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Nest Camera (Battery) Motion Detection Sucks

rmrussell1970
Community Member

Camera is mounted about 12 feet above ground over my garage. it doesn't detect motion until something is half way up the drive way. Called support and they were no help. I have the sensitivity maxed out. What is the realistic range of motion detection on these cameras? A security camera that doesn't detect motion is of no use to me.

1 Recommended Answer

rmrussell1970
Community Member

Update: the cable arrived last night and I got it wired in before going to bed. This ABSOLUTELY corrected the motion detection issue. The camera is behaving like a security camera should now. Downside to this, the cable was $45 on top of the money I spent for the two cameras. Google, if you're reading this, whatever you are doing when in battery mode for motion detection is making the camera useless. The camera has the ability to work correctly so please fix this even if it's including the power cable in the purchase. Which brings me to item #2, don't supposed you would kick in another 10meter cable to me free of charge for the other camera and this diagnosis? 😄 

 

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13 REPLIES 13

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

Our Google Nest Camera Battery is mounted about 10 feet off the ground and seems to detect motion and people well into the yard.  However, we bought the power cable so ours is running in wired mode.  There is at least one post on this forum claiming that the sensitivity isn't very good when running in battery mode.

An update based on my experiments:

Camera 1 has been live on battery for almost 4 weeks, now two days plugged in. Plugged in it's now detecting animals (cat) that it never has before. It has never detected other animals that come through: racoons, squirrels, skunk, rabbit. Even plugged in it fails to record the blue jays making a mess in the bird bath, 8 feet away and in the center of the view. I have narrowed the motion detection to just around the bird bath, no difference.

Camera 2 has been up for 2 days, on battery, and is detecting the cat. 

There's a huge difference in visual complexity -- Camera 1 is looking at a sea of foliage with a few clear areas,  Camera 2 is mostly lawn and sidewalk. I suspect the birds are being ignored algorithmically just as the wind is. I've tried a Wyze camera in the same area, and it picks up *everything*: wind moving plants, changes in dappled light because of the wind, insects, etc., even though the motion sensitivity is supposed to be adjustible.

My take-aways are that the battery is preserving computing power, so is much less sensitive; and while some motion filtering is absolutely necessary, my hope is that Google will add a control feature to allow us to set detection levels. 

rmrussell1970
Community Member

That's my next step to try at making it better. Support was not helpful when I called them. Thanks for the info!

I just installed mine today (just on battery) about the same 12ft above garage and the person/motion detection is really bad, literally have to stand underneath and finally will detect. I’ll mess with sensitivity see if it helps otherwise I’ll have to buy the power cord which others seem have better luck with. Just wanted to know what you have tried so far?

Still waiting on my cord. Supposed to be here Tuesday. 

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

Sorry for my late response. Thank you for all of your patience while waiting for a reply. I just wanted to make sure that your issue is addressed. I am terribly sorry to hear that you have had such a hard time with this! I would love to look into this issue further and help find a solution for you. First off, I have some questions I’d like to ask you.

  • Do you still need help with this issue?

  • What troubleshooting steps have you done thus far? 

  • Have you tried to restart your device if you haven’t already?

  • If the restart didn’t work, have you tried to do a Factory Reset? This would be a last resort option, but would clear out issues and the device would essentially be ‘brand new’

Please let me know if you need further assistance. 

Best Regards,

Brad.

Johnnyrsa1
Community Member

Yes, still need help with the issue. I’ve change the settings in the Google Home app for sensitivity/alerts. Will see today if it improves

Thanks Brad.

Here is what I have tried.

  • Restarted multiple times.
  • Added and dropped zones. Added back several times.
  • Raised the sensitivity to high.
  • Tried with the other camera I have. Same issue. Both cameras up to date on software.

I have ordered a 10 meter power cord for it as many feel this is a battery mode problem that doesn't exists in powered mode. Cord should be here Tuesday though Google emailed me Saturday and told me it was delivered. It was not and UPS tracking shows it to still be in transit.

 

psunok
Community Member

I agree, not very happy about when it starts to record -  Google needs to fix this soon - makes the product unusable 

DA42
Community Member

I agree, when it’s running on battery. I did some experiments with a duster on a long pole, unplugged the motion detection never did, only worked when plugged In. I’ve left it plugged in for now, will see what happens in the real time. 
Of course the short cord and non-weather-proof plug are a whole other issue…

mdr2
Community Member

I agree with everyone here.  Just about every one of the clips my doorbell records does not have the first 1-3 seconds of the action.   How any company can release a new product in 2021 that doesn't have a pre-record of about 4 seconds is beyond me.  Did they higher a team of designers that had never worked with a security camera before?   BIG BIG embarrassment for Google in my opinion.

rmrussell1970
Community Member

Update: the cable arrived last night and I got it wired in before going to bed. This ABSOLUTELY corrected the motion detection issue. The camera is behaving like a security camera should now. Downside to this, the cable was $45 on top of the money I spent for the two cameras. Google, if you're reading this, whatever you are doing when in battery mode for motion detection is making the camera useless. The camera has the ability to work correctly so please fix this even if it's including the power cable in the purchase. Which brings me to item #2, don't supposed you would kick in another 10meter cable to me free of charge for the other camera and this diagnosis? 😄 

 

Thank you for the update.