Nest Doorbell (1st Gen, wired) offline, mostly

[KH36]

Hi community!

I have a wired Nest doorbell (1st gen) that has worked great for years. It suddenly went offline a week and a half ago (both on the Nest app and web versions). It isn't recording clips, and the doorbell won't ring, but it does have lights on, so it's getting power. I've changed nothing on my network (moving locations or adding devices). I've restarted the doorbell many times, both on the device and by cutting the breaker, and rebooted my network to no avail. I really hate to do a factory reset unless I absolutely have to. From what I've read online from people with similar issues, it didn't work. The really weird thing is that the camera comes online every 6 hours for a few minutes, then goes back offline. So it seems to be getting plenty of power and network connectivity...at least 4 times a day. Anyone have thoughts on what could be going on? The only thing I can think is it needs a new transformer, but I don't understand why the current one would be sufficient every 6 hours. What am I missing??? Is it just time for a new doorbell? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Rich_WestMids]

I had something similar which turned out to be an issue with IPv6. Since I've disabled IPv6 Router Advertisements on my LAN, my doorbell has worked flawlessly.

It took some time to find out it was my network. I narrowed it down by configuring the hotspot on my mobile with the same SSID and password as the router and turning the router off. Each time the doorbell connected to my mobile it worked.

[KH36]

Thanks @Rich_WestMids, I will try this! 

[MplsCustomer]

@KH36 

We have three 1st gen Google Nest Hello Doorbells. All three are still online and live, though a few times a year the oldest one (4-plus years) goes offline briefly (10-15 minutes) a few times a year. I don't know whether a transformer could be the cause of what you're seeing. We upgraded from a VERY old transformer to a 16V 30VA transformer a few years ago because only one of our doorbells would ring our indoor doorbell chime.

Since then, the internal battery has failed on all 3, so we've had to turn off the "Indoor chime" option to keep the doorbells from going offline for a minute whenever the doorbell button is pressed (relying instead on "Visitor announcements" on our Nest Hubs), and the black face on all 3 is peeling, so we've purchased silicone "skins" on Amazon to cover the peeling shards.

[KH36]

@MplsCustomer, yeah, my internal battery died several months back as well. The camera would go offline for several minutes when someone rang the doorbell, so I had to turn off my indoor chime, too. This seems to be happening separate from that, and I just can't figure it out. I'm going to test the voltage of the transformer and try what Rich_WestMids suggested. Wish me luck! 

[MplsCustomer]

@KH36 

I wish you luck and hope it's not the doorbell that is failing further.  I hope we don't ever have to replace our Nest Hellos with the 2nd gen doorbell.