... I normally use an August Smart Lock. I've had two of them; one broke and August shipped me out a replacement without any hassle at all. I was impressed and have just stayed with them - the replacement lock was even the newer model just like they sell today... at any rate, my GF had an extra Wyze Lock & Wyze Lock Keypad from a job so I bought it from her; TBH the build quality feels a BIT chintzier and cheap than the August, but to be fair I don't think it really NEEDS to be - maybe they've broken the battery barrier by having a lighter mechanism for all I know...

I never had a keypad w/ my August Locks and its a pretty cool thing; you set a code and you can enter the code, press unlock and viola... you can also program another code and leave it permanent for a dog walker, or make it a one-time code for a AirBNB type deal - whatever you need.

I believe it uses a gyroscope for detecting open/closed doors; the August uses a separate thing you screw into the wall - magnet(?)... it MIGHT be a bit more accurate but I actually like that theres less holes to create - it seems to detect open/closed very well...

The app is pretty nice and I'm now realizing that Wyze uses one app for all their products. I know I've heard some 'China backdoor' buzz words about the Wyze v1 cameras - but I think they're now on v3 and am I correct in saying they've addressed that issue? Their cameras are some of the cheapest on the block and they're not too bad to boot - they have outdoor, indoor and the whole gamut and start around $30. (They used to be $25!)

Anyone use Wyze? Would you recommend them? China backdoor BS? Are there Home Assistant integrations/blue-prints?

I think I'm gonna pick up a few for the new house... there's no good place for the spotlight outdoor camera that I currently use and if I can put all the cams and door locks on one app that would be nice.



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on 19 Aug 2024, paulie420 said...

Anyone use Wyze? Would you recommend them? China backdoor BS? Are there Home Assistant integrations/blue-prints?

I think I'm gonna pick up a few for the new house... there's no good
place for the spotlight outdoor camera that I currently use and if I can put all the cams and door locks on one app that would be nice.

I don't have any specific feedback on Wyze. I did have a Schlage keypad lock with WiFi an its own app which could do a lot of the same stuff you're describing, but it was an older model with no other smarthome integration options AFAIK. One really good thing I could say about it is that it randomly broke one day, and when I called Schlage about possibly getting the part so I could repair it myself, they walked me through some basic troubleshooting and then straight up shipped me the replacement part for free. I suppose it was still under warranty (?) but it was quite old and I wasn't the original owner, so it seemed pretty generous at the time.

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* Origin: d i s t o r t i o n // d1st.org (911:1423/0)

Anyone use Wyze? Would you recommend them? China backdoor BS? Are there

I bought several of the cheap wyze cameras, and their doorbell product when it was first released.

works ok but it has felt like a crap product at times, with the app randomly not working or just buffering / slow to load camera feeds.

i wouldn't "invest" in wyze as a permanent system, but i'm fine with using some of the cameras that are used for convenience

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: d i s t o r t i o n // d1st.org (911:1423/0)

I don't have any specific feedback on Wyze. I did have a Schlage keypad lock with WiFi an its own app which could do a lot of the same stuff you're describing, but it was an older model with no other smarthome integration options AFAIK. One really good thing I could say about it is that it randomly broke one day, and when I called Schlage about possibly getting the part so I could repair it myself, they walked me through
some basic troubleshooting and then straight up shipped me the
replacement part for free. I suppose it was still under warranty (?) but it was quite old and I wasn't the original owner, so it seemed pretty generous at the time.

We recently got an AirBnB that had one of these doohicky's and the key code the owner gave us wasn't working. The owner was able to remotely reset the code and actually unlock it for us - he was in Europe at the time. We were in Tombstone, Arizona. :P Pretty cool tech.

Naturally the security nerd in me gets bent out of shape about IOT things giving access to *gasp* an entire home but I suppose it's no more dangerous than a traditional key, whereas traditional locks are pretty easy to circumvent.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/02/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (911:1719/0)

Anyone use Wyze? Would you recommend them? China backdoor BS? Are the Home Assistant integrations/blue-prints?

I don't have any specific feedback on Wyze. I did have a Schlage keypad lock with WiFi an its own app which could do a lot of the same stuff you're describing, but it was an older model with no other smarthome integration options AFAIK. One really good thing I could say about it is that it randomly broke one day, and when I called Schlage about possibly getting the part so I could repair it myself, they walked me through
some basic troubleshooting and then straight up shipped me the
replacement part for free. I suppose it was still under warranty (?) but it was quite old and I wasn't the original owner, so it seemed pretty generous at the time.

<As mentioned, I had newscan OFF for several Message Areas - its happened more than once - I can't figure out why!>

I like the Wyze hardware, but since I use Home Assistant I've been slowly thinking about other hardware. For example, you can use Frigate [a 'cloud' camera capture software] and cams w/ RTSP to basically create your own cloud... Wyze cameras can be firmware flashed to allow RTSP, but I think just ordering decent cheap China cams that are RTSP-only would be best. They're cheap, and Frigate handles all the heavy lifting...

I have dozens and dozens of Hue v3 $50 bulbs - but even these, I'm going to switch to different off-brand color bulbs in the future... so long as you can program in the Home Assistant stack, you get the same functionality and don't have to spend $100 for every couple bulbs. [AND, my 5 year old Hue bulbs are finally starting to fail... when they do, they start flashing like its a horror movie - lol!]



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (911:1503/0)

I bought several of the cheap wyze cameras, and their doorbell product when it was first released.

works ok but it has felt like a crap product at times, with the app randomly not working or just buffering / slow to load camera feeds.

i wouldn't "invest" in wyze as a permanent system, but i'm fine with
using some of the cameras that are used for convenience

<As stated, I had newscan turned OFF on several message bases. UGH>

Thanks for the feedback - while they seemed like the easy, and cheap, option - I'll search for different cheap cams that work in the Frigate space. I think thats the best so long as you don't rely on apps from the smart products. I love Home Assistant and think its MUCH better if you design from the ground up relying on HA rather than the smart apps.



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (911:1503/0)

on 28 Oct 2024, paulie420 said...

I like the Wyze hardware, but since I use Home Assistant I've been slowly thinking about other hardware. For example, you can use Frigate [a
'cloud' camera capture software] and cams w/ RTSP to basically create
your own cloud... Wyze cameras can be firmware flashed to allow RTSP,
but I think just ordering decent cheap China cams that are RTSP-only
would be best. They're cheap, and Frigate handles all the heavy
lifting...

I have dozens and dozens of Hue v3 $50 bulbs - but even these, I'm going to switch to different off-brand color bulbs in the future... so long as you can program in the Home Assistant stack, you get the same functionality and don't have to spend $100 for every couple bulbs. [AND, my 5 year old Hue bulbs are finally starting to fail... when they do,
they start flashing like its a horror movie - lol!]

I think we're going to be talking about this topic a lot more in the future! While I have a lot of "smart" devices, I wasn't tying any of it to a central controller / automation platform (unless you count an Alexa/Echo, which I don't) but while I'm working on replacing my old school home security system, I'll also be setting up Home Assistant to manage it, and eventually moving all of my automation stuff (and the rest of my IoT junk) over to it.

Like you, most of the stuff I have that could be tied into it wasn't bought with that in mind, so it doesn't have great (or any) support for it. Doh...

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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: d i s t o r t i o n // d1st.org (911:1423/0)

I think we're going to be talking about this topic a lot more in the future! While I have a lot of "smart" devices, I wasn't tying any of it
to a central controller / automation platform (unless you count an Alexa/Echo, which I don't) but while I'm working on replacing my old school home security system, I'll also be setting up Home Assistant to manage it, and eventually moving all of my automation stuff (and the
rest of my IoT junk) over to it.

Like you, most of the stuff I have that could be tied into it wasn't bought with that in mind, so it doesn't have great (or any) support for it. Doh...

I really like the HA platform.

As you mentioned, I wasn't on it when I purchased all my smart home devices - the neat thing, however, is that if you DO you can use products that are more geared towards self-hosting and open protocols and get an actual smart home without paying the $ or giving your data to 10 different companies...

My next thing is Frigate, which is a self-hosted camera solution - you own the cloud and can use basic cameras and get the features that you'd only get from a paid subscription solution with the other guys...

Also, 'smart home' products really aren't automation - and thats what you can get with Home Assistant in a big way. You can program if/and/or statements for almost anything - such as IF my cell and my partners cell phone leaves the home geo-fence, lock doors turn down heater/AC and dim lights... etc.

Its a whole world, man. :P



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (911:1503/0)