I’m still catching up with the messages in this thread, but I wanted to go ahead and chime (pun intended) in here.
I’ve written about my experience a little more in another thread, but I’ll add a few more things here. My experience has generally been pretty positive, though when I read the FAQ I expected the new VDBv2 to trigger a chime or other announcement on my Google Home devices out of the box, and that hasn’t been my case. Notifications seem a little spotty, even outside the 5-minute cooldown/lockout period imposed by my not being a Cam Plus subscriber. I’ve also noticed that the 12-second snapshot in at least one instance of a doorbell press was roughly 4 minutes off from the recorded time of the actual press, meaning that what I have in the timeline is a still photo of an Amazon delivery driver pressing the doorbell in that instant, but the video replay shows an empty porch. That’s not useful, and I haven’t yet taken the time to report that as a bug, but it’s on my list.
There are also some issues with the installation workflow in the app. In the other thread, I mentioned my installation experience of another brand of video doorbell, and that definitely colored my experience installing this one. That particular doorbell seemed to have more complete instructions. The installation process as described in the Wyze app doesn’t seem to finish the installation of the Chime Controller once the wiring is connected (you peel off the adhesive backing and stick it somewhere inside the mounted chime box where it won’t interfere with the physical chimes or other wires in the case of a mechanical chime; the other manufacturer provides pictures for this), and it also doesn’t tell you to select your existing chime type at the time of installation. I have received notices in the app to “Choose Your Chime Type” at least a couple of times this week, days after I installed the doorbell and selected the chime type. That seems to be another bug.
Other than that, I’m pretty pleased so far, and I expect some of the issues to be addressed in future app and firmware updates.
It also rings the existing doorbell chime in the house, so even when I’m not receiving timely notifications I still have at least the equivalent of a “dumb doorbell”.
I removed my new Wyze doorbell (v2) and put my old Ring doorbell and chime controller back and everything worked fine. The in-house chime worked and Alexa notified me when the doorbell rang. Just out of curiosity (and because it was easy), I took the Ring doorbell off and re-installed the new Wyze doorbell but left the old Ring chime-controller in place. AND THE IN-HOUSE CHIME WORKED EVERY TIME! I still can’t get Alexa to notify me when the doorbell rings, but I’m making progress. Wyze should just buy a boatload of the Ring Chime Controllers and our lives would be a lot easier.
I probably shouldn’t be laughing about that, right?
(For clarification, I was laughing because I can imagine myself trying the same thing, and the “buy a boatload of the Ring Chime Controllers” is a funny idea. Also, laughter is sometimes my response to frustrating technology that isn’t working the way I expect…when I’m not too busy swearing.)
This is awesome, and I’m going to ask a tangentially-related question: Does anyone here know if the Wyze Switch can be used as starter for Google Home automations in this way? I didn’t find any reference to it elsewhere in the forum.
That’s frustrating, and it hasn’t been my experience. I’ve been able to use my voice to get Google Assistant to stream the new doorbell’s video feed on a Home Hub since I linked the doorbell to Google Home after installation. I’ve been playing with settings and some of the automation workarounds for a few days, and today I decided to see if the button press could set off a sequence of events that would stream the feed on the display as part of the automation, and that worked for me.
My mechanical chime didn’t work at first, then I upgraded my transformer to a 24v 40va unit and it worked great for a few days. Now I’m finding that when people ring the doorbell the mechanical chime doesn’t work. Nothing has changed since I got it working… Is the chime controller really that bad?
I’ll try killing power to the circuit to see if it resets something, but this is frustrating.
EDIT: Turning off the power for a bit and back on didn’t change anything. I saw there was a firmware update for the VDBv2, that didn’t fix it either. Then I turned on Do Not Disturb mode, and turned it right back off again, and now my mechanical chime is ringing again every time. Will keep an eye on it…
Now that 2 1/2 wks are in the books with the vdbv.2, a chronic issue is starting to surface; the doorbells are not recording or sending notifications of events after operating continuously for a couple of days. I notice it when the alexa announcements stop or the ‘you are being recorded’ voice notice ceases. The doorbell light is flashing and recognizing an event, but no actions are being taken. Happens with both the front and back vdbv.2’s.
What I have found as a solution? Go into the doorbell setting and restart it. This is not a fix that is ideal or should be a long term solution. Last cycle was stopped on 11/08, restart, stopped on 11/11, restart. If this continues, I’ll put in a ticket for defective product and return them.
Not sure if anyone else had this experience, but I would be interested to find out.
It’s totally open for anybody to remove it. It will upload a video to the cloud so theoretically you’ll have a picture of the person but they can remove the card.
I feel it was rather short-sighted for them to not put the card on the back or at least on the bottom.
I think ultimately the danger of somebody stealing the card is relatively small, but I feel it would have been a simple change.
Update on my reported vdbv.2 issue. Front doorbell has stopped logging and reporting events less than 48 hrs after last restart. It is functioning for showing live, it is not recognizing events. The back doorbell is still operating normally. One more restart/stop cycle and I’m reporting defective product to Wyze.
Quick question; anyone paired and used a single chime to a front and rear vdbv.1?
This is been happening with me also every once in awhile. I’ll have to restart the doorbell cameras and they come back on and start reporting on my Google hub.
Finally throwing in the towel and sending it back. The final straw was that the device can’t detect motion more than about 20 feet away - even at max sensitivity. We have a very long, circular driveway. Our old Ring doorbell can detect a vehicle at least 100 feet away so we get plenty of warning. The Wyze won’t detect anything until the vehicle is almost at the door.
Sorry to see that as your results. Perhaps you had a defective product. My vdbv.2’s are very sensitive to motion. At 70% I was getting constant notifications for vehicles on the street that is about 25 - 30 yards from my front door. I had to turn down the detection because it was overwhelming me with alerts and filling up the microusb memory card. What about a replacement for a defective doorbell or are you throwing in the towel completely?
I would not be adverse to trying another device. I’ve got separate sets of mounting holes in my doorframe, so it’s easy to swap out the doorbells. We’re slowing migrating towards Wyze for our home. One thing about our setup - the doorbell is located under overhang so it’s always in the shade. But the rest of the walkway to the front door is almost always in bright Tucson sunshine. The Wyze DB seems to really struggle to adapt to that combination of shade and bright sun. The sunny area is always very washed out. Do not know if that is contributing to the poor motion detection. The Ring video seems to adapt to the contrast much better. But maybe it is a defective device.
How ironic I have literally the same setup. My front porch is covered by a roof overhang. The afternoon sun is directly in front but high in the sky. No washout but some glare effects. I am on a slight hill so I have doorbell cam angled slightly downward. Front sidewalk and street view always in clear sight. Only distant view towards horizon affected by glare.
Good luck with future setups, stick with the forum for advice, tips and help.
@WyzeTeam - Doorbell does not have an anti-theft lock/screw. This a big security concern and shameless thing where we put the doorbell for security purpose and the doorbell itself is not secure. Do you have a solution on this and how others who already bought this doorbell gets the solution.
I’ve never seen or heard of anyone stealing or pulling off doorbell cams. That’s wild. I did see that Amazon has some anti-theft mounts. I don’t know which would work since I don’t know the dimensions.
@ElOsoPeligroso@WyzeTeam - I think company should not be waiting to hear about such news. This is basic need of such product and has to be handled while designing the doorbell. I think only this Wyze doorbell version does not have anti-theft lock/screw. 90% doorbells in the market has such thing. then why come team missed to add for latest AI product. If such incident happen, are Wyze team going to cover the cost?
