Someone please correct me or point me in the right direction…
I have 6 Wyze cameras and may purchase a couple more. I want to connect them all to a dedicated WIFI router so that I don’t place any burden on our home entertainment network. I don’t need internet, just need to access/view the cameras using my iPad.
Does this sound feasible? Any inexpensive router recommendations?
Thank you for your feedback
Any router should work, but you’ll need to connect the router to the internet for the cams to work, unless you have enough Micro SD cards. You can just Daisy Chain routers together using an ethernet cable. Just make sure that the Cam WiFi has a different name and password as your main WiFi.
Also, make sure that it’s 2.4 GHz!
Pls explain what is “Home Entertainment Network”. Is the entertainment fed from:
The home entertainment system consists of a Comcast cable that connects to a WiFi router. It provides us with xfinity TV and the internet. I guess that means it’s local not the cloud.
Why do I need to have an internet connection? Can’t I connect my iPad to a stand alone router and see the cameras without an internet connection?
Each camera does have a micro SD card installed. I don’t know that would matter as far as being able to view the cameras over WIFI.
The cams require internet connection to initialize. Once they are initialized they can be used on WiFi only as long as they are not powered off. They will continue to continuous record to the SD card. If powered off they will require internet connection to re-initialize. Connecting to a separate router will relieve the stress on your main WiFi but it will need to use your main “box” as a modem for the internet initialization connection. That, minus the gaming aspect, is how I have mine set up.
Don’t have Comcast but it sounds like your Comcast box is a combination router/modem like my ATT box. Should be possible to do. @Brlepage is spot on about only using 2.4. WiFi!
If your Comcastbox provides you could set up your Wyze on its dedicated Guest WiFi band but you are still using only one box for everything. If you do go with a stand-alone router I can’t recommend a mesh system highly enough! Mine’s Eero and it made life much easier!
Hope I read your situation right and this helps.
You are streaming xfinity TV from the cloud/internet via cable internet.
You want the camera on an isolated network not connected to the internet.
You need an internet connection to boot the cam up so it will authenticate,
Here is link to more detail on this answer from @sodcam
edit: or the more detailed explanation @tomp gave. . .
Here is another useful link from @Newshound
(3) I learned can not view live stream w/o internet because cams require authorization every few minutes (when streaming).
Thanks for the router recommendation.
I like the idea of using my phone as a temporary hotspot to initialize, if I have to. I guess that the QR scan code is generated by the initialization process.
From the responses, it seems that I might not be able to view the camera videos directly from a dedicated WIFI system (using an iPad) because the cameras have to authenticate themselves every few minutes via the internet. Not what I want.
I will get another WIFI router and see if I can figure it out.
Thanks for the feedback!
No, not every few minutes - just when the cams first boot up. 
As long as the cams have continuous, uninterrupted power, they will remain authenticated and recording to their SD cards and are viewable locally. I forget right now who posted the longest documented time they had run cams without internet, but pretty sure it was at least several days.
So - boot cams, authenticate them with internet, then can disconnect them from the internet, but leave them connected to the dedicated local access only WiFi LAN.
Then can view them with a phone/pad that is first authenticated via an internet source, and is then connected to the dedicated LAN that the cams are on.
Not 100% sure how often the viewing device needs to be authenticated, since that is usually what I carry around to various locations, etc, but have not had an issue as long as it is powered and the app is still open.
@Newshound said, (3) “every few minutes” in a Jun’19 post (quoted abv).
Either way, interested in results @robertgately finds w/his stand alone WiFi streaming test.
Thanks!
As I understand what I’ve read, It’s not possible to do that in a closed loop wifi with no internet access
Those old quotes need updating. Wyze has put some effort into allowing the cams to run [somewhat] without Internet now, but it is still VERY messy. TLDR: So still best to run WITH Internet, for sure.
First, let me say for any “before”, “used to be”, or “older” quotes I used V2 firmware 4.9.5.36. For “now” or “newer” quotes I used firmware 4.9.98 (not the current version, but newer), and for the app I used the current production versions of 2.12.35 (Android) and 2.12.51 (iOS).
The V2 cams still need Internet to boot. That hasn’t changed. After boot, you can lose the Internet connection and still maintain SD card recording. That hasn’t changed.
Before you had to pull the SD card to view the recordings because you couldn’t get the app to work properly without Internet access. That restriction still appears to still be true for the iOS apps (although the phone and iPad versions fail for different reasons), but not the Android app. The Android app now [mostly] functions without Internet access.
Due to periodic reauthorization, you used to lose live stream capability after a few minutes (5-7 if I remember). However, I find V2s with newer firmware were still streaming after 30 minutes (I didn’t test beyond that). Further, I found V2s with old firmware could be brought back online for a few more minutes using the current production [Android] app by just pressing reload.
The app used to re-authorize every time you changed views (like from group mode to single cam view), but I find the Android app no longer has that restriction, not even with an old firmware cam.
If the Wyze app is not running before you lose Internet, then you will find the Android app loads and [mostly] functions, whereas the iPhone will not be able to communicate with the cams, and the iPad will ask you if you want to add new devices, not recognizing the old ones.
So – still best to run WITH Internet for sure, especially since you are running iOS. Just plug the second router into the first one and let it have Internet access. That would give you 2 WiFi networks (hopefully on different channels) and still allow the snippets of Internet access the Wyze system needs for authorizations and things stored on the servers, like settings and shortcuts. The second network will need a different name and password. You would want any local devices (iPad, for instance) that view live streams connected to the secondary Wyze WiFi network to accomplish your goal of minimizing traffic on the primary network (note the cams don’t use the network much if someone isn’t viewing them).
As for a router recommendation, know that Wyze currently only uses type ‘N’ router capability, so don’t go too nuts buying something faster like an AC router to run only today’s Wyze devices.
@UserCustomerGwen – can we relay these differences between the iOS app and the Android app to the developers? The apps should work the same. Also, on a totally separate issue, I love that when I call up a group of cams in portrait mode on the Android side the screen automatically re-orients. It doesn’t do that on the iOS side. Instead I have to reach over, pick up the tablet, and rock it back and forth to get the proper orientation. So a code comparison between the apps would be great! Right now the Android app is definitely my preferred app, although it crashes often on my Fire HD 10 tablet. I send a new log each time a new version of the app is released, hoping they can fix that issue.
That’s why I said to daisy chain the routers.
Wow. Awesome post!!
This is “Bookmark for Future Reference” material, NOT TLDR!! 
Thanks for the detailed information. I’m not very hopeful that I can do what I want do because of the internet and other variables, but I will buy an ‘N’ router and see.
I wouldn’t be trying to setup a separate network except that I lose connection with the cameras too much of the time through our existing WIFI network. Too bad that the cams HAVE to connect to the internet at all.
Thanks again!
I commend the research you have accomplished, it clears up some misconceptions that have been floating around. You are dead on correct in that the two platforms, iOS and Android should mimic each other regarding performance and options available.
Nice job !!! 