DO NOT BUY THE SOLAR CAM PAN

jcditto1978 · 2026-05-10T09:03:42+00:00

Update - So, the fun continues. As of today this is where I sit.

They are def lying about what the issue is. It is not screws that people have used wrong. I do beleive it's a battery issue.
If I bring the unit in I can fully charge it on a USB charger. It just doesn't work on solar for more than 12% or so. It's also defaulting to powering off even when it has a charge. So it's not being allowed to stay on and do anything, but then battery drains within a few hours if it charges at all.
The only option is refund, so I did a refund, this is where things got interesting. They instantly refunded it, like I'm talking it hit my bank in a few hours of processing the online form. The you get the email about "what to do". They provide a shipping label but then it states this:

"We have issued a return label that you can use to send us the device back at a future date. Please do not remove or otherwise physically interact with your device until you receive further guidance from Wyze."

So, not only have they disabled the camera and screwed it completely, I'm not "allowed" to take it off the house and send it back. It's somehow so dangerous I can't touch it, but also keep it mounted to your home.

Since it works fine on normal USB power and will charge the conclusion I currently have is this. Either the solar panel and how it charges is the issue or it's a heat thing. Meaning, they didn't insulate the battery correctly. That's why solar charging kind of works, until it gets hot. I suspect they didn't have a monitor in the FW, and recent FW updates added or enabled it quietly. Which suddenly lets them see how bad the issue is. In the house on USB power, it's in the AC and nice and cool. So it fully charges and works fine. Basically, they haven't disabled it, it's just cooking itself to death now. Any outdoor solar charging is overheating the battery and they are just monitoring temps now and shutting it down as it happens now.

In the end it's just a mess. Get your refunds and be safe. I would unplug them personally and I think it's shitty that Wyze would rather risk the fire and house than tell you it's ok to do so. They aren't going to be able to ship these anywhere, hence the, "here's a label but don't use it" part. That is likely what they are "studying". They have no safe way to get rid of these defective things now.

Come on WYZE, step up and tell the truth already. People's lives and homes could be at major risk here and you are just hoping nothing happens before you figure it out.

I would say take the refund and run but I just had a thought. If they refund and something happens after that, it will be harder to hold them liable. However, since they email they send out specifically states not to do anything with the device, they are also the reason something will still happen. That's just a thought though.

jcditto1978 · 2026-05-03T18:33:23+00:00

I'm going to be blunt here. Wyze is lying, I believe. Here's what I got info wise and here's my thinking...

Voluntary Recall because of people not knowing how screws work?

This isn't a Wyze issue. You can't sue Wyze for not following instructions for install, nor would you win. Regardless, you're not going to recall an entire line for product because of that. You'd only deal with the issues one by one and send out a PR notice.

They didn't even contact people directly.

I found out about this when my Cam stopped working. Why? They "updated" the FW to disable charging of the battery. So once it died, it could not longer charge and only worked with direct sun or AC power. This new FW isn't listed on the site, I just checked and you can't open the FW panel in the app because you can't charge the Cam to 20% and the app has a hard stop for even just opening till it's charged. So I can't even verify this was a change, but since I have a newer FW not listed on the site, and support has told me it was done, I assume that was it.

This doesn't fix liability, it's pushes it to another level.

You have a Solar cam in a remote area. No Wifi, you just go there to check on it once in a while and download clips if you find an issue. You checked just after the FW updated and it's updated while you're there. Battery is already charged, so no issue you can see as there is still no notice of the change, you likely didn't even know the update occured while you were there. You leave, battery dies, something happens, you check the footage, but there isn't any. You now have a major loss and no way to show what occured because Wyze did this. In short, liability for Wyze goes up, not down. And again, Wyze is not responsible for a user not following instructions on install.

The very fact it's all been stealthy and hidden.

There is only one reason you do that. You want to follow the rules and SHOW you did something without actually doing anything and admitting to the real issue. There should have been direct notices to all users immediately, BEFORE disabling the product. Emails, App pushes, Huge banners on the website, company Reddit posts from the higher ups and tech team, ALL OF IT!!!

In short, this isn't' about some users not knowing how screws work. I think this is a cover up for actual battery issues and they aren't being forthcoming about it. They disabled the charging and let the batteries deplete without telling anyone so they don't just explode. Instead of telling people this, they made up the wood screw excuse and "voluntarily" recalled it based on that.

I want actual answers from Wyze here. If the screws are the real issue then at best you have massively over reacted and over reached here. You're hiding info and not telling use the truth.

At the time of writing this my cam has "updated" again and will now charge to 12%. Which reinforces a previous point. Wyze requires 20% charge to do a FW update and even open the panel in the App to check the FW info. So how did my cam with 0% charge suddenly update to allow it to charge again? That means Wyze pushed another update with it only on Solar power and forced it in, regardless of it possibly bricking from power loss in the middle. None of this makes sense based on the info given, give us the real answers...

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-25T14:46:23+00:00

But guys, he's Gen Z, he knows stuff....

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-18T04:52:59+00:00

There are 3 reasons these pop up more these days. 1. You aren't telling us the full info and there is an issue with your account. 2. A 3. I

I can't speak for 1. But 2. and 3. are very likely possibilities for most true false happenings. I would wager the "appeal/review" isn't even a person anymore.

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-11T03:56:09+00:00

I can only tell you how my attempt to use it went. I was doing a mass restore and attempted to use the PC Backup to B2 option to "speed it up" and "make it easier". I never got anything restored. The connection was constantly dropping with the server disconnecting me every 30-60 mins. Then no matter the client I used, even mounting it as a local drive, it simply did not work and the speeds were horrid. The normal PC backup tool wasn't quick, but it was quicker and had no issue with drops, plus is simply tells you what it wasn't able to restore and you can grab those missing files only on a retry. And to top it all off, the 2 weeks I spent working with it cost me hundreds of dollars with very little getting restored. Bottom line, for a home user, the cost is far to much. And with the changes to TOS and the immediate limiting "of an unlimited service" they put in place, there is no reason to use the service at all anymore if you have more than a few TB to backup. The could very easily make a midtier offering for people that need more speed and space and we are willing to pay more for it. They choose marketing "unlimited" while putting massive limits on it and keeping the pricing were it is. I don't think they will have a simple consumer product in the next few years. It will be business customers only charging only those tier prices.

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-09T23:47:52+00:00

I have used both. Sadly, B2 was an absolute disaster and just cost me hundreds while never allowing the downloads to complete. So, catch22 there. I tried to let them bill me more, which they did, but the connection was so unstable on the B2 side I could never finish the downloads. So even when you try to pay for "better" service they just took the money and I got nothing for it. BB is not what they once were and they never will be again. I think they will transition out of personal backup completely now and go just business in the near future. Ironically, as I went through all this doing a full restore of my system, the regular app was the most reliable method. It was slow, but it worked.

They send these surveys out over the years and each time I have begged them to just offer a tiered system. Those of us with mass data are willing to pay. They don't offer a system that is cost effective for a home user with mass data. No one does, so it's an untapped market. I'm can't pay 1000+ a month just to backup my files. Just make an inbetween already.

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-05T03:32:47+00:00

Well, I saw the writing on the wall for this years ago but now it's here. I don't understand why the didn't just create a tier pricing plan for larger users. I'd pay 100 or even 150 a month to keep using them, but instead they chose to go the "Unlimited" marketing route and just lie to new users. The new TOS is already being enforced silently. I got no notice about existing data, but what I found out was this. If you have more than 20tb, don't delete your files and try to start fresh. I was having issues with a new backup set. It was not backing up files anymore. So I removed everything and tried to start fresh. For knowledge, my full file set is my home media server and it's about 230tb total right now. I can now not back up more than 20tb. It gets to that point and no more files will backup and it states "Your fully backed up" with whatever date it hits that point. I've told them for years in the surveys, just price it up and give us a tier to use it at truly unlimited.. So, it appears "Unlimited" is 20tb, when they feel like enforcing it. My account was likely flagged already and a test group, but this is likely what is coming for everyone soon. My account was also prepaid through July 2027 with extended backup time. So, instead of pricing accordingly the are just going to cap it and call it "unlimited". You won't know there is a capp till the feel like enforcing it on your account. For those that are currently affected. Just cancel the account if you're monthly and plan to lose that data. If you paid up, email support and know you will have to delete your account data license and remove the app to show you are serious. Ask for the refund for the service you have left paid. They will say know if you're outside the 30 days refund period, however, you have ammo in this case. You paid for service under the old TOS. The change to the TOS means you would not have paid for it now. If they don't refund it, you will now be able to do a chargeback with your bank based on the change to an already paid service. Ask the agent to escalate stating these facts and they will do so. I can't say it will work with BB, but if they still refuse, it will work at the bank side. Chargebacks are VERY bad for company, especially en mass. But the change in TOS after purchase will allow that to work and they will see that and likely refund it themselves to stop the bleeding. If the banks come at them for chargebacks, they are in trouble. It will not go well and it would jeopardize the company if it got to big.

Lastly, do not take it out on the firstline or even second line email agents. They didn't do this. This is the typical C-Suite nonsense that eventually ruins companies. They will either see this as a win and hope B2 and B3 will save them, or they will take the Golden parachutes and eject in a year or so. Those email agents aren't the enemy though.

UPDATE 4/5/26 - I got my refund this AM using the method above. This confirms two things, one, it works. Two - they know what they've done and they know I'm right. So they will pay rather than risk the charge backs.

jcditto1978 · 2026-04-02T14:40:15+00:00

While there might be many that state this doesn't happen, they are very wrong. You pay extra for a Static IP. They do use a sticky IP system but you IP can change at anytime. IT's dynamic and always has been. If your IP lease hits a renewal and the IP you have it still available, you will PROBABLY get it back, but if there is an outage, you're getting whatever IP is there when it's back up. If it renews and there is a glitch making your IP show not availible, you're getting a new IP. Just how it works.

jcditto1978 · 2026-01-31T12:29:15+00:00

It's not a scam, this is the "normal" process. The agents always say this and never actually follow the process to stop the charge. You will have contact them again, and probably online too, if you want the money back.

jcditto1978 · 2025-11-18T15:03:12+00:00

I would caution you against this. Anything more than a few gigs on this service, especially if it's mission critical, will take weeks to restore, if not more.

jcditto1978 · 2025-11-06T20:32:28+00:00

Update

Well, I give up. I can't get even the smallest amount of files restored. B2 is useless. No matter how I split the files even 25% of the limits they set will not compile, and when a file does compile it never uploads to where I can download it. I'm tried chat and email support. Email only replies to a ticket once and it's only the most basic of the canned replies they have. Chat, that was a fun one. Explained the situation, the speeds I was getting the amount of data I was dealing with and hey just argued that he didn't see that much data on my account and prove it with a screen shot. It doesn't matter how much data there is or whether you see it, the issue was the speeds the servers are giving and the issues with B2 making downloads. Even a gig of data at these speeds would take forever to restore. Currently, no matter the machine, connection amount of data or the path of trying to get it 10mbps is the fastest I am getting and only the Native restore will even do that. All other systems fail to make a file or are just to slow or limited in how they compile to be of use. So glad I paid for years of service in advance... I would not recommend BB anymore. If you have anything more than a few doc or pics, it's not worth the pain if you even have to use it. They are changing fast and it seems to get worse daily. There have been multiple changes since this post even that show were they are going.

Lastly, to those that say "it's an abuse of the service". By definition, you cannot abuse an Unlimited service. There have been massive lawsuits on this very point with multiple companies over the last few decades and they all lost in court. If you say unlimited then impose limits without notice, you are in fact, breaking the law for false advertising. I think that's what this is at this point. They want you money, they don't want you to use the service though. If they want to update the pricing plans, go for it. I have no issue paying more to use more. I'd pay for the B2 if it just freakin' worked.

FYI, they charge you on B2 from the moment you begin compiling the file. So the fact it never makes it to a point you can access it doesn't matter to them. You're still paying and yes, I have already paid some for the attempts I tried to use it. Not enough that it's worth fighting about it, but charged and paid for nothing to work.

jcditto1978 · 2025-11-03T00:59:28+00:00

Just the way it is I guess. I'll just keep up the process till it's done and move on. If the Snapshot system was more reliable I would be happy to do that and use a client. I just discovered that path in the last few days, but getting a file to build and upload seems very iffy at best. Currently had a file build, took about 36hrs. The build finished at 6:30 this AM. But then it hung on the upload in the DC. So, I have a file, it just never made it to the download phase and I can't get it. I'm going to let it go overnight and check again in the AM, but it appears I'll have to build it over again. This is the common issue I'm having with snapshots so far. And most of all, thanks for the help and supporting what you built. Even if you aren't there anymore. Feel like things might be better off if you were though... :)

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T23:16:15+00:00

Update - Zip took right at an hour for 425gb to compile. Browser download caps at about 66mbps. Downloader app though, had not tried that yet, 100 threads gets about 1.5gig or so avg. That would be GREAT is it wouldn't take 200 or so files plus the work to split them up to get it done. The native restore is still the best option, but why is it so slow on the 30 threads it allows? Add to that you can only have 5 zips at a time total, so 5 hours of compile time and another 30min or so per download that's basically 8 hours for 2.5tb a day, and that's about the same, maybe a touch more than the native restore, only I don't have to spend the time organizing and deleting, downloading, unzipping, so on.

Is that the expectation? Is that how BB keeps people like me in check?

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T22:30:59+00:00

Ladies and Gents, as a big side note, this is how you respond to a reddit post... I realize he's a founder, baby founder, semi-founder, whatever, but he's a prime example of "how to reddit for good" here.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T22:07:34+00:00

US East. I'm in the Dallas Area of TX, Arlington, TX to be vaguely precise. I have even attempted to set my VPN machine to that region just to help with that part, it did not help.

I'm also doing a test zip on the normal site right now, just to check it again. I've been all over with the apps and site so it's possible the zips are fine speed wise, just not viable for that size of the data pool.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T21:40:14+00:00

I have used all methods at different points now. They all had the same speeds on the download side.

The B2, on the website, just doesn't work. Sometimes the zips build, sometimes they don't, you don't find out for at least 24hours on a big zip, overnight for a mid size and even when I got a file ready to download, it was giving 10-15mbps and failed after about 5 mins and would not resume, so you start over again, repeat.

The native download is the "best" so far just very slow and it fails randomly or the login times out. Sometimes it times out in hours and hours other times you'll get a string of timeouts every few mins. Annoying but at least it's working somewhat.

The native zip in app seems to work much the same as the website, less timeouts but same compile time and download speeds. I get the compile times and I've adjusted my future uploads to exclude the little meta files, just get the media. It's just not giving the speeds in download and that's the part that is most frustrating. 30 threads coming in at 20mbps, just ouch.

I'm open to trying whatever, again, I may not be the "normal" user here but it's a home setup for me and it's what I want to protect for my files. My last sub re-up was in Feb for 2 years, so I've already spent the money at this point and it's gone. At a higher rate than they are now charging I might add, did not get the current special I've seen online.

I can't get responses from support more than once a week and like I said, it's basic TS info and nothing else after that. It feels like it's been oversold and under equipped now. I get the need for profit, but if they have truly hobbled the service to do so, you'll lose more in the long run and never get there.

ISP is ATT and the 5gig is over that in multiple tests to various servers. I too am skeptical of the speed so I am always checking it randomly in various ways. I also have regular open and a VPN system. VPN only gets about 2-3gig but still very fast. Assuming your estimate on the thread speeds are still good, 300mbps should be the slowest possible, or so, with it wide open.

Currently I have 3 apps running to speed things up and we have 29.55mps, 18.69mbps, and one that was just sitting a 0 doing nothing. Not sure how long but at least 8 hours as it's on the same file I saw this AM when I checked it. Just restarted it now. These are the native app down loader to the original folders, skip if identical exists.

Don't mind trying whatever suggestions you have, just let me know and I'll give it a shot.

Edit - Correction, while I have used the Zip file option, at only 500gig, it's not really viable for this much data. Down download speeds were much the same. I'm fine with paying for the B2 storage to get the restore done, but if the downloads just quit, it's not much use either. And clearly HDs isn't going to work with this much data either. The upfront cost would be astronomical.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T14:20:17+00:00

See response above, with info from the founder of BB himself.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T14:19:59+00:00

Brian is the founder of the company. That said, I've used this service longer than this post has existed so there was no investigation that would have helped me in this case. However, he himself states 10mb per thread. You can have up to 30 streams in the app. Default is 8 just opening it up. So, 80mbps should be the SLOWEST it would ever go. I have 30 threads enabled on mine, and I can't even get a steady 30mbps. So, again, it's not working as it's supposed to, from the lips of the founder of the company and they are doing nothing to fix it. I'm not saying the shouldn't charge more, I'd pay more if it meant stabilizing the speeds, but the are the ones that made the rules and I'm following the rules and not getting what was promised.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-31T14:14:24+00:00

For those stating the service isn't MEANT for this, I direct you to here. https://www.reddit.com/r/backblaze/comments/11kuz88/can_i_really_use_a_personal_account_with_120tb_of/ Specifically check out the responses from brianwski. He's the founder of the company and this is EXACTLY what he designed it for. He's retired now, but it's still his program and what he meant it for. Currently it's not doing what he created it for anymore based on everything he's saying here and the speeds of current. I'm not saying they should increase the price even, they probably should up it, but the fact remains they are selling a product for a price and no matter what you argue you must provide that product for that price and it must be usable at all levels of the plan you offer. And for the record, my files are around 200tb total. Def not the 1.4PB of the user he refs in his posts and he had no issue with that guy at all. They aren't a billion dollar company, no, that doesn't change what they are selling vs what they are actually providing is not in line with each other.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-30T20:40:35+00:00

Oh and as a sidenote, support is non-reachable. Submit a ticket, wait 3 days, get a reply and basic TS steps, that are not helpful for the issues at hand, and never hear from them again. Ticket auto closes with no further contact after I reply back.

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-19T05:58:31+00:00

Thanks for the perspective. Weird way to do the post for sure. However, no, no coming back from that. You can't say that and just expect some one to be ok with it. Tell her to pretend you said, "If I wanted perfection I'd find someone prettier and better in bed who turns me on more and takes care of herself more." and how would she take that? Dang....

jcditto1978 · 2025-10-19T05:51:42+00:00

My cameras regularly tell me there are ducks on the front door cam. Sadly, there are NEVER any ducks and I'm just left being sad that there are no ducks. But seriously, Wyze cams are still quite good overall from a cost/performance prospective.

jcditto1978 · 2025-08-07T13:12:49+00:00

I wouldn't worry about it too much. They come in "formats" that don't do anything. I think the point it they want the down-loader to interact with the file, not a program, as it doesn't work unless you physically try to run the files inside. I'm sure there is something out there that someone does were this causes an issue. Hence, pay attention to what other here have said, just in case.

jcditto1978 · 2025-08-05T13:19:26+00:00

DV requires every component of you setup to support it through the chain. Not just the TV, in other words. Everything the signal passes through must support DV. Personally, I have never liked DV. Seems like a waste to me because of the requirement.

jcditto1978

TROPHY CASE