Last episode recap
- In the last episode, we discuss artifact repositories and how they are useful tools that can be used in your devops/CICD to enhance your ability to provide value to your business customers…..faster.
Summary of this episode
- In this episode, I will review the Wyze home automation components that I have purchased and installed. I will cover the pros, cons, and any gotchas that I have experienced with each item. I will also talk about the ordering process, order tracking, shipping, delivery, and customer service.
Episode Content
What’s in it for you?
- After listening to this episode, you should have a better understanding of many of the Wyze products and the pros and cons of each as experienced by me.
Wyze products
- Stationary Camera
- pros
- small
- cheap
- night vision
- lightweight
- wide angle
- 180 degree flip if mounted upside down
- micro sd card slot – I have a 120 gb card in all of mine
- cons
- inside only – there are outside mounts from 3rd party vendors but they might not be waterproof
- can’t use night vision through a window
- must have external power
- pros
- Motion Sensors
- pros
- very small – a little bigger than a quarter
- battery operated
- cons
- range of motion detection varies from location to location
- range of detection depends on temperature and weather
- pros
- Contact Sensors
- pros
- very small
- battery operated
- self stick tape provided
- cons
- angle of installation is very important – not unique to wyze
- alert can be delayed a couple of minutes for some reason
- pros
- Light Bulbs
- pros
- adjustable luminosity
- dimmable
- cons
- only one style so far
- pros
- Plugs
- pros
- can be controlled remotely
- has a manual switch on the side of the plug
- cons
- bigger than some of the other plugs on the market
- pros
- Automation bridge – allows the use of motion sensors, contact sensors, plugs and light bulbs.
- pros
- inserts into an existing camera
- a single bridge can handle many devices.
- Can have more than one bridge on your network.
- cons
- requires an existing camera to use
- placement of the camera can cause dead spots in coverage as they communicate directly and apparently not over the WIFI connection.
- pros
Ordering
- Ordering was easy from the wyze website and I paid with my PayPal account. You can also pay with the normal credit/debit card combos.
- I have also ordered a couple of stand alone cameras from the Amazon website and it was easy start to finish as usual.
Shipping
- Shipping was prompt once it was initiated.
Tracking
- I had a problem with this as I could not get the order to show up in my order details on my Wyze account since I was not logged into the Wyze website when I placed my order.
- I did get the initial “order received” email with the order number and information but even from the Wyze website I could not use it to find or track my order. Their support site talks about a page to track your order based on email address and order number but that actually only linked back to the account login page.
Delivery
- Delivery was fast once it was processed through their systems. Once again, I can not give accurate time-frames since I could not track my order.
- The package was surprisingly small. I had 2 cameras, 2 plugs, 1 automation pack (bridge, 1 motion sensor, 2 contact sensors), 4pk of contact sensors, 4pk of light bulbs. The box it all came in was smaller than 1 cubic foot.
Customer Service
- Customer service was excellent but all they could tell me that the order was still in process. I chatted with a couple of agents and was told that I would get follow up emails from their systems once my order processed. Once again, I got no emails. Not the customer service agents fault…..but a little frustrating at the end of the day.
Recap of this episode
- In this episode, we discussed the Wyze product suite of home automation that I have purchased as well as some of the pros and cons of each item.
Next Episode: The need for early testing in software delivery