Nest Cam Pro dropping from network

[alaskanseminole]

This camera has always been solid, but now it's constantly dropping from the network. I get this message 'Your Camera Is Not Connected", but then it reconnects for a while, then drops.  I have a mesh router system in my home pulling 900MB+ download speeds.  My other cameras aren't doing this, so I'm wondering if it's the camera itself.

I'm also noticing it keeps connecting to the gateway (furthest point from the device) rather than the upstairs mesh router that is it's closest Wi-Fi connection point. 

[gilleslibre]

You obviously have a very good wifi solution with a mesh router. Have you tried reseting the routers so that the camera can eventually connect to it's closest mesh router? 

Myself, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to correct the same situation that you describe, such as one of my cameras kept disconnecting, by adding a relay to my wifi. 

[alaskanseminole]

Yes.  This all started when I got AT&T's latest fiber to the gateway router.  That Nest Camera is now bypassing the mesh router in my office (directly below the room the camera is in), bypassing the upstairs mesh router, and connecting to the actual gateway in my Master Bedroom closet--the furthest access point possible. 

I'm not sure if that's the issue or if the camera is going bad. 

[gilleslibre]

As you explain, as the camera connects to primary router, the farthest from it, the problem does sound like a wifi connection problem, and I'm guessing not a problem with the camera. 

Is there a way where you could force the camera to connect to it's closest mesh router? Or, if you want to verify if the problem is with the camera, is it feasible for you to replace the problematic camera, with one of your other cameras?

[gilleslibre]

Or, could you try to placing the mesh router that you have in your office, close to the camera, to try to have it connect to it?

[alaskanseminole]

I can't.  

A. There's no ether port near that room
B. I have to have the router there for my front Nest Doorbell (only option that worked).

I'm going to try and relocate the camera from the far side of the room to the near side.  Ugh. What a pain.  Only device (out of my 49) I'm having issues with). 

[Sandyroo]

I’m at my wits end with same issue, it’s gotten so bad I’m ready to remove and return all.  Latest model wireless doorbell and 3 wireless cams worked flawlessly for a few months.  Now randomly drop, all of them, day and night. I get Camera Disconnected alerts, one at a time, from every one.  Sometimes I can manually reconnect, sometimes not. They eventually reconnect themselves, I know this when I get an alert that someone or something is seen.  24 hrs a day, ding ding ding, another one is offline. It renders this system bath annoying useless.

[alaskanseminole]

This is my first issue with the "old stuff".  Oh, and I LOVE the old stuff along with the Nest App.  I bought the latest doorbell and had to move my mesh router/extender into my office.  It's literally 10ft from the door and the signal still shows week despite the fact my phone will connect 2 houses down.  When my front door is shut, it drops all the time.

[gilleslibre]

I do not understand all that you explain. However, just for the sake of tests, could you place the camera close to the router so that you can then conclude wether the problem is with your wifi, or with the camera? From the result of this test, you could then advise as to your next step. 

[alaskanseminole]

More simply put, I can't move the mesh router out of my office.  If I do, then my work laptop and Google Nest Doorbell will no longer have internet access. 

When I get a chance, I'll have to take the camera off the wall and bring it down to my office. 

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

@alaskanseminole and @Sandyroo thanks for reaching out here in the Community and for sharing with us your concerns and the steps you've done. How's it going with your Nest Camera? Were you able to bring your Nest Camera near to your router to further isolate the issue? In case you have an update, you know where to find us.

I appreciate the help, gilleslibre.
 
Thanks,
Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hi there,

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

Best,
Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

Just one quick 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, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let us know.

Regards,
Emerson

[alaskanseminole]

I have been swamped at work and unable to relocate the device to nearer my extender.  It's mounted to the wall and the cable is also secured to a cable channel, so it's going to take some work.  The device is still dropping sporadically and it's the only device in the house that is dropping.

[janthadeus]

Hey all,
 

I’m sorry you’re still having trouble with one of your cameras. Let’s dig deeper into this — a few questions: what type of camera is in question? Were there any changes to your Wi-Fi network? Is the camera connected to a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi network? Also, are there devices or appliances (such as baby monitors, microwaves, cordless phones, etc.) near the camera?

Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Close all the apps running in the background of your phone, reopen the Google Home app. Then, check your camera connection again. 
2. At the highest video quality setting, your cameras can use a large chunk of the internet connection to stream video. Slower internet service might not be able to keep up. Check your internet speed here: https://goo.gle/2JaUmYI. The page would show your download speed then click “Show more info” to check your upload speed. Have a look at this article for your guide: Internet bandwidth and speed requirements for Nest cameras.
3. Open the Home app .
4. Touch and hold your device's tile.
5. At the top right, tap Settings .
6. Choose Video.
7. Under “Video quality,” choose Max or High.
   • High settings uses less bandwidth.
   • Max settings uses more bandwidth.
8. Restart your phone, turn it off for 60 seconds then turn it on.
9. If you have a dual band Wi-Fi frequency switch your connection to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to improve your connection.

Let me know how it goes.
 

I appreciate the help here, @gilleslibre and @Emerson.
 

Thanks,

JT

[Sandyroo]

Thanks JT. No changes to network.  Connection speed to phone on 2.4 ghz is 91 mbps down, 23 up. On 5ghz it’s 575 mbps down, 19 up. Direct wire at the modem is over 1,000 mbps. I think we have adequate bandwidth.

I did dismount, recharge and remove all 3 battery cams and battery doorbell, deleted my home, created a new home, and added all devices back. The cams are holding signal so far, but the doorbell is dropping signal 4x/day.  Based on your reply here,  I just now rechecked and discovered the doorbell was connected to 5 ghz, not 2.4. I deleted it from my home, added it back connected to 2.4.  Let’s see if that helps.  

As an unwitting Guinea pig spending hours in this, I have a couple observations. 1) These devices appear not have antenna range comparable to my original Arlo cams, or other smart devices in my home. The Google Home battery devices are the only devices dropping signal. 2) Temperature seems to impact the frequency of dropped signal over a 24 hour period. It seems worse when outdoor temperature is near freezing or below outside.

I will test another 24 hours to see what happens. Temperatures at night are near freezing, daytime in low 40s Fahrenheit.

[alaskanseminole]

Looks like everything is good to go now.  The camera has stopped bypassing the closest extender and is connecting to it as it should. 

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

Sandyroo, thanks for sharing the information with us! Sounds good, let us know if anything comes up.
 

alaskanseminole, good to know everything's working fine — you know where to find us if there's anything else.

Best,

JT

[Sandyroo]

Thanks for checking JT. After all these steps, all cameras continue to drop and reconnect randomly.  Distance from the wireless router doesn’t seem to matter, the closest camera is visible out the window 25 feet away, it drops just like the others do, anytime day and night.  Temperatures in mid forties F.  It’s a puzzle.  If one camera did this, we might suspect that device and test the culprit in other locations.  However, I t’s all cameras, suggesting network issues. 

I’ll try moving the wireless modem incrementally tomorrow. I can’t move it far, it’s anchored to the only spot with access to the cable.

[janthadeus]

Hey Sandyroo,

Checking back in — how's it going? Still need our help?

Best regards,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hey there,
 

Got it — sounds like a plan! One way of also isolating the issue is turning off some cameras and keeping only two to three cameras on. 

Let us know if that helps.                 

Best,

JT

[Sandyroo]

There are 4 cameras total: 3 new hi-res Battery outdoor cams, and one new battery Doorbell.  They continue to drop randomly no matter what I have tried.  Including the camera 25 feet line of sight from the Xfinity modem.

Wits end. I continue to get notifications that a camera has dropped.  Day and night.

[Sandyroo]

As you recommended, I just turned two outdoor cameras off, leaving the doorbell plus one battery cam on.

[janthadeus]

Hello there,

How’s the connection of your cameras after turning off some of them? Were there any changes with the connection? 

Thanks,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

It's me again. I want to check if you still need help. Don't hesitate to reach back if you do.

Regards,

JT

[Sandyroo]

hey back, sometimes it’s hard to tell if your message is directed to me, or the original strand author.  Turning off cameras didn’t seem to make any difference, the cameras left on continue to randomly disconnect.  The frequency of disconnects per 24 hrs has improved after I deleted my home and reset all devices, starting over by creating a new home and reconnecting devices.  I also notice how these devices eventually reconnect on their own. If I receive a disconnect notification and open the offending camera, it shows as disconnected and attempting to reconnect manually fails.  If I ignore the notification, the camera will later notify me if a person or package is detected, with recorded history.  They drop and reconnect themselves.

[janthadeus]

Hello Sandyroo,

Thanks for further isolating the issue with your cameras. We appreciate you sharing that with us. We have recommended router settings to work well with your cameras.

Here are the recommended router settings for your cameras:
 

• Preferred IP configuration

            IPV6
 

• Ports for Firewall

           80 for HTTP

           443 for HTTPS

           9543 for TCP/UDP

           11095 for TCP/UDP

           1935 for TCP/UDP
 

• Firewall Settings

            Medium or Low (If possible)

• Privacy and Security

            WPA, WPA2 (TKIP, AES)

• Preferred Band

            2.4 GHz

• Preferred Access Point

            802.11 b/g/n

You may also have a look at this article: Recommended Wi-Fi network and router settings. You can contact your internet service provider to help you set your router settings.

Let us know if that helps.

Best,

JT

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

@Sandyroo, 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.
 
Regards,
Emerson

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

I'm just checking in to make sure that you've seen our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this thread in 24 hours.

Cheers,

Dan