cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Replies are disabled for this topic. Start a new one or visit our Help Center.

My son has figured out a way to make my nest cams stop recording without touching them

lifeisamystery
Community Member

So, on any given morning, I review my camera footage from the previous night because my son (16) is a constant (and very unsafe) flight risk. When I review the footage, I see him standing there at the end of one clip, and then either the camera looses connection for hours and he's sitting down at the beginning of the next clip, OR he's standing there at the end of a clip, and the camera is covered at the beginning of the next clip. I have all of the detection features turned on except for the push notifications since that would be pointless because I put my phone on airplane mode at night. I have tried searching for hacks he could have found, or ways to "overload" the camera to make it stop for a minute, but I can find nothing. He did figure out that flashing a bright light at the nest cams will cause them to restart themselves, but I haven't seen even that happening on any of the clips. PLEASE HELP!! 

9 REPLIES 9

EmersonB
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi lifeisamystery,

 

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community. I know how important this situation is to you. To narrow down this issue, is your son added as your family member to your Nest app or Google Home app? Does your son have access to your Wi-Fi router settings? Do you have a Nest Aware subscription? Looking forward to your response.

 

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

 

Thanks,

Emerson

Thanks for replying, in answer to your question, he does not have access to the web at all, as all the devices capable are either locked down with Google Family Link, or fingerprint protected. He does not have access to my home app, nor my nest aware account. The router is in direct view of 2 cameras, and there is never any footage of him unplugging it or even touching it. 

Hello lifeisamystery,

Thanks for getting back to us and for sharing this information. To confirm, does this issue always happen when your son is in the recording or does it happen intermittently? To further isolate this issue, reinstall your Google Home app and restart your Wi-Fi router. Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Emerson

Yes, it only happens when my son is involved, otherwise the cameras work flawlessly. My network speed is about 200mb down and 18mg up, so no issues due to latency either. 

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

@lifeisamystery 

 

It sounds like your son may have access to your devices in some way, shape or form. If he is physically messing with the device, we cannot assist you with that process.

 

Thanks for your help here, Emerson.

 

Best regards,

Brad

I may have figured out why there's never any footage of him messing with anything, and seems to disappear from the middle of a room.

 

I found out that when you physically turn off the camera, it loses the previous 20 seconds of footage. That footage is never sent to the cloud, even after powering back on, so that why it looks like he's just standing in the middle of the room when the camera stops recording.

 

That is a HUGE security flaw! I'm glad I only have them because my son is a flight risk and I'm trying to keep an eye on him, but I'd definitely be switching these out for the battery powered cameras before I ever relied on these indoor nest cameras for any level of actual security. 

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

@lifeisamystery 

 

You may actually be better off using wired cameras vs. a battery-powered camera as they can go through some longer periods of time with no footage if they are trying to save battery. Please share your experience with us in the app, so that feedback is sent directly to our engineers and developers. 

 

Best regards,

Brad

Hey 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.

 

I appreciate the help here, Emerson and Brad.

 

Thanks,

JT

Hi there,


Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our responses. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours if I won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

 

Best,

JT