About Wyze Cam Rtsp Firmware, Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a crucial communication network monitoring captured footage.
Recently, Wyze worked on this system and released updates to modify it across all Wyze v3 cameras. Adding the RTSP Wyze firmware to the Wyze cam gives it more functionality.
However, despite its promising features, the Wyze cam Rtsp firmware hasn’t been as effective as advertised. Several individuals are still looking for ways to set up the working RTSP model successfully.
In this article, we’ll discuss all you need to know about Wyze cam Rtsp firmware, including how to add it to Wyze V3.
Table of Contents
What Is Rtsp?
RTSP is a standard application layer protocol for establishing, controlling, and transferring real-time data from multimedia to endpoint devices.
The protocol operates with IP cameras designed to serve as a standard set of instructions for monitoring video streams in real time.
Though the RTSP technology is old, it is the most relevant Streaming Protocol used in home security cameras and CCTVs. The protocol doesn’t stream the media by itself.
Rather, it connects and communicates directly with the servers streaming the footage in real-time instead of downloading it.
In simple terms, RTSP serves as a network remote controller for the media servers. It ensures the actions are much faster with less data usage.
Besides less data usage, RTSP offers great control and lower latency. It thus gives your camera better detection and communication capabilities.
However, the downside is that other AI and Wyze Cam-Plus features can be greatly affected if the RTSP is poorly configured.
How Does RTSP Work?
Connecting to the server via a computer
Whenever you try streaming a video from a different source, your device will send an RTSP request to the servers to find all available options in real time.
The servers will send back a listing of every other request it is capable of taking through RTSP.
After you are familiar with the requests, the RTSP requests media descriptions from the server.
The server will then respond with the media description. At this point, the user will send setup requests to which the server replies with details about the transportation process.
When the setup finishes, the user starts streaming by instructing the server to send the binary sequence. The sequence is sent by the transport process defined in the setup requests.
For instance, if a user decides to record a video they are streaming, the RTSP transmits this request to the video streaming server.
How to Add to Wyze V3?
IP camera placed on a table.
Originally, RTSP was not supported on Wyze v3 due to its hardware limitations. But Wyze recently released a new beta firmware that can add RTSP to Wyze v3.
Please note that adding the RTSP to your camera, you may experience some errors with your Wyze camera. AI and other features like Vehicle detection on Wyze Cam may be unstable if RTSP is not correctly configured.
Prerequisites
To install the stock RTSP firmware to your Wyze v3 camera, you need to have the following items ready:
- Your Wyze v3 camera
- A PC or a laptop with an unzip software or programs such as WinZip, NanaZip, or WinRar. Using a tablet or a phone may not work well for this process.
- A downloaded RTSP beta firmware file
- A microSD card formatted to FAT32 for flashing the firmware onto the camera
- A microSD card adapter for attaching the microSD card to your computer or laptop
Once you have everything ready and in place, let’s proceed to the installation.
How to Install
Here are the steps to install the RTSP to your Wyze v3 camera:
- Start by pairing the camera with your Wyze account through the Wyze app
- Download the RTSP beta file for Wyze v3 Cam
- Unzip and extract the file by right-clicking on the zip file. Then select extract all and rename its contents to demo_wcv3.bin
- Copy or move the renamed file to the root directory of your microSD card. The card should only contain the demo_wcv3.bin
- Now unplug your camera and insert the SD into it.
- Press the setup button on the camera (line strip button on top and parallel to the microSD card) till the lights turn purple as you plug in the USB cable.
- Finally, let go of the button and wait about five minutes as you plug in the camera to reboot it.
Once complete, your Wyze v3 camera will be available on the Wyze App. If you see the Wyze camera in your Home tab, you have successfully installed the beta firmware with RTSP support.
Enabling RTSP
After successfully installing the beta firmware, here are the steps for enabling the RTSP on your Wyze Cam:
- First, open your Wyze App and ensure the camera is connected
- Go to the Settings on the app, click “Advanced Settings,” and tap “RTSP.”
- The app will scan and detect if the firmware on the camera is compatible
- After this, turn the RTSP toggle on to enable the RTSP
- Enter the camera credentials (username and password)—the credentials should be specific to the camera you are setting up
- Once you log in, tap on Generate URL, and the RTSP URL will appear
You can use the link to stream through any RTSP-compatible player, such as VLC or Quicktime. Simply click “Play,” and the camera starts streaming to the player. Ensure the media player is on the same local network as the Wyze v3 camera.
Drawbacks of Beta Firmware
Though the RTSP beta firmware update allows the RTSP support for Wyze v3 camera users, it has some downsides:
- Many of the Cam-Plus and AI features introduced to the app may have issues. They are bound to be inaccessible or unstable to Wyze v3 users operating on the beta firmware.
- Though the Wyze Cam-Plus Premium cloud storage monthly subscription works well, it has video lag issues. It is a problem, especially if you are using the Cam-Plus Premium cloud storage and the live-streaming function at the same time.
- Wyze does not intend to update the RTSP beta firmware except for the few selected security patches. The firmware will stay as beta and only available for Wyze enthusiasts only.
Conclusion
As we’ve discussed, using RTSP with your Wyze Cam V3 may have some drawbacks. Although it poses some setbacks, adding the Wyze Cam v3 RTSP feature is a big win for Wyze.
