Google Hub will not stream Nest Camera requires reboot

[rmazz76]

I have 4 Nest Outdoor Cameras that I stream to Google Hubs (1 MAX and 2 Mini) inside my home. I have been doing this for years with no issue. About 2 weeks ago a problem started happening where all of my Google Hubs (Max and Mini) will stream my Nest Camera (Old Nest Model, New Battery Models and Old Nest Doorbell) for a while and then just stop streaming and return to the home screen. From that point on, if you tell it to stream the camera again it will say it is doing it and then it returns to the home screen. If you try to do it via screen it says on the screen connecting for a while and then goes back to the home screen. The only way to resolve this is to pull the power cord or reboot from Home App and then it works fine for a little while and eventually starts this whole thing over again. I have tried Factory Defaulting the Google Hubs, I have used multiple hubs, I have tried streaming different cameras, I have tried resetting the cameras.....nothing works.

So every day I have to reboot the Hub about 10-15 times in order to stream from cameras.

Anyone else see this behavior?

[Hotdog2000]

I have this same problem.  I've had my Max hub for two years, no issue with front door camera.  I recently added a front camera with flood light over the garage and a mini hub for the bedroom.  This morning, I asked the hub max to show me the camera over the garage.  It says sure, then nothing.  I'm sad to see hear you have tryed a few things with no success.  If I had to do it all over again, I wish I would have saved my money and spent it on other things.  The technology is not up to par in my opinion and such a time waster now...

[Juni]

Hi folks,

Thanks for posting here in the Google Nest Community.

I know how it feels when something isn’t working as it should, so let’s get this resolved. Could you both try to do a sequential reboot. First, unplug your Nest displays for 30 seconds, then do the same thing on your Wi-Fi router to refresh both devices and your Wi-Fi signal.

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,

Juni

[Hotdog2000]

Hi Juni,

Later that day, I went ahead and pulled the power cord to my Google Hub Max and waited about a minute. Plugged it back in and it seems the hub is streaming the driveway camera with no issue now. I'll keep an eye on it. I know the other poster mentioned he did try a few things but none worked. That made me feel like it was futile to even try. Anyway, it seems all is good for now. I appreciate your reaching out to us for sure. I'll keep you posted if anything changes but for now, I'm super happy with everything.

Thanks again, Keith

[rmazz76]

Thanks for the response. I do a Hub reboot about 8-10 times a day to bring it back to working condition. After about 1-2 hours it goes into the failed state again.  Remember this happens on all 3 Hubs and no matter what Nest camera I use. The hub never loses Internet it just can’t stream any longer until I reboot.

[MplsCustomer]

This Google Nest Help page says:

"To save power, the live video stream will stop automatically:

• Live video from battery-powered Nest cameras and doorbells stops after 5 minutes.
• Live video from wired Nest cameras and doorbells stops after 12 hours."

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9137164?hl=en-CA#zippy=

[rmazz76]

So the issue I had was it would stop after 20min and as long as 2 hours before I had to reboot the Hub. I might have figured it out though, it had to do with weak WiFi. I moved the Google Wi-Fi closer after discovering the video stream in the Home App was freezing every few minutes. After a while of freezing is when the Hub just goes crazy. Now the WiFi is stronger and the Camera stopped freezing in the Home app and the Hub has been running all day 6+ hours without issue.

[Hotdog2000]

Thanks for the update rmazz76.  Ironically, I moved a bunch of items stored above my garage that I felt might be interfering with the WiFi signal getting to my driveway camera.  The Nest camera/floodlight unit is located about 4' above my garage door.  I performed a power on reset for both the Nest camera and then the router.  So far all is well but I've been here before.  Time will tell. 

[Juni]

HI folks,

I'm glad the steps ended up with a positive result. I'll keep this thread open for 3 more days, so we can observe your devices. Let us know if you need further help by updating this thread, and we're glad to assist you further.

Regards,

Juni

[rmazz76]

One lock up of the Hub streaming Nest camera happened today. Still much better than the 8-10 daily I was having. I believe there is a buffer issue with the streaming on the Hub that caused the issue. I think the poor Wi-Fi causing the camera to disconnect periodically caused the issue. I will still continue to monitor as we are not 100% resolved yet.

[Juni]

Hi rmazz76,

Got it. Its good to know that we are getting better result. Give us a shout if something comes up — you know where to find us.

Cheers,

Juni

[Jake]

Hey there,

I wanted to check in and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know, as I would be happy to assist, and answer any questions you may have.

Best regards,
Jake

[rmazz76]

I am still having the same issue except less often. I went from the Hub Max locking up 10+ times a day to now only 2-4 times a day. The only way to fix the lockup is to reboot the Hub Max.

Again, to lay out what is happening, I use Hub MAX and Hub Mini to stream the Nest cameras outside my home. I have done this for years with no issue. I also have Google WiFi running all of it. When streaming, I noticed the screen is freezing video every so often and then catching back up. Sometimes it freezes and then goes back to the Main screen. At this point, if you tell it to "show the front camera" it says OK, streaming the front camera and then immediately goes back to the main screen and doesn't show the camera. If I reboot the Hub, and try again the camera streams fine. After 20,30 minutes or even and hour later the Hub goes back to the main screen. An interesting note, When you don't stream the outside camera and sit on the main screen the green led shows you that the Hub camera is active. When you tell it to stream the front camera and it does the green LED goes off indicating it is not capturing the Hubs camera....normal.....but when the freeze up happens and it returns to the main screen, the Green LED does not come back on and the built-in camera does not record the hub's video. This is how I can tell it is locked up by looking at it, if its on the home screen and no green LED then it is locked up. After a reboot we start the game all over again.

[Hotdog2000]

Problem seemed to have gone away.  Then last night I had to reboot the Google Hub Max once.  That said, it's much better than before.  I believe my issue was my wi-fi signal.  Since I moved all the stuff above the garage and moved my router in the kitchen pantry higher next to the ceiling, all seems to be acting much better.  I use an App called AR Wi-fi ($3.49/yr.) found in the Apple store.   My Ping rate improved after making the above adjustments.  Just make sure the App is on the same frequency your checking.  Just for reference, I have AT&T fiber 1Gbps, using their Moden/Router a MAC 320-500 Wi-fi 6.  It's located on one end of the house in my office.  I ran an ethernet cable 70' to a TP-Link Archer 11000 Wi-fi 6 router located in the kitchen pantry on the other side of the house.  I configured the TP-Link Archer 11000 router as an access point.  The signal must go through a ceiling a couple of walls and the outside brick wall.  The kitchen pantry access point is 35' from the garage outdoor camera.   Ping rate and signal is pretty good but every once in awhile the ping rate jumps from 5ms to Infinity but comes back down immediately.   The ping rate is around mostly 5 - 15ms.  I'm not sure I'm out of the woods yet!     

[Muddi]

Hey rmazz76,

We appreciate your efforts. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information. I’ll keep an eye out for your response specifically, so please let me know once you’ve filled it out.

@Hotdog2000: It's good to know that your issue has been resolved, and thanks for sharing the steps that you've done to fixed it.

Cheers,

Muddi

[rmazz76]

@MuddiI have filled out the form.

[Juni]

Hi there,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. Please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.
 

Best,

Juni