I once had an entire live home monitoring system…paid over 200 for it and still, people were breaking into my home. When I called the company to discuss what I could not figure out, I inadvertently learned that the company had control over my system. So, it would have been possible that it could be bypassed in order to allow certain individuals to enter without detection. i will never purchase a live monitoring / home security system again.
i purchased the wyze home V3 cam. The camera recorded the sound of one of culprits trimming grass next to my home, as he knew of my camera and stayed out of view of it. At some point, he left a crow bar sitting on my porch, of which the camera didn’t record. The crow bar is still there. When I returned home, he made an effort to discuss the situation in order to learn what I knew and what I didn’t know (he never did this before when I had the other live monitoring system). Now I have cam plus and having so much trouble with it…
There is so much with this post to ask, I don’t even know where to begin.
Also, there is no question mark anywhere here so I’m guessing you just needed to vent.
As an I.T. person, often… the user typically blames the technology. And while technology is not perfect (it has never professed to be in the 30 years I’ve been messing with it), it is pretty solid across most sectors with the usual annoyances.
When you say “so much trouble” what does that mean? Does it not alert? Did you buy the Home Monitoring System (it’s cool btw)? Have you setup zones, person detection, notifications?
There are 1000’s of people who have these cameras and they work great. They detect people, packages, vehicle, motion, and they see in the dark well. The door and motion sensors (and doorbell), all work quite well. Again, nothing is perfect, but I have 5 cameras, motion, door, thermostat, doorbell, CamPlus… I’m using Wyze full-throttle. No complaints here.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not minimizing your issues. But when someone comes on a forum to vent and only vent, with no constructive feedback… it’s hard not to dismiss what you are saying.
25 years of only hearing people complain on the internet has worn thin on me.
Behold! The significant, variable difference between the average consumer vs. an IT tech person and understanding how ‘user friendly’ applications really are not that user friendly until there is understanding of how it works?! Anyway, I can still appreciate your position and understand how you feel; your frustration was clearly indicated! 
I didn’t buy the complete home monitoring system from Wyze. It was a different company all together. And yes, it would have been cool had the system done what it was purchased for. I got the works; even had the touch pad to turn the system off and on, had a base station, door, window and camera motion detection. It was great to record me coming in and out but did nothing else. So, when people were entering my home and stealing my stuff, making themselves at home by cooking and / or just taking my food, etc… I was constantly unnerved and could not figure out what was going on until I called the company that was supposed to be monitoring my home security system to call the cops when an intruder would enter. They had no idea what could have been wrong or how anyone could possibly bypass their system. Neither could I. Kind of them not to charge me for the one month I owed them, considering the monetary loss I suffered as a result of their practice to ensure the safety of home intruders from me ever being able to do anything about it.
I have my PoE cameras mounted around my house so they can see each other and around my house. They are in clear view so anyone can see them. You can see the 2 Red IR lights on the front ON at night. They are working. They see at night as well as in the daytime, other then not in color. I want the criminals to see the cameras and decide to go on down the street to a easier target. They are recording 24/7. There is no wakeup delay. You can’t cut a cable to kill the internet and stop any cloud recording. They are also powered by a UPS. So kill the power and they will still be recording. I still need to mount up a couple more on the far side of my house. Right now I’m using Wyze Outdoor cameras over there.
Finally, my Retired Dad lives with me at my house. So he’s home most of the time anyway. If need be, this is a Gun Zone. So take your chances!!! I don’t live in the best area either. But no real issues other that Porch Pirates a couple times before I had cameras. These days if it’s not Amazon in Garage delivery, I just get stuff delivered at work.
I don’t want cameras all over the inside of my house. I do have 1 Wyze V3 in my computer room pointed right at the doorway. That’s the only inside camera currently. Well not 100% true. I do have a Wyze V2 camera inside of my Garage. That was my first camera. That was because my Dad every once in a while would leave and leave my garage door wide open. While my Garage Door opener would give me an Alarm after 10 minutes and another after 20 minutes, I had no was to know if he was in the garage working on something, or he took off and forgot to close it. So the camera was there to see out, see if his truck was still there and that the door was in fact open. I can close it remotely. Then it’s come in handy for Amazon Delivery inside of my Garage. So I can check and make sure they haven’t done anything. So far, they’ve all been Pros, In/out quickly. But #3, yes, Security if someone breaks into my garage. I don’t really consider that inside of my house.
This is an update to the post I just posted. After having the incident with one of culprits causing a great deal of noise that my cam recorded, then leaving a crow bar on my porch which my camera didn’t record, I purchased cam plus. the other day, I left my home for awhile but didn’t turn on my camera. I figured how would anyone know? Unfortunately, someone must have known because certain things were missing just to let me know my home was entered. How did they know my camera was off?
On the V3 camera, the status light is on the front of the camera, so if they are used to seeing the light, and it is not there, that would be an indication. You do have the option of disabling the status light, or of course never turning off the cameras (I never turn any of my 28 cameras off).
forgot about the status light… i turned that off when I first got the camera. Yes, the light is on. I don’t recall how to turn that off. By the way, does it automatically turn back on at night? That was the primary reason I turned it off was because I didn’t want the camera to show whether it was on or off… sounds ridiculous, now that I have typed it out (said it out loud)
Select that camera, then the gear in the upper right for settings. Then Advanced Settings > Camera Status Light (about half way down the page).
Good ideas! Another thing to decide on is also having a sd card in the camera and enabling local storage to be a backup for the cloud recording. This would also need the camera to be on for it to work. I never have any of my cams off, and all have cards in them recording.
Sorry to hear you had to deal with such events.
I too, like you, was unhappy with my home monitoring system that had a multi year contract and a nearly 100 dollar a month fee (Security and Home Automation) Which led me to WYZE… it started with a single camera a few years ago and now I almost feel like my house is a Stock Car and WYZE is my primary sponsor… There is room for improvement, but, a solid solution with a great price point.
The suggestions above are great… but one was a shadowed comment that I find very important
Not saying you need 28 cameras but at the price point and if being used for security get more (even if you don’t chose WYZE) for peace of mind. And for sure use SD cards with WYZE cams.
Exactly. They are cheap enough that I have cameras all over the place. This includes several in my car and several at a nearby mountaintop 2-way radio site. I have a few extras laying around so it’s not a problem to grab one or a few for some special event. For example for my 4th of July 2019 professional fireworks show (no show in 2020), we had four cameras watching the show. A couple were powered from my truck, and a couple powered from USB battery banks.
28 cameras seems a little insane!!! To each their own.
I have indoor Cameras that view all Entry points, but I schedule them to turn off at 630 AM and turn on at 11PM.
They also turn on during those times when I leave/the premises or arm the AWAY alarm
I don’t think 28 is insane, just depends on your use case 
I have one that monitors my sump, nothing but… even with a flood detector.
One on a stand the does nothing but watches the night sky.
One in the attic to ensure there are no critters
A WCO that I mounted to an RC car for fun
Well, it kinda goes like this. I started buying the V2 cameras three years ago. When the Pan camera came out, I bought two to play with. Those are my cameras 8 and 9. Turns out that I essentially never use the Pan capabilities. Kept adding a few more V2 cameras over time. When the V3 came out, I bought four and love them, so I bought four more. Most of the V3s will ultimately replace a V2, so I will end up with a bunch of V2s that will be looking for something to do. For the time being, there are several places that have a V2 and a V3 side by side. There are places where there is no advantage to the V3 over the V2, so I will have places for the V2 cameras.
There are very few places you can be in my yard where you are not on at least one camera. There are cameras in the garage, in my truck, and at a mountaintop radio site.
Hi JB
I appreciate your post and was wondering about that very issue (among a few others), when I had the home security from the other company and even with the Wyze cam that I have now. What if that person did cut off the electricity to my place? This would interfere with my internet which would then interfere with my wifi. So, would the Wyze camera stop working. your post said it would not… I don’t understand how that works. I would love to have something set up to work even if the power were to go out. Since the camera doesn’t have a backup battery, nor could it send me a message that something is wrong should the wifi become disabled, how would it continue to record?
Also, do you know what would happen if the SD card is removed while I am away? What is a UPS?
Sitting at the breakfast table and I just now realized that I didn’t thank you for your thoughtfulness. For that matter, thanks to everyone for the inputs that everyone took the time to post!! Appreciate everything!
My Poe cameras are plugged into a NVR. (Network Video Recorder). PoE is (Power Over Ethernet). UPS is ( uninterruptible Power Supply). So by having my NVR plugged into a UPS, if the power goes off, my cameras continue to work. The NVR is still running and the cameras are getting their power from the NVR.
With the Wyze cams, you could do basically the same. The Wyze cams do have Micro SD ports. So local storage works, you can plug each camera into their own UPS. So they could still be recording if the power went out. Of course if you have cameras all over the place, you may need a use all over the place also. The batteries in a UPS only tend to last 2-5 years before needing to be replaced.
These are things people should think about. If you’re a criminal, what would you do? Can a person get behind your camera and wack it down with a stick, never being seen for example.
Hi JB… how do I get a NVR and a UPS? Can they be purchased at the local hardware store? LOL… Also, are your Poe cameras not Wyze cams?
No, my PoE cameras are not from Wyze. I got a system with 4 PoE cameras and a NVR. I can use up to 8 cameras with it. I currently have 6 with plans to add another 2. Mine are 5MP cameras. Which are in the4 middle of 1080P and 4K cameras. Price range is wide depending on a number of factors. I saw a nice 4K PoE setup at Costco with I think 8 cameras? for like $799, with $100 off.
The NVR is not only recording what all the cameras see, but is supplies power to each of the cameras over the Ethernet Cable. Which is why they are PoE. Running Ethernet to each Camera, depending on location can be easy or a bit of a hassle. All depends on your house and how handy you are.
Once it’s done, it’s done. If you want to upgrade your cameras or NVR later, well it’s all pretty standard. Wire is already done. You aim your cameras, lock them in place, and it’s pretty much set and forget. Once in a while clear of a wider web right in front of the camera lens. No one ever tells you that.
Ethernet is is thin a pretty easy to run. Cut to the length you want and throw on a jack. As for the USP, it really doesn’t matter what one you get. Larger, the cameras and NVR will run longer on the batteries. You plug the NVR into the UPS and plug the UPS into an outlet. Pretty simple!!!
I have a couple of Outdoor Wyze Cams on the far side of my house currently. I’m trying to think of the best way to run Ethernet over there and get a couple more cameras. The Wyze outdoor cameras, the batteries only last so long and then I have to go out there with the ladder, take them down, plug them in for hours to charge back up. Go back outside, get on the ladder, look at my phone as I’m re-aiming them. It’s a little annoying.
I have a V2 camera in my Garage that I’ve had since before my PoE cameras. I got it mainly because my Dad lives at my house. He’s forgotten to close the garage door. Leaves with it wide open, and at that point you can just walk right into my house. All the money in tools alone in my garage, Ouch. My Garage door I can close with Siri, or use the app on my phone. It also sends me an alarm if the garage door is open longer t han 10 minutes and then 15 minutes. So I can look at the V2 camera and see if the door is actually OPEN, and if my Dad is still home and working in the garage or gone. Now I mainly use it for Amazon Inside garage Delivery which has been great.
I have a V3 Wyze camera in my computer room. It has the added-on light which sticks on the top. Color pictures when it’s dark!
So for me, it’s getting the right thing for the right job. If it’s a WYZE camera, OK. If it’s some other PoE type setup, great. That really goes for anything. Buy what you think will do the best job of whatever it is for your needs. You can buy PoE systems frm Amazon, or eBay and other places, besides what Costco has. I don’t recomend the older Analog systems. Analog Cameras, with bulky Power and video cable with a DVR. Digital Video Recorder.
We had that kind of system where I worked. It was a crappy, and flaky system. The BNC connectors, you could wiggle around to get a picture to come in. We had 16 of them. All the Video Cables went into the DVR, and then there was a 16 outlet power supply box to power all the cameras. That power box is still there but the whole rest of the system has been tossed. We have a lot more cameras now. PoE ones from Unifi when we upgraded to a number of Unifi hardware. Ether at home with my system, I can see the video on the computer or my iPhone or iPad. Or the system at work where I can see the video also on all my devices from the Unifi hardware and Protect.
Wyze cameras are cheap and they do have their place. If you want cameras inside your house in a few locations. You can plugin and basically set them and forget about them. Nothing wrong with that. I installed a 8 camera Analog system for a friend on a 2 story house. That really sucked. Never doing that again!!!. Now basically stuck with Analog. We did run plastic conduits down the side for the wires to protect them. So in theory, could use those wires to pull an ethernet cable. Still a lot of work. Better to spend a little more, and do things right the first time.
Don’t rush and buy something. Do a little research and figure what would work best for you. How many Cameras will you need by the time you are done. I could use a PoE in my garage if I wanted, but why? The Wyze V2 is just fine.
I also wired up my house with Cat6. All going to my 48 port Switch. Wired is always better than wireless. Just some things to keep in mind. Did you make it this far?