Nest battery doorbell not recording at night

[RJ81]

Hi,

My Nest battery doorbell camera does not record at night. I read a previous blog about the same issue. There wasn’t a resolution in the comments. I have called Google support, tried all of their suggestions, and nothing worked. It seemed to fail just after the warranty expired. 

Has anyone found a fix over the past year? 

I don’t want to have to replace an expensive device. It’s disappointing that Google would sell a product that does not perform as advertised. I got over the battery not performing to the specs listed but the device not recording at night is a bit ridiculous. 

[MplsCustomer]

@RJ81 

We have had the battery camera for 20 months now, plugged in with the optional power cable. Because it is plugged in and because we have a Nest Aware Plus subscription, it records everything. However, at night it rarely flags anything as an "event".

If we unplug our camera so that it is running on battery power, it is in "Idle" mode and does not detect and record when we walk in front of the camera. If we ran it on battery power at night, I don't think it would record any events because it wouldn't detect them as events.

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry for the delay. I just want to check if you managed to see the response above. Please let us know if you still have questions or concerns, as I'll be willing to assist you further.

I appreciate your help, @MplsCustomer.

Best,

Jenelyn

[RJ81]

I did. I have tried all those things. It stops recording at about 7 or 8pm and doesn’t pick back up again until 5 or 6am. I can walk outside during those hours and it won’t record. It’s like it is on a schedule. 

I do pay for a subscription too. I haven’t tried wiring it but that is a moot point. It stops recording  like it’s on a schedule, sometimes it picks something up but not often. I know it can record at night because I used to get notifications. For example if I took my dog out at 3am it would notify me and save it to the history. 

I have spent over 5 hours on the phone with google customer support, repeating myself and trying the same things. 

One representative said even though the device is out of warranty I could exchange under an exception. When I called back I was told there was nothing I could do. 

It once worked and then stopped. I’ve read other posts about this issue and doesn’t sound like anyone found a solution. I believe they said they just bought a different brand. 

[Mai93]

Hin. I have the same issue . I have the battery nest doorbell. Few months ago I got my car stolen and when I try to check the history I noticed it didn’t record anything . Then after checking all the night event from previous days I realize that it doesn’t record anything at all from 12 am to 6 am which I found it unfair , since the purpose of the doorbell was for more security. I called like 5 times to costumer service . They didn’t even know what to say . Also I pay the subscription . Everything still the same , and honestly I feel I should be selling it and switching to Ring . Disappointed 

[RJ81]

I feel the same way. It is maddening the amount of effort I have to put in to try to fix the issue. Especially, since I paid for a product that has not done what it was advertised to do. My battery also sucks. Even if I change all the setting to battery saving, it still only last a few days. Such a waste of money. 

[MplsCustomer]

If the battery camera is running on battery power, it only records events it detects. Further, it is normally in "Idle" mode and has to wake up to detect and record an event. I'm glad our battery camera is plugged in with the optional power cable and so is "Live" all the time. It rarely detects events at night, but because it is plugged in and we have a Nest Aware Plus subscription, it records all night even if it doesn't flag events.

[RJ81]

Thanks for the suggestion. I haven’t wired it and I don’t plan to. It once worked at night so, I know it can record at night. It one day just stopped and went on to some weird schedule, where it doesn’t record during a set period of time at night. 

For example, I walked outside at midnight this morning and it didn’t pick me or my dog up. 

I have tried everything but wiring it. I am not going to have something wired that is not currently functioning as advertised. 

[Lance_L]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for posting in our Community. I'm sorry for the delay and to hear you're having trouble with this. Let’s check it out.

Please adjust the wake up sensitivity of the Nest doorbell and let me know if it makes any difference.

Follow the steps below:

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Favorites or Devices .
3. Tap and hold your device's tile More Settings .
4. Tap Video Wake-up sensitivity.
5. Choose the High setting.

Keep in mind that setting the wake-up sensitivity to High will use more battery.

Let me know how it goes.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer and Jenelyn.

Best,

Lance

[Lance_L]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Have you had the chance to try the suggestion above? If yes, how is it?

Regards,

Lance

[RJ81]

Yes, I have tried all these things. When this initially happened I spent a crazy amount of hours with customer support. Nothing has worked. It works when it wants to work which is rare. I still believe it is stuck on some weird schedule. It typically stops recording between 8pm and 6am give or take. The battery also doesn’t last as long as advertised. The product and customer service have been very disappointing. If it was not going to record at night, that should have been advertised. 

[Lance_L]

Hi RJ81, 

Since the steps didn't work on your end, I'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information, then let me know once you're done.

Best,

Lance

[Lance_L]

Hello RJ81, 

Our team would like to take a look at this. Could you fill out this form and let us know once you're done?

Regards,

Lance

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi there,

Chiming in — I just want to check if you managed to fill out the form. Please let us know once done.

I appreciate the help, Lance.

Kind regards,

Jenelyn