Cameras restarting frequently after changing modem-gateway (same ISP)

Cameras
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Hello.

Today, I changed my internet “modem” (Gateway XB8) to a new one.
The ISP stayed the same. Only the modem changed for a “better” one with 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands.

All my cameras-- two Cam Pan v2 and two Cam v3-- restart themselves over and over again, between approximately 10 and 20 minutes.

With my old gateway/modem, I had one SSID, combining both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. The cameras were fine this way, for weeks/months/years.

After setting up the new Gateway, with the same SSID, combining all three bands, the cameras repeatedly and randomly restarted themselves over and over again.

I unplugged the cameras for a hard power-cycle. I restarted each camera via the app (version 3). I restarted my Gateway. No resolution; the cameras continue restarting themselves repeatedly.

I split the bands, leaving the 2.4 band with the original SSID and creating another SSID for the 5 and 6 GHz bands.

I moved a camera from about 10 feet away to five feet away.

The Cam Pan v2 cameras have firmware 4.49.13.0653, installed before I changed my gateway. One of the Cam v3 has firmware 4.36.13.0416.
One Cam Pan v2 was activated in March 2024.
The second Cam v3 has version 4.36.11.8391. The app won’t let me update the firmware.
The two Cam v3 cameras were activated in June 2024 and July 2024.

All four cameras show as “offline” under My Home > Devices, despite my being able to access each and view the live feed and/or access the SD card.
The cameras repeatedly appear as “Device Offline” when I add them to My Home > Favorites.

I updated the Wyze app to v3.0.5 (558).

I connected my other devices to the 5 GHz band, to reduce the number of devices on the 2.4 GHz band.

So far, everything I have tried has failed to rectify the situation. The four cameras continue to restart themselves over and over. I can see the restarts in the SD card playback.

I have not tried performing a “factory reset” and connecting to my network again.

Suggestions?

Thank you in advance.

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I factory reset one of the Cam v3 cameras and connected it to the 2.4 GHz band.

It still shows as “offline” in My Home > Favorites.

When viewing the live feed from the camera, the More > Turn Off option does not work. I get the message “This device is offline”.

The camera is literally less than four feet from the modem-gateway.

…

So, I have tried a factory reset and reconnecting a camera to my wifi.

Other suggestions?

Thank you.

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Unfortunately ISPs lock you out of changing a lot of stuff on those gateways. However I would check and see if it is running WPA2/3 mixed (compatibility mode) and see if it lets you change to WPA2 only, at least on the 2.4ghz band.

The cameras reboot when they haven’t had wifi for a while, so the issue is that they can’t connect.

Make 100% sure you used the same SSID and password, both case sensitive.

The camera that you factory reset, is it still rebooting or is it just having some other issues now? Which router did you have before? Do you have your phone on the same SSID as the cameras for this testing?

Try disabling “Advanced Security” or whatever your ISP calls it, with Xfinity it is done via your account online, not sure about others. It may be blocking a connection the camera needs to report its online status to Wyze.

Do you notice any other devices with unstable wifi on 2.4ghz? Maybe it is just a bad router.

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Hello.

Dave27, thank you for the insightful information. I did not know that camera restarts could be a result of wifi connection issues.

I had set the 2.4 GHz band to WPA2 after splitting the bands.
When the bands were combined, the security mode was “WPA3-Personal Transition”.

The SSID and password are correct.

For the Cam v3 that I reset, it continued to restart over and over again. The problem was not resolved.

I previously used the (Xfinity) XB7 router. I am now using the (Xfinity) XB8 router.
My ISP is not Xfinity, but the router is the same, based on what I’ve read about the XB7/XB8.

“Advanced Security” was turned off.

No other devices had unstable wifi on the 2.4 Ghz band.
When I “tested” the connection of devices connected to my gateway, specifically the Wyze cams, the gateway reported a strong/excellent connection.
So, I had no clue that the cameras were having wifi connection issues.

I resolved the issue by changing the Firewall > IPv4 security from “Maximum Security” to “Typical Security”.
Under maximum security, LAN-to-WAN was restricted to specific protocols and ports.
I presume the Cam Pan v2 and Cam v3 were using other protocols/ports.

Are there any Wyze docs that outline the protocol and ports the cameras need to use?

Now that I have resolved the issue, I am thinking about experimenting with combining the bands and using the WPA3-Personal Transition security mode.
In theory, combining the bands would allow any of my devices to use the “best” frequency and have the fast(er) wifi speed.
I’ll have to do more reading about the pros and cons of combining/splitting the frequency bands.

Thank you to everyone that reviewed my post and considered my issue.
Have a great day.

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5

I don’t know if this information is dated or if it’s applicable to all current Wyze cameras, but I happened across this Help Center article recently:

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Interesting, I’m assuming when you use the router with Xfinity they probably disable that themselves as that issue hasn’t been reported by others that I’ve seen. Sounds like that setting is pretty extreme, it wouldn’t even let the camera connect to Wyze at all. So it wasn’t a wifi connection issue per se, more of an internet connectivity issue.

Yeah from what I’ve seen each cam is a bit different as to what it connects to and sometimes even the streaming protocol it uses.

Putting the bands in the same SSID should not be an issue at all. Even if it enables a “smart connect” band steering type feature, the vast majority of devices are fine with it, but occasionally there is an issue with the band steering/smart connect, that’s why I mentioned it.

WPA3 transition or compatibility mode was pretty buggy in the beginning but has gotten better, so will also probably be fine. If the router lets you still set the bands differently when they’re in the same SSID and you have any issues with IOT devices, you could set 2.4ghz to WPA2 and 5ghz to WPA3 (or WPA3 transition if you have 5ghz that don’t support WPA3). 6Ghz can be WPA3 only, all 6ghz devices should support WPA3. In all honestly, if any device is connecting with WPA2, it sort of defeats the purpose of having WPA3 at all, so it isn’t a huge deal either way.

Or if that router has a guest network feature you could create an IOT-only one with WPA2 and a different SSID and put the cams and other non-WPA3 stuff on that.

I do use a combined SSID for my “main” network, since I’m on teams calls all day and I can join from my phone, it lets me walk outside if I want and seamlessly switches bands as needed. There are some devices out there that tend to stick to one band when that is not desirable, so some prefer to split them up. Matter of personal preference. “Smart connect” should for the most part force those devices onto the better band, so even that isn’t as much of an issue anymore.

For people that want separate SSIDs, I usually say set your main network up with a single one, then enable a guest network with two different ones. That way you can choose a network for each device depending on the behavior or convenience you want. But it is less and less of an issue these days, most people are perfectly fine with a single SSID.

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Uh, no. I have cameras that go days at times without WiFi and never automatically reboot. I have multiple cameras in my truck that drives away from the WiFi every time I leave the house. So loss of WiFi is an every day occurance for several of my cameras (currently a V3, a V3 Pro, and a V4).

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OG restarts after 30 mins of no wifi as has been reported a bunch of times here. My Pan v3s will do it if they power up and cannot connect, they reboot periodically (don’t recall how often), They’ve never lost wifi/internet long enough for me to notice if they reboot after a while in that scenario (were online, then lose connection). I don’t have v3 or v4 so can’t comment on those, but from OPs findings apparently several models will restart repeatedly if they can’t establish a connection after power on.

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This is also my understanding, as described by a Wyze Team member:

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Good to know. Thanks.