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Live Video Preview 0.1 Frames Per Second (FPS) When 5 Or More Nest Cameras Live

drtrmiller
Community Member

screencapture-home-nest-home-1950fed0-c279-11e8-ad5c-125813707f9a-2021-10-13-13_18_31-edit.pngWhen working normally, Nest cameras display smooth video up to 30 frames per second. Users with several Nest cameras can view all their live camera previews at home.nest.com or using the Nest app. The main screen of the website and app displays all Nest devices, including showing all Nest cameras in a live preview (see image, right).

There is a difference between how Nest renders the browser view versus the app view for Nest cameras. In the Nest app, only Nest cameras shown on screen will be rendered in the live preview. A user with several nest cameras may need to scroll through a list of them in the app, but on a tablet with a larger display, more camera previews may be visible at the same time. In contrast, Nest in the web browser will render all cameras that are recording video, including those not shown on screen.

I suspect that an engineer at Nest/Google decided that it was a waste of bandwidth to allow users to concurrently stream more than four (4) Nest cameras simultaneously. And so, if you have five (5) or more Nest cameras recording video at the same time and attached to the same structure, instead of seeing smooth video, the live preview displaying all cameras simultaneously will be throttled to 1 frame every 10 seconds.  The cameras will continue recording smooth video that the user can view by opening up any individual camera. But when viewing all the cameras simultaneously, the video image will only refresh once every 10 seconds. The result is not choppy video; it is a still image that refreshes once every 10 seconds.

While Nest officially supports up to 10 cameras per structure, nowhere in the support pages does Nest describe that the camera preview feature will be affected when viewing more than four live camera previews on the main page. This is a limitation imposed by Nest/Google, and is not dependent on the speed of the device or internet connection. Both of these can be tested by simply opening up the five or more Nest camera preview windows separately in their own tab or window--the video will be smooth. But on the main preview page where all cameras are displayed, only four cameras can be displayed at one time or else the video refreshes at a snail's pace.

Screenshot 2021-10-13 135451.pngI used Task Manager to display the data coming into my computer. This does not display the data being uploaded from the cameras (my network router does not have the option to display this). But the image to the left clearly shows what is happening when I switch on a 5th camera while viewing all the Nest camera streams concurrently in a web browser. The behavior goes from a steady stream to short bursts every 10 seconds, coinciding with the 1 frame per 10 seconds I am experiencing.

Nest Support:
I attempted to contact Nest Support today via chat, and the chat agent disconnected my session twice without any explanation. At one point, I had to leave my computer, and so I opened up support.google.com on my phone, and the chat window appeared with all my messages, so I was able to continue.

I believe the robots/support representatives are intentionally disconnecting the chat sessions, as there does not appear to be any way to be accidentally disconnected. The chat will stop if your internet connection is lost, but will resume as soon as the internet connection is reestablished.

I felt like I was talking to a robot that had no understanding of my issue. I was repeatedly asked to send screenshots showing the issue of the low frame rate. I was told that my internet speed was the problem. Despite my best attempts to communicate the issue in technical detail, and my requests to speak with a supervisor, I was ignored and asked to complete ridiculous and arbitrary tests.

2 REPLIES 2

drtrmiller
Community Member

On October 13, I opened a BBB claim asking Google to discontinue their claim to support 10 cameras per Nest structure, as performance features are degraded after 5 or more cameras are added to an account.

Today, I received a completely generic response asking me to contact Nest support, which I have already wasted hours doing.  Further, I have no evidence to suggest that the Googler who answered the BBB claim even checked the links provided in the claim, which would have directed them to this post and the Google support page which claims 10 cameras may be added to a Nest structure, but does not disclose the superficially imposed limitation of a reduced and unusable frame rate drop in certain situations when all cameras are viewed simultaneously, such as in a web browser or on a tablet with a larger display.

I continue to be deeply disappointed in Google's completely unsatisfactory and careless response. There does not appear to be any way to break through Google's impotent support staff and reach someone with the power to actually provide answers or act to resolve an issue that is on Google's end.

Mrawesomeguy
Community Member

Drtrmiller,

Thanks for the post, I appreciate your dedication . This problem has been bugging me for awhile. Only I’m throttled to 1 frame per 10 seconds all the time while scrolling through individual camera feeds and I only have 3 cameras. I have fiber optic 1000 mbps wifi and all cameras show a good connection. My scrolling feature got throttled when I upgraded to 24/7 video history. As soon as I switched, it throttled my scrolling frame rate. To the point where I can miss someone walking to my door. I’m not even going to bother trying to contact google , they aren’t going to do anything. When I see an event and try to scroll to the exact second it occurred, it adjust the time automatically and scrolls back 10-15 seconds. I’m just glad someone else grasps the issue as most people don’t.