Nest Camera Battery keeps going offline

[thegios]

As per subject, every day, especially at night, camera goes offline a couple of times. Anyone else?

[gilleslibre]

I had a similar problem with one of my cameras, I corrected it with a wifi extender positionned partway between my router and the camera. 

[thegios]

Cannot be a router issue: camera is right in front of the router

[thegios]

Pls help with this issue: every night the notification wakes me up at least twice!

[zoeuvre]

Hi folks,

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear that your Nest Cameras are going offline intermittently. Let me take a look at this for you. A few questions: 

1. What model of Nest camera do you have?
2. When did the issue start?
3. Are you getting any error messages?
4. How far is the camera from the router?
5. Do you have other Nest devices in the house?
6. Are there other devices connected to the same Wi-Fi where the camera is connected to?
7. Can the camera find other Wi-Fi networks?
8. Are there devices or appliances (such as baby monitors, microwaves, cordless phones, etc.) near the camera?
9. Do other devices experience slow internet speeds?
10. What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
11. For cameras with status light turned off, have you tried to move the camera to a different power outlet?
    • Does the power outlet have a switch?
12. What Wi-Fi frequency band do you try to connect to (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz)?
13. Has the camera ever successfully connected to this network?
    • Probe for recent network changes like a new router or a recent move.
    • Probe for changes to the network name or password changes.
14. What is the make and model of your router?
    • Check the Wi-Fi networks that are incompatible or aren’t recommended with Nest products.
15. Does the camera have a subscription?
16. Where is the camera located? If located in a hard-to-reach place:
    • Do you have a ladder?
    • Are you comfortable climbing up to get the camera?

Keep us posted. 

Best,

Zoe

[thegios]

Another list of useless questions.

Yet, being myself computer engineer with 30 year experience (born even before Google existed in someone's mind) here's my answers

- What model of Nest camera do you have?

Nest Camera Battery 

- When did the issue start?

Same day of installation, two weeks ago.

- Are you getting any error messages?

Yes, a notification from Google Home app that camera is offline. This happens when both camera is off (cos I am home) and when camera is on (cos I am outside). When this happens there is no way to turn on live streaming cos camera is unreachable, for a duration that varies between 5 and 50 minutes.

- How far is the camera from the router?

5 meters.

- Do you have other Nest devices in the house?

Yes: nest learning thermostat and nest speaker, none of them ever goes offline.

- Are there other devices connected to the same Wi-Fi where the camera is connected to?

Nest thermostat always, smartphones whe I am at home, nothing else when I am outside.

- Can the camera find other Wi-Fi networks?

Those from the other apartments, all protected by password.

- Are there devices or appliances (such as baby monitors, microwaves, cordless phones, etc.) near the camera?

No.

- Do other devices experience slow internet speeds?

No, but the problem is not slow connection, the problem is that camera goes offline for no reason.

- What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

Resetting camera, resetting WiFi, disconnecting and reconnecting camera, moving camera closer, all to no avail.

- For cameras with status light turned off, have you tried to move the camera to a different power outlet? Does the power outlet have a switch?

I have a battery camera.

- What Wi-Fi frequency band do you try to connect to (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz)?

2.4 since in my region nest camera battery supports only 2.4

- Has the camera ever successfully connected to this network?

Yes of course, as a matter of fact the problem is the camera goes offline and then comes back online, all by itself.

- Probe for recent network changes like a new router or a recent move. Probe for changes to the network name or password changes.

No changes made to router, WiFi etc. Note: my former Chinese camera never got disconnected.

- What is the make and model of your router?

Asus XT8

- Check the Wi-Fi networks that are incompatible or aren’t recommended with Nest products.

All is compatible.

- Does the camera have a subscription?

Yes, one month free.

- Where is the camera located?

On a wall at 2 meters from floor.

[thegios]

Any news here? Camera behaved for a couple of weeks but yesterday started again to go offline (three times in less than 24 hours).

[MplsCustomer]

@thegios 

Have you tried contacting Support?  Perhaps you have a defective camera.  We've had a battery camera (plugged in) for 2-1/2 years, and it does not go offline.

1. Go to https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp.
2. Select a category/product family, and type in a brief description of the issue, then click "Next".
3. Click "Other", then click "Next step".
4. Under "Resources", just click "Next step". (Clicking one of the listed links will bring up a Help page page.)
5. Under "Contact options", choose to get a phone call or chat with the team, depending on availability in your country

[thegios]

@MplsCustomer why are people here asking for lots of information then?
Anyhow yes I did contact them and eventually they admitted there was a server issue sending cameras offline. I contacted them again yesterday but they have not answered yet.

[ovidioj]

Hi @thegios,

Thanks for reaching out about your Nest Camera battery! You're right, it's definitely frustrating when your Nest Camera keeps going offline, even more when you just got them so let's see what I can do to fix it! Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:

Check the basics:
Make sure your camera has enough battery life.
Ensure you have a strong Wi-Fi signal where the camera is located.
Verify the camera is within its operating temperature range (usually 32°F to 140°F).
3. Restart and Reset:
Try turning the camera off and on again.
If that doesn't work, consider resetting the camera to factory settings (be sure to back up any recordings you want to save first).
App and Network Settings:
Update the Google Home app to the latest version.
Check if your router needs a firmware update.
Try temporarily disabling any VPN or ad blocker you use.
4. Include additional resources:

For more detailed instructions, you can also check out Fix Nest camera or doorbell Wi-Fi connection issues

Best regards,

Jorge. 

[MplsCustomer]

@thegios 

I'm not a technical expert, but I keep noticing that customers with offline camera issues in this forum also often seem to have mesh Wi-Fi equipment, whether from Google or another vendor. Maybe it's irrelevant; I don't know.

We have had a battery camera for over 2-1/2 years, plugged in with the optional power cable, and it only goes offline on the rare occasions when our ISP does maintenance overnight. We have an Xfinity router/modem and two Linksys routers functioning as access points, connected via ethernet cable to the Xfinity router/modem.

I'm sharing this only because there seems to have been no determination--other than standard troubleshooting steps--of what might be causing offline cameras for some customers.

In your case, it's odd that your camera "behaved for a couple of weeks" but then started going offline again, and that Google Nest told you there was a server issue sending cameras offline. Since we were not affected, I wonder if Google Nest has problems with some regions. I don't know.

[thegios]

I do have an expensive Asus mesh system, both nodes at 3 meters and in line of sights, but camera is also bound to one node, nothing in the logs showing it's a mesh issue.

In the past, months ago, there have been problems with Google servers sending cameras offline in certain regions, so I do believe it's a Google problem, given the camera is going offline also when it's s off!!!