Digital locks on smart‑home cameras: experience with EufyCam

Hello Restarters,

I’d like to share a recent experience with a EufyCam 2 Pro. After a HomeBase 2 memory failure, one of my cameras became unpairable because the server still thinks it is bound to the old base. The camera itself works; I reset it and attempted to pair it, and it responds correctly. Eufy support insists this is a hardware fault and refuses to unbind the device because my warranty has expired. Their only offer is a 30 % discount on a replacement.

This situation effectively bricks a functioning product with a server‑side lock. It raises questions about the right to repair and digital ownership. Have other community members encountered similar issues with smart‑home gear? Are there strategies for advocating for backend unlocks or designing systems that avoid such dependencies? Screenshots and video evidence available if needed.

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Hi Robert,

That’s a very frustrating experience! Yes unfortunately early obsolescence of perfectly functioning hardware due to lack of software support is an all too common problem.

We’ve had a good few podcast episodes related to this over the years:

This year’s International Repair Day campaigning will focus on software obsolescence, brought into the limelight thanks to the end of Windows 10 support.

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