Camera angle is wrong

[Zephyr]

My Nest camera was installed by ADT.  The angle is wrong.  All I ever see is myself coming and going, or people walking by in the street.  I get notified when I have removed a package, but never when a package is delivered.  I think the wedge needs to be adjusted but don't know how to do that.  Hold time if I try to call ADT is 90 minutes.

[MplsCustomer]

@Zephyr 

If you have the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery), ADT should have installed it correctly (with or without the wedge) and checked the camera view before leaving; that should be part of their contract with Google Nest. Like our older Google Nest Hello Doorbells, it comes with just one wedge, which lets you angle the doorbell in one fixed angle left or right horizontally. To change the camera's angle vertically, you need to buy a 3rd party mount (like Wasserstein's Vertical Adjustable Mount for Google Nest Doorbell (Battery - https://wasserstein-home.com/products/wasserstein-vertical-adjustable-mount-for-google-nest-doorbell...). Installing the wedge that comes with the doorbell (facing either left or right) is shown starting at about 3:00 in the installation video here: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10732535?hl=en.

If you have the Google Nest Camera (Battery), ADP should also have checked the view.  We have one; the camera is attached to the base with a magnet, and the view angle can be adjusted by just moving or twisting the camera on the base.

[Zephyr]

Thank you so much.  I'm beginning to think the problem is more that the camera does not recognize when people are in the zone.  I had a 5' tall package delivered and left leaning against my wall.  In viewing my history, the frame before delivery clearly shows the blank wall, and the next frame is me struggling to bring in the package.  No picture of the person delivering it.  This happens all the time.  I get the notification "package removed" but never "package delivered".

[MplsCustomer]

@Zephyr 

If you have the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery), it runs on battery power even when wired (see https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/11830989?hl=en), and therefore seems to be in "Idle" mode most of the time, and takes awhile to wake up and detect an event (such as a package delivery). Perhaps it starts to wake up when you open the door and so is able to capture you bringing in the package.

We have the Google Nest Camera (Battery), plugged in all the time, so it is "Live" all the time and does a good job of detecting events. However, if we unplug it so it is running on battery power, it goes into "Idle" mode and does not detect us walking in front of the camera.

Other customers in this forum have also reported that these two devices do not do a good job of detecting events when running on battery power.

[Zephyr]

Not sure I understand.  My device isn't wired, it is just battery powered.  What do you have it plugged into?  I live in Florida, so cold weather not an issue.  And I go in and out numerous times a day to walk my dog, so it should be awake.  Thanks for your reply.

[MplsCustomer]

@Zephyr 

I'm not sure what device you have. Your post refers to camera angle and Nest Cam (Battery), which implies the Google Nest Camera (Battery), but refers to the wedge, which implies the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery).

Here's what I know. We have the Google Nest Camera (Battery), plugged in all the time, so it is "Live" all the time and does a good job of detecting events. However, if we unplug it so it is running on battery power, it goes into "Idle" mode and does not detect us walking in front of the camera, apparently because it does not wake up in time.

The Google Nest Doorbell (Battery) runs off of the battery, even if it is wired to doorbell wires. As I result, I suspect that it too is normally in "Idle" mode and has to wake up when something moves in front of the doorbell.  At some point,after it wakes up and records an event, it will go back to "Idle" mode to save on the battery.

If you select your device in the Google Home app (whether battery camera or battery doorbell), does it show as "Idle" or as "Live" when you first select it? If it is "Idle", then it has to wake up to detect and record an event.

I included the link to the cold weather behavior page for the battery camera and doorbell because that's where it is stated that the battery doorbell runs off of the battery even when it is wired.

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

@Zephyr how's it going with your Nest camera?. I just wanted to ensure that everything is covered here. I hope the information shared by MplsCustomer sheds some light on the issue. If you have other questions and concerns, feel free to let me know.

I appreciate the help @MplsCustomer.

Thanks,
Emerson

[Zephyr]

I don't think the problem is with the angle after all.  The other day I had a large package, 5' x 3', delivered to my outside wall.  The camera showed me removing it, but not the person delivering it.  The frame before the one of me removing it simply showed a blank wall.  Do I need to subscribe to Nest Aware to be able to see the delivery?

[Brad]

@Zephyr

You would need to subscribe to Nest Aware if you wanted to see the events that were saved past three days. It could just be that your settings may not be sensitive enough to pick up those events. I would suggest signing up for Nest Aware if you can regardless, it's immensely helpful. You can learn more here. 

Best regards,

Brad

[MplsCustomer]

@Zephyr 

If the delivery and your pickup were separated by some time, it may be that your camera just did not record the delivery. If the delivery and your pickup were close together, the recording of the event may only have started when you picked it up. Either way, the cause could be that when running on battery power, the camera is normally in "Idle" mode and has to wake up before it can start recording an event. If that's the cause, a Nest Aware subscription will save recorded events for 30 days rather than the last 3 hours, but it won't make the camera wake up sooner to record an event.

[Brad]

Hi there, 

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns. Thank you for your help, MplsCustomer.

Best regards, 

Brad

[Zephyr]

Apparently I already have "Nest Aware", through ADT.  I can see a "full history" dating back weeks.  No pictures of package deliveries, though, mostly just myself going in and out to walk the dog.  I will try tapping the icon when I get up in the morning to activate it.  But today when I got home there was a package on my doorstep, and no pics in between the one of my leaving a couple of hours earlier and picking up the delivered package when I returned.  I swear it won't pick up any person other than myself. Maybe I need to delete myself as a "familiar face".

[janthadeus]

Hi Zephyr,

Thanks for sharing that with us. You can definitely remove your familiar face to refresh your camera's familiar face detection.

Here’s how:

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Settings > Nest Aware > Familiar face detection.
3. Select a face profile with photos that you want to delete.
4. Tap Edit , then select any photos that you want to delete together.
5. Tap Delete .
6. Confirm that you want to remove the selected photos.

I appreciate the help here, MplsCustomer and Emerson.

Thanks,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

It's me again. I want to make sure you're all good — how did the steps go?
 

Regards,

JT

[Zephyr]

Well, the Nest doorbell camera has begun picking up people at the door some of the time.  I haven't changed anything yet so I don't know why it suddenly started doing it.

[janthadeus]

Hey Zephyr,

Sounds good! Let's monitor it for now. Let me know if anything comes up.

Best,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

I just wanted to follow up to see if you still need our help. Please let us know as we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Best regards,

JT

[Zephyr]

No, I think I'm getting used to it.  Thanks.

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

Cool, glad to hear that! As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as resolved. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hrs. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Cheers,

JT

[Brad]

Hi there, 

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns. 

Best regards, 

Brad

[Brad]

Hi there,

Just checking in on this thread and the activity on it. We'll leave this topic open for another 24 hours in case there are any follow-up questions or comments.

Best regards,
Brad