So today marked the first time that my cameras (6 in all) could have demonstrated their ability to detect and capture people in my apartment. Please note that these people did have permission to enter, but they are not me. It was maintenance.
At 3:05, I got notifications from my DIY security system (Korner Security - cannot recommend). The patio door was opened just 2 minutes after I spoke with maintenance to disable the sirens (before they entered). So you would think that the two cameras with a view that includes the patio door (one is straight on, the other extremely oblique) would give alerts and capture a 12 second clip of a maintenance staff person entering my apartment. There is an alert at 3:05, but it is a sound alert and there is NOTHING in the image. No motion, no man entering. NOTHING. The other camera didn’t trigger at all.
Thank goodness I have SD cards, I can just use the playback feature. But wait, the utter lack of stable connectivity means I can’t do that remotely. I would have to go home, remove the card (shift the view of the camera because the mount isn’t fixed - magnet seems a good idea but it is a cheap solution that they play up as innovative) and then compile 60 second clips to see what happened. All of this likely hours after the actual event.
What is this all to say. Wyze Cams may be great for capturing wildlife, time lapse videos of clouds, keeping track of pets and inconsequential actions in and around your home, but if you want a camera that is reliable, connects on demand, records what it needs to record and can deliver video to you when you want it (read a DIY security camera), the folks at Wyze aren’t there yet.
I know based on my previous rant against Wyze that I will be met with the scorn of the fan boys (and girls), but this isn’t some unfounded negative stance. This is based on advertised performance and actual real world behavior. It’s now 3:42 and I still haven’t been able to connect to the camera to do the playback. Even if I were able to connect, it is more likely that the camera will disconnect before it even fills in the playback timeline.
Wyze V1 was never ready for market and these persistent connectivity issues are evidence. If I was the only one reporting connectivity issues, that would be one thing, but I see reports all over the place and even admissions from Wyze that there are issues. How was this not resolved during beta?
I have read all of your posts the past few weeks and there is one obvious outcome here… these cameras don’t work for you. We all get it. They do not work for your specific set up and that is sad however it is time for you to move on. I have three cameras, three more on the way, and they work great. They connect every time I access the app, whether at home or on the road, and they just work for me. Since yours don’t, just donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army and move on. Please purchase Arlo, Bing, Ring, or whatever other cameras are on the market and hopefully you will achieve the results you demand. I understand a product should work as advertised, however sometimes they just don’t. You count your lucky stars you have a small investment in these cameras, donate them, get a write off, and move on. WYZE is not for you. I don’t work for WYZE, I am a WYZE Fanboy and I stand behind their cameras. You have not been happy since day one. Please move on to a different security camera and hopefully you will find the results you are looking for. JMHO.
That’s right. It’s all just your opinion. I could care less what you think. This post is for anyone considering Wyze. It’s not worth it. Sure some people will get them to work, and maybe there are some bad cams out there, but when I get 6 cams that all have connectivity issues on a popular brand and model of router which has connected to every other smart tech I own with no issues and not to mention connects intermittently with these cams, the issue is with Wyze.
This just move on attitude is silly. Why should I. I bought a product that came with promises inherent in the advertising and specs. Even at $20 a pop, I have every right to expect that the cameras deliver on those promises. I have every right to state my perspectives and do so until the company responds. Don’t like it, then don’t read or agree, but certainly don’t tell me what to do you (expletive removed).
Totally agree with you. As it stands right now, those cams are useless when used for security applications. I too constantly have connectivity issues when I am outside. Sometimes I get notifications, sometimes I don’t which is another concern. I usually do not have problems viewing the short, useless, 12 seconds notification clip from within the app but trying to view the Livestream or connect to the cam to access the sd card is totally unreliable. It does not matter wether it be mobile or any outside wifi. And the fact that it’s 5 minutes without monitoring anything after it detects movement/sound makes it even worst.
I would rather have 3 days free cloud but at least 30 seconds motion clip with 1-2 minutes maximum gap between detections. But for this to work, motion detection needs to be way more effective.
Those cams might be good as baby monitors or live monitoring on the same network but certainly not for an out of home security monitoring solution.
The connectivity problems all started with the firmware upgrades following version 102 to what I’m concerned. Go check Amazon and the Android store and you will see that many users feel the same.
It looks like if they have pretty much fix the connection issues in the latest beta application / firmware. I did not get any connection problems as of yet and I was experiencing a lot before. Notifications on Android also seem to be more reliable.
However, imo, the 12 seconds clip every 5 minutes (to the cloud) is still next to useless as far as security is concerned. Sure you can use an sd card but if the cam gets stolen there goes the footage so you must rely on a 12 seconds clip to find out what could have happened. Wish I could record to my own nas / share drives instead of the cloud.
I used these cameras over the holiday season (Dec 2017) when I was away, traveling and they worked great. I also recommended to several people who may have taken my recommendation. Somehow with all the upgrades, I can only connect to the cameras 50% of the time (locally). I do not even know what’s going to happen when I am outside the house. These have to be fixed!