topic Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell in Cameras and Doorbells

Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Sun, 16 Apr 2023 14:03:26 GMT

This post relates to issues I have been having with the Nest Doorbell (battery) and the Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor battery) x 2. Essentially, the doorbell and cameras have been suffering the same issues:

(1) They go offline
(2) Hard resetting occasionally works before the doorbell, and cameras refuse to complete the setup procedure.

All items get stuck on the final part of the installation procedure, i.e., “installing update”. The update process does not get beyond 0%.

I have been through all of the troubleshooting tips Google suggests and have spent hours talking to technical support at Google or through their online chat. One techie from Google logged into my Nest/Google Wifi system to check if that was an issue, and he reported no problems.

I am aware that I am not the only one to have these issues.

My set up

I live in the UK, and my broadband is fibre to the premises (FTTP), and my speed into the house is 1GB, so relatively fast. The FTTP connects to a socket (ONS) provided by my ISP. The ONS connects to a Fritzbox 7530 modem/router. Until recently, the WIFI on the Fritzbox was turned off. I recently enabled it just for 2.4 GHz, and I will explain why below. The Fritzbox connects to a Nest WIFI point and five Google WIFI points. Each point is connected via ethernet to the Nest WIFI via 1GB switches, so I have blanket coverage for WIFI within my house.
Further, in addition to several Home devices and a Nest 1st Generation thermostat, I have five Google Nest Outdoor Cameras (1st generation, wired), two first-generation indoor wired cameras and one Nest Cam (indoor, wired).

I have never had any issues with the Google Nest Outdoor Cameras (1st generation, wired), two first-generation indoor wired cameras and one Nest Cam (indoor, wired). They connect wirelessly and work as they should.
My only issues relate to the Nest Doorbell (battery) and the 2 x Nest Cam (outdoor or indoor battery). I am on my third doorbell and third set of Nest cameras. Google has been very generous in this respect.

Troubleshooting
The troubleshooting steps have included (for all three items):
(1) Soft resets
(2) Hard resets
(3) Removing and re-installing the Google Home App
(4) Changing to 2.4 GHz
(5) Moving the items closer to the router and Nest WIFI point.

I have even tried putting the doorbell in my airing cupboard to warm it up in case of a cold temperature issue. I did this even though the cold weather had not been an issue in previous years. The doorbell remains offline!
Sometimes troubleshooting works, but then the problems re-surface. So, last week (w/e April 1st 2023), Google sent me my third set of cameras. The doorbell was in early March. The cameras are now set up, and for now, they work. The doorbell went offline on April 1st.

So, is my setup the issue? I am not technically minded, but given that none of the other Google-related (and Philips Hue) products suffer any problems, and my setup is reasonably fast, so can cope with the demands, I don’t believe so.

Also, I mentioned above switching on the 2.4 GHz connection on my Fritzbox. Since the doorbell was delivered around 15 days ago, I decided to try something different. Those with Google Mesh systems will know they broadcast in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, but there is no way to manually choose which tech connects to which frequency. It is done automatically, and through the Home App, I can see what is connected to 2.4 GHz and what is connected to 5 GHz. Unsurprisingly all of my cameras and the doorbell showed as connecting to 2.4 GHz.

Nonetheless, having switched on the 2.4 GHz on my Fritzbox, I connected the doorbell to the Fritzbox, and for the last 15 days, I had no problems. Then the doorbell shows as offline on April 1st! Nothing else is connected to the Fritzbox, so bandwidth etc., can’t be an issue.

As I said, I contacted support at Google and spent many hours trying to get a solution. Everyone I have spoken to or chatted to has been helpful but to a point. They take you through steps already taken (i.e., troubleshooting); sometimes, things work, and other times they don’t. As you may have guessed, more often than not, troubleshooting ends up with the issue I first outlined above, i.e. cameras and the doorbell getting stuck in the setup process.

No one at Google support appears remotely interested in resolving the technical issues – or so it seems. I do not know what they do after each call. I have read endless forum posts (which the moderators seem to want to close off quickly!), so it is clear others have the same issue and have not found any solutions.

I would be interested to know what steps others have taken and if anything works, no matter how short-term. Perhaps we can pool our collective knowledge.

I am reluctant to try resetting the doorbell in case it gets stuck during the setup process because it still functions as a doorbell, records video, and allows me to view history. However, it does not show a live view, and for the moment, I can live with that. The same comment applies to the cameras when they show as offline.

Here is the thing. Even when the Google Home App shows an item as offline, the connection details on the App show that the offline item is, in fact, online and indicates a solid connection to WIFI and on 2.4 GHz. The same comment applies to the Fritzbox and the doorbell. That shows as connected, has a strong signal, and identifies the IP address and other technical data from the doorbell.

NB: One thing I forgot to mention is that I tried replacing my Fritzbox with the router that Vodaphone provided to see if the issues were down to the Fritzbox, and the same issues occurred with the Vodaphone router.

As I said at the outset, I am not technically minded, but it seems this is a Google-side issue. Are there problems with their servers? Is the Google Home App broken?

UPDATE: 16 04 2023 - The two cameras and the doorbell no longer allow me to view history. They stopped doing so at roughly the same point. Is anyone from Google going to bother commenting? There has to be a connection between (a) the issue only affecting the newer types of cameras and doorbells; (b) products failing to work at the same time.
Thank you for reading.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:27:33 GMT

Great job outlining the issue. Same issue I'm having. Google should refund us.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 10:51:41 GMT

Hi, I would be interested to know of any troubleshooting tips that you may have tried. I can pretty much rule out the possibility that the devices get confused between 2.4 and 5 GHz, as my doorbell is connected exclusively to a router that is only allowing 2.4 GHz connections. I am starting to wonder if the app is at fault, given changes that are being suggested "under the hood" (so to speak). I say this because I can still see my history, and in the case of the doorbell, it still alerts me when pressed. So, the products appear to work but not as intended. I agree with the refund point or even an exchange for products not affected. I am astonished that Google is not more public about the issues as these products are still being sold.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 12:32:15 GMT

All 3 of my next gen cameras are doing the same thing. (2 nest cam battery, one nest can floodlight.) I’ve tried hard resetting all the cameras, soft resetting all the cameras, messing with router settings (google nest wifi pro) nothing works. When I hard reset the cameras I needed to spend 3 hours on the phone with a google rep trying to get them back onto my account. When we finally did get them back on the app after 3 hours of them not connecting, they worked for about a week then they all broke again and I again can’t view live footage. They say they are offline but are actually online. Infuriating. My 8 or so legacy nest cams continue to work great.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 13:11:53 GMT

Let's hope that someone from Google reads our posts and does something that resolves these issues. Your issues mirror mine. I was going to get the outdoor flood light camera as well but am glad I didn't. Resetting it must be far more painful especially given the likely position of such a camera. Hey Google, are you listening?!!!

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

EmersonB — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 14:48:36 GMT

Hello everyone,

We appreciate you sharing here all this important information and all the steps you’ve done so far. I'm sorry to hear about your experience on your Nest devices. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information. Let me know once you’re done.

Regards,

Emerson

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 09:14:52 GMT

Hello Emerson, what more information could you possibly want? The post sets out clearly what the issue is, and there is a hard stop on the amount that I can write on the form. None the less, I have sent the form back with my personal details.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Mon, 01 May 2023 00:18:01 GMT

I filled out the form

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

Dan_A — Mon, 01 May 2023 22:54:17 GMT

Hi folks,

@PapaGrim, @austin2, we got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. Please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Kind regards,

Dan

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Tue, 02 May 2023 07:39:13 GMT

This seems to happen a lot on the forums - stops debate or contribution from others, doesn't it? Solutions from the community become harder to come by

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Wed, 03 May 2023 00:34:19 GMT

Totally agree. Locking the post doesn’t make any sense. This issue has been ongoing for years. If you search the form, a bunch of people have had the thread on this issue shut down for no good reason. Because of this policy, there’s a scattershot of information out there, splintered on a bunch of different form posts. Why must Google go from form to form and shut them down? It would make sense if the issue was resolved, but the bug still exists. Why not have one thread to talk about the bug? Probably because Google doesn’t want the problem to seem too severe. I’m guessing they prefer the information to be split on a bunch of form posts instead of one thread because they don’t want bad optics. Terrible policy to lock form posts like this in my opinion. Due to this policy, I will soon not be able to communicate with someone else who is having my exact issue.

btw, I still have yet to hear from the team after filling out my form. Have you heard anything yet PapaGrim?

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Wed, 03 May 2023 08:33:37 GMT

No, nothing. I am not expecting anything tbh. I agree that fragmentation and closing down posts is unhelpful. I wasn't able to post under a more relevant heading. Again unhelpful. While Google staffers are keen to help with troubleshooting tips, they appear unable to answer direct questions. I have asked to talk through the issues with a senior-level tech person but no joy. I have been sent replacement cameras and doorbells several times and they all fail after a few weeks and roughly at the same time. My doorbell went offline yesterday so had to be reset. First, to a fake home set-up, then after a reset to my actual home set-up. Such a faff.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Fri, 05 May 2023 22:32:56 GMT

They finally got back to me. Asked me for my serial numbers (which were a real pain to access) and then told me they are “out of warranty.” I am fuming. I bought them less than 2 years ago. Why did they waste even more of my time filling out a stupid form, tracking down serial numbers, and going over my painful story again? This has made me so angry. This company doesn’t stand behind their products and is so anti consumer it is not even funny. I don’t think I will ever buy another google product again. The time they took from me is worth more than the cameras. I was lied to by the tech I was working with for 3 hours on the phone because he said they would replace my cameras if the fix he gave me didn’t work out. He also told me that he would be my personal google rep and help me personally, he never spoke to me again. I was the biggest google fan from pixel to smart home, now I am burned. They just don’t care that expensive hardware will brick on you after less than two years of ownership.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Sat, 06 May 2023 07:45:07 GMT

I am sorry to hear that. I am considering bringing a small claims case against Google. I live in the UK. Products are expected to be of satisfactory quality. Given the issues, comments on the forums etc, the cameras clearly aren't. Have you tried creating a new home structure and seeing if the cameras connect there?

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Sat, 06 May 2023 07:49:23 GMT

Just a thought, are they calculating the end of the warranty period from today's date or from when you first notified Google of the issues? It should be from this earlier date which essentially should stop the warranty period running out.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

austin2 — Sat, 06 May 2023 13:56:27 GMT

Thanks for your sympathy. I know we are in the same boat, it has not been a fun experience to say the least. I first contacted google in February, so they are technically correct that it is out of warranty in my case. I still believe they should do the right thing. I have had the issue within the first year, just had a busy life and couldn't deal with it at the time. I was also hoping it was a temporary glitch. I wish you the best of luck pursuing your small claims case. I won't pursue this further because if I go against google in the USA, they have been known to shut down access to your google account. I will reluctantly give up if I can't work with them on this. I contacted customer support via phone again. I hope I have better luck this time. A new agent has opened a new case and are waiting to hear from the engineering department for approval on if they can make an exception and give me a replacement. I will keep you posted so my experience is on the form for you and others. (That is if they don't lock it.)

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Mon, 08 May 2023 13:57:37 GMT

An update - a slight glimmer of hope?

There are many posts that I have read today scattered on the forums.

There is sadly no way to link all of the issues into one collective set of posts - unless done manually. There is lots of what could be deemed as interference by "Community Specialists" who seem to shut down posts too prematurely.

Anyhow, I have an update, early days, but this may work for others.

I set up a new home structure and have hooked up my two faulty Nest cameras to this new home structure (having deleted them from my preferred home structure). So far, and it has only been a couple of days, they have gone through the reset process, downloaded the necessary updates, and they work. As of yet I haven't tried this with my doorbell.

There is a downside to this which is that my Nest Aware subscription will not work on my new home structure. It would seem that I need to take out a separate subscription or cancel my current one and then take out a new one. Not ideal and not happening! At least not until I know this is a permanent fix.

I tried this fix because I read on another forum topic that someone suggested a new home structure to get their cameras to download the update and start working again. They then reset their cameras and reconnected to their original home structure. A faff which worked for them but not for me.

I am wondering whether my preferred home structure has become corrupted or won't work for the Nest cameras because of something Google is doing server-side. A post on another forum topic suggests that someone was having speed and connectivity issues hence my theory re Google servers being the issue (or in the very least something that Google is doing their side).

Another reason that I think this is that when my Nest cameras were showing as off-line on my preferred home structure via my Google Home app, two of my three Nest Hub displays (one first gen and one second gen) showed live feeds for the two supposedly dead cameras. I viewed the live feeds at the same time as seeing the off-line messages in the Home App. Also, my third Nest Hub display (1st Gen) showed the cameras as off line. This is incredibly bizarre.

I have emailed Google several times through their support agents to say that I am willing to work with them as a guinea pig to try and find a solution, but all I get is standard emails back with utterly useless help guides. The "happy clappy" "Community Specialists" are doing Google a massive disservice by not (it would seem) thinking outside of the box and linking the issues rather than closing posts down.

The Nest Hub displays run Fuchsia, whereas my phone and tablets run Android/ChromeOS. That said, the PC version of the Google Home (limited as it is) runs on Chrome. Anyhow, I could speculate endlessly, but perhaps the "Community Specialists" could be more positive in their approach and actively look for solutions that might work or admit that there is a problem! I have had endless replacement devices but they all fail within a week or less. Again, can't be good for Google.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

MplsCustomer — Mon, 08 May 2023 14:09:48 GMT

@PapaGrim

Corruption of a customer's Google Nest "home/structure" by some malfunction on Google Nest's servers would explain why only some customers are having problems.

Google Nest has not acknowledged that this is occurring, but in numerous other posts Google Nest Community Specialists have recommended that customers reinstall their malfunctioning cameras, doorbells, and Nest Hubs in a new Google Nest "home/structure" as a way of solving their problems.

Google Nest needs to address the issue head-on by identifying and fixing whatever is corrupting customers' Google Nest "homes/structures".

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

PapaGrim — Mon, 08 May 2023 14:15:07 GMT

I agree. The only issue I have with creating a new home structure is the Nest Aware issue and the time and effort it would take to transfer over all of my products. If the new home structure I have created doesn't show any issues over the next couple of months, then I would consider moving everything over.

Re: Offline issues with Google Nest Cameras and Doorbell

MplsCustomer — Mon, 08 May 2023 14:18:58 GMT

@PapaGrim

Yeah, that's the challenge everyone faces, compounded by the fact that Google Nest provides no way at all of transferring a Nest Aware subscription and its associated history and settings to a new Google Nest "home/structure".