Can I get a confirmation that without Cam Plus, my phone will have a 5 minutes timeout on notifications from a second pressing of the doorbell button after the first press?
If that is the case, Wyze should really reconsider this limitation. I get 5 minute timeout on motion detected events, but doorbell button press too??
That would be detrimental to the sale of the vdbv.2. The phone notification of the doorbell press should not be limited as motion since a so-called cool down shouldn’t be involved with an electrical function between the dB and the controller and not a by-product of a cloud function. Would be a deal breaker if that is the case and not a product worth recommending.
I’ve been a Wyze user since 2019.
CAM Plus is needed to have a usable experience with these cameras. You will be frustrated with the devices if you don’t unlock their full potential.
You can argue whether that’s fair to do but in the tech world today, everything is a subscription… Office 365, Adobe, Spotify, Netflix, Civil 3D, etc, etc.
Software is a commodity that they have learned how to make more money from. You are paying for access to the software and programming that enables these cameras to do pretty cool things.
I pay for the yearly, unlimited Cam Plus ($99) because I have so many cameras and I never have to worry about getting a new license if I want to buy 5 cheap OG Cameras for $15 each (sale) that I use to watch my cat. It’s cheaper than Netflix (especially now) and I use it more.
That’s just me. But, if you look around to all the things you subscribe to or coffees you buy every day… buying a camera feature license is pretty cheap considering.
You can always cancel it and return the doorbell if you don’t like it. My $.02
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I also subscribe to Cam Plus Unlimited annually and see the value in it for the number of cameras I have and the features expected to be accessible. However, I don’t hesitate to advocate for the persons that can’t afford or have no need for it with only 3 or 4 cameras. It shouldn’t be an issue of being frustrated if there are expectations and Wyze has not put forth full disclosure. There are cameras Wyze stated upfront you need Cam Plus for certain features. Nowhere did I see a disclosure for Cam Plus being needed for what should be normal doorbell operations as opposed to obvious A.I. functions. Not sure if the argument/thesis you put forth satisfies “frustrated” Wyze consumers.
I suppose the debatable part is: define “normal doorbell operations”.
A normal doorbell just rings. It does that. Albeit, not without changing your transformer out. But you have to be home to hear it. That’s a normal mechanical doorbell.
Normal smart doorbell’s have varied free features vs. pay features.
You are asking for the ability to have notifications to your phone faster than 5 min. That is a “service” because it takes servers, electricity, database admins, and programmers to make that happen. And they use AWS to do that, which costs them money.
Normal Doorbell operation is not what you are describing. Wyze gives you a taste of the service for free but at the end of the day, you need to pay to use it. That’s the whole point of you buying a smart doorbell.
This is NOT an unusual business practice. This is how all the Smart Home Companies work. It varies what they offer and what their starting price point is amongst them… but it’s the same.
I believe Wyze is the best value of price point + subscription for features on the market. Your mileage may vary.
But no matter how you shake it… You will need to pay for a subscription to any eco-system you end up buying into. They will dangle the best carrots behind the pay-wall. And I don’t blame them. It’s COSTLY to do I.T. related business. You have to have a business model to sustain that. They figured that out and that’s why CAM Plus was born. They could not sustain a company by selling $30 cameras. The math just isn’t there.
Having worked 35 years in the IT world, I totally understand the model. I’m not a fan of subscription models, in general, but it’s a reality that I have to deal with.
I feel a bit like I triggered some of the debate with my posts of frustration last week. For that, I’m sorry. However, I am a frustrated Wyze customer. Doorbell or not, it’s also a camera. And, I expect, right or wrong, equivalent camera functionality as that of my existing V1 cameras. Sadly, that is not the case for the vdbv2. At least not in my case. My two main beefs are:
- my transformer meets the spec that Wyze published and documented in the materials shipped with the camera. The vdb has power and functions, my existing mechanical chime does not.
- all the vdbv2 material clearly states that it integrates with the Google Home ecosystem. In my case, it does not. At all. Google Home knows that there is a camera there, but it’s unable to load a video feed for a simple live feed view or any view.
I could live with #1 and just replace the transformer. #2 is a total deal breaker. Never mind the other subtle issues that others have reported. I stopped testing when I couldn’t get a basic live feed in GH.
From my view, the Wyze team has failed its objectives with this product. I’m choosing to assume that the capabilities advertised were not intentionally misleading.
I do have to ask myself what I should expect from a $40 smart video doorbell. At least for now, I expect more and mine has been uninstalled and returned.
I sincerely hope that others have more success and feel that their expectations have been met.
I am 100% on this. I reread their VDBv2 product page. It only mentioned Cam Plus for AI features. No mention of the Cam Plus requirement for other features.
There is no mention of 5 minutes cooldown anywhere, even in the FAQ.
Finally, solutions are being posted in the thread “Wyze Doorbell v2 chime controller not working” and officially from Wyze. Fixes the 16v/10vac tranformer problem for most affected.
Making it ring is a normal doorbell function, Wyze have “done” that already (very roughly done).
A smart doorbell should do this plus more, smartness added to each time a doorbell is used.
Only Wyze made the choice to make it dumber, until you pay more to get it smart.
Imagine for the Wyze camera, they dumbed it down so you can’t access live view all the time until you subscribe.
Imagine for the Wyze smart plug, they dumbed it down so you there’s a 5 minutes timeout between each on/off.
I have no problem with the 5 minutes timeout for motion detection, and subscribing gives you 24/7 unlimited recording. That’s extra service, convenience service, where there are workarounds to achieve this (record to sd card). Like I don’t mind if the second doorbell press didn’t record to cloud, but the notification is a basic functionality.
Anyone else having issues with the DBv2 disconnecting and not reconnecting? I also have a PCv3 that started doing it about 2 firmware updates ago. They reconnect without issue if I power cycle, but who wants to have to flip a breaker and unplug/replug a camera each day? The interesting thing is I have another PCv3 that is still on the firmware before the one above which still works fine and doesn’t suffer the disconnect issue, so I am pretty sure something was done in the firmware causing the issue. I have floodlight, regular & pro v3, OG, OGT and except for an SD issue with the floodlight they all work fine. (I opened a support ticket…so far all I got was did you do ‘this standard list of things’ and then a warranty response.
Do you use secure DNS on your router?
If you don’t know what that means, the answer is probably no.
If you do that could be the cause. I have had to set up rules within my router to not use secured DNS for several of my wyze devices that have this behavior.
Probably no…I have the newish Comcast modem/router XB8 model - I can’t really do anything with the DNS. I used to have my own modem/router which I could configure but I moved and the technology in the Comcast equipment was faster than what I had (in a box somewhere) and I haven’t gotten around to upgrading my tech to replace it.
It didn’t work with my existing in-home chime and it would not send me notifications when the doorbell rang. Technical support unable to resolve either issue. Reinstalled my old Ring doorbell and it worked just fine and the in-home chime rang.
Is your doorbell chime mechanical or electronic? Did you try the reverse wiring methods outlined in the other thread on doorbell chime controller? Did you try the no controller method for installation? What about app settings for notifications?
Too much unknown to try and help you with the setup. I’ve found more successful results from forum members than Wyze support.
The chime is mechanical. I didn’t try alternate wiring/no controller options. Silly me for thinking tech support might know something.
I checked my phone’s notification settings and Wyze is not blocked. I get notifications from my other Wyze devices.
Thanks for trying to help, but I think I’ve wasted enough time on this device. Was really hoping it would work.
It appears that you never got the doorbell operational which negates notifications. I switched to 24v/40vac transformer almost 2 years ago and had a trouble-free install from v1 to v2 front and rear doorbells.
Sorry to see you’re giving up. Perhaps some future improvements and firmware updates by Wyze will yield better results for you. Definitely check out the doorbell chime controller thread in the forum. You may put it back on for a future project. Will be worth it if the price stays the same.
The doorbell itself was operational. When you pushed the doorbell, it rang at the device and recorded the event. It just didn’t ring the in-home chime or send a notification.
I’m hoping my frustration will be short lived. I’d like to get it to work. Having the doorbell integrated with the rest of my Wzye devices would be very helpful.
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Definitely a transformer or wiring from the controller issue. The other thread mentioned is mostly reverse controller wiring connection solutions for the 16v/10vac tranformer. The no controller connected is a quasi-anyone potential solution.
Best of luck in the future when you tackle this again. Post when you resolve.
Complete no-starter… it’s not compatible with the wireless Chime. It doesn’t talk to the Wyze Lock Bolt.
HARD PASS
Not sure why ONLY the doorbell Pro integrates with the lock bolt.