battery drain when wifi is down - can't camera just hibernate?

[Prochnpj]

I put two nest cameras (battery) in a place where internet has frequent service disruptions. The major issue I am facing: whenever that happens, the battery gets drained very quickly (don’t know the reason – maybe the camera keeps trying to connect to wifi and the battery gets drained). Is there any way to avoid that? (remotely, as the cams are in a second home and we are there just a few months every year)
One of the cameras is connected to a Wasserstein solar panel, but when the battery drains to zero, the solar power is not enough to recover it.

The problem IS NOT battery usage when the camera is working. When the camera IS NOT working because wifi is down, battery gets drained quickly, in a few hours.

Probably the cameras keep searching for a network and that drains the battery. They should hibernate when that happens and try to connect every few hours, to avoid this issue.

[jtbg]

Is the service issue usually:

a) the internet service is down, but the local wifi network is still up, or

b) the local wifi network is not available?

[Prochnpj]

Usually a)

[aatienza]

Hey folks,

Prochnpj, I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with this. No worries, we'll check this out. When did it start happening? Did you make any changes to your Wi-Fi network? How far are you cameras from your Wi-Fi router? Are there devices or appliances (such as baby monitors, microwaves, cordless phones, etc.) near the cameras? What Wi-Fi frequency band do you try to connect to (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz)? Also, what troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
 

I appreciate the help, jtbg.

Thanks,
Archie

[Prochnpj]

Let me explain the problem better as my initial message was not clear: the problem is not related to wifi connection. The problem is that the internet service goes down for a few hours (sometimes as much as a whole day) quite frequently. Whenever that happens, battery gets drained quickly. So... the camera is still connected to the wifi, but there is no internet service - that's what causes the issue. When internet service is regular, battery usage is ok, everything works as expected. The problem is when there is no internet service.
So... no troubleshooting done so far as... there's nothing I could even think of in terms of troubleshooting for this type of issue.

[Brad]

@Prochnpj 

Thank you for sharing your Feature Request with us. This isn't a current feature at this time, but we’re always looking for ways to improve, and appreciate your feedback. You can send it at any time using your devices by saying, "Hey Google, send feedback," or by following the steps found here. This thread will remain open for 24 hours for any follow-up questions or concerns. 

Best regards,

Brad

[Prochnpj]

Thanks. But it's still hard to understand why the battery drains so quickly in situations like this. For me that's much more a bug that needs to be solved than a "feature" to be added... because it does make the camera useless in situations such as mine (even with the solar panel connected to the camera - once battery is empty, camera won't simply restart with the solar power next day, it keeps asking to be connected to power)

[Brad]

@Prochnpj 

Thanks for reaching out and sharing your thoughts and concerns with us. At temperatures below freezing, the lithium-ion battery in your Google Nest camera or doorbell won’t be able to charge.

The batteries in Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Doorbell (battery) have the following minimum temperature requirements:

• Minimum operating temperature: -4 °F (-20 °C)
• Minimum charging temperature: 32 °F (0 °C)

At temperatures between -4 °F (-20 °C) and 32 °F (0 °C), the battery can still power your device, but it won’t charge. It may also drain more quickly than usual. At temperatures close to -4 °F (-20 °C), your battery may have less than half the life that it has in warm weather. Check out this link for more information.
 

Best regards,

Brad

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

Checking in — we hope you've got the answer you're looking for. Let us know if you have more questions in mind. 
 

Thanks for the help here, everyone!

Best,

JT

[Prochnpj]

Thanks for all contributions here - my attempt is just to communicate to google a potential issue with the cameras. I know this is a rare situation, most cameras will always be connected to the network and this won't be an issue. But in situations like mine, this quick drain in the battery is problematic.
The situation has nothing to do with temperature (camera is in a place where temperature never gets below 50) - for some reason, when there is no internet connection for some hours, the battery drains quickly. Whatever the reason, there are probably potential solutions that would not be that hard to implement - but I agree that it may not be worth to do it as there will be very few customers with problems like mine.

[janthadeus]

Hi Prochnpj,

We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us. As a user myself, I know how you feel about this. Let’s further check this — a few questions: when did exactly the issue start? Have you tried to plug your camera to a different power outlet? Are you using the power cable that came in the box? Also, are there any kinks or frays in the cable?

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

JT

[Prochnpj]

Thanks for your input. There are a lot of people that are NOT understanding the issue and keep asking questions that are completely unrelated to the issue.
Basically: I have the cam in a place where I may be absent for 4 months. The camera is attached to a wasserstein solar panel (not to a power outlet). Everything works very well until internet or power goes away (which happens with a certain frequency there). Then... probably the camera keeps searching for a network constantly (there won't be any until power returns) and that depletes the battery. Down to zero. When the wifi / internet connection is back, the camera has zero battery - and then the solar panel becomes useless (according to the solar panel page on google store "If the battery drains completely, the camera will shut down and it will need to be brought indoors for it to charge again") and the camera won't work until I am back (and that may take months until I am back). I bought the camera with the solar panel to be able to follow the place remotely when I am away. If the power (thus the wifi) or internet is down... battery goes down to zero, camera shuts down and becomes useless even though it is connected to the solar panel. If at least the camera didn't shut down completely (which then requires someone connecting it to an outlet), the solar power would recharge it within a few days and it would be back. But no, once that happens, I have a useless camera until I am back. So that defeats completely the purpose for which I bought it.

[Prochnpj]

So a summary to the issues:
1) battery drains quickly down to zero whenever the cam can't connect to internet

2) when battery is zero, it shuts down even though it's connected to a solar power

[janthadeus]

Hey there,
 

I’m sorry for the delay here. Thanks for sharing the information with us. Let’s further investigate this — could you fill out this form and let me know once you’re done?

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

JT

[EmersonB]

Hi everyone,

@Prochnpj, we wanted to follow up and see if you were able to fill out the form? Let us know if you have additional questions.
 
I appreciate the help, JT.
 
Best,
Emerson

[AbigailF]

Hey there, 

Checking back in — have you had the chance to fill out the form?

Regards, 
Abi

[Prochnpj]

Submitted the form now- thanks

[AbigailF]

Hello Prochnpj, 

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Keep your lines open as our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. 

Also, please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Cheers, 
Abi