Not capturing history

[hcpolo]

I have 5 Nest Cam (battery) set up around my home. More so recently I am noticing the following.

- Events are not being recorded even when I know there are people right in the view of the camera.

- Live streaming sometimes take a long time to load or doesn't load at all for different cameras at different times.

- I am noticing events are only being triggered to be recorded when I open up the app on my phone and stream live the cameras.

Background info

- I am on the Nest Aware plan

- I have set all cameras to detect people, animals, motion and set specific zones where I know there would be movements (so likely not a configuration issue).

Specific questions

- Does Nest Aware plus drain more battery life of the cameras given it is constantly uploading? (note that this doesn't solve my problem if Nest can't even offer the baseline of detecting motions and flagging events for me)

- Could it be my internet bandwidth is not high enough to accommodate? But followup question here is, doesn't Nest promote itself to say it will still record events and will upload them at a later time (I am not even getting this).

- Are there any known fixes that I can do to make sure cameras actually records events as the cameras should do.

Recently I have lost a lot of trust in Nest because it can't even do what it is meant to be doing.

[MplsCustomer]

@hcpolo 

We have had a battery camera for over 2 years, plugged in with the optional power cable. Because it is plugged in, it runs on household current, not on battery power, and is "Live" and online at all times. However, if we unplug it, so that it is running on battery power, it does not wake up to detect an event even if we walk in front of the camera.

Perhaps that is at least part of the issue with your cameras not recording events, since they seem to be running on battery power.

If you have a 30-day event history "Nest Aware" subscription and battery cameras running on battery power, they are not constantly uploading; they would only upload events they detect, and will start livestreaming while  you access them in the Google Home app.

[hcpolo]

Thanks for contribution but this doesn't address the issues I am having.

[MplsCustomer]

@hcpolo 

Well, you said events are not being recorded even when people are right in the view of your cameras. That's what happens to us if our camera is unplugged and running on battery power, and other customers in this forum report similar experiences. The camera is in "Idle" mode when running on battery power and is not livestreaming, and it seems it does not easily wake up out of "Idle" mode to detect and record events.

[EmersonB]

Hello folks,

@hcpolo, thanks for reaching out here in the Community. Battery life will depend on factors including activity, temperature and selected camera settings. You can extend the battery life of your camera by adjusting video quality, length of video clips, time between recorded events and using Activity Zones to monitor specific areas.

Nest Cam (battery)

• Busy – about 1.5 months battery life (about 20–25 recorded events per day)
• Typical – about 3 months battery life (about 9–12 recorded events per day)
• Quiet – about 7 months battery life (about 2–4 recorded events per day)

Generally, most Internet plans have a lower bandwidth for upload speeds and a higher bandwidth for download speeds. 

• Upload bandwidth is used when your camera or doorbell streams to the cloud, when you  send emails, make video calls,  and other activities. 
• Download bandwidth is used when you're accessing information from the Internet, such as streaming video or music, or browsing the web.

Try restarting your Nest Cameras and Wi-Fi router and observe its behaviour.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

Regards,

Emerson

[hcpolo]

My specific question is, would Nest Awarw Plus drain my batteries faster given it is then constantly uploading feed?

[MplsCustomer]

@hcpolo 

Even if you have a Nest Aware Plus subscription, your battery camera will NOT record 24/7 UNLESS it is plugged in with the optional power cable, in which case it runs off of household current and NOT off of battery power.

We've had a battery camera since Sept. 2021, plugged in with the optional power cable, and it's been online and "Live" ever since, and the battery never drains because it's running on household current.

Note that if you add the optional power cable AFTER your camera has been installed, you'll need to remove it from the Google Home app and do a factory reset in order to configure the camera so it recognizes it's plugged in.

[EdmondB]

Hello hcpolo, 

The Nest Cam (battery) must be connected to a power source to have 24/7 video history. If your camera is battery-powered, it will only have event video history, even if you have a Nest Aware Plus subscription. 24/7 video history is not available for the Nest Doorbell (battery), even with optional wired installation. Here is a link on how to get event and 24/7 video history.

Thanks for the input, @MplsCustomer.

Best,
Edmond