Nest cam with floodlight reinstall problem

[JHNI]

Installed a Nest Cam with Floodlight yesterday, all working perfectly until later the same day when It went offline and we couldn't get it back online. I deleted the camera from the app & tried to reinstall but getting stuck at  "Something went wrong.  Try connecting again. If that doesn't work, try rebooting your device or turning your phone's airplane mode on and off before trying again." 

I have tried every suggestion - reset the WiFi, restarted my phone, tried a different phone, cut power to the cam. Nothing helps.

Went back up the ladder today and tried a factory reset. Gould the button and tried - cam doesn’t beep or chime or flash te way it apparently should. Nothing.

AnnoyIngly the movement sensor picks up movement and the floodlights come on. The green light on the camera comes on and it appears to be recording but I can’t connect to it at all.

What else is left to try?

[MplsCustomer]

@JHNI 

We've had a 2nd gen battery camera for over 4 years, plugged in with the optional power cable.  That's the same camera used in the floodlight fixture, so cutting the power to the fixture simply causes the camera to run on battery power.

In my experience, performing a factory reset on any Google Nest camera often takes more than one try.  I think it's just tricky to actually depress that factory reset pin with a paperclip, especially if you're standing on a ladder.

If you're getting a green status light, that means no factory reset occurred.  You want to get a flashing blue light indicating the camera is waiting to be set up.

The factory reset instructions can be found here,  You could try again and hope that you're successful on a subsequent try.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9252162

You might also want to check the USB plug that inserts in the bottom of the camera.  Some customers have reported corrosion problems with it, and the plug seems to be rather flimsy.

[JHNI]

Thanks, I was thinking the same about the camera battery. We will try again with the factory reset button but I pressed it pretty firmly in with a screw nail head. Maybe not far enough. 

[MplsCustomer]

@JHNI 

A screw nail head may not be narrow enough.  Google Nest suggests a paperclip, thumbtack or something similar.

[jenniffert]

Hi @JHNI,

Thanks for reaching out to the community! I understand that your recently installed Nest Cam with Floodlight went offline and failed to reconnect in the app, showing the error message 'Something went wrong.' It’s understandable that this situation is inconvenient, since the floodlights and motion sensor are still working, but the camera itself won't connect or show up in the app. I appreciate the troubleshooting you've already done. No worries, I can definitely help you with this!

Before moving forward, could you confirm if the factory reset was successful, using the steps provided by @MplsCustomer? If the reset failed or if you encountered an error, please share the details so I can determine the best next step to solve this issue.

I appreciate your input, @MplsCustomer.

Please keep me posted.

Best regards,

Jenniffer