Home WIFI Camera Suggestion? (UK)

Hey, guys. I’m just thinking to buy one of this samll and simple camera home to look over my dog when I’m off. I’m looking for Yale’s one for now. But there are some negative reviews on the internet which let me quite worry. And does anyone hear of that site?

Please give me some advice

Practically anyone in America these days will suggest Wyze Cam, as they are an amazing success story with a high quality, always improving product at $25 and $37, including lifetime basic cloud access and an sdcard slot for continuous recording.

It may be worth trying to import them. Most folks say that they beat cameras which cost 4x as much.

But for “small and simple”, practically any decently rated camera on Amazon or your favorite gadget retailer will work fine. Most are built from the same components - even their “custom” firmware libraries and Apps.

If you have complex needs like multiple-cameras, motion detection, network video recording (NVR), transcoding for embedding in ActionTiles, or SmartThings compatibility, then your search becomes more complicated.

I think the Wyze is resold here in UK as Neos - see https://shop.neos.co.uk/

There are about a dozen different Chinese brands which use the same case as the Wyze, but in each case the internal firmware and some of the features are different.

You’ll notice, for example, that the Neos says nothing about Alexa integration, which is one of the Wyze’s primary features.

So similar, or in some cases identical, hardware, but different firmware and features.

2 Likes

This isn’t the same as Wyze Cam.

Wyze “just” makes custom firmware and App (even the cloud is outsourced), packaging and marketing, customer support.

I guess that this type of product/platform branding isn’t unusual, but Wyze is a rather prominent example and success story. I never thought that working with such low margins would be sustainable.

Actually - finances might have been really tight. They have been lucky to get a $20 million investment, which was probably critical - and could lead to great things for their customers and growth of product lines.

There are a few Topics on this forum that talk about the pro’s and con’s of different cameras.

If you’re looking for integration with SmartThings to get a push notification when there is movement then it’s either Arlo or Foscam (custom integration). You can also use Blink, which are awesome cameras that run on 2 batteries for upto 2 years. Both Foscam and Blink have cloud recordings. Blink is awesome when you want wireless cameras and a simple PIR motion sensor, Foscam really shines when you need night vision, custom motion detection zones, 270 degree Panning and Tilting. Both can be viewed live streaming using their native apps. Foscam may live stream through ST depending on your phone. Blink has an IFTTT integration available for SmartThings which allows you get (delayed) notifications about motion.

1 Like

I would echo the advice of tgauchat. The Wyze cameras are brilliant. A friend of mine brought me a couple back from the States before Christmas to the UK and they worked out of the box. Easy to set up with IFTTT and Stringify. JDRoberts point is also very valid. The Wyze offering is the best supported. If you want to .look in on your pet at frequent intervals, I’m not sure the Blink is ideally suited in this instance. (I have four Blink cameras and they are very good at what they do. ) but I have them places where there is infrequent movement (Garage and sheds). If you don’t have a friend visiting the US, you can sometimes find them on Amazon or Ebay, but at prices much higher than you will pay in the States.

2 Likes

I’d +1 the Neos SmartCam (same hardware as Wyze, but slightly different feature set) if you want something simple and cheap. Will do the job very well, and saves you importing from the US.

Hi, are these neo smart cams able to integrate with the st v2 hub ? I’ve just checked the price at only £ 20 quid ! Unbelievable really

No they don’t integrate with anything right now. I reckon it’s only a matter of time though. And anyway, I personally have no need to integrate cameras with ST, and don’t mind switching apps to see my cameras. Especially if it means being able to buy cameras for £20 a piece.

1 Like

The Neos firmware and app are junk!

It worked the 1st time i connected it to the app, although the stream kept dropping and i kept having to tell it to start again. After i’d got it stable for more than 30 seconds, i unplugged it to move it to the room i wanted it in and it deleted itself and now won’t re connect / finish the setup.

I’ve been on to their “support” all day trying to get it sorted. After wasting over 5 hours, unless they can come up with a fix to get it working sharpish, it’s getting sent back for a refund tomorrow.

It can’t be a wifi / bandwidth issue as i have a completely separate 2.4ghz network (separate 2.4ghz only AP), with only 1 other device connected to it and that works flawlessly and has done for years.

Interesting, I’m actually having a different issue lately. Connectivity is fine - not had any of the same issues you’re describing. But I am having sporadic issues with recording now (didn’t for the first week or so).

Doesn’t matter anyway, in the process of ditching all my wifi cameras for a proper setup (hard wired PoE cameras with NVR)