Would you pay for RTSP?

Wyze News
24

I have heard RTSP often mentioned but, what is it?

  1. What functionality does RTSP provide that we do not have now? Or would like to have with more script access? Or NVR access?
  2. Does RTSP provide any additional functionality to Alexa routines?
  3. Is RTSP only for cma s or does it provide anything for sensors, lights, plugs?
2 Likes
25

RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) for Wyze cameras would allow direct access to the camera feed on your local network (typically without any cloud dependency).

How it would be useful:

  • Home Security: You would be able to monitor your home from multiple devices without relying solely on the Wyze app.
  • Integration with Smart Home Systems: It would enable you to use platforms like Home Assistant to create custom automations (e.g., turning on lights when motion is detected). It would actually allow integration with basically any third-party system, so the possibilities of what you can do with it are endless.
  • Local Storage: You could record and save footage directly to your own storage devices.
  • Privacy: Streaming footage would not require routing something initially through Wyze’s servers (ie: authentication), enhancing privacy.
  • Flexibility: You’d have the freedom to use various media players and software to view the live stream. This seriously makes the use cases for your wyze camera is almost infinite. There are special programs that will do things like track. How much traffic goes in front of your house or on the road, or how often cars pass by your house and when the busiest times are and create heat maps of specific areas in the view of the camera and time of day. Or things that will automatically track license plates, take a snapshot and even run the license plate through a database to see who it’s registered to. People have made some of the coolest custom software to run your camera feed through if you have rtsp.
  • Customization: It would give you more control over your camera setup, allowing for tailored solutions to fit specific needs.

I would say the top reasons for wanting it are for people to be able to save their camera feed to a local hard drive on an NAS or computer. And so people can create their own custom AI detections running through their own computer at home For free, instead of relying on cloud detections for a fee. Or to be able to stream an unlimited amount of cameras to their TV or computer in any configuration or group or order they want for free. But there are a lot more possibilities for using rtsp. Those are just the most common uses. Basically, the summary is that it gives you access to a completely local standardized video stream for the camera so you can do whatever you want with it.

3 Likes
26

Don’t lose sight of the real issue here. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rtsp or mjpeg or hls; what the users are asking is to get the output from the cameras without having to check first with the Wyze servers. And especially during times when the internet goes down.

rtsp is a video streaming protocol, functionally the same as any other video streaming standard.

1 Like
27

I would not pay a subscription fee for feature which costs nothing to exist. It should be built into the cost of the camera.

3 Likes
28

I semi-agree other than I expect most companies that have RTSP included in their product have it budgeted into their price.

29

I would pay 0 additional to have this option officially supported. But it’s a moot point anyway (*for me) as I’ve moved off wyze as my main camera(s) for a while now anyway for 1) lack of official RTSP support and 2) the outages. I still have some, but they are used as travel cams.

But it’s nice to see there is some feedback from wyze team on this topic.

1 Like
30

No, it’s absurd to pay anything like a monthly subscription to get the basic RTSP protocol supported on WYZE cameras, especially since this comes built-in, out of the box from what I presume is one of your main competitors - ReoLink.

I’m recently been replacing all my old WYZE cameras over to ReoLink because the new, more ad filled WYZE smart phone app will no longer work on my PC Android emulator (as it used to) nor my actual phone - and unlike ReoLink WYZE doesn’t provide a native Windows PC interface program for its cameras either - leaving me with no way to logically control my WYZE cameras at all.

Getting good, reliable RTSP support with ReoLink is a big plus too, without having to use technically unsupported and very buggy custom firmware that can’t even be updated through the normal WYZE firmware update process. I’m disabled, so physically visiting all of my installed and in place WYZE cameras to upgrade the custom RTSP firmware is simply not possible once the cameras have been installed in their desired locations.

No, WYZE is losing business because of generally poor software support - and this is driving your customers away to other vendors! Seems like programmers were hired to deliver a product to you one time, but aren’t really there to support maintenance and on-going software upgrades in anything other than a piecemeal fashion. As a technically astute customer, I’ve never have had any interest or use for any camera system that depends on monthly fees, when the basic functional requirements can easily be met using standard protocols like RTSP.

31

How about instead of working on new features resources are dedicated to fixing all the problems first. Just have a look at the fix it Friday forum. Big list there to work on

1 Like
32

I have been thinking very hard about this proposition and the more I have pondered this, the more I realized what I am doing in the future with WYZE financial support. My gut tells me that we should get ready for another of the numerous lies this company has published and as an example the lie about using a climate sensor in another location for the WYZE thermostat. I bought 3 thermostats, based on this promise. While I must admit there are many things I like about WYZE, that number is dwindling as time goes on. Here is what I am going to do in lieu of RTSP.

  • Let my subscription to Cam Plus run out.
  • Let my subscription to Home Monitoring System run out.
  • Remove my credit card from my profile.
  • Pledge not to make another WYZE purchase.
  • Use the saving to purchase a higher quality POE camera from UniFi for the front entrance to my property and record to my Dream Machine.
  • Verify the memory cards in the WYZE cameras are functioning correctly as I only need them in case an anomolous activity occurs inside my home.

Loosing numerous V1 products to dead batteries really ticked me off. I have found a way to solve the dead battery issue killing the V1 products, albeit too late. Also, and I might add the MOST IMPORTANT issue is the lack of 3rd party integration, such as Home Assistant.

Finally, WYZE needs to understand we don’t need them; they need us.

1 Like
33

Now this needs to go not in the WORD OF THE DAY but in PHRASE OF THE DAY. Well said and totally behind it.

1 Like
34

The problem is the amount of memory and hardware capacity it requires on our low cost cameras. So it’s very tricky to balance this feature with other features and new features we will load onto the cameras in the future. It requires constant modifcation and upkeep from engineering team. That’s why when we did launch it a few years ago, we made it a separate firmware so it wouldn’t complicate everything else. It’s hard to justify this if less than 1% of users will use it.

6 Likes
35

That’s actually a good idea. The people who need rtsp don’t really need all the other extras. And the people who need both, are just the curious types.

2 Likes
36

I think entry level models either don’t need RTSP or will do fine with a separate firmware. On the other hand I think having both (RTSP integrated with the primary firmware) would be good in pro devices with better physical resources.

Some companies that integrate it will even reduce the resolution maximum to compensate if you turn on RTSP. I believe both my Eufy and Tapo cams reduce the resolution down from 2K to 1080p if I turn on RTSP (or at least they said that when I read the details after I first got them). I’m not a huge fan of that, but to me it’s better than having to have a separate firmware in most cases where I want to use RTSP…but sometimes I’ll turn off the RTSP just so I can have the higher resolution.

1 Like
37

What is it and what does it do?

38

Read this or Google some more :slight_smile:

39

I have been with Wyze since the days that there was no subscription cost and today I am seriously considering moving out of Wyze products. Wyze has broken from the original promise of no fees and I for one will be moving to another option.
John

1 Like
40

Given that the Wyze automation is very limited in its ability to take action as part of a wider home automation ecosystem, this will be a small step in the right direction.

It would however be more useful if the Wyze ecosystem could provide API’s / Events so that we can take advantage of the Wyze automation capabilities too instead of just having RSTP (which will be great, please don’t get me wrong here :slight_smile: !)

Thanks for considering this!

2 Likes
41

I think that I like this APIs approach, …
With appropriate standardized APIs would it not allow for a 3rd party or advanced users here to provide RTSP interface capabilities and also to provide additional functionality to Alexa
which is currently my preferred home devices automation interface.

42

@WyzeDave you’ve been deaf to this issue for far too long. No one with any sense should buy a Wyze subscription. You’re effectively rebuying your hardware every year with the cost of the subscription. The kind of people who are smart and use RTSP are the same kind of people who don’t want to overspend on subscriptions. The kind of people who understand how to use RTSP are better off running Frigate in a docker container using the outstanding Reolink cameras. Wyze+Subscription is significantly more expensive than any other camera without a subscription.

Do you make a profit on the cameras when people don’t buy a subscription? If so, you need to add RTSP without a subscription. If you aren’t profitable just selling hardware, then don’t waste time on RTSP.

John

2 Likes
43

I do like the subscription and its capability rather than managing my own home storage, backups, offsite storage, access, etc.
I may have been interested in managing my own storage, etc. a few years ago but not now. If Wyze dropped their cloud services, I would have to look elsewhere. If I did want to have non subscription service, then I would just buy cams from other suppliers.

The cloud/subscription functionality from Wyze, for me, is more cost effective than my Google Nest subscriptions.

4 Likes