Just contributing my personal experience with Wyze hardware.
Hardware:
17 x Wyze cams (V1, V2, V3 Pan)
1 x Wyze Doorbell
1 x Wyze Sense Hub
5 x Wyze Entry Sensors
3 x Wyze Motion Sensors
1 x Keypad
I’m coming from my previous residence where I installed a CCTV security system, which worked flawlessly but was admittedly more difficult to set up than Wyze.
I just finished my third router setup, completely due to the constant lack of connectivity with my Wyze hardware. This involved not only the painstaking process of reconnecting all my Wyze devices (which is a complaint on its own), but also reconnecting all my Philips Hue, Google, and TP-link devices. This includes various speakers, displays, thermostats, light switches, light bulbs, etc. All of the non-Wyze products work and stay connected without any issues. I originally started with a single Netgear Nighthawk router, then Nest Wifi Pro (mesh), and now I just installed a TP-Link Deco 6e mesh system with three points in my house. I currently have a strong and consistent 600mb+ download throughout the entire house. Yet, still constant issues with connection being dropped on both the Wyze Web Portal, Android phone, and overall hardware disconnections. Numerous factory resets, firmware updates, location adjustments, and router configurations have not solved it. I am not blaming my network at this point as some already stated in this thread, I’d like to also mention the Wyze motion sensors constantly go offline.
Wyze customer support always begins with a very templated and generic response. They never actually read the issue until you start drilling them for better support. I’ve contacted them numerous times and it never ended with a permanent resolution. I’d like to point out that 6 out of 17 (35%) of my Wyze cams are completely dead. Four of them were mounted outside and two were inside.
My conclusion is really “You get what you paid for”. If I had the energy to invest in another home monitoring system, I would. At this point, I’m waiting in hopes that each firmware update brings some relief. I know everyone has mixed opinions about the products, this is just my experience thus far.
I sir empathize with you. I think we all agree Wyze products are far from perfect. I use them where they best serve my purposes compared to something more expensive. And I don’t believe any brand’s eco-system provides all the smart home functionality that I want. (I don’t NEED) most of what I installed/use. I simply want it. I have found I need a multi-brand solution to get what I want. I use Sonoff, Wyze, Yolink, and Echos, mostly. I’ve had those very problems you describe. And still have some.
But I have started using a (not Wyze’s) WiFi plugs to restart my cameras daily. (Sometimes more than once). I stopped using Wyze sensor and use Yolink. They never fail to work - when I say never, I mean N-E-V-E-R. And I had to move to a TP Link Deco mesh to get a high enough device limit that my count would not keep falling off the network. Its never been better, but it could be better than it is.
I had a friend and another person who said they had this and they also had connection problems with Wyze devices. I am guessing there is something in Deco protocols that don’t work well with Wyze. As soon as the 2 people I know got a different mesh router they didn’t have connection issues with their Wyze devices anymore. I’ve friend used 2 different routers and both of the others were flawless. Iirc he ended up giving the Deco because it gave him connection issues and his ASUS and Wyze Mesh routers didn’t.
For the most part I’m also leaving Wyze in favor of Yolink and TP-Link. I agree with the posters here as well that Wyze products are buggy, non-reliable, and the company is putting profits ahead of functionality. I used to get 12 seconds of preview on my Wyze cameras. Now I get nothing – just a simple snapshot which is useless as they want to force me to buy a subscription. I used to get RTSP functionality so I could use an HDMI monitor to check my cameras, now it’s not available. Wyze also keeps messing around with their camera firmware to the point where even using it on TinyCam Pro makes it an annoyance because I need to keep updating my software and re-entering the Camera information each time for it to continue working. I had issues with their spotlight that mounts on top of their cameras, which, by the way is not weatherproof. I’ve had nothing but problems with Wyze, and I am phasing their system out entirely.
Thank you for the insights. I’m not going through an entire Wifi system overhaul for the fourth time in a few years . I don’t believe in purchasing a specific mesh system to cater to one brand (Wyze) because they may not play well together. I would also argue why every single one of my other smart home products has worked without issue with my last three router brands (Netgear, Google, and TP-Link). At this point, I think it’s fair to point the blame a little more towards Wyze. I think the most frustrating thing is the vast array of experiences from their customer base. I love the potential and cost of Wyze products, I just wish it worked better for all.
I didn’t notice much difference in connection performance between my Wyze Cam V2s and V3s. But my one OG does lose connection every couple months or so. I think it was a lemon, as I complained about it to Support enough times about other issues that I got enough $5 gift cards to upgrade to a V3.
As for other brands, I do have a Nest doorbell and Nest battery cam. Sometimes they load faster and sometimes they load much slower. I still haven’t found the pattern yet. Once when someone pressed the doorbell, it promptly went offline when I wanted to see who was at the door.
Ever since I added a node to my ASUS mesh and bound my problem cameras to the nearest node, and added a rule to restart all my cameras twice a week, I haven’t had any connection issues from my Wyze cameras. My Google cameras have gone offline from time to time although they mostly recover on their own.
That’s impressive. I only did as good as what you say, by adding a WiFi plug to my Wyze cams and restart them every morning early 03:00-04:00. (When I say, I added WiFi plugs, I sort of cheated. Not every cam got its own plug. I am lucky that 8 cams are in and outside my garage. I have access to the attic. I ran some cheap 12-15 extension cords to each corner from the center. I put one WiFi plug next to the GDO plug, and feed all the cords to that one WiFi plug. So, daily 03:15 all 8 shutdown for 10 min and start again at 03:25. Some share a multiple USB port adapter/charger vice using any/none of the Wyze adapters. When I stopped using the Wyze supplied USB adapter, many of my offline problems stopped.
It’s funny, I bought a few Wyze plugs thinking I would need to use them to power-cycle the cameras (I know, not a good idea to use the same brand, but they were on sale…), but ended up not using any of them for that purpose at all.
Sometimes the Wyze Cams do load a bit slowly, but I haven’t seen them gone offline in the past year. All of them came back online automatically after a ~1 hour power outage, except the OG.
I’m not saying Wyze Cams are flawless, as I still have the OG that goes offline from time to time. I think Wyze does owe customers a good investigation into connection problems. It’s hard for me to believe none of them have seen these issues in their own homes.
100% agree. I have 8 cameras, og model, pan scans, and v3’s. I have had the wyze cams kill multiple sd cards, they are constantly down, what is the deal with no rtsp? If the service strictly is non local it must work. Wyze webview us a joke will not maintain a camera connection never has. Mine are probably going in the trash soon unless they fix it. My suggestion push rtsp firmware update so users can view their cameras without being tied to the app and clunky cloud services ; especially since the cloud service is not reliable. Note: people buy security cameras for security if wyze allows security breaches allowing random people to see your feed and the cameras dont efficiently maintain uptime they are pointless.
I purchased Cam Plus for the sole purpose of viewing my cameras while I work at my desktop. I even mounted a secondary monitor above my primary for Spotify and to have a camera interface. Webview NEVER stays connected to my cameras, I just refresh every 30 minutes or so. Very disappointing and one of many issues I have with Wyze.
Wyze cameras are real junk. And the company knew they were being hacked for years and did nothing. My cameras break every time I upgrade the firmware. Now they don’t work with 5G wifi. Is this 1988? What a waste of money.
This claim is certainly not representative. I have upgraded the firmware many times on a dozen cameras and never had any of them “break”. Maybe it’s your network or internet connection.
What do you mean by “now”? Wyze cameras have always only supported 2.4Ghz WiFi. Not for nothing, but 5Ghz WiFi can have reduced range and issues with walls and other obstructions.
Perhaps you you didn’t properly familiarize yourself with the cameras’ requirements before you bought them.
Junk? Read the forum.
There are several articles out there about wyze’s lack of security. Here is one. I’m done with Wyze - The Verge
I have had 3 wyze cameras breakdown after firmware update. I have never had this problem with other cameras.
So…they are a waste of money.
Keep buying them at your own risk. Though I suspect you work for wyze.
Just now they won’t work with 5G WiFi? What’s 5G WiFi? I guess you mean 5GHz WiFi, seeing there’s no animal 5G WiFi. But then again, it NEVER worked with 5 GHz. It was designed to not work with 5GHz WiFi. Nearly all IoT devices, and Wyze work only with 2.4 GHz.
. I don’t believe in purchasing a specific mesh system to cater to one brand (Wyze) because they may not play well together. I would also argue why every single one of my other smart home products has worked without issue with my last three router brands (Netgear, Google, and TP-Link). At this point, I think it’s fair to point the blame a little more towards Wyze. I think the most frustrating thing is the vast array of experiences from their customer base. I love the potential and cost of Wyze products, I just wish it worked better for all.
