Person Alert False Alarms

[hannahsheldon]

Starting sometime around October 2024, one of our cameras has been false alarming close to twenty times a night. It now thinks car headlights or bugs are people. We’re going crazy and tried everything to fix it with zones. We’re thinking about just switching to another company at this point since it hasn’t been fixed yet.

 

 

[AndersC]

Hi @hannahsheldon,

Thank you for posting in the community. I'm sorry to hear one of your Nest cameras has been sending false alarms, recognizing things like car headlights or bugs as people. I understand this is definitely not the experience you expected to have. I'm happy to help.

To determine the reason why this is happening, please provide the information requested below:

• What is the model of the Nest camera experiencing the issue?
• Does the issue occur only during the night?
• Do you use email or push notifications?
• Are there other family members who can access the camera? Do they receive any notifications?
• Has the camera been moved recently?
• Have there been any changes to the Wi-Fi network?

It's important to mention that a few things can trigger unwanted alerts, such as changes in light levels, shadows moving across the frame, trees or bushes swaying near important areas, and headlights or flashing lights entering the field of view.

Please keep me posted.

Regards,

Anders

[hannahsheldon]

• What is the model of the Nest camera experiencing the issue? Nest doorbell (wired) purchased around 2021. SW version 4110055.
• Does the issue occur only during the night? Yes, this issue only occurs at night after dark
• Do you use email or push notifications? Push notifications 
• Are there other family members who can access the camera? Do they receive any notifications? Yes, other family members receive push notifications with the same false alarms
• Has the camera been moved recently? No, the camera has never been moved since initial installation. Functionality was perfectly nominal for years before this anomaly.
• Have there been any changes to the Wi-Fi network? There have never been any changes to the Wi-Fi network. After this false alarm issue began we tried factory resetting without luck.

[AndersC]

Hi @hannahsheldon,

Thank you for replying and for the information provided.

Since you mentioned having set up an activity zone, please make sure you have toggled off the notifications you don't want to receive in the sections "Out of Zone" and "In the Zone." Be sure to include any notifications that might be causing the unwanted alerts you're currently receiving. Follow the steps below:

• Select the camera with the Activity Zone that you want to edit.
• Tap Settings.
• Select Activity Zones.
• Select the notifications you don't want to receive in the sections "Out of Zone" and "In the Zone."
• Tap the check mark icon to save.

Please keep me posted.

Regards,

Anders

[hannahsheldon]

We’ve tried many combinations of activity zones without luck. Either the zone is too small to serve its detection functionality or large enough that it still false alarms many motions as a person. Even with this limited trigger zone, we had 3 person false alarms last night https://photos.app.goo.gl/wmwL5CoNpE3bJCeS9 

[AndersC]

Hi @hannahsheldon,

Thank you for confirming this information.

Since you're still experiencing this problem by getting unwanted alerts, the team would like to learn more about this behavior. When you get a chance, please fill out this form and let us know when you’re finished. We’ll have someone reach out to you via email from there.
To help us assist you better, please include the link to your Community thread and your Community username.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you need help or have more questions in the future.

Regards,

Anders

[hannahsheldon]

Form is filled out. Thank you for your help.