Nest Battery Doorbell Set Up Connecting to assisting Nest device / Can't connect to assisting device

[wintermute1]

I purchased a Nest Battery Doorbell today and I'm attempting to set it up. I have 4 Nest Outdoor Cams and a Nest Hello Doorbell (wired front door) on my Google Home network, so I'm aware of how to set these things up.

However, when I attempt to add the Nest Battery Doorbell in the Google Home app (iPhone 12 Pro Max, latest iOS and Google Home app versions) I get stuck in this loop where it's saying "Connecting to assisting Nest device" then fails after 2-3 minutes, and reads "Can't connect to assisting device". 

I've moved one of my Nest Cameras inside the house to try and get this thing to connect but it's not connecting to an "Assisting device" whatever that means - I assume it's trying to piggyback off one of my Nest cams to share the WiFi details or something.

Can I get around this stupid app procedure and just enter in the SSID and password for my WiFi network? This seems overly simplified to the point that when it breaks down there is no way to manually fix this error.

I should also note, I tested creating a second, new home in the app and the new Battery Doorbell connected fine to it - probably because it didn't seek any Assisting Device because there was none associated with the Home. I really don't want to have to move all my devices to a new home and waste time, lose my recorded video footage and have issues shifting my subscription to a new home.

Screenshots of this horrible experience with the Nest Battery Doorbell set up in the Google Home app.

[wintermute1]

I've discovered the bug that was causing this issue in my case and have successfully connect my Nest Battery Doorbell.

It turns out, my iPhone had to be on the same SSID as an existing Nest Hello doorbell that's on my account while performing the setup. After I connected my iPhone to the other SSID, it properly "connected to the assisting device" (i.e. my Nest Hello doorbell) and allowed me to set up the Nest Battery Doorbell on whichever SSID I preferred.

Very strange behaviour and I was only able to discover this by using an old Google Pixel 4 XL and the Google Home app to troubleshoot setting up my Nest Battery Doorbell. It provided the name of the "assisting device" (my Nest Hello Doorbell) it wanted to connect to, unlike the error message on iPhone.

TLDR; When setting up a Nest Battery Doorbell, if you already have a Nest Hello Doorbell on your Google Home network, then you need to be connected to the same SSID/network as the Hello Doorbell. You can connect the new Battery Doorbell to a different SSID (ex: range extender) after passing the "assisting device" step during setup.

Feedback for Google/Nest. Don't use assisting devices or allow users to add devices using a manual method (ex: entering SSID/password). I understand it may be for security purposes, but surely 2FA or an OTP would also serve that purpose.

[aatienza]

Hey wintermute1,

We hear you. Our team is working hard to deliver the best experience for our users — we'll take this as feedback. Keep your eye on the Google Nest Community page https://bit.ly/3h9zod5 for any updates.

Check out this link on how to file feedback.

Thanks,

Archie

[aatienza]

Hey wintermute1,

I haven't heard from you in a while so I'll be locking this thread if there is no update within the day. If you have any new issues, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the community.

Thanks,

Archie