Stand alone router + DVR + sensor hub

I’d buy a stand alone device that included a router solely designed to connect to the cameras, plus have the sensor bridge which could be bumped up in terms of power to allow connections further away. Then add in an inexpensive older 5200 rpm hard drive to keep the cost down and add longevity to act as a DVR. Then allow access to real time and archived footage via the app, as well as PC.

Clearly the cost of this unit would be higher than the typical devices you sell, but to me it would be worth having what’s essentially a self contained hub to boost overall range and record footage without the risk of someone grabbing the cameras (using cameras outside shielded from weather to a point).

Something to record off camera will be of much higher value once you roll out the outdoor cameras.

@Jeff_CA, I’ve been thinking about something very much along these lines!

My unit would be another optional bolt-on product, similar to Bulb & Plug, albeit a premium offering. It could even be the initial product in a Wyze Premium series. Still relatively inexpensive and not diluting the Wyze mission of everyday affordable quality. Rather than traditional HDDs, I suggest variable capacity M.2 (NVMe or SATA bus) SSDs (128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 GB or whichever flavors they deem marketable). These are pretty well commoditized by now at reasonable capacities. They would also reduce both dimensional & power requirements (keeping it Wyze lean), while increasing performance spectacularly vs mechanical drives.

Currently, a multitude of Wyze cams are essentially a federated constellation of independent units. The DVR I envision for them would involve a choice of (or dual) setup modes. For example, you could configure your cams to operate in the current cloud model, OR you could choose DVR/HUB mode. The latter would establish the DVR unit as a hub to which the cams attach. It would also become a proxy chokepoint whereby only the hub dials into the Wyze cloud to be addressable via the app, seamlessly brokering device access. Wyze Sensor Bridge could be built into it as well in order to accommodate Wyze Sense without the need for a cam piggyback bridge. Should the hub fail, devices could also fail back to cloud mode.

Additionally, I’d build plenty of processing power into the DVR hub, and offload things like person detection onto it. This might’ve been a better approach than shoehorning AI into the current generation of cams, which 1) didn’t have the capacity to handle it imo, and, 2) possibly frittered away development focus the past few months. Centrally processing the AI layers on a more powerful (and purpose-built) hub device also offers the advantage of LAN speed processing since it would be on the same local network (preferably wirebound) as the cams, and not subject to Internet best-effort latency. Can’t tell you how many Wyze Sense smart alert videos I’ve had without any germaine subject matter (ie. whomever opened a door) in the clip. The horse had already left the barn on many occasions due to upload latency. Buffering it to the hub first solves this problem. I think it would also undoubtedly enhance the person detection performance issues echoing thru other threads.

As you’ve mentioned, a product like this is the obvious foil to a perp simply walking up to destroy or steal the cam(s). Not sure there’s any way to even view your cloud footage if the cam goes off-grid. A device like this would certainly shore-up one of WyzeCam’s most glaring weaknesses in the security space.

Wonder what @rbruceporter, @UserCustomerGwen, @HDRock, or others think about the concept?

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It sounds really cool but I don’t know the feasibility with our products (because I’m not part of the product team :slight_smile: ).

Haha, well don’t keep it a secret from them and put me @ #1 or 2 on the pre-order list… :grin:

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I’ll make a note! :wink:

This sounds like a really cool idea! I would love if Wyze could look into this!

I think this idea needs to get pushed again, since the release of the outdoor cam, and now the doorbell cam details have been released to indicate all events are recorded in the cloud without the ability to record locally. A DVR would provide the capabilities I would need before buying either of these products.

It seems like one could take a Raspberry Pi and build in all the necessary components to make this happen, minus the knowledge of how Wyze encodes their video.

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A solid hub like this would also address total service lapses during ISP & Wyze cloud outages. Seems ridiculous to be at home w/functional wi-fi and not be able to at least VIEW my cams… especially if something nefarious is behind the internet outage.

Agree, @Destro. The R.Pi (ODroid, TinkerBoard, etc.) is an awesome idea to kickstart things. They could literally release (and charge for) a turnkey appliance to download with requirements, recommendations for NAS, etc. I’d be fine with it being DIY as a launch while they develop something more polished.

If this were a camera combiner, kinda like the wyze outdoor inside box, we would like to have all the wifi connections go to the box inside, and as there are errors and such, that should handle reconnection and network traversal. None of the apps should have to talk directly with the internet, one central box would also allow combination of videos to lower bandwidth. perhaps the model could be, you can only get unlimited cam plus if you have this device