Nest Cam: problem occured after entering Wifi password

[Yvesb82]

Hi all, I really hope somebody on this forum will be able to help me.

So I bought 2 Nest camera's on battery. I tried to add the camera's to the Google Home app. Unfortunately it didn't work out as hoped. So the app asks me to scan the camera's QR code (while the blue led is blinking), which I did. The system recognises the type of camera and proceeds. Then I get a message saying "preparing your device". Often during this phase, the app blocks. When trying several times, the app continues, and it lets me enter the wifi code. Then 2 possibilities happen: sometimes after 3 seconds the app says "something went wrong" (so he didn't give me the time to enter the wifi code), or he lets me enter the wifi code, says the device is connected, and then gives me an error saying "unable to send feedback to Google". Eather way, the camera gives an error sound and an orange led blinks for several seconds rapidly.

Some info: Yes, I'm connected to a stable wifi. I tried the camera's in two different homes, with two different internet providers. 
Yes, DHCP is activated in both modems.

I also tried to enter the 6 digit code of the cam instead of scanning the QR code.

I tried to select another type of camera in the app (f ex interior camera)

I did several resets of the cameras

I tried to add the cameras using the Nest app

I tried to add the camera's on 6 devices; so the device used will not be the cause of all trouble (iOS and Android)

Thx for the help!

[EmptyNester]

Hello, I'm an end user like you.   Th newer (battery) cameras will ONLY work on the Google home app.  Sadly they have NEVER worked on the nest app.

Did you purchase the cameras from the country you are trying to use them in?  Google normally won't all this to work because of licensing laws.

I'm going to go ahead and escalate this and this will give you the change to speak with an actual google tech person on this.   They will follow up here in this thread.

[Yvesb82]

Hey there! I bought the camera's in Belgium Europe, and I'm trying to install them in Belgium as well. Good news: I managed to install one of them (just tried everything possible with one to be able to repeat for the other one). The problem was: I tried to do the factory reset by pushing the reset button as long as the camera needed to execute some action, which took 4 seconds. Afterwards, I read on a forum that a factory reset needs 10-12 seconds. So I pushed the button for 10-12 seconds, and it did a factory reset. So at the end of the succesfull installation, I saw some live images so that I could put the camera under the right angle. Now, the Home app says "please engage your camera" but I can't put it on anywhere. I use the outdoor battery type and bought the extra exterior power cable. I read on a forum that the camera doesn't work till you put it onto the magnetic holder. Is this infomation correct you think?? As the magnetic holder was already mounted on a wall of my parent's house which is 60 miles from my home, I can't test if this info is correct...I tried to put a magnet against the cam without any result.

[nerys]

Hi Yvesb82,

Thanks for posting in the community!

I'm so sorry to hear that your two Nest Cams (battery) are having difficulties pairing in your account. Don't worry; I'm here to help! Just to get started, I'd like to confirm some details with you. Can you please help me answer the next questions?

• Is your WiFi router or access point within a reasonable distance (1 to 15 meters) from your Nest Cams?
• During the pairing process, how far away are you from the Nest Cameras?
• How are you resetting the Nest Cameras?
• Besides the "something went wrong" and "unable to send feedback to Google" error messages, do you see any specific error codes?
• When and where did you purchase your Nest Cams?
• Are there any other devices or appliances (like baby monitors, microwaves, cordless phones, etc.) near your Nest Cams?

I also want to thank @EmptyNester for their helpful information.

In the meantime, if you have more questions for me, feel free to reply to this post. I'll be happy to assist further!

Best regards,

Nery.

[Yvesb82]

Hi Nery, in fact the problem was situated around the factory reset: I didn't do it properly (read below). But now I encounter a next problem: 

Hey there! I bought the camera's in Belgium Europe, and I'm trying to install them in Belgium as well. Good news: I managed to install one of them (just tried everything possible with one to be able to repeat for the other one). The problem was: I tried to do the factory reset by pushing the reset button as long as the camera needed to execute some action, which took 4 seconds. Afterwards, I read on a forum that a factory reset needs 10-12 seconds. So I pushed the button for 10-12 seconds, and it did a factory reset. So at the end of the succesfull installation, I saw some live images so that I could put the camera under the right angle. Now, the Home app says "please engage your camera" but I can't put it on anywhere. I use the outdoor battery type and bought the extra exterior power cable. I read on a forum that the camera doesn't work till you put it onto the magnetic holder. Is this infomation correct you think?? As the magnetic holder was already mounted on a wall of my parent's house which is 60 miles from my home, I can't test if this info is correct...I tried to put a magnet against the cam without any result.

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[Yvesb82]

Hi Nery, thx for helping me out. EmptyNester gave the laste puzzle piece I needed to find the solution:  So I went into the Google Home app, tapped the wheel symbol on the upper right side, and saw the tap 'device information". When I tapped on it, I saw some info such as Camera Mount, Name, Room etc...I already saw this some days ago. Unfortunately, i didn't know you could tap on these words...It didn't look like a submenu you could open to make changes...It just seemed to be a list of information. So now, I changed the option "google mount" to "non-google mount", and the camera just woke up. So my problems are solved. You helped me a lot, thank you for that! Greetings from Belgium 🙂

[nerys]

Hi Yvesb82,

Thanks for the update!

That's fantastic news! I'm so glad to hear that your Nest Cam (battery) is now connected to your WiFi and working well.

I'd also like to thank @EmptyNester for their fantastic help!

I'll be here for anything else you may need. Feel free to reply to this post if you have any other questions. I'll be happy to assist further!

Best regards,

Nery.

[Yvesb82]

Hey Nerys! If I may...So I installed 2 outdoor (battery) camera's. The installation is complete. During the installation, I used the power socket to power the camera's. When I connect the power socket, the camera's switch on and everything works fine. When I unplug the camera's,  the camera shows a white led (saying battery status 100%), and then it shuts off. So the led turns off, and the app says "camera standby". So I would like the camera's to record all the time, wheter they are connected to the power socket or not...Is there any possibilty? Thx!

[EmptyNester · Accepted solution]

I believe if the camera recorded 24/7 when running on the battery then the battery would be fully drained in about a day... so they don't offer that option

[Yvesb82]

oh ok! well thx for the answer 🙂

[EmptyNester]

I seem to remember there is a setting that you can turn on/off regarding the camera mount.  Try going into the Google Home app and then to into the settings for that camera and look for "CAMERA MOUNT'.  I believe you can turn OFF the setting that says it needs to be installed in the mount that it came with.

[Yvesb82]

Hey! So I went into the Google Home app, tapped the wheel symbol on the upper right side, and saw the tap 'device information". When I tapped on it, I saw some info such as Camera Mount, Name, Room etc...I already saw this some days ago. Unfortunately, i didn't know you could tap on these words...It didn't look like a submenu you could open to make changes...It just seemed to be a list of information. So now, I changed the option "google mount" to "non-google mount", and the camera just woke up. So my problems are solved. You helped me a lot, thank you for that! Greetings from Belgium 🙂

[EmptyNester]

That is great news!   This particular setting is very unusual and a lot of people don't know about it.  

Glad I could help.

[Yvesb82]

indeed! I also put my tablet into english, and i can only say that in english the text written is more clear. For example: in english the app said "remount your camera to access live images". If I translate what the app said in dutch, it meant "reactivate your camera to access live images". So when the app is in english, "remount" means cleary the solution has to do with the mounting of the camera...:) Thx again 🙂 Have a nice day/evening!