Is it possible to configure a Wyze Cam to capture its own theft and provide enough imagery to identify the thief?
Scenario: Wyze Cam is watching my room. Intruder enters the room, spots the cam, unplugs it and steals it. The intruder would have been seen by the cam, but I don’t understand how I can retrieve anything the camera saw. At least a brief clip should have been captured with the intruder, and I would hope it was sent somewhere. But I don’t see how or where to retrieve it. When I’ve experimented with this scenario, the Wyze app is unable to retrieve anything without the cam connected to wifi.
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One of my Wyze Cams was stolen 2 Saturdays ago. It was attached to the upper corner of the garage door opening. The camera on the other side of the garage barely caught the video of the thief. I am anxiously awaiting the NAS Device currently being developed by Wyze. In the meantime, I have installed an “Extension Cord” for my Micro SD card. It is securely attached to the INSIDE of the garage so that if someone steals the Camera, the Extension Cord will break leaving the Micro SD. PLEASE, Wyze, introduce the NAS Device!
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I would not rely 100% on any camera system. Any device can be stolen including the storage. To a point, cameras do aid very well in any environment but to some people I believe they also provide a false sense of security.
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5 minute “cool down” for event recording and 12 second clip sort of limits the use of this cam against theft.
Low resolution playback image.
IMHO, Wyze cam is more of a monitoring device than a secure security cam. Good value considering it’s functional for that purpose and total costs of ownership are minimal.
What does “5 minute cool down” mean? Can you point me to something that explains more? 12 seconds could be enough. How long does the cam need to remain powered from triggering on motion until the 12 second video is safely captured in whatever cloud storage it’s held so it can be viewed?
For my purposes, it doesn’t need to be a secure security cam. But if it gets disturbed, I’d like to see who did it.
Extension cord is a clever idea. Thanks.
Unfortunately, wouldn’t work with my pan cam, though.
Please follow the below link, and then click on “Getting too many, or too few recordings”. Scroll down to “Additional Information”, and it explains the “cooldown” period.
https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022669931-Event-Recordings-Push-Notifications
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Consider installing some hidden. I posted a few days ago regarding the choice of visible and hidden. Both are beneficial but with experience in investigation hidden are more fruitful.
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OK, thanks very much. The 5 minute cool-down explains why my earlier experiments were failing. With this new knowledge, I’ve determined that the phone notification occurs at between 15 and 20 seconds after the motion detection, and if the cam is unplugged after the notification, the clip is already safely in the cloud, and I can view it without the cam present. If the cam is unplugged at 13 seconds, before notification, the event may be noted, but the video data is lost. (“Events” show the existence of a clip, but can’t retrieve it.)
So basically, if this “intruder” takes any more than 15-20 seconds to locate and unplug the WYZE cam, I’ll have the 12 second clip.
I guess I could get 15 cams–then it would be really hard to unplug them all within 15 seconds. 
Thanks all for your help.
-Bob (= 0x426f62 )
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I have to say the micro SD extension cable is a nice idea. I suspect the 1-minute videos are cached prior to writing, so there is the possibility the very minute you need will not be saved to the SD card if the full minute video hasn’t completed. It might be worth testing by walking up to your camera and pulling the plug and see if the video is on the card. Hopefully, at least the approach might be saved.
I’d love to see a photo of that setup!
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There are some micro SD extensions on Amazon. They are cheap but look to be fairly light weight ribbon cable. The longest I see is 2’.
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To OverWatch’s comment, I believe you are correct that since there is a 1 minute buffer, the video will not be recorded immediately as it is happening. I do not have a way of testing as you suggested, but I have played the “View Playback” and there seems to be a lag of recording to the SD card. In my case, that particular camera was in the 5 minute “Cool Down” from recording his car’s approach; therefore no video was recorded of him taking it. The fact that the cameras may not record all nefarious events, it seems to me these cameras should be placed in the category of “Toys”. If anyone has a solution, please post.
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Loki, I am currently in the process of moving, and have disassembled the setup. It involved simply running the cable along the side of the garage door, from the outside to the inside, so that it would be unaffected by the door’s movement. In the meantime, please review OverWatch’s comment. He has a good point.
Please post pics or link to purchase.
Keep in mind that in the location of the stolen camera was another camera “looking” at it. On that camera was the video of the guy stealing the other camera. I have 2 cameras installed outside. Each looking at the other. Still, it seems to me that the stolen camera should have had some way of recording the guy’s face. My other cameras are behind glass (windows) with night vision turned off. A simple, battery powered, motion detecting (within 10 feet), LED light source is place outside, and turns on when someone walks by. Only the sudden change in light starts a very high quality recording. That minimizes the effects of the 5 minute “Cool down”, and allows for a very high quality recording of the event.
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Sorry ManAbove, I am in the process of moving and have disassembled the setup. Please see my post above and others for more detail of how all of my cameras are installed. I got the cable on Amazon. It’s a TF extension cable.
ok I just looked it up on amazon thank you I have never heard of this gadget before.
Please take a look at OverWatch’s comment above. He suggests that there may be a 1 minute buffer before recording video to the SD card. I have not tested it, but if he is correct, the extension cable would be useless. Still, I believe I have placed my cameras in places where it would be very difficult to steal; or, at least, I will catch an event with another camera.
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Ok I will. thanks. I have several cameras that are hidden if the scum bag recognizes one or two there are several others that are placed throughout. Was there some talk about a stand alone storage wyze was working on can’t recall the particular name but I think it was talked about at the last electronic show???
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