Can’t add next camera to Nest App

[NelsonSF]

I’m trying to add a Nest camera I bought several years ago. I rented my house and just moved back. I had to go through the Nest App. I scanned the QR code and the app said it would list several serial numbers, but it never returned with any. What now?

[MplsCustomer]

@NelsonSF 

Google Nest Hello Doorbells have a small internal battery that is used only when the doorbell button is pressed. I suspect it may also be used during setup because the setup instructions call for connecting to the Google Nest app before the doorbell gets wired (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9247327).

Since your doorbell has been sitting around for several years, perhaps that internal battery is dead. You could try using the mini-USB cable that comes with the doorbell to connect it to your computer if you have one, and see if leaving it connected for awhile will charge the battery. (There is also a way to set up the doorbell on a computer, but since the process is so old it seems that most computers no longer support it: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9227532.)

If that's not an option, perhaps you could try connecting your Nest Hello to your doorbell wires and see if that helps.

[MplsCustomer]

@NelsonSF 

My apologies for not paying attention to the fact that you are trying to add a camera and not a doorbell!

Another thing that seems like it can happen if a camera is not installed for several years is that the firmware on the camera may no longer be in sync with the software on Google Nest's servers. I don't know if there's any recourse when that occurs because you need to have the camera connected to the Internet to get the firmware update from Google Nest, and you can't do that if you can't install the camera.

You could try contacting Support using the link and instructions in this post on this forum:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Using-Google-Nest-s-quot-Contact-Us-quo...

Also, if you have a camera released since Sept. 2021 (like the battery camera, the floodlight camera, or the 2nd gen indoor camera), these cameras get installed in the Google Home app and not in the Google Nest app.

Again, my apologies for my earlier post.

[EdmondB]

Hello NelsonSF,

Checking in — did you get a chance to try the steps shared by MplsCustomer? If so, how did it go? Let me know if you need more help.

Thanks for the help, @MplsCustomer.

Best,
Edmond