WyzeCam v2 and v3 randomly disconnects - and will only reconnect if unplugged and plugged back in

Hello fellow Wyze cam owners,

Has anyone else experienced random disconnects from the router - regardless of:

  • the location of the router (i.e. the affected cams’ distance from the router)
  • type of router,
  • type of network (one router vs. mesh),
  • signal strength,
  • internet speed,
  • internet provider (been with at least 3 since I bought the WyzeCams - change whenever I find a better value/price),

…and the only way to get the affected camera to reconnect is to unplug it from the power source and plug it back in (i.e. rebooting the router does not solve the issue).

The happens to both v2’s and v3’s. Yes, I am on the latest firmware and app versions.

To clarify further: I have seen most of my wireless devices disconnect from the router occasionally, but they typically reconnect right away. If not, rebooting the router does the trick. With the WyzeCams, though, sometimes they reconnect on their own, sometimes I have to reboot the router, and sometimes - as explained above - I have to unplug the affected cams. These disconnects sometimes happen to just one cam, sometimes to more than one at a time. Sometimes I see that days apart, sometimes - months apart.

The problem with the physical unplugging: I have no way of doing it when I am away (which is quite often due to the nature of my work).

I reported the above to the support desk. The first response was typical - check firwmare/app version, reboot the router, reboot the cameras, i.e. my initial email reporting the details was not read. 2nd response: it is the ISP. I doubt it.

Anyone else facing the same issue?

Huge thanks for the inupt/feedback.

Smart plugs…Wyze or another brand. You can then power cycle the cameras remotely.

1 Like

You can also do that with your router(s).

BUT … (!!!)

If you put a smart plug on your main Internet router, and you log in to remotely shut it down expecting to be able to bring it up again, you won’t… because the router is off and your Internet access to your smart switches is shut down.

The workaround is to go into whatever your smart switches have for a Schedule (I use Kasa smart switches because one of my Wyze ones turned out to be less reliable). Set a schedule to turn the router off a couple of minutes from now and back on again a minute after that. Then go have a beer or something and come back in 5-10 minutes and you should be back up and running again.

Test this thoroughly while you’re home (or wherever your router is) before you try it remotely.

I have my main Internet router power switch programmed to turn on at the top of every hour, whether it is already on or not. That way if I accidentally turn my main Internet router off remotely, because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, it will power up again at the top of the next hour.

1 Like

Hi @WildBill - agreed, must be the only way. My smart plugs (non-Wyze) occasionally disconnect, but I do not remember ever seeing them NOT reconnect. I will buy more as soon as I am home again.

@epnh - thank you, greatly appreciated. I actually do that already, in a somewhat similar manner: I bought a {gasp!} mechanical timer that shuts down the modem and the router for 15 minutes every 12 hours. Everything reconnects, EXCEPT the WyzeCams that have previously disconnected for no reason. This is actually what is happening now: I am away again, one of the WyzeCams disconnected and neither the mechanical solution (above) nor going into the app for the mesh and rebooting via that app forces the affected WyzeCam to reconnect. Last time it happened, I had to wait until I was home: unplugged the WyzeCam, plugged it back in, and it connected to the router right away. But rebooting the router did NOT do the trick…

1 Like

Freequent offline cams is a topic of discussion in about every corner of the Forum and about every cam model. Many theories have been presented that would point to the network, the cam hardware, the firmware, or even power fluctuations. Some are more probable than others. No one has definitively isolated the issue. Some cam models are MUCH more affected than others which would support the hardware and firmware theories.

I used to have this issue several routers back when I started with a rinky dink WiFi router from the not too distant past. As @WildBill suggested, I installed Smart Plugs on all my cams so I could power cycle them when they went offline. But, what I found was that was just as annoying. I found two solutions: (1) I upgraded to a strong Mesh Router (twice); and (2), I scheduled each plug to power down the cam every night and power it back up 1 minute later. Since doing this, I have not experienced any offline cams.

I believe the second measure provides the greatest effectiveness. Users who are dealing with the very troublesome PanV3 are finding that, without a router upgrade, a daily power cycle is maintaining the network connection for the next 24 hours.

Granted, it shouldn’t be necessary, but I do what I have to to keep my cams up. And, since it is automated and doesn’t require any interaction on my part, it is something I forget happens.

1 Like

…unless the smart plug fails or its firmware crashes. Then you need to unplug and re=plug that.

I guess I could have a smart plug on another smart plug so that if the first one hangs I can cycle power on the second one… :thinking:

Has never happened since installing them. They don’t have a bunch of snazzy features and are pretty old… can’t even buy them any more in that version, but they are absolutely rock solid when it comes to staying online and Alexa likes them.

I bought two of them at Home Depot a few weeks ago (they’re available two to a package). One of them worked fine, and the other one kept going offline needing to be unplugged and re-plugged. So yes, it does happen.

I returned them to Home Depot (they wouldn’t let me return just one of the two) and bought some Kasa plugs, 8 of them so far, and they have worked without a burp.

I am assuming you mean Wyze Plugs.

I don’t have any of my cams plugged into Wyze Plugs. I use Amysen V1.

I do have many Wyze Plugs installed (16), but only seven actually have something plugged into them. The rest are Automation Relays. It is quite rare that any of these go offline either. The Wyze V1 pre-2021 not CFH plugs were famous for going offline. I have all 2021 and four 2022.

1 Like

It will be refuted (I’m expecting that here) but power cycling the cams isn’t something that should be necessary. That’s specifically specifying that its locked in something it can’t get out of without doing that.

The way Wyze has it setup with the Wyze way, they go offline. Wyze doesn’t do well with their stuff for keeping the cams up. Eg the app tries 3x and if it fails then it ends trying to stream (this ultimately doesn’t mean that it won’t go back up on its own but only that it failed there in that moment).

Amazon Alexa service integration for instance uses the cams streaming differently, and using routines, the cams will keep streaming automatically even with disruptions. No power cycle needed. No router reboots. Nothing. It just keeps working.

It won’t be refuted. It will be supported. :point_up:

Theories abound as to why, but it shouldn’t be happening. Short of a fix though, the smart plug on a schedule is a pretty effective bandaid.

@SlabSlayer - thank you for the detailed description of what you had to resort to. I like the idea of scheduling wifi plugs to power the cams off and back on at regular intervals - I believe this works even if the plug itself disconnects from the router.

Also agreed: this should not be necessary to begin with, but - as you pointed out - it seems to be an issue encountered and discussed online by many users.

PS: Wyze support seems to have no idea what the cause is. And I cannot help thinking that their support folks never read the emails they receive: I wrote a detailed description of what I have validated and tried (i.e. latest firmware, latest app, strong signal, high speed internet, etc.), and yet their initial respone was “could you please check that you have the latest firmware, latest app, that the signal is strong and the internet speed high”. Right.

Depends on the plug. Some are still server based rules. Wyze Plugs (two newest versions) are plug based rules.

Wyze Customer Support is NOT Technical Support. They are essentially Level 1 triage and basic bandaid support working from a script. Rarely are they experienced users.

The level of technical support this issue requires, given the broad nature of the problem, would have to come directly from the Hardware Developers, Project Mangers, and Firmware Developers.

gee another one what is wrong with you people
most people provide backup power to cameras thus smart plugs do not make sense.
try smart plug with wyze battery cam pro :rofl:
connectivity is absolutely essential and wyze cameras are notorious for going offline

Please specify “Most People”.

It would be beneficial to have specific references to brands and models rather than generalized claims that can’t be verified. Since most do this, listing several should be quite easy.

The cameras aren’t losing power…they simply drop off the network. Backup power would do nothing. The only way to get them back online is to power cycle.

1 Like

Out of curiosity, as I have accidentally turned a modem smart plug off that is 600 km away. Is this a mechanical switch that you have set to power on only at the top of the hour?

Nothing wrong with us, I think you are confused my friend and don’t grasp the depth of what we’re trying to acomplish.

Who are this people you are referring to? I don’t. Care to enlighten us?

Why would anyone try to do that. It doesn’t make sense.

No one is disputing that.

I used to not dispute that. But since I am quickly approaching a year of 100% device connectivity uptime on my new network, with 27 cams (VDBv1, PanV1, V3, PanV3, V3Pro, OG S, OG T, FLP) and over 50 other WiFi devices riding, I am now in the position to make a strong case to dispute this. But, I won’t. I guess I am just one of few really lucky users that don’t experience any offline cams. Time to play the lotto! :grin:

1 Like