Not sure why the base location would be such an issue. Mine is located in the middle of my home. 60 feet thru several home walls and certainly no where near the camera and it contacts without issue. I did place it on top of a cabinet since it is just a plug and play device. Good luck, this camera is just bit different then what WYZE sold in the past as it is using batteries and needs to be adjusted simply to each person’s home needs and requirements. I am not ready to write WYZE off just yet! In fact I ordered 2 more. I think they are great and are much better than the Amazon Cams I was paying monthly fees to use, which I did cancel recently.
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Last thought, you may want to try, closing down, rebooting, shutting all power to wireless down for 1 minute in your home. After wireless reboots, power back on, your issues may also reboot and disappear. Good luck.
Mark
Yes, tried that and several other attempts to get it working better, Live in Los Angeles and there are 7+ broadcasting Wifi networks from where I sit. If I go 300’ away there are dozens more.
If the Wyze Base is stuck on one WiFi channel it hasn’t a chance. That doesn’t even count these people driving around with WiFi in their car!
My network is all hard wired except for my Roku and visitors although I can use the WiFi on my phone at 300’.
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The physical location isn’t cluttered imo. The base stationis just screwed to the wall 2 feet away from my router. I have 56 devices connected in my network and the WCO works just fine.
I have mine mount4d upside down with no issues.
I don’t have experience with other brands so nothing to compare to but mine is working as I expected.
Battery life remains to be seen and I guess I don’t understand the different detection zone implementation as opposed to V2 & the pan cam. But mine seems to be recognizing me going in & out our back door, as well as deliveries and that one bunny.
I do understand the desire for records longer than 12 seconds but get the battery trade off. I suppose letting the user decide wouldn’t hurt though.
My use case may be different as I use it mostly to ‘peek in’ when I get a notification of movement. I use IFTTT to flash lights based on a V2 & this WCO. Like just now when they flashed I checked the WCO to see the Amazon Prime guy setting a package on the step.
I think WYZE is neither the savior of all that is camera nor the devil bent on crushing our dreams. I feel they weigh options and come up with a combo of hardware/software they think will work. I do hope they continue to tweak & add features & performance where they can.
I do,agree the hype was a bit much & the ‘hat’ for early adopters was a bit too cute for my tastes. But I didn’t order for the prize; just hoped it would have been more useful. But if they supported my more lavish fantasies they probably wouldn’t last long as a company.
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Is anyone using the subscription service for the WCO? If so, is it working properly? Recording full-length events? How the battery life been impacted? Does it change anything with the internal sd card (like also record full-length to it…)?
I won’t buy it otherwise it is a dirty trick that I feel I would accept. I will just keep giving a negative opinion until they release the time limit to something much larger or unlimited. This is a type of scam. If I had known about it from the beginning I never would have made the purchase. It was not advertised on the store display or the box.
It is not available yet for the outdoor camera. They have said it is coming soon.
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I use the sd card in the base unit not the cam as I have intentions to add cameras ordered and prefer to have all 12 second recordings on 1 sim card. I would not expect to record full length videos as it would destroy any thoughts of having a battery life beyond a week or 2. This is a battery operated camera so any thoughts of long recordings are beyond thought of why you would think this would be a good idea. You will just need to charge the battery constantly. Leaving it plugged in is not also recommended as this could be an issue for the batteries life. READ THE VERY DETAILED INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY WYZE ABOUT THIS CAMERA, APPARENTLY YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO. I use 12 second records on all of my Wyze cams for a simple purpose. I want to be immediately made aware there is a intrusion or problem. Trying to find a past intrusion or problem on a constant recorded camera is difficult to locate after the fact. If you are expecting to record full length videos all the time of course the battery life will be an issue. It is a battery not a direct power hookup to the camera so the battery life would be expected to be so much shorter. I have many Wyze cams. All have sim cards except the new outdoor cam as stated before. All but the outdoor are direct power but I still use 12 second records. I have spent so much money over the years buying great cams from Google, Nest and others which required monthly service costs. Wyze offers these same services at a much more reduced cost but you really don’t need them in my opinion. Before anyone decides to complain about the minimal problems they see having a Wyze cam verses the Nest or Google cam, Check what they cost each per month for service then check what they cost to monitor and record monthly each! A Wyze cam to begin with is so inexpensive they become throw-aways with the massive savings. By the way, I have 7 for the past 2 years and all are doing great with ZERO issues. My Nest Cams and Google cams have been retired saving me and estimated $210.00-$235.00 per year in monthly service fees. Pretty much a no-brainer. I purchased ALL of my Wyze cams for less then what I was paying for monthly services and they have been so dependable in notifications compared to the others. Of course you will hear from those that will complain and bitch about Wyze cams because they didn’t bother to read or try to understand the simple logic or directions for use! I would just ignore them! Wyze is all over making a great, inexpensive, high quality dependable camera that after 2 years of ownership, like the energizer bunny just keep on going. Best camera I have ever owned and will continue to support. By the way they make an excellent scale. Check the little monster out, unbelievable information and health tracking for a very cheap price. Lastly, I do have sim cards in my direct powered Wyze cams, but use the 12 second recording notification verses constant so I can find what takes place. Once there I do have the option to watch much more as I use the Wyze app. to schrol the times in between the 12 second records. Hope this helps.
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I was just going to post the picture exact same feedback. I’ve been with Wyze since the beginning but the hype by the wyze team on this outdoor cam I trusted only to get a POS non. Functional camera that yes can be outdoors but nothing in regards to video safety similar to the v2 or ptz. Junk pure JUNK
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When will we be able to monitor more than one cam at a time in split screen mode like a real surveillance system? I have not seen anyone asking for this but it would be a huge game-changer and gain a lot of new wyze users.
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This is possible now. In the app press the plus in the top left, then “add device group”
This made a big difference for me, but if your doing this with the outdoor cam be careful it will drain the battery.
This is what I see at night. I have sent in over a dozen videos to analyze and ZERO response. Daytime the camera works fine, but at night the camera is garbage. Push and push to buy a service. Trying fixing your hardwear first.
Good luck
Click the gear icon for your Critter Cam. Is “Night Vision IR Lights” toggled on? If yes, and your cam is not behind a glass window, you should contact support for a replacement (or exchange from wherever you purchased it from).
Contact Wyze Customer Support at:
1 (844) 999-3226 or (206) 339-9646
Available Monday - Friday 5 am - 6 pm PT
Saturday 8 am - 4 pm PT
or via the Internet at:
https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
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I agree with your statements. People tend to forget that this is a $40 wireless outdoor camera. I’ve been using wyze cameras and sensors for over a year now and have been very satisfied with the company and their dedication to customers. I’m confident they are working to bring the changes that users are asking for.
For me, the 12 second limit is way too short. I am not constantly monitoring my notifications, especially if I’m out to dinner, or spending time with the family so there will be times when I will miss the notification and miss an event. Continuous recording like the indoor Wyze cameras would be nice, but I know the battery is not intended for this, and the trade-off would be too much. I would however love to have the option of maybe recording only for the duration of the motion event, or at least allow me to set a 30s limit. something more.
The other issue I have is the distance of the base to the cameras. I currently have about a 40’-45’ limit from the base to the cameras, going through a few walls to the outside. I am only able to install my cameras on one side of the house. Hopefully they will allow the cameras to connect directly to the router through WiFi, but if not, i will eventually get a range extender for my router and a second base for the cameras.
With that being said, Wyze is a great company with great products at great prices. They’ve never come across to me as a money hungry company putting out cheap products to make a profit. They are constantly trying to improve their products, I don’t see them treating the WCO any differently.
I agree with @Seapup there should be a clear B&W photo.
If the camera were behind a glass window there should be glare from the IR lights.
At night (if IR set to Auto) you will see 4 LED lights around the lens of the camera (when its working).
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8 LED lights on WCO cam.
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Thanks the correction. 8 Lights!
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I do have a repeater I use for my plugged in Wyze cams but it is not part of the Outdoor cam. I only use the original base provided. I can see the range is at the lowest level currently as it is a bit of a distance from the camera itself through 3 walls and the garage. All and All it has not failed one time. There are adjustments being made by Wyze based on their emails of upgrade downloads taking place continually. I am sold on this camera group and expect them to continue to create the best outdoor security camera on the market today for under $60. They are listening to the customers always as far as I can see to meet their wants and desires, regardless of how crazy and in most cases can not be met. Desires to have extremely long recordings sound delightful until you understand that providing such an option will cause battery life to be worth days instead of months. Battery operated cameras have a short life if running continuously. 12 second record times is prudent and wise to enable any type of battery life over 1-3 months between charges. Depending on the amount of traffic causing recordings, the life of the batteries could be 5 months or 5 weeks. My current camera picks up 15-35 recordings a day. Way to many which degrades the battery and absolutely shortens the battery life. I will say the charging of the battery is short so I currently have no issues with that. I am working to better understand the distance adjustments available in the Wyze App. to lower the recordings that are taking place to increase the battery life. I am currently picking up my neighbors 150-200 feet away coming out of their front door or garage. Very sensitive camera, which is what I want and desire! Adjustments for me are to reduce this to the street in front of my property only which in turn will increase my battery life between charges. This camera type is not new until you realize it is a breakthru of cameras like this of the past. Wyze has really started to address a great inexpensive means to security for all at a cost well below $60 per camera with no maintenance required once we are able to tweak them for our individual needs.