Can You Use Wyze Camera Without Internet?
By Trae Jacobs,
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The Wyze Cam is an amazing budget camera that works like an expensive one with all its bells and whistles. But you begin to wonder how far you can push the limits.
Can You Use Wyze Cam Without Internet? Yes, you can use the Wyze Cam without internet but first you need to complete a few steps prior.
1. Setup the Wyze Camera (Steps here from Wyze’s website)
2. Install a SD card to your Wyze Camera (Steps in a Video below)
3. Change your settings to record your videos locally to your SD Card (on Event or Continuously)
Now you can move your Wyze Camera to another location without internet and it should record if it has a power source.
You can take the SD card and use a laptop to watch any videos or bring the Wyze Camera back to a location with internet and the videos will sync to your app (where you can watch it on your phone). Voila!
There are however some caveats because Wyze has had some previous bugs that were fixed to resolve this. There is an active thread on the forum where you can read other people’s experiences, but other users have had success while others have not.
How to Use Wyze Cam Without Internet
If you are still having issues using your Wyze Cam without internet, here a few tips to help you through it.
Make Sure Your Wyze Cam Reconnects to the Internet. If you want to record without an internet connection, it’s obvious you will take it to another location. The idea is you need to return it back to a place with internet so everything can sync back up. Then you should be able to view all the recording on your phone.
If your Wyze Cam is not reconnecting to the internet, try “power cycling” it. This means unplugging your Wyze Camera for a few minutes and then reconnecting it. Once powering back on, it should reconnect to the internet.
Make Sure Your Wyze Cam Doesn’t Lose Power In The New Location. If you plan on recording in an off-site location, make sure your Wyze Cam doesn’t lose power. For example, connecting it to your car battery from a power outlet wouldn’t work because it would power off when the car is off. This functions fine as a dash cam, but if you want to monitor for break ins, find a new power source (like a power bank/battery pack).
Install a SD card beforehand to make sure you can record locally. The steps are pretty simple, unplug your Wyze cam and insert the SD card into the slot under the camera. Then you’re good to go.
Need a SD Card? Wyze has their own branded 32GB Micro SD card they’ll sell you. Check it out on Amazon here.
Here is a video from Wyze going over the full details:
Your Wyze Cam May Randomly Power Off. There has been reports from other users where rarely the power goes off. No rhyme or reason why, but that can cause some gaps in recording.
Make Sure You Set Recording Video to “Locally” to Your SD Card. This is the bread and butter that lets your Wyze Camera record without internet. Since it has a SD card installed on your camera, it can record ‘locally’, without an internet connection.
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View Your Local Videos Through The App with Playback. You can view videos that are recorded locally to your SD card all through the App. You can use the calendar to pick which day you want or which hour.
There are a lot of sneaky features that can you can mistakenly skip, so be sure to check out Wyze’s YouTube to make sure you don’t miss a beat.
Update your Wyze App! Stay up to date on all the bug fixes and new features they release. There was a previous bug that shut off recording without WiFi after 1.5 hours. Make sure you Update your Wyze App.
Here is a relevant thread on Wyze’s forum where they discuss it in detail and this post where a firmware release fixed it in April 2019.
Contact Support if You’re Still Having Issues. Some customers have reported that they are still having issues with the camera turning off without a WiFi connection – even though its powered on.
This issue should have been resolved but bugs are always reported and then fixed.
Here is a link to Wyze’s support page!
Post your question/issue/comment on the Wyze Community. Wyze has an amazing community with lots of customers who post frequently. You will probably have a reply from a customer first because they are so helpful.