High Data Usage with Wyze V4 Cameras

[habib]

Yeah but I doubt that they will give Web View for free just so they can down on bandwidth.

[dave27]

@habib

Yeah but I doubt that they will give Web View for free just so they can down on bandwidth.

I’m not suggesting they will, I’m saying they’ll still charge for it but make the video stream locally when possible to save them cost.

[habib]

We shouldn’t be giving them any ideas

[dave27]

Well, technically this would be a benefit for many people. And if it prevents them from raising the price (or delays it) that helps too.

If I was monitoring my cams on a consistent basis, I’d be looking at allowing them to punch through the firewall I have between my IOT and regular LAN, or probably more likely putting a server on the IOT LAN and just letting me access that. But for my occasional viewing, I’m fine with it looping through Wyze.

[jcorral2]

10 mb per minute under 2K resolution?

[dave27]

I’m not sure which of my posts you’re replying to, but my 1080P cams (technically 2K) and my v4 (2.5K) both are about 10 megabytes per minute. It will depend on how complex the image is but in that ballpark.

10MB/min is tiny, extremely high compression, which is why zooming in, especially on something that was moving, yields terrible detail.

[habib]

@dave27

I’m not sure which of my posts you’re replying to,

Let me teach you something , if you click on the person you are replying to it will expand the referenced post.

[dave27]

I’ve done that by accident before and forgot all about it

[carverofchoice]

@habib

@dave27

any of the 3rd party solutions like Wyze Bridge are capable of using the local streaming ability.

I think they do but don’t quote me on that as I haven’t dived down that rabbit hole

That is correct, it is local streaming…BUT it does need cloud for the initial authentication when DWB first loads and first connects to the camera. Wyze has to confirm that DWB has the correct username and password and API Key. Once that is confirmed, the video stream itself is local and makes a big difference not putting load on the modem and external bandwidth throughput limits.

[dave27]

@carverofchoice

That is correct, it is local streaming…BUT it does need cloud for the initial authentication when DWB first loads and first connects to the camera. Wyze has to confirm that DWB has the correct username and password and API Key. Once that is confirmed, the video stream itself is local and makes a big difference not putting load on the modem and external bandwidth throughput limits.

That’s good then, I seem to remember when I briefly played with Tiny Cam it was going through the internet and that seemed like a poor solution to me. Though I don’t recall if I tried on the same LAN or not.

So the DWB sounds like a pretty good solution, assuming you have sufficient wifi bandwidth for the number of cams.

I guess if these things all streamed via Wyze servers and cost them money, that API interface would probably go away…

[carverofchoice]

@dave27

Tiny Cam it was going through the internet and that seemed like a poor solution to me

Tiny Cam works almost exactly like the Wyze app. It will do local when it’s allowed to do local and it will do internet when local isn’t working.

When you put TinyCam in Server Mode so it gives an RTSP URL, it definitely does local. People have run tests with cutting internet access (after authentication) and had it continue streaming in server mode.

@dave27

I guess if these things all streamed via Wyze servers and cost them money, that API interface would probably go away…

% you nailed it.

[K6CCC]

@dave27

Of course they’ll stop, first of all your wifi is down, and second of all they can’t authenticate. Only the stream itself goes direct, control and authentication still uses the Wyze server.

I believe the reference was to unplug the Internet connection itself - not power off the router. However for those of us that use a separate WiFi access point vs the router, you certainly can power off the router. And yes because the Wyze servers are required to setup and start the stream, you do need a working Internet in order to START a local stream, but once established, only the local WiFi is required. This has been proven many times by many users here.

[michael_winslow]

@K6CCC

This has been proven many times by many users here.

that’s not my experience. especially with live web view. also netstat seems to show differently - lacking local private network IP addresses. Maybe you can try again.

[habib]

Web View doesn’t work via local network, it needs to loop out to reach Wyze servers then loop back to your browser. OTOH, live view on the app and recording on SD card works without internet as long as the authentication with Wyze servers has been established first. After that it will stream locally indefinitely as long as there is power to the camera and router in not interrupted.

Tried it countless times.

[michael_winslow]

@habib

Web View doesn’t work via local network,

exactly. design limit or bug. once authentication takes place there is no good reason to loop through an external network server.

[habib]

@michael_winslow

exactly. design limit or bug.

I’d say design limit.

[dave27]

@K6CCC

but once established, only the local WiFi is required. This has been proven many times by many users here.

Thought that had started changing with newer firmware versions on some cams. When they can’t phone home for a certain amount of time, they reboot. But I was replying to someone that was suggesting to unplug their router (which for 99% of people means their wifi).

[dave27]

@michael_winslow

exactly. design limit or bug. once authentication takes place there is no good reason to loop through an external network server.

Think of it this way - web view sits on a server far away, and you’re accessing it remotely.

In theory they should be able to have the video itself stream directly to your browser, in practice, security settings etc might make it highly unreliable and cause a lot of support calls.

I would guess when it starts costing them enough, they’ll figure out a way to make it work direct. But the web interface itself still needs internet connectivity, even if not for the video feed, that is hosted outside your house, not on the PC.

[michael_winslow]

@dave27

Think of it this way - web view sits on a server far away, and you’re accessing it remotely.

Think of it this way… The company said it does P2P on local net. they do for the phone client… as for server authentication - there are easy ways to authenticate then pass off a P2P.
Think sort of like this: To enable peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming within a Local Area Network (LAN) for an application like Wyze Live WebView, where the data does not leave the local network, you would typically employ the following steps:

1. Discovery & Addressing

• Network Discovery: Use protocols like mDNS (Multicast DNS) or SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) to allow devices to discover each other on the LAN without needing external DNS servers. For example, devices could advertise their presence using a specific service name or identifier.

  • mDNS: Devices would announce themselves via multicast packets, and other devices can query for services using .local domain names.

• Static or Dynamic IP Assignment: Ensure both peers (the camera and the viewing device) have IP addresses on the same network. DHCP usually handles this, but static IPs can be assigned for more control.

2. Authorization

• Local Authentication: Implement a local authentication mechanism:

  • Token Exchange: Upon initial setup or login, generate or exchange tokens. These tokens can be used for session validation without needing to go through an external server each time.

  • Local User Accounts: If necessary, maintain a local database or use local storage for user credentials, ensuring that only verified users can access the stream.

• Secure Connection Setup:

  • Use of TLS/SSL: Even within a LAN, encrypting the stream with TLS would add security. Here, you might use self-signed certificates or a local Certificate Authority for validation.

3. Establish Direct Connection

• Direct Communication Protocol:

  • UDP or TCP: Depending on the application’s needs for data reliability and speed, choose between UDP for streaming video where some packet loss might be acceptable or TCP for guaranteed delivery.

  • Port Forwarding: If firewalls are in play, devices might need to open specific ports locally to allow incoming connections. However, since this is within a LAN, NAT traversal isn’t generally needed unless there’s a complex setup.

• Session Establishment:

  • After discovery and authentication, the client (e.g., browser) would initiate a connection to the IP address and port of the camera, using the previously agreed-upon protocol.

4. Streaming

• RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) or WebRTC:

  • RTSP could be used for video streaming where the client pulls the stream from the server (camera).

  • WebRTC supports peer-to-peer video streaming with built-in mechanisms for NAT traversal, but for LAN-only scenarios, its ICE (Interactive Connectivity Establishment) might be simplified to direct UDP communication.

• Data Compression: Use codecs like H.264 for video to reduce bandwidth, ensuring the stream can be managed locally without overwhelming the network.

5. Security Considerations

• Encryption: Always encrypt the stream to prevent local eavesdropping.

• Access Control: Fine-grained control over who can access the stream, possibly using network segmentation or VLANs if the network setup allows.

[ourmessages]

Oof, mentioning xfinity and McDonald’s in the same post makes me doubly sick. Haven’t touched either in years.
Now the puke is cleaned up.
That data usage for 10 streams is very realistic. Are you at home on the same LAN as the cameras. If so that’s a very inefficient setup. You need 10 IP cameras and a DVR. If your remote and want to watch the streams all say, you need 10 IP cameras and DVR that you can access remotely which would only have one data steam which would be 3 gb per hour like streaming Netflix which would be 480 GB/mo based on 20 work days and 8 hour days.
If you want to keep the current setup, get a T-mob home internet box and dedicate that to the cameras and IOT and downgrade to rhe cheapest xfiinity