Camera can't see 2 4GHz SSID

Cameras
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41

I’m chiming in as I seem to be having a similar issue as the OP.

Rewind back a few months, I have set up a new temporary 5G home broadband connection, with TPG in Australia. The 5G modem is the ISP supplied Arcadyan Wifi 7 modem.

The V4 cam was one of the first devices I was setting up. Exactly the same problem as described. The 5 GHz band was already disabled, SSID for 2.4 GHz band was broadcasting and during the set up process with the app, it would see all of the neighbours’ networks, except for mine centimetres away. My phone had a solid connection to the wifi. Tried everything, rebooted so many times, and the last thing I did from memory was removing the SD card I’ve put in at the beginning. Then another reboot later, it saw the wifi network and setup was able to continue.

Fast forward to yesterday, I had to reboot the modem as a new device was not connecting. Once I got the new device to work, then the V4 wouldn’t connect! Same issue as above – the app couldn’t see my own wifi network. Tried rebooting multiple times, also tried downgrading from wifi7 to wifi6, but nothing worked. However, I did not touch the auto channel and the auto 20/40 band settings.

I was able to give up and I thought I would give the SSID setting a go. I turned SSID broadcasting to off. Modem rebooted and even my phone couldn’t see the network. I turned SSID back on and lo and behold, and after a reboot, the Wyze app could see the network and was able to continue setup successfully.

So conclusion is, I still don’t know whether it’s a modem/router issue or Wyze V4 issue. I don’t want to have to play around the modem settings every time.

In a month or two, however, I will be back having a fixed broadband connection with my old Orbi router, so hopefully I wouldn’t have this issue when I tried connecting the V4 again.

What do you think brains trust?

42

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you’re in a WiFi saturated area. With 2.4Ghz offering very few channels (legally more in Australia then the USA), I highly advise changing your 2.4 GHz network to use a strictly 20MHz range instead of 20/40MHz. I wish everyone would do this because 20/40MHz does nothing other than cause a bunch of unnecessary interference for everyone else in the neighborhood. Making this change will likely require a reboot of your WiFi router/access point.

I highly suspect making this change will also allow your WYZE gear to always see your 2.4GHz WiFi network / SSID. (While in range of course.)

43

Thanks for the reply. I will give that a shot when my V4 loses connection the next time. It has been a very frustrating experience so far with the V4, though once I got it to work, I prefer the speed and vision over Arlo.

44

I would replace the Wyze power adapter on that V4 with a different one. Narrow the issues on that camera and I see the same issues other have reported (and I experienced.) Its my belief that All Wyze adapters are marginally, (just barely enough power) in ideal conditions. Its my experience, that nearly ever "dropped offline issue with my Wyze cameras was solved when I replaced the adapter. The manufacturer does not matter, but I always use those with a claimed spec of 2.1/+ amps. That means purchasing a multi-port version to get the 2.1, but I only use one port to assure there’s plenty of power.Agree, no we should not have to do this. Even/especially on a new V4, but it works.

45

This is one of the reasons I tend to urge people with wired video doorbell issues to confirm their transformer power, test their circuit wiring (including to and from the chime), understand their connections, and measure the voltage at the actual doorbell button location.

I realize that this comment isn’t directly related to the product being discussed in this topic, but I want to affirm the importance of supplying correct and adequate power to these devices. That should not be overlooked.

46

It just so happens that power was cut off due to some electrical work being done.

The V4 refused to connect so I took the opportunity to change the wifi bandwidth to 20 only.

Rebooted the router and V4 connected.

I tried a 2nd time and cut the power and when it came back on, V4 was still working. Hope it stays that way.

Thank you thank you.

47

Damn. Said it too soon. Disconnected again.

48

I know for certain some WYZE devices do not like the 20/40MHz option. The fact that it worked properly after two back to back reboots certainly bodes well. Earlier you stated the WiFi channel is also set to ‘auto’. Maybe try setting the channel specifically to 1, 6, or 11. (I know in Australia channels 12 and 13 are also legal, but I would still try one of the channels mentioned.)

Best of luck,
Known1

49

Since the last failure, I changed the security setting from WPA2/3 to 2 only. See if that helps.

Just annoyed why Wyze cams are so finicky yet mobiles connect to wifi so easily.

50

Believe it or not, the v4’s are one of the few cameras that actually supports both WPA2 and WPA3. However some routers do a very crummy job with their implementation of the “mixed mode” that you were using. With that said, you may want to consider ensuring your WiFi router or access point is using the latest firmware available.

51

Stick with 20Mhz and WPA2 only. Many devices have issues with 20/40 and 2/3 transition mode.

There is really no point in having WPA2/3 transition enabled other than for a short migration period so you don’t have to “hot cut” all your devices. My main network is WPA3 only, and my IOT and Guest networks are WPA2 only.

I always disable 40mhz on 2.4ghz (and 160mhz on 5ghz), they cause problems and are not very “neighborly” modes to use.