Does the sensor HUB has to be plugged and powered via the back of the camera?

Sensors
1

Can the sensor hub/Bridge be externally powered and will it still work to monitor the contact/motion sensor? i.e: Not plugged in the back of a camera?

2

No, it must be plugged into the back of a Wyze cam. Please see the Wyze Sense Guide at support.wyze.com

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3

Why??
Aside from power, what’s the technical relationship between the sense unit and the camera?

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4

I believe that’s how it connects to the app interface and the internet using the camera as a piggy back. otherwise it might need a bigger processor to handle all requests, send them to the app, set up other cameras to record when needed and all the other magical things it does. basically just using what’s already in the cameras so they didn’t have to put all of that into the hub and have the redundancy.

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5

The bridge communicates with the sensors at 915 MHz, but the bridge only communicates that with the Wyze network over the USB connector on the back of the camera.

So, if you power it independently you will never know if the contacts are open or closed. You will never get another device to react to that condition. You have effectively broken the link between the sensors and any status reports or actions.

Now, if you want to increase the range of the bridge, I believe you can do that by using a USB extender cable to separate the bridge from the camera (while still being plugged into the camera).

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6

I assume an antenna/connection to WiFi.

7

Yeah I didn’t think it through :exploding_head: Thanks.

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8

I know this post is 18 months old, but “you will never get another device to react” sounds so definite! For non-supported usb access just search Wyze in github. I have zero programming or network experience but I’ve been using it on a pi with home assistant that I can put anywhere for almost 2 years now (and I can see my cameras in the same interface with trap!)

Also, a usb extension with the sense dongle at the end sounds like a hilarious eyesore. I hope no one is really doing that. If you want to keep using the dongle tied to a v2, open it up and add an antenna. You can pop open a v2 and add an antenna there as well. Takes about 20 minutes. Even with these mods they’ll still access the app and stay below a $40 price point.

Can’t beat Wyze on the $ value - even if you have to jump through hoops to use with open source tools. While they haven’t opened the api, they haven’t exactly shut off access - I’m guessing it’s because they promised us free services for life at the beginning that are now subscription based.