# Without an SD card installed in my cameras if the cameras lose network connectivity will they save motion capture clips locally and upload when network connectivity is re-established? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cameras\ **Tags:** android\ **Created:** [August 29, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444 "2020-08-29T02:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![onebnorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@onebnorth](https://forums.wyze.com/u/onebnorth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/1 "2020-08-29T02:44:53Z")
I’m curious about how my Wyzecam V1/V2 cameras actually work when the cameras lose network connectivity. Do they still work and record any events to be stored locally in the camera to either some small internal memory in the camera or a user installed SD card? Or are the events just never recorded when there is no network activity? ---
**Author:** ![shifty189](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/shifty189/32/25237_2.png) [@shifty189](https://forums.wyze.com/u/shifty189)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/2 "2020-08-29T04:06:41Z")
I don’t know. What I can say is if you have a V2 with an SD card set to constantly record. If the internet goes out it will continue to record. Unfortunately I don’t think (but can’t recall) it saved any events to the cloud for that period. I suspect that without an SD card it will affectingly do nothing. ---
**Author:** ![tomp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/tomp/32/4837_2.png) [@tomp](https://forums.wyze.com/u/tomp)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/3 "2020-08-29T16:06:36Z")
My understanding is that the motion event clips are cloud stored so no internet, no cloud. The cams do require internet to initialize but once up they will continue to record the SD card and those recordings should be there Without Wi-Fi you won’t be able to access the cams. Notifications are server based so no internet connection no notifications. Hope this helps-feel free to correct or question! ---
**Author:** ![onebnorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@onebnorth](https://forums.wyze.com/u/onebnorth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/4 "2020-08-29T18:32:08Z")
Yes, cloud stored. But…they are 12 second clips so you have to have a complete file to actually upload to the Internet before you can upload it. I doubt a 12 second clip would be streamed. Those 12 second clips are probably stored in the cameras RAM. And they can probably store multiple clips based on the cameras total RAM size. So, I’ve just stumbled onto another question. I wonder what the cameras internal RAM size is. ---
**Author:** ![sodcam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/sodcam/32/21421_2.png) [@sodcam](https://forums.wyze.com/u/sodcam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/5 "2020-08-30T03:11:07Z")
> [@onebnorth](#): > > Or are the events just never recorded when there is no network activity? Just wanted to add a vote of certainty from bitter experience to the what @shifty189 and @tomp said. They are both exactly correct: no internet means no events, no notifications, and no saving throw if there is no SD card installed. There is no uploading after the fact. But if an SD card is installed, the Wyze cam will continue to save footage as long as it has continuous uninterrupted power, internet or not. So that’s the saving throw and one of the most cosmically useful features of a Wyze cam in my experience. 🙂 (I encounter this a lot with V2s, have never owned a V1) > [@onebnorth](#): > > I wonder what the cameras internal RAM size is. All SD card recordings are saved in 1 minute segments, so at least that much RAM? ---
**Author:** ![onebnorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@onebnorth](https://forums.wyze.com/u/onebnorth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/6 "2020-08-30T16:35:14Z")
Thank You very much for your input. I’ve never used an SD card in these cameras. It’s certainly not because of high SD memory card prices. I just never thought I would need them. But since the wireless network connectivity will always be imperfect I’m starting to feel more and more like an internal user-supplied SD memory card is a must so that you can be certain, if the day arises, that you will the video you need. On this same topic, so the Wyzecam V2 will record any motion regardless of network connectivity which makes sense. If it saves these events on the SD card will/does it upload them from the SD card if the network was down at event record time and later resumes? Of course, after thinking about my own question for over 3 seconds I realize that if the clip is over 12 seconds long then Wyze is obviously not going to upload that to their cloud storage. They would run out of storage fast. Just curious. Either way, it looks like I’m going to start using these. It’s a bit silly that I haven’t been already when I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![sodcam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/sodcam/32/21421_2.png) [@sodcam](https://forums.wyze.com/u/sodcam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/7 "2020-08-30T18:31:59Z")
You are very welcome! Hopefully some of my rambling will be helpful! SD card recording (continuous or event) is actually entirely distinct and separate from the 12 sec cloud event clips. Not silly at all to think before spending since you can almost double your investment per cam and Wyze is pushing their CAM-Plus cloud program as an alternative solution. If you do get SD cards, many of us here recommend the “body or dash cam grade” high endurance cards designed for continuous video recording: > **[Amazon.com: Samsung PRO Endurance 32GB 100MB/s (U1) MicroSDXC Memory Card with...](https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Endurance-32GB-Micro-Adapter/dp/B07B98GXQT)** > > The Samsung’s PRO Endurance is specifically designed for video monitoring cameras (dash cams, surveillance & security cams, body cams, etc.). Transfer speeds are up to 100MB/s. Capture crucial moments with a card built to last harsh conditions with... I use 64 GB ones, but others use much larger cards with success. Gotta run right now, but you can find tons more detail each of these topic here in the forum! ---
**Author:** ![onebnorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@onebnorth](https://forums.wyze.com/u/onebnorth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/8 "2020-08-30T22:03:22Z")
One more question, if I may, when you have time. Is there a mode that records to the SD card where there is motion only? That would seem to make the most sense to me. For instance, the camera should constantly buffer like 15 seconds of video in it’s internal RAM memory so that when motion is detected it could then say, "Okay, now something is happening, I should save this to SD as long as motion keeps happening within a XX range of time and stop recording to SD when no motion has been detected for the configured lead-out so to speak. That way the Wyzecam would not record 8 hours straight of “nothingness” on a static scene and you would extend the life of your SD card but NOT recorded “nothingness”. I really don’t want “blind continuous recording to SD”, I want intelligent “as long as there is some good motion” recording to SD. Save that to the SD card. This is my “hope” of the way it works since I have no real experience with it yet. ---
**Author:** ![sodcam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/sodcam/32/21421_2.png) [@sodcam](https://forums.wyze.com/u/sodcam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/9 "2020-08-30T22:56:00Z")
Absolutely correct! The best SD card recording mode will depend on your use case. In my situation, we have cams looking out over large areas and I usually need to see when events in the distance happen - further away than even most commercial cams can reliably detect. So having continuous footage that a human can review as needed is important for this specific use. But if your cams are picking up all the events you are interested in, then the “events only” mode will definitely save space, give you a lot more recording time per SD card, and a longer card life! 🙂 More details here: > **[MicroSD and Continuous Recording](https://support.wyze.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029728632-microSD-and-Continuous-Recording)** > > Using a microSD card with your Wyze Cam gives you the ability to record continuous footage and recorded events directly to your local microSD card. You'll also be able to record Time Lapse videos. > ... Also, despite of the title, this video covers both SD card modes: [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/original/3X/f/9/f9d3cd4674b4ec83ea1698ae61162426bea4a87e.jpeg "8 - HOW TO USE CONTINUOUS RECORDING WITH A MICROSD CARD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bo10pUTfwQ) ---
**Author:** ![onebnorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed8c4c/32.png) [@onebnorth](https://forums.wyze.com/u/onebnorth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/10 "2020-08-30T23:00:26Z")
Thanks for your help once again. Great information. It sounds like Wyzecam has got everybody covered here. I’m looking forward to trying these options out for real. ---
**Author:** ![p2im0](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/p2im0/32/24835_2.png) [@p2im0](https://forums.wyze.com/u/p2im0)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/11 "2020-09-01T15:48:37Z")
How do you enable alert recording or continuous SD card recording for Wyze Cam Outdoor? I’ve had an SD card in my cam for a couple weeks and only have recordings of my time lapses. I also have no choice under advanced settings to enable continuous recording. Just the option to look at how much Microsd storage I’ve used (nothing). ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/original/3X/2/0/208eb58b828d566671230a096c21629b7ccc66d4.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![sodcam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/sodcam/32/21421_2.png) [@sodcam](https://forums.wyze.com/u/sodcam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/12 "2020-09-01T20:23:08Z")
> [@p2im0](#): > > I’ve had an SD card in my cam for a couple weeks and only have recordings of my time lapses. That is correct operation [https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042571132-What-does-a-microSD-card-in-the-Wyze-Cam-Outdoor-do-](https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042571132-What-does-a-microSD-card-in-the-Wyze-Cam-Outdoor-do-) > [@p2im0](#): > > How do you enable alert recording or continuous SD card recording for Wyze Cam Outdoor? The WCO does not do “continuous recording”, only “scheduled recording” [https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037595072-Scheduled-Recording](https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037595072-Scheduled-Recording) ---
**Author:** ![p2im0](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/p2im0/32/24835_2.png) [@p2im0](https://forums.wyze.com/u/p2im0)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/13 "2020-09-01T20:45:13Z")
Understood; I’ve seen this now in several topics but folks tend to combine capabilities of other cameras with the WCO. So not even the 12second clips are stored on SD-CARD, in the event of power or Internet loss… that seems odd not to have that capability. ---
**Author:** ![sodcam](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/sodcam/32/21421_2.png) [@sodcam](https://forums.wyze.com/u/sodcam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/14 "2020-09-01T22:16:24Z")
> [@p2im0](#): > > So not even the 12second clips are stored on SD-CARD, in the event of power or Internet loss… that seems odd not to have that capability. Yes and yes. Apparently it’s all about the battery life. But they might be backed up on the base station SD card if you have one there. Note - I do not have a WCO yet, so this is just from reading the Wyze site and this forum while trying to understand my possible best use for such a camera. ---
**Author:** ![shifty189](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/shifty189/32/25237_2.png) [@shifty189](https://forums.wyze.com/u/shifty189)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/15 "2020-09-01T22:59:00Z")
Welcome to the forum! Originally I was a bit surprised by this also. Just put your sd card in your base station and it will work more like you expect. I assume it’s not only due to battery concerns, but also so you have a copy of the recordings if the cam gets stolen. ---
**Author:** ![p2im0](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/p2im0/32/24835_2.png) [@p2im0](https://forums.wyze.com/u/p2im0)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/16 "2020-09-02T03:23:40Z")
Thanks. I have a 32GB in my WCO and a 32GB in my base station - they’ve been in there for over a week, probably 100 events recorded, I have back up to base station turned on. There’s 0.08GB used on my base station. I’ll pull it out and check videos, but doesn’t seem like the 12s videos are being backed up there either (doesn’t seem to be a way to check videos on SD of base station without removal). ---
**Author:** ![shifty189](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wyze/user_avatar/forums.wyze.com/shifty189/32/25237_2.png) [@shifty189](https://forums.wyze.com/u/shifty189)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://forums.wyze.com/t/without-an-sd-card-installed-in-my-cameras-if-the-cameras-lose-network-connectivity-will-they-save-motion-capture-clips-locally-and-upload-when-network-connectivity-is-re-established/120444/17 "2020-09-02T04:20:16Z")
It’s true that rite now it’s not possible to view videos stored on the base station without removing the card. Hopefully they will add that feature soon. I have no idea why it wouldn’t be storing videos on the base station if the setting is set and the videos are getting to the cloud. Very strange.