Trouble Moving Cameras to New Home

[Mike-Mass]

My daughter recently moved from our house where she had her two Google wired cameras setup to watch baby.  She’s back in her house where she has two TVs with Google chromecast Tv modules, plus a Google Nest thermostat. I’ve been trying for 2 hours to get her two cameras working at her house and even tried removing the Nest thermostat. So now she has no cameras and no thermostat showing up on her “Home” window, only the two chromecast tv devices. This really sucks bc we’re trying to monitor the baby nursery and living room cameras and all we get is the Something went wrong message. Why is this so hard to do? How do I get her two cameras to work and also get the Nest thermostat working again? Is there a telephone number for google tech support?

[MplsCustomer]

@Mike-Mass 

To reach Google Nest Support you have to start with this link: https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp

Google Nest doesn't make it easy to change Wi-Fi settings. On some older cameras, you can go into Settings in the Google Nest app and select Home info | Home Wi-Fi help and update the Wi-Fi settings there: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9223711?hl=en#zippy=%2Cuse-the-nest-app

Otherwise, you need to remove the cameras from the Google Nest app while still logged onto the old Wi-Fi network, then do a factory reset, and then try re-installing.

[Mike-Mass]

So before I got your suggestions, what I read sounded like you were supposed to remove the two cameras from the other home and I did. Maybe that was a mistake.

1. Should I remove the old home as well?
2. Should I delete her current home too? All that’s showing up on her Google Home app are the two Chromecast tv modules now. Should I unplug the two Chromecast devices so they don’t interfere?

3. For some reason I can’t reinstall the Nest thermostat either. And when I go into the Nest app, there’s no provision for correcting Wi-Fi. 
4. Is there a factory reset for the two cameras? I don’t have the boxes with the scan code handy but I’m trying to use the 6-digit install code inside the camera base.

5. Why is there a Google Nest app and a Google Home app? Why aren’t all google household products on one app?

6. Wish there was a way for the cameras to search for the Wi-Fi network on their own.

This is driving us nuts. Is my only alternative to hire someone to get all these formerly working devices working again or will I be able to talk to a human tech person at google?

Thanks for hanging in there with me and trying to help. I’m 80 years old next month and I thought I could follow basic instructions pretty well LOL, but there’s no real instructions.-Mike

[MplsCustomer]

@Mike-Mass 

It's not your age; it's the product. (I'm 75.)

There are 2 apps because Google Nest decided to. The newer cameras and doorbells released starting in the autumn of 2021 work ONLY in the Google Home app and not in the Google Nest app or on the home.nest.com website.

The Nest Thermostat gets installed in the Google Home app, while the Nest Thermostat E and Nest Learning Thermostat get installed in the Google Nest app but once installed can be accessed in the Google Home app (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9274936?hl=en).

Our older cameras that work in the Google Nest app can also be viewed (but not administered) in the Google Home app. Google Nest has a beta website, https://home.google.com, where live streams of all of a customer's cameras can be viewed. And they've announced an upcoming major upgrade to the Google Home app: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Blog/Recap-Introducing-the-new-Google-Home-app-and-Nest-devic...

A Google Nest "home/structure" is a collection of Google Nest devices on the same Wi-Fi network. So your daughter's old Google Nest "home" will work only at the Wi-Fi at your house.

Google Nest's recommendation when changing Wi-Fi networks is to remove the Google Nest devices from the Google Nest app or the Google Home app (as appropriate) while still on the old Wi-Fi network, then do a factory reset, and then re-install.

So I don't think you did any harm by removing the two cameras from the other "home" (the one for the Wi-Fi at your house?).

Instructions for restarting and factory resetting cameras and doorbells can be found here: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9252162?hl=en. Instructions for restarting and factory resetting thermostats can be found here: https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9247296?hl=en-GB#zippy=

I'm not quite sure exactly how you should proceed because I don't think I know the whole situation. If your daughter's two Chromecast TV modules are in a Google Nest "home" on the Wi-Fi at her house, and are working, then I think it makes sense to try to install the cameras and thermostats there.

It would probably be better to install the cameras first and then the thermostat. Google Nest has a year-old problem where, when trying to install, the Google Nest device tries to get the Wi-Fi settings from an existing Google Nest device in the same home. I don't know whether they can get those settings from a Chromecast TGV module, since we don't have one. But if the thermostat is installed first, then the Google Nest install process regards the thermostat as an "assisting device" and tries to get the Wi-Fi settings from the thermostat, but for some reason it frequently fails if the "assisting device" is a thermostat, and Google Nest's work around is to remove the thermostat temporarily while installing other devices.  So try the cameras first.

So, you perhaps your route is to factory reset the cameras and install them in the Google Nest "home" where the Chromecast TV modules are installed. I don't know whether you also have to factory reset the Nest thermostat (we don't have one).

I'm a bit hesitant because I don't know what's going wrong right now. Your post only says you got a "something went wrong" message.

If you want to try Google Nest Support, you need to start with this link to contact them: https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp

[Mike-Mass · Accepted solution]

This morning I gave up and surprisingly enough, I contacted Google Tech Support via phone. It takes a bit to get to that point but once I did, it took 30 seconds for my phone to ring and a wonderful Technician named Maria patiently walked me thru the process. Apparently a full factory reset of the cameras was needed after I deleted them from my "Home". Have to insert a paper clip into the reset button on the underside of the camera for at least 15 seconds to see the green led turn yellow, flash and then eventually turn blue and there are audio confirmations along the way. So both cameras are now on her "Home" and working fine along with her two Chromecast TVs and the Nest Thermostat. Mission accomplished!  Thanks again for your help, all those links paid off!-Mike

[EmersonB]

Hello folks,

@Mike-Mass thanks for getting back to us and we're glad to hear that. It looks like we can consider this one complete, so I will lock the thread after 24 hours. If you're still in need of assistance, feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

Regards,
Emerson