Wyze Cam Outdoor through a window no notifications

[mynameisbt]

I have a wyze cam outdoor and wanted to use it through a window. When I view the feed in the app I can see that it can tag motion but I never get notifications on my phone. Anyone get the outdoor camera working through a window with notifications?

[dr.know]

Hi @mynameisbt and welcome to the community.
The outdoor comera a.k.a. WOC uses infrared detectors to detect movement, that is what wakes it up and records. So no, the IR detectors won’t work through glass.

The motion tag is to confirm and identify movement but the motion alert is set by the IR detection.

[mynameisbt]

thanks for the information. With the Passive Infared sensor is there anyway to get motion alert when the camera is inside and pointed outside? Is there something I can put outside that can help it identify movement?

[towelkingdom]

No. The camera has to be able to detect heat to wake up the camera.

If using inside, you should opt instead for the V2. It can detect motion through glass.

[dr.know]

There was a suggestion by @rbruceporter use trained monkeys to aid in person detection but even that won’t work for the WOC. . .

It's Not Motion Sensing Its Heat?

Personally I think Wyze and other camera vendors could use the vastly underemployed Monkey population. Tether a monkey to each camera. For a correct detection they get food, for each incorrect or missed detection a minor electrical shock. This would be like learning AI systems and over time would result in very accurate detection rates. Faster detection could award a tastier morsel where slower rates would result in tasteless morsels. Just think of the PR campaigns Wyze could offer. Monkeys th…

[mynameisbt]

There is no way to get the PIR sensor working on the WCO through a window but a workaround someone suggested on reddit was to use the Wyze sense motion sensor and set up automation to record a video when it detects motion.

If you have another Wyze cam or Wyze Cam Pan pointed in the location that the WCO is those can trigger WCO to record also.

[dr.know]

I’m glad you solved your own problem but don’t understand.

Use a separate motion sensor and set up automation to record on another Wyze cam and/or Wyze cam Pan in the location that the WCO is pointing to trigger the WCO to record.

I guess the notification doesn’t necessarily have to come from the WCO however, that was your original question, If you have $100 of other equipment doing the job why is there a WCO in this mix at all.

[mynameisbt]

There’s no way to get the PIR to work through the window but what I found was that I could just use a wyze cam sense motion sensor pointed in the area that the WCO camera is pointed and then use that to trigger the WCO to record. So $20 extra to get the kit to make the WCO usable behind a window (or less if you already have the bridge and just need an another sensor). Without it the WCO is almost useless inside because it will never get triggered to record.

I just suggested another Wyze Cam as an alternate since those can also be used to trigger the WCO as well but the best way would be to just use the Sense.

I wanted to get the WCO so I could place it by a window that does not have a power outlet nearby. I wish I had read about how the PIR sensor works before getting the WCO but at least this makes it usable without having to mount the camera outside.

I edited my solution post to say that its a workaround since there is no way to get it to work through the window.

[dr.know]

Thank you for the explanation. Makes Sense to me now.

[zaksuhar]

I am using the v2 and it isn’t detecting anything through a window pane.

[towelkingdom]

The wyze cam v2 or the wyze outdoor v2? The outdoor (battery) cameras use heat detection and won’t work through a window. But the wyze v2 (wired) can detect through windows as I use one to monitor a bird feeder. You just need to keep ir lights off.