Power Over Ethernet (POE) capable

Doing power only is possible now using a splitter: Amazon.com.
Note: I have not tested it so I don’t know if this is working but this would be type that you would need.

Now, being able to leverage that wire for carrying the networking, this is not possible without something that convert from Ethernet to USB and some non trivial modification of the firmware.

2 Likes

Yeah i have that adapter, it’s pretty great. Wish it could carry data as well. Do you guys have any plans in developing an adapter like that? That way you can connect it to any of your cameras and they would instantly become POE. That with the recent RTSP support will make it the perfect camera

1 Like

We don’t have any plan for the moment. Changing the networking stack and adding an adapter is just too much work just yet. I think it would be better to have the ethernet port from the beginning in the hardware but that means also changing the adapter and provide a specialty cable.
It would be interesting to see the BOM costs…

5 Likes

I would really like to replace my dlink camera’s that are unreliable with the wyze camera’s. Hopefully they will create an outdoor poe version.

There are a LOT of smart cameras out there. But I haven’t seen a single one with a PoE power option. Some houses and businesses have this kind of prewire, yet there are minimal options. Most smart outside cameras want you to drill a hole through your wall and put a “wall wart” plug into the wall.

The outdoor camera that Wyze is developing will have battery power:

1 Like

Fairly easy to run a dedicated 5V lead to a camera (far from rocket science) not from a wall wart, but maybe from a centralized power supply - even battery backed up - so cameras and your local network will function even during a power outage. Given, if your ISP also will function depends on the ISP (but backed up nodes in the residential network are more and more common since many ISPs are providing VoIP and a modem with a battery backup for 24-48 hours of phone service).
Hence, POE would be “nice” but as long as these cameras do work fairly reliably over WiFi, alternative power distribution is really a low priority. That said, nothing that prevents to use the PoE cabling to serve as the “dedicated” 5V lead to each camera.

1 Like

@potato25 It’s definitely possible, Dafang hacks did it Enable support USB Ethernet by hcgonzalezpr · Pull Request #536 · EliasKotlyar/Xiaomi-Dafang-Hacks · GitHub

This is definately a hack, but I have an old mini travel network router that is the size of a few stacked match books, which is powered by mico USB. This has multiple functions, but the most useful in this case is using it as a wired ethernet to wifi access point. It could be placed at the end of a POE connection , with the USB 5v step down powering it, then the Wyze cam could connect to it via wifi. While not as good as a true ethernet connection, if the access point is placed close to the cam, the signal will be strong. Plus, this would give you a hot spot extending your wifi network near where you terminated it for all your wifi connected cams in range. (Since this is outdoor, make sure it is secured, or a hidden SID). Note: you will need a USB spliter to power the cam with the same POE.

Here is a link to one I have. There are several similar to it available at a lower cost.
https://www.edimax.com/edimax/merchandise/merchandise_detail/data/edimax/global/wireless_routers_n150/br-6258n/

Hi
Any update on PoE cameras? I ran Ethernet throughout my house and I would like to leverage your cameras. I don’t want to use an power adapter.

Thanks

3 Likes

You pretty much have to use Dafang hacks. GitHub - EliasKotlyar/Xiaomi-Dafang-Hacks But, the issue is that with Dafang, you don’t get the Wyze cloud storage.
Edit: You also need a ethernet to usb adapter with the ax88178 chip.

Since I have many cameras a good distance from my wifi connections, it would be nice if a USB to POE adapter can be designed that would allow the ability to do IP configuration and POE over a CAT 5/6 cable. In most cases I prefer to run a Ethernet cable vs wifi because my connections are more stable over greater distances.

2 Likes

Yes! I have secure WiFi through my apartment building but I need to register the device through the network’s website. This does not provide an SSID with password so therefore I can’t login through the app. Having Ethernet capabilities would solve that problem.

1 Like

The device described in the link below may also solve your situation:

https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022501071&?section=setting-up-through-login-portal&?subsection=undefined

I cannot use a mini/travel router as it may cause issues with the building’s WiFi.

Yes please POE on future cams !
Ran some cat6 cable everywhere so this would be amazing.

2 Likes

Like seriously, xtend the wifi 2 that area.

Another vote for the PoE capability. I know I can do it with adapters, but I think it would be better if it were native to the device.

2 Likes

Not only would POE allow power away from receptacles and improve weak internet/data signals. Most importantly for me and many of us dabbling or switching over to Wyze cams it would allow us to record 24/7 to a NVR and eliminate the need to stream to the cloud or “small” sd cards. Recording and viewing to a CCTV style network would drastically reduce the amount of DATA these cameras “can” eat up in a short period. What’s the point of having 1080p on a camera if your ISP puts a 1TB data cap on your plan? I’ve been monitoring my data usage like a hawk and its unreal how much data a wyze camera at 1080p will use as baby monitor through the wyze app. I’ve recently stepped down to the 360p and turned off all recordings to help reduce data usage.

Bottomline POE, more versatile, more reliable, more secure, only use data when viewing outside of home network.

P.S. We would also like a 2 stage authentication factor for logging in. :grin:

4 Likes

POE for outdoor cameras!

1 Like