Not Impressed with Wireless Outdoor Cam

I have a bunch of v2 cams. Lately we’ve had some issues with theft and vandalism as well as bad neighbors. I bought a couple v3 cams as well as some of the Wireless Outdoor cams.

Most importantly I wanted to replace the front door camera with a wireless one with a more perm mount. I replaced it (and still quite annoyed I can’t turn the image 90 degrees) and even managed to get the PIR to cover most of the area I wanted it to.

So, first off why doesn’t the PIR cover the entire range? I have my cameras pointed in a way that maximize the viewable area to coverage area. With the PIR coverage only covering 70% then 30% of the viewable area is not a good area. This was the biggest selling point for me, so disappointed…

Secondly, no continuous recording. This one I at least understand. Still a bit disappointed, but understand the battery constraints.

Lastly, the detection. My wife’s car is right in the middle of the view, in the PIR coverage. Her car was broken into 3 days ago and had a bunch of stuff stolen. We called the police and while we waited for them I hopped on Wyze to check the video. To my surprise there was nothing. There wasn’t a single event after dark, for any day since I put it up.
I tested it and in the dark it only detects things within about 5’ of the camera. Even at 100% distance it doesn’t pick up any activity in the street (me doing jumping jacks in front of her car or a car driving by).

I have another camera on the corner of my fence to catch the a-holes that are tormenting my dogs by kicking them under the fence. Again to narrow the field and expand the length of area viewed I have to turn it 90 degrees.

Well throughout all of this, I realized that most the places I wanted a wireless cam, I can put a wired one and run the power through a window (love those flat cables).

The real question is, when will we see a v4 cam with PIR? Still waiting on pet detection so my dogs quit setting off all the cams in my back yard.

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In the old days (lol, not that long ago, but WT…), you could buy a Wyze Sense Motion Detector and bridge for a few bucks that would give you PIR at any cam. That said, if you still have some spare V1 sensors, that would be your solution. Hopefully the V2 sensors will be around as soon as they quench the thirst of the HMS buyers, who are receiving them now. The V1 sensors have been known to pick up things as far away as the street, so you have to be careful how you position them. I expect the V2s should be the same.

As far as the WOC camera goes, that should only be used where you can’t run a power cable. If you can run a power cable, it should be to a V3.

Looks like I get to buy more v3s. Kinda stuck with the WOCs.
I’m headed out of town for a while and been trying to get everything in order before I go.