RIP: Off-line recording

Yep - the V2 camera used to work off-line, with no dependency on an internet connection to WyzeHQ. I could travel to far-away places (way off the grid) with my HooToo travel router - a dandy little gadget containing a router, a WiFi AP and a USB battery pack. The camera would power up just fine. The Wyze app on my iPhone would connect to the camera, which would record locally to the SDcard. I could Live View what the camera was seeing, set up and capture time-lapse recordings, download them from the camera into the iPhone, etc.

Then they broke the off-line functionality with a firmware update:-(.
“Sad”, as some would say.

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In the same boat. Paranormal investigator and got these JUST to use on the go in the dark, in locations with no wifi or power, significantly far from home. Can I downgrade the firmware and do it that way? Who has firmware archived earlier than the ones available here on the site?

When is someone going to delete this article then?

https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360031483211-Can-I-use-my-camera-offline-without-internet-connection-

It is fraudulently telling people before they buy these that offline recording still works!

Funny you should say that. @sodcam just made a great post explaining that it can sort of still work, just not by the @kyphos Norwegian Fjord Method (SM).

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That article could use some clarification. @WyzeTanvi? The camera will not currently work offline unless it had an Internet connection at startup to be authorized to function.

Some clarification? Well, perhaps.
Frankly, I think that article needs a complete re-write, by someone who actually tests the use case described and understands the limitations of the camera.

The article says:

To view your recorded footage, you can … remove the microSD card from your Wyze Cam to view the raw video files (mp4 format) on a computer. When you return the microSD card to your Wyze Cam, it will resume continuous recording.

This might encourage the Wyze Customer to pull the SDcard while the camera is still powered up at the remote location. That’s generally not advisable. Memory cards can be corrupted if the power vanishes while memory operations are underway. For example, if the camera is configured for continuous recording.

The current Wyze app has a button to Eject SD Card (under Advanced/Local Storage) which presumably enables safe removal from a powered camera. However, if one is off-line at a remote location with no internet (the point of entire article), the app is unable to access the camera, so one can’t click the EJECT button.

If the wise Wyze user powers down the camera to safely remove the SDcard, views the raw video files on a computer (as suggested by @WyzeTanvi), reinserts the card, and then powers the camera back on, it will not resume continuous recording. It won’t boot up properly since it has no internet connection at the off-line location.

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I’ve been reading many of the articles in this interesting thread. Last week, the router in my vacation home crashed. I figured no big deal, I’ll just check the microSD using the app once I reboot the router… I have my 2 Wyze Cam V2s and 3 V3s set to record to the microSD card on events only.
To my surprise, nothing was recorded on any of the cameras during the time the router was down. It only started recording immediately after the router was rebooted.
I discussed with Wyze support and in the end, the conclusion is that the cameras will only record offline when the “record to microSD” is set to continuous, not on events.
I haven’t tried pulling the microSD card yet and checking with a computer, but from the discussion, it is unlikely it will have any recording.

This is now concerning since as a security device, you’d at least expect to be able to use the local microSD card as a backup in case the internet goes down.

This is contrary to last winter when I left one V2 camera on for the whole winter with no internet. I can’t remember what firmware version it was, unfortunately (not sure if I was diligent updating the firmware at the time). Anyways, I was able to go through the microSD card after winter to review any movements. It had events recorded the whole winter and since not a lot of motion was expected, the 32GB was enough. Now I’m being told that it has to be on continuous recording to work without internet, which obviously won’t be any use for the whole winter as it can only retain about 3 days of recording…

Based on this thread that has gone for over 2 years, it doesn’t look like this previously working feature will ever return… perhaps it’s one way to encourage users to sign up for the CAM plus (which I do have several subscriptions for anyways), but it’s no good when the internet fails…

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I have been a staunch supporter of Wyze and had not had to test this.
Nope, it’s the one thing that will get me started looking for other systems.
We don’t all live where the net stays up 24/7.
:frowning:
And what good is Cam plus when the net is down?

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Yeah, I love the Wyze cameras (I have the V2, V3 and outdoor cam… 14 all together) and have been recommending them to friends in our vacation home community. Now that I realize that there is no backup local event recording when the internet is down, I’ll have to make sure that they are aware of this and tell them to look for something else if they intend to use it the way I did last winter,

I checked the microSD card of one of the cameras using a card reader on a computer. It definitely did not record any events while the internet was down. It started an event recording locally immediately after the router was rebooted.

This is definitely a serious flaw for a camera used for security purposes. What’s even more I unbelievable is that Wyze would consider this a normal operation.

Does it matter if you are recording with settings for AI events ?
For example - if I set it for vehicle detection that requires AI and the servers.
But if it’s set for ALL motion that shouldn’t require server interaction.

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The cameras will continue to record locally if the internet goes down as long as the camera does not loose power. However if the camera looses power, it will not start recording after the power restores until it is able to check in with the Wyze server via the internet.
BTW, I test that capability every day. I have a V2 and a V3 in my truck that continues to record just fine when I drive away from home (and therefore, out of WiFi coverage). Once I am back in WiFi coverage, I can watch the videos of my driving around on either camera.

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When I last tested SD card recording (and it sounds like @K6CCC did so much more recently), the SD card does continue to work without access to the Internet or WiFi until the next power interruption. In my previous testing, that was whether the SD card was set to Continuous recording, or Events Only.

After a power interruption the cameras do need Internet access to boot back up. And until they boot back up, no more SD card recording.

What @gemniii is talking about are cloud clips – whether generated by Cam Plus or not. In my testing ALL cloud clips will be lost while not connected to the Internet. There is no buffering of those clips. If there is no cloud to send them to, then they will evaporate.

These cameras are not designed to work without Internet access. The whole Wyze system requires it, even for scheduling a switch. Sometimes you can find a way to work without it to some degree, but in every instance I know you will give up something in the operation or reliability of the device.

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It’s a good question, and I was wondering about this as well, though you’d think it would revert to a simple motion detection when the internet is down….I don’t have cam plus for the camera I took the microSD card from but, being one of the earlier users, I do have the legacy person detection available for all my cameras. I do have it on so perhaps the lack of internet is interfering with the write to the card…?

I was able to determine with some certainty (I happened to take a screenshot when I updated) what firmware I had on my V2 that recorded events without internet during the last winter. It should be 4.9.6.199.

What’s interesting is that I installed this firmware on Oct 25, 2020, which is a month after I signed up for the person detection (now called legacy, not the cam plus). So if the person detection is the culprit, it should have prevented the camera from recording events last winter (unless somehow I accidentally turned off person detection).

I’ll have to test this theory and also try the previous firmware… just not sure if I have time before closing the cottage (work always gets in the way of this stuff).

Wyze support didn’t mention anything about the AI affecting the event recording… their response is it just doesn’t do event recording without the internet.

Looks like you have continuous recording, not event recording.

Only event recording is affected when the internet is down.

Interesting. You mentioned it works whether it’s continuous or event recording. Is this on a V2 or V3? Do you happen to know the firmware the last time you checked this?

Do you have the legacy person detection or cam plus? Was either one enabled when you tested? Curious since as @gemniii mentioned, it may have something to do with the Wyze AI.

I don’t mind the events the camera is trying to send to the cloud being discarded when there is no internet. This is completely understandable. But this is when the recording to the microSD card when the internet is down becomes even more important.

I have tested this a lot and came to the same conclusion that @newshoud and @K6CCC came to, in all my testing I was able to record to SD card on both continuous and events only, and I did have legacy person detection at the time. It was tested on a v2, I cannot tell you what firmware as I do not recall, I will test this again tonight when I get home. I will use a fully updated v2 and record events only to SD with no internet and see what happens. If it is not working I will report it as a bug because it should work, the only issue should be when you lose power it will not record again prior to connecting to the internet.

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@gem thanks. It will be good to know if that at least still works… maybe there was a power interruption that I wasn’t aware of… the clocks on the microwave and stove were correct when we got to the trailer so I can only assume the power was fine.

I do consider it a bug, which is why I reported it Wyze support. But at least from the person I spoke to, it’s considered a normal operation.

Unfortunately, even if the event recording does work, I’ll have to rely on not losing power during the whole winter for the cameras to keep working…

And to make sure we are discussing the same thing -
The cameras should be able to connect to the net, connect to the Wyze servers, then record either continuously or motion events to their SD card as long as the cameras have power or are not turned off. Regardless of the internet connection.

@WyzeJasonJ - I’m looking forward to your results.

/edit - I’m thinking with a 128GB SD card I could record motion events for months inside a supposedly vacant house.

That is my understanding

I was unable to test last night but should be able to tonight and report back

Ok, it took me a few days but I was able to test this, I was able to record in both modes, continuous and events only to the SD card after losing internet, but if the cam lose power it will not start again until it regains internet.

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