Which ones of course🤔

Cameras
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I’m looking to try the cameras, reddit fellow contributor says V3s loves them. I see OG is just released and really inexpensive, but are they cheap?

Are V3 Pros way better than V3?

Should I forget OG until the bugs are worked out of the firmware?

I know the V3 is wire powered and can be in or outdoors. I know about the socket plugs, won’t work currently for me.

Are the exterior wireless any good? Are they great motion detection, great for live view with better than -55Dbm WiFi? ai that actually works?

Do all the cameras scan a barcode on your phone?
If so, any connection issues with single SSID mesh routers and AP points that broadcast both at the same time?

Can it read the bar codes if my phone is connected to 5ghz and cameras are looking for 2.4ghz?

So, I’d appreciate feedback being a new purchase.

I’m stuck and invested with Simplisafe which is not smart, needs wifi to the moon, which I have with Orbi mesh. I don’t want to go from an expensive PITA to an inexpensive PITA. :wink::laughing: Any advice and input appreciated and taken with a grain of salt as well.

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I have 40+ Wyze cameras and they all generally work well for me (or I wouldn’t have bought so many).

Wyze cameras do often seem to require that you have good internet, good WiFi, and a good router to have a good experience.

For the most part, yes, though iirc, Wyze has started having some cameras setup by Bluetooth. I haven’t really paid close attention to which use what.

Yes. your phone doesn’t even necessarily have to be on the same network. The info on the QR code is generated based on what info you enter during setup, not what your phone is connected to.

Not for me. I’m using the Wyze mesh router pro. Before that I had a fairly expensive ASUS mesh router and all my Wyze devices work well on them with a shared SSID name. However, some people have historically had some issues with some routers when they used a single SSID. It’s mostly a router issue TBH, since different routers often have differing protocols and parameters, though I haven’t really seen much about that issue in the last couple of years with any recent devices.

It’s hard to tell you what to get. People have different preferences and are nitpicky about different things. If you are mostly concerned about the most commonly reported pita things for each of those 3 models:
I love the v3Pro for the 2K resolution, but it can be kind of stuttery for some people, which can be frustrating to them, so I hesitate to recommend it for everyone sometimes.
The V3 is an awesome versatile camera (I particularly love the near/invisible IR spectrum), but some people are frustrated by the audio sensitivity not being as high quality as they wish.

I recently lent my OG to my brother to try out, but a lot of people dislike the non-standard mount and it is limited to 2 live streams at a time. But otherwise I think it’s a pretty great camera overall as far as I personally recall experiencing it.

It’s hard to tell you what you’ll prefer, but, keep in mind that Wyze has a 30-Day return policy, so keep your packaging and if you find that something isn’t meeting your standards, then don’t just suffer through it for years to come. Make sure it’s something you’ll be satisfied with.

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Thank you for the reply and feedback!

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I know @carverofchoice already addressed most of these, but I figured you may want multiple opinions. I am at 26 cams.

I would actually rate them as comparable or better than the V3 for image quality, night vision, and load speed. They also have a better UI in my opinion, PIP capability, a telephoto version, an integrated spotlight version, and the ability to stack two cams on the same mount with the mount kit and supplied splitter cord. These cams were built with a new OS that makes the UI a bit different, but I prefer it to the old V3 UI. Where the OG saves on cost is in the lack of a magnetic base and a more cost effective screw mount of a different size. The OG is also incompatible with Cam Plus Lite.

If I were buying more cams today, I would choose the OG over the V3 simply for the price point. The capabilities of the two are not that far apart to ignore the savings and the added benefits of the OG features.

My OG cams are quite stable. No more bugs than any other cam model.

In my opinion, no. The 2K capability is really not a selling point for me. I use my cams for security cams and don’t see the massive improvement in image quality that I need to have to justify the added cost. Both the OG and V3 are better bang for the buck.

I don’t own any Wyze Cam Outdoor Battery Powered Cams. I am not a battery maintainer. There are significant drawbacks to battery power. I want 24\7 SD recording. I can’t do that with a battery powered cam as they sleep when there is no motion to conserve battery power. Unlike the other wired cams, they are motion activated by a PIR sensor.

I am also on a single SSID tri-band Wyze Mesh Pro. All mine install without issues with my phone on 5GHz.

I also have the Wyze Home Monitoring System which was my introduction to the Wyze ecosystem. Very satisfied with its performance.

My best advice would be to start slow, maybe with one OG and one V3. Install them and move them around the property and see how they react to your network topology.

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Ok and thank you, the OGs call me at that price point for a two pack. I think I’ll get an OG two pack or maybe two.

The mounting base doesn’t matter, they’re for the basement and garage, indoors with lots of nighttime darkness. And go from there. Putting powered outdoors is difficult for cable runs and can’t use the sockets.

I asked in another area about cam plus. When buying there’s an auto checked opt in for 30 day trial.

Can I log somewhere inside that 30 days should I decide I want the $99 unlimited cameras plan and upgrade it? I don’t want monthly.

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Note that the two packs are two of the SAME cam… 2 standard or 2 telephoto… And do not include the stack kit.

The only 2 pack with one of each style comes with the Bundle that includes the stack kit.

The 30 day trial will automatically convert to a paid monthly unless you log into your account at services.wyze.com and cancel it prior to the 30 day mark. You can also remove that from your cart if you don’t want the trial.

You can, at any time, add more subscriptions like the Unlimited plan thru the same account portal.

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Ok, and thank you! Free trials are good! I can cancel it and then add the unlimited should I decide to keep everything.
Appreciate all the feedback. I’ll just jump in, not a lot at risk.

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image

BAM! Customer served. Nice going guys. :+1:

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How did everything turn out?

Curious to see if your choice worked out for you.

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Dont know if this answers with all the writing above, but I’m past the learning curve now amd would say it has worked out;

I have, 8 OGs, 3 Pan V3s, 2 V4s and still have the other companies cameras.

Simplisafe actually offered me a refund after 13 months for their cameras, which was good on them, but are historic for long refund waits and hassles to go with it.

They’re not horrible with strong mesh wifi, but no battery cameras for me ever again. Or their doorbells which are Wired. Longer story, not for here.

To be fair though, I used the Simplisafe stuff 13 months. I’m too old to climb ladders to remove them, and so I declined after all my complaints.

Of course I made a few legal threats, that could have swayed their decision to try to get rid of me.:person_shrugging::grin::thinking: Gradual replacement upon failure. They’re hanging and will stay for now.

I’m an old hand with Wyze cameras now, don’t known if they fixed free trials, but they should actually just self terminate and spell that out clearly to new users. Otherwise it’s just negative option marketing which is rampant in businesses everywhere.

A negative option is when you’re automatically billed for something when you didn’t specifically say not to bill you. It’s a common practice that businesses use, and it often happens with free trial offers and subscriptions on TV especially.

I don’t like at all, that Wyze doesn’t integrate much with Home Assistant, or easily, the complaints and suggestions are in so maybe they’ll do something.:person_shrugging: Holds me back from buying more to a degree.

I’m still eyeing Power over Ethernet cameras that do integrate for outside on the house corners. Etc.

Still, there’s a place for Wyze cameras in all my windows, Pan V3s in the garage and basement, they do listen for smoke and fire alarm sounds and I can use that in Tasker and Home Assistants unauthorized Wyze integration etc. etc.

Sorry, I’m long winded. Wyze cams are mostly great and inexpensive.

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Fantastic. That is good news for Wyze and the rest of us.

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