My Nest Security cam with Nest Aware is not recording video of the event start.

[Lee139]

I have the Nest Security Cam with Floodlights.   The event recording is missing the start of each event.

I want to see video of the entire event, not just an in-progress event.   The recording drops the event beginning.

How can I extend the video event recording duration to include video from before the event started?

Or, is there some way to increase the motion detection sensitivity so the recording starts earlier?

We have limited Wifi, so can not use 24/7 event recording without exceeding our metered Internet plan.

[EmptyNester]

If you are on a battery only camera then I don't think there is much you can do to fix it as it takes time for the camera to wake up.   Which camera do you have and with app (Nest or Google Home) app are you using?

I'm still on the gen 1 cameras with the nest app. I pay $12/month for Nest Aware Plus and it records 24/7.  This is fantastic and it will never miss anything.  

[Lee139]

As mentioned in the post, we have the Nest Security Cam with Floodlight -- the floodlight cam is wired.

Also mentioned:  We have limited Wifi, so can not use 24/7 event recording without exceeding our metered Internet plan.   We have found that Nest Aware only uses Internet bandwidth when uploading events.. contrary to reports that suggest it always uploads. Perhaps this is because we have face-detection off.  It works with our limitations, but we are missing the beginning part of every event.

The cameras are using Google Home.

[EmptyNester]

Hmmmmm,  I'm not sure there is a way to fix this then.  You might try speaking with a real live Google Support tech person.  You can open a support ticket here at this link and then as you fill in the information there is an option to turn it into a phone call and speak with a person.  I believe they are there 24/7.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp

[janthadeus]

Hi Lee139,

Checking in — were you able to speak to our support team as shared by EmptyNester? If so, how did it go? Let me know if you need anything else.

I appreciate your help, EmptyNester.

Thanks,

JT

[Lee139]

no, i have not contacted google yet.  problem unresolved

re Nest Aware vs Nest Aware Plus (side comment in my reply to EmptyNester)

the Google docs are wrong.  Nest Aware only sends EVENTS over the Internet

but the docs say that it sends all data, just like Nest Aware Plus.

almost i did not purchase because we have metered internet.. but i guessed correctly that 24/7 data would not get uploaded.  You should have Google fix their documentation for Nest Aware --- the docs say it uses the same amount of bandwidth.

[EmersonB]

Hello everybody,

@Lee139, I'm bumping up this thread to ensure that everything is covered here. To change the maximum event length, you may open your Google Home app and select your Nest Camera and go to settings then select Video> Maximum event length> select your desired time. The internet bandwidth consumed by your Nest Camera would depend on the video quality from your settings if it's Max or High and the events that your Nest Camera captured. Hit this link for more information and let us know our update.

Thanks for answering, EmptyNester and JT.

Regards, 

Emerson

[EmptyNester]

Hi EmersonB,  I don't think this fixes the problem.   Extending the video is not the issue.  The problem is the recording does not start soon enough and the events are clipped at the start. 

[EmptyNester]

Hi Lee139,  You might be on to something.  I believe the PERSON detection starts in the camera. But if you have facial recognition ON then it has to send that video to the Google Cloud and that is where it is evaluated as a "recognized" person.  Can you temporarily turn OFF facial recognition and see if the problem fixes itself?  Keep in mind if you do this it will most likely erase all the faces you have stored.

Since you are bandwidth limited you may want to check out the EUFY line of cameras.  (Sorry Google but this may be a better solution for the end user).   They offer a basestation that all the cameras transmit to locally and it sits by your router. All the recorded info is stored locally there and does not send anything to the cloud.    It might be worth check out.

[EmersonB]

Hey folks ,

@EmptyNester, thanks for answering and for sharing here your thoughts and ideas.

@Lee139, how's it going with your Nest Camera? Were you able to read the information that EmptyNester has shared? In case you have an update, you know where to find us.

Best,

Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hi Lee139,

We wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let us know if you are still having any concerns or questions from here, as we would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.
 
Thanks,
Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hello Lee139,

Just one final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, we would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let us know.

Regards,
Emerson