Wyze Cam OG + Lamp Socket?

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Ok, I’ve now spent a couple of hours, over the course of several days, trying to find out if the new OG cams are compatible with the Wyze lamp socket. I want the OG’s faster reaction time for person detection on my front porch, but do not want to have to wire the power to it any other way (yes, I’m aware there are outdoor-rated power/plug options…not interested, so no need to mention).

So far, I’ve seen a couple of vague references, but no definitive information. If I had to guess, I would think the lamp socket will power a single OG cam (not the stacked pair), but the lamp socket features (schedules, motion detection, etc.) would not be controlled via an accessory association with the OG cam.

Instead, it might still be possible to control that lamp socket via a separate, linked lamp socket/V3 cam connection. This might still meet my needs since my OG cam will be on a Cam Plus subscription and able to do person detection notifications.

Hopefully, this makes sense…anyone with maven-level info care to comment?

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The lamp socket should be able to provide power for at least 1 OG, but the OG will not be able to control the socket as an accessory. If you use a different v3 to control a linked socket you should be good.

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Awesome, that’s what I was hoping for. Ideally, support for the lamp socket will be added later. Minimally, a new OG Cam-specific lamp socket will be added to the lineup. Fingers crossed :crossed_fingers:t3:

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Edit, 2/18/23:
Ok, I give up. :expressionless:

My lamp sockets won’t stay on from sunset to sunrise, no matter how many times I restart & reset them. It seems that, if an OG cam is connected to a lamp socket (for power only), that socket, although not controlled by the camera, will still not function consistently because it can’t maintain the link with the other socket (which IS connected to and controlled by a V3).

At this point, I have to believe it has something to do with the OG Cam being connected to the lamp socket. But I can’t prove it. :thinking:

So, I took the OG cam down and replaced it with the V3 that was there before. It’s a shame, because I really wanted the faster notifications and the improved 2-way audio of the OG cam on my front porch. :confused:

Ah well, such is life…who knows, maybe enough folks will have the same issue and Wyze will address it eventually. :crossed_fingers:t3:

I’m still a little surprised that their newest camera offerings weren’t accompanied by a way to power them outdoors without having to drill, cut, or saw. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Edit, 2/17/23:
I’m still struggling with trying to keep my Driveway (V3) and Front Porch (OG) lamp sockets linked and consistently working together (I want both to turn on their respective lights from sunset to sunrise).

Unfortunately, one of the two lamp sockets is constantly becoming unlinked and both lights turn off when that happens, despite being set otherwise.

Theoretically, the lamp socket connected to my OG cam should provide the right power (it seems to, as the camera works fine) and the lamp socket should not be affected by the OG cam’s presence, as they don’t “talk” to each other (data).

I’m beginning to think I may have a defective lamp socket and that this configuration SHOULD work just fine for anyone else who tries it with properly functioning equipment.

I completely unplugged both cameras, sockets, and bulbs today. Then I cleaned all dust and spiderwebs and reinstalled everything.

So far, everything seems to be working (several hours so far). Fingers crossed, this fixed it. Stay tuned and I’ll report back here if this setup stops working again.

Edit, 2/3/23:
It appears I was wrong…although my OG cam is receiving power from the lamp socket, it is (somehow) interfering with the lamp socket’s ability to stay properly synced with the nearest other lamp socket (approx 30 feet away) that is controlled by my V3 cam.

I can get both sockets to sync (temporarily, for a few hours), but they always become un-synced at some random point in time after that and turn off the lights (I have them set for on from sunset to sunrise). Very frustrating!

I didn’t think it was technically possible for the OG cam to talk to the lamp socket. In my mind, the lamp socket should not even know the OG cam is connected to it. But, apparently, it does. Wyze tech support assured me of this on the phone a short while ago.

I still don’t fully believe it, but I have to switch my front porch OG cam back to the V3. I’d hoped to use the OG cam there because of the improved 2-way mic/speaker functionality. So now my new OG cam is a paper weight. Oh well… :expressionless:

Original post

Okay, I can confirm this is working. I replaced my front porch V3 cam with my OG cam. It is powered by the Wyze lamp socket. The OG cam does not show the socket as an accessory and can’t control it’s functionality.

Fortunately, my Driveway V3 cam’s lamp socket is synced with the front porch lamp socket and controls both. The biggest downside for me is I no longer have the ability to turn off the front porch light manually via a camera light control icon/button.

I did the camera swap because I was hoping for faster person detection from the OG cam. So far, I haven’t seen a significant improvement (reduction) in notification time. Maybe if I use a V3 Pro with Edge AI instead?

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