New Nest Hello Doorbell, 3 Nest Cameras (battery), and Thermostat Disconnecting

[ChrisP52]

I had been using the original Nest Doorbell for several years and the Nest Thermostat for many years, and they performed reliably. Several months ago I found I needed to improve the security around my home, so I purchased the 3-pack of Nest cameras (battery) and installed them. ‘They worked as expected for over a month. Next, I wanted to upgrade my 1st wired Nest doorbell with the 2nd Gen, Nest Hello version. 

I installed the Nest Hello about 3 weeks ago, and everything worked fine — video, notifications, etc. Then, I was away from home for a week, during which time two of the Nest battery cameras ran low on power and disconnected. When I returned home two days ago, I charged the two cameras and returned them to their magnetic bases. These came back online, but shortly after, all of my Nest devices started disconnecting and randomly reconnecting. While connected, though, the streams experience flicker black and soon disconnect again, except for the Nest Hello, which I’ve been unable to bring back online.

I have reset all of the cameras, but nothing changes. When I tap the camera in the app, a window opens reporting that it couldn’t connect to the server:

Error message

Retrying here and anywhere else in the app does nothing.

Searching this forum for solutions, I was alarmed to see how many users over several years have experienced the same issue and found no help from Google. Every post I read said the same thing: they completed and submitted a form on the issue, but got little help. (Many of the posts were made up until October 2023.)

Has a reliable solution been found, or do I need to return all my cameras for a refund and look into another system?

[MplsCustomer]

@ChrisP52 

I haven't seen any "SSL error" posts for Google Nest cameras and doorbells in this forum; it seems rather odd. I'm not sure that the SSL error or the flickering connections could be caused by your battery cameras needing charging.

Has anything at all changed with your Wi-Fi network or your access to the internet?

Have you tried deleting and reinstalling the Google Home app on your phone?

Have you tried restarting your 2nd gen Google Nest Doorbell by turning off its electrical circuit for a minute and turning it back on? (By the way, there is no 2nd gen Nest Hello; it's the 2nd gen Google Nest Doorbell.)

What happens if you try to access any of your cameras or doorbell using the home.google.com website?

[ChrisP52]

Same things on both app and home.google.com. I’ll try the power off suggestion later this evening. All of the battery cams have a full charge.

[thegios]

Lots of people here having disconnection problems for camera battery, myself included.

I am honestly totally fed up!!!!

Three weeks ago (one week after buying this useless camera) I reported here and on the Facebook chat that camera was going many times offline with no reason. I proved it was not my fault and eventually via chat (not here) Google confirmed it was a server side issue that was eventually solved. Camera behaved for two weeks bust since two days ago it started again going offline for minutes with no reason. I want to know where the problem is and when you will solve it, or I will return it to Amazon and make a bad review everywhere.

[ChrisP52]

I got the same response from Google that others have: “Fill out this form and send it in so that we can help.” I’ve seen this over and over, followed by lots of time wasted. I’m considering returning all for a refund. I’m not going through a useless process. I’ve had too many of those lately.

[MplsCustomer]

@ChrisP52 

The "SSL error" is what seems odd. You could try contacting Support if you can't resolve it, especially if nothing has changed on your Wi-Fi network or internet access; maybe you'll get lucky and have a quick resolution:

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.

[MplsCustomer]

@ChrisP52 

With that "SSL error," one other thing you could try is to reboot your router/modem.

[ChrisP52]

@MplsCustomer, thanks. I have tried that, as well as resetting each unit.

[sicsacol]

Hi Folks, 

@MplsCustomer I appreciate you sharing this valuable information.

@ChrisP52, have you tried the steps that MplsCustomer gave already? If yes, let me know if it works for you or if you're still having the same problem.

If trying the steps doesn't solve the problem, please fill out this form to get better support and provide more information about the issue.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[EmptyNester]

In my opinion just return the new doorbell cam for a refund and purchase one of the older Gen 1 "NEST HELLO" cameras used from an eBay seller.   That is what I ended up doing.  At some point Google will fix these issues but for now I want an easy path to success.   (just my opinion).

[ChrisP52]

I decided to try repotting both router and extender, and it worked! All cams are now live and steady. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the doorbell cam to work in landscape rather than portrait mode (how it came back on).

[ChrisP52]

rebooting

[MplsCustomer]

@ChrisP52 

I'm not sure what you mean about getting your doorbell camera to work in "landscape rather than portrait mode". There is no option for that. The 2nd gen doorbell has an aspect ratio of 3:4, so it's taller and narrower than the Nest Hello's squarer aspect ration of 4:3.

[ChrisP52]

@MplsCustomer, when it came online and until late this morning, it displayed a wide screen with a vertical image that was not the normal wide-angle. It cleared itself just before noon.

[MplsCustomer]

@ChrisP52 

Strange.  Glad it self-resolved.