a built-in camera feature (AI??) which auto powers off and on the offline camera be possible? After a camera has been offline for say 24-hours, the auto-reset would attempt to re-connect the camera to the broadband. This feature may be exercised only once every 14-days or more. I am hoping the Wyze engineers may take at my idea. Thank you and thank you very much for looking after my parents. Cheers.
P.S. All cameras are running with the most recent firmware.
Get a WiFi controlled power switch and plug the cameras into switches. That obviously does not help if the WiFi is down, but if a camera hangs, it will give you the ability to power cycle the affected camera.
WOW!
Thank you very much guys. I have contemplated the wifi power plugs but the location of some receptacles come with obstruction items (shelves/books/dressers) which may inhibit the wireless connection. I have not tried to exercise this idea K6CCC and I probably should before I can firmly discount it. Thank you very much everyone.
We had someone else suggest this for elder parents. Not my idea, wish it was.
Put a Wyze camera under the bed. Set for motion detection and alert. If they get out of bed or heavens-no, fall, then you can get an alert and see if its so. Might make the difference in their health.
The suggestion from “Customer” should not be overlooked. I had a problem with one of my cameras ceasing to record every few days, and setting a scheduled reboot in the app resolved that issue.
Jordon, I am just throwing this out there because I have had the same exact issue as you with various cameras going offline. What I have been doing is using the reboot option on the router app on my phone. I can be at work and reboot my home router and within a couple of minutes the cameras are back up and running.
If the plugs work , then fine, your good but if you find the plugs going offline as well then look into the above option.
Thank you steve - c. Customer has made that suggestion in his earlier post and I will definitely explore that option before I get my wifi power receptacles.
@Sam_Bam, I will make sure to pass that comment to Richie.
I do this for an V3 I have down the hill overlooking a deer feeder. With the two panel antennas and extender suspended in a box under our awning every now and then I need to reset the extender, make the camera boot into it again. So I just put a Wyze plug on the porch and when I need to turn power on or off I just go to the plug in the app.
A watchdog timer option for cameras that lose connectivity would be brilliant. Constantly running into this issue. Daily restarts rules sound like another great idea but a watchdog timer that restarted the camera after an hour of lost connectivity to wifi and/or the internet would be so much better.
Piggy backing off the others but with a twist, a wifi plug is a good idea, but redundancy is something to consider. If wyze has an issue and the plugs need a physical reboot, you are in the same boat. What you could do instead is leverage a different “smart” system. Ring, Blink GE-C, cassetta, etc… so if wyze is offline you can reboot through another system.
For your concerns about obstructions to a wireless plug, you could make a switched outlet using a WIFI switch Lowes sells a couple different options. Most require a neutral wire, but a few don’t. Which if you need a neutral wire anyways, you might as well wire a new outlet above the obstructions and do a WIFI plug.
If I was using this a pseudo lifeline to my parents, I would have two cameras from two providers, so if one goes offline for one reason or another (it happens through no fault of the company) there is a good chance the other one would be online.
