I’ve had good luck with the cam Pan V3 up until the latest firmware update. Now my cameras do not record to sd card when not connected to wifi. Which is super inconvenient considering I use the hotspot from my phone.
I was able to get them working again after flashing firmware to old version but it appears all my cameras auto updated and I have inoperable cameras…again.
So my question is, how do I disable updates? I don’t think I wanna wait around for wyzw to fix the issue as it seems I may be waiting a very long time. It took me nearly 3 hours of fiddling around on a ladder to fix a basic camera function and I want to make sure I never have to do it again.
Have you actually pulled the microSD cards to confirm that no recordings are taking place? I ask because of this:
I realize that your issue is specifically with Cam Pan v3, but I pulled this quote from a topic about Cam OG because that’s one official acknowledgement I’ve seen from Wyze about this issue and because it’s also been documented to affect other camera models. @grapefruityoda has done extensive testing and reporting of this issue with respect to (non-Pan) Cam v3 and which firmware updates appear to be affected.
That doesn’t make your issue any less frustrating, and I’m not trying to minimize that at all. Pulling the microSD cards can be a real chore depending on how the cameras are mounted/placed, and it’s not nearly as convenient as just using the app to review video. My understanding from reading @grapefruityoda’s reports is that it is possible to review footage in the app when video has been recorded to microSD while the camera has been operating without an Internet connection, but you have to navigate back in the calendar to the date and time of the firmware’s build, because that seems to be the default time an affected camera will use to set its clock when it’s lost its Internet connection and has rebooted. There’s a work-around for that, too, but it involves setting up your router to intercept NTP requests from the camera and act as a local NTP server to give the camera the correct time, but that may not be practical in your situation where your cameras are getting their Internet connection intermittently from your phone’s hotspot capability.
Oof.
Like you, I also expected to see a toggle for disabling automatic firmware updates at Settings ➜ Device Info ➜ Firmware Version, but it’s not there on my Cam Pan v3s. That just adds to the frustration.
Also, if Cam Pan v3 acts like other cameras and reboots itself every 30 minutes that it’s without an Internet connection (and then resets its time then, as well), then I’m not sure how much usable footage you can expect to see from that when it’s repeatedly happening between periods of hotspot connectivity. Taking a look at what’s on your microSD cards should give you some insight into that, as well.
They actually do record to SD card still, but after 30 minutes of no internet, they reboot in order to try and re-establish the connection. This was introduced a couple versions ago. The issue is, if they can’t re-establish a connection, they don’t have the correct time and date, so the recordings are in the wrong spot.
If you pull the SD card, they will be on there in a folder that doesn’t look like the others. You can also look up the firmware date and look on that day in the app and the recordings will be there.
Luckily I rarely have any internet issues, but just as a “safety measure”, my Asus router supports NTP intercept where it will give the camera the correct time and date even if the internet is down. I’ve tested it and it resolves this issue, though understood that isn’t a feature that most routers have.
Mine asks me before updating the firmware, I usually wait a couple days to see if anything is reported then let it go.
I am still using App version 2.50 and Cam v3 cameras only. Your App version and camera model may show different options.
I go into the Gear on each camera while viewing Live View. Then I click on Device Info - Firmware Version then I can toggle Automatic Updates on or off.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a Cam Pan V3 to test personally to verify if it has same auto restart after 30 minute of no internet issue.
Assuming the Cam Pan V3 camera logic is identical to my Cam V3 then see below for reference:
If you happen to power cycle or experience a power outage then your Cam Pan V3 camera (while there is no internet) will start recording on the date based on the firmware build date. The actual time might be different than listed below due to DST in my Eastern Time Zone. The Wyze app might think there’s recorded footage (green progress line on the timeline), but if you don’t see any footage then check ±1 hour.
Here are the Cam Pan V3 firmware and it’s build date:
Do Wyze programmers have no imagination? It’s a simple matter to decide on a set date and time to use in case of internet outage and ntp can’t be accessed, for all its camera models. With this simple convention, the Wyze app could also allow the user to back to that set date and look for clips.
Thank you, that may just be the solution. I’m going to delete my current versions of Wyze app from all my devices and reinstall the Wyze 2.5 and just never update the app. My current setup uses these cameras as continuous surveillance in an area I don’t have access to Wifi and there is no way I’m going to pull cards manually to review any events. I appreciate the data being there but its practically useless if I a have to climb a ladder and get the data. Hoping this is fixed at some point as its super frustrating and is definitely holding my back from buying more cameras.
I appreciate all the responses and I will follow up when I have completed the “updates”.
If the cameras are in an area without Wi-Fi access but expected to provide “continuous surveillance”, then I’m struggling to understand how reverting to an older app provides a solution to an issue that appears to be with the cameras themselves. Because the Wyze Cams are so heavily dependent upon an Internet connection, a non-Wyze solution might serve you better at that location.
If I had to do it over again, I probably would of gone a different route. I do have to say, prior to the recent firmware updates, my three Cam Pan v3 have done a great job at providing continuous surveillance and giving me the ability to recall footage with relative ease. I’m hoping to revert to the previous firmware and app update that allow me to continue using the cameras like I have for past 18 months. If not, i guess then i’ll have to switch to another product.
Don’t bother downgrading the app, it won’t change anything related to firmware update settings or the “reboot when internet is lost” thing. I can confirm my 2.5 app on my old phone does not allow setting the Panv3s to manual firmware updates either.
The 30 min reboot thing is definitely firmware, so downgrading the firmware may restore that. However the latest firmware has added new authentication/security stuff so it is hard to say how long older firmware will continue to work.
I looked and my Panv3s also no longer have the option of disabling auto firmware updates. I don’t recall if it was the latest update that did that or not. However as far as I know they still ask me whether I want to update or not. Not sure how long they do that before just forcing it.
If the reboot thing is a major issue you might want to look into routers that will allow you to run a local NTP server and intercept NTP packets. I’ve tested with mine (which has that feature) and it does keep the time correct even if internet is down and the cam reboots.
In my recollection, that was the case before (even when there wasn’t an option to disable automatic updates in the device’s settings); however, both of my Cam Pan v3s are showing the 4.50.14.3339 firmware, and I was never prompted to allow that. It looks like it’s just being pushed automatically now.
Over the past week or so all the cams have gotten the security update so I honestly can’t remember if I was prompted for the Panv3s. But I’ve gotten many prompts, and have waited a couple days for each cam type that I was prompted for. So maybe the OGs and v4 are still prompting but the Panv3 isn’t… my memory isn’t good enough to recall.
The OG-T was the last to get it this morning. Since it went fine with the OG I just let it go instead of waiting, hasn’t had any issues.
Yeah, I’m still seeing prompts for Cam OGs, and I’ve waited on those because of some potential problems, but there was no such prompt for Cam Pan v3. Otherwise, I would’ve held off on that one, too.
I updated a single one just to make sure, and it was fine for a couple days, so did the rest. As of yet, have not seen any issues. All the OGs have had slow navigation of the SD card for a while now but that seems to be app or server related, as it was not anything to do with firmware.
