Nest Hub Max Camera Not Streaming to Apps

[Kira]

I have 4 Hub Maxes in my home and for 3 of them the camera is not working so I can see what is being viewed in the Google Home or Nest apps. The green camera light is on, showing that they are currently active/filming, but nothing is streaming through to the apps. The other Hub Max is working properly, as well as my Nest Doorbell and exterior Google camera. In the apps, the view of what they are seeing is just black and they can't connect. All 4 Hub Maxes are running Fuchsia Version 9.20221010.3.176

For troubleshooting, I have already done the following:

1. Unplugged the Hubs and left them for a few minutes before plugging them back in and letting them reboot. The camera then works in the apps, but after a bit they go back off.
2. Unplugged the Google Fiber Wifi router from everything, let it reboot and reconnect. Once the Hubs are active again, the camera then works in the apps, but after a bit they go back off.
3. Deleted the Google Home app from my iPhone and re-downloaded the app. Deleted the Hubs from the Google Home app, reset each Hub to factory settings, and set them up as New Devices in the Google Home app. Again, the camera then works in the apps, but after a bit they go back off.
4. Updated the DNS of my Google Fiber Wifi router to Primary Server 8.8.8.8 and Secondary Server to 8.8.4.4

I have now spent about 5 hours troubleshooting and communicating directly with Google Help. They have not been able to provide me with any ideas of what to try besides what I have already done on my own, so I have just been doing the same things with them and nothing is working to get these cameras back working.

Has anyone else had this issue and gotten your cameras working again???

[Peener]

I was able to share some good news about 2 weeks ago, my Nest Hub Cam was again visible in the Nest app. Unfortunately, a couple of days ago, I started receiving short message on the Nest Hub screen about the cam with the cam then dropping out shortly (green LED off). But the camera came back. This morning I have reset the Nest Hub (10 secs volume buttons) and guess what: I can't install the cam any longer. I come up to the scanning of the QR code but then the Google Home app doesn't find the camera. Back to square zero☹. I haven't reinstalled the Google Home app on my iPad yet. I will try that later and keep you posted.

[Sparky621]

I'm beginning to think that the support team on here are bots as on reading through this thread I've seen the same replies regurgitated multiple times without any hope of a resolution. If resetting,  reinstalling after factory reset etc isn't working for so many people there's obviously something wrong with either the firmware of the device or at the server end. Google your devices are meant to be premium, we pay a premium price for them so we have every right to expect a premium service. I too am having issues with the Hub Max camera going "off line" (strange that it's only the camera with the rest of the device working perfectly?). I'm also wasting money paying the "Nest Aware" subscription subscription!

[o-man]

I replied to Maddy but I think it's important I repost it as a new message.

All my Google home stuff is on eBay already. I'm not waiting nearly a year for over £500 worth of Tech to work properly. It's clear that the issue is with Google and it is unacceptable that it's taking so long to implement a fix. 

I'm pretty sure this will be in breach of my consumer rights and I would encourage people to report it to citizens advice like I am. I'm sure it won't amount to anything but if it puts pressure on Google to provide consumers with satisfactory service then it's a win for us! 

Farewell Google, hello Alexa! 

[Captain565]

It gets to a point of that as a consumer you ask yourself why you have become google tech support. This forum is an absolute joke filled with consumers with the exact same issues. They are fed the same canned, scripted responses that basically have you rip down, and rebuild your network. Yes, the problem always seems to be the client, no matter how many of those clients have identical issues. The people that work these forums are for the most part useless, and I would bet more than a few know the contortions they ask is to do will not work! I have only a couple of Nest Audio, and 2 Nest Hub Max left at one house, and 2 nest Audio at the other house.

They have all been listed on marketplace as of yesterday.

I canceled both Nest aware subscriptions, and you tube music is next. I am fed up with paying them to be their beta tester, tech support, and Guinea Pig.

Never going back…ever

[Captain565]

Good for you!

[Euro]

Just curious though...

The camera for all Google devices work or not work for you?

Or is it just the nest hub max?

For example.  I have 2 Nest IQ outdoor and 2 indoor cameras. A first gen nest doorbell. These give me no issue (knock on wood). The only thing I have an issue with is the Max hub.  I also have a regular hub, 3 protects and the thermostat. No issues there. 

The only thing I can think of is how much bandwidth do you folks have for your home connection? I am running a 1gb connection. Could it be that the throughput of your internet can't handle the video stream?  Just a shot in the dark. Since Google is not coming up with a solution....

[Captain565]

Thanks for contacting the unofficial google support. Since the actual google support can’t answer what time it is, allow me.

The flagship Nest Hub Max has basically been cratered with regards to the Nest Cam.

here’s how it goes…

install Nest Hub Max…done.

oops…now you have to set up the Nest Cam from the Nest Hub Max…because that makes sense.

it gets better.

The Cam from the NHM need a “connecting assistant” to magically feed the camera/software the network info that was previously staged to get the NHM going…YAH THAT MAKES SENSE!

sometimes the connecting assistant works, sometimes it doesn’t.

it gets better

then if by some heavenly miracle it actually works, the camera will go offline within minutes. Some seem to stay connected for a day.

So google brain surgeons in support have been told to inform clients that it’s likely on their end. Rip your network apart. Disconnect everything, and try again.

that is just the problem with the cam.

I have the 1st gen hello door bell. No issues. They recommend unplugging it while installing the NHM camera…because that’s easy right.

”we are working on a fix” you will find that answer going back to mid 2022.

Even though the camera fails, there is some good news however. You need not worry about your nest aware subscription, as Google will continue to hammer you for the costs regardless.

think about this tragic Nest Cam integration to Google home for one sec.

it’s a disaster, google home app for nest cams is absolute garbage.

Buy the product and go away!

that’s google, and they suck badly.

thanks for contacting technical support, we hope you enjoy the endless hrs of frustration trying to get your over prices subscriptions based products working…actually, we could care less.

[Thecore]

My issue is only the nest hub max.  In my home, I have 3 regular nest cams and 2 nest hub max devices.  The nest cams work perfectly, but the 2 nest hub max devices can't stream live video.  I've also got a ton of bandwidth, and no issues with anything else.  Google seems to have known about this issue for some time now and either 1) doesn't know how to fix it, 2) doesn't want to fix it, or 3) is going through an endless development break/fix cycle for this issue.  I am leaning towards #2 at this point.  They don't want to deal with it 

[layer0]

Same here. All works expect all the Nest hubs . I know this is unofficial support but it is we’re official support sends customers. Google is really a cheap

show .

[NestForums]

Hello.  I reported this issue several months ago.  Has there been any progress on a fix?

Thanks

[Captain565]

Hahahahahahahahhahahhahhahahhahahhahahhahahhahahahhahahhahahhahhahahhahhahahahhahahhaha!

[Ianl85]

Have there been any movements at all with this issue?

I purchased brand new hub max mainly for the camera which is useless to me now.

I have done all the troubleshooting steps and have submitted logs from the device and the Google Home app

[Captain565]

Echo Show 8 is on sale right now.

just installed 2 last night, and work like a charm. Also got 2 Echo dots, 4 Echo’s 4th Gen, and grabbed an Echo Studio for good measure.

I will be cancelling YouTube music subscription now as it was a poorly implemented service. Google music was so much better. Google used to be so much better. I have sold almost all my google stuff now, and am now only left with 2 Hub Max units that we can still use for Duo video calls…after a reboot of course, because of the camera issues. I am done with google anything but the most minimum. I will use a blocker for YouTube, and call it a day. I know it costs a lot of money to switch platform, but someone will bye your google stuff, and the learning curve to Alexa is quite easy. Amazon actually provides service, and you can talk to someone as well. What I love most is the fact that I can now drop in on other rooms, and don’t have to deal with googles “broadcast” garbage any longer as well. Google pissed their lead away in this market by consistently selling broken stuff, and not even trying to fix it. Blatant garbage service. Try this for a test as well…ask google to play something from YouTube Music, then connect Bluetooth, and play the same song from your phone. Massive volume difference via the phone (louder).

It’s another issue they have…and there is a fox coming.

Google and Nest integrations are a failure in epic proportions. 
When you install any Echo Show devices, there is no double install bull**bleep** for the camera!

Btw…I also set up a home theater via 2 Echo 4’s and a Firestick 4K…OMG!

Try doing that with anything Google!

Done, and NEVER going back.

Just purchasing for my summer house right now, and I know what I am not getting.

Good luck

[NestForums]

Captain565, I agree with EVERYTHING you said!   I have also reached my limit with Google Hardware.  There are 3 separate cases that I have had open with Google since March and April (2023) including this one.  Still not resolved.  I've stopped relying on Nest Hub for camera video.  I've stopped using the photo frame on the Hubs since Google pushed out the firmware update that broke them.  You can only use your Google photos for a slideshow IF you have the Google Photo app on your phone and IF you backup your photos to Google photos cloud.  The third support case, I won't even go into.

I've taken my exodus one step further than yours.  I'm migrating all of my home automation from Google and Alexa into Home Assistant and replacing hardware such as lights, plugs, etc; with Zigbee devices so I'm don't have to depend on Google, Amazon, Wyze, etc; to keep their **bleep** cloud platform up.  Every other month I get a failed notice for a routine because the device is offline.  It couldn't communicate with Google Cloud or Wyze or Feit, etc.

I was so impressed with Google when I started making my house a smart home, but the last 5-6 years with them pushing out untested updates that break 3rd party devices or stealing source code from other vendors that force them to remove features from Google Home .... enough.  I'm done.

[Captain565]

Very interesting. Perhaps I will look at home assistant as well. Does HA cost?

[NestForums]

I'm just getting started with it.  I did a proof of concept first by installing vmware player on Windows 11 and creating a virtual machine to run HA.  That's free. 

The experts say it is best to run it on a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4.  4 being the latest and greatest version.  The real dollar amount will be how much cpu & memory you want in the Pi and any add-on peripherals such as a Zigbee dongle.  The Pi I purchased last week from Amazon is "CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 8GB Extreme Kit - 128GB Edition (8GB RAM)", but the forums have said 4gb memory and 64gb storage is sufficient.  It all depends on how many devices you want run in Home Assistant.  The CanaKit was $190, but there are cheaper Pi's with less memory and storage and no case.  As low as $80 on up.

95% of my smart devices are compatible and have easy integrations into HA.  So that's why I decided to purchase the Pi.  HA will run on multiple platforms.  Virtual Machine on Windows and Linux being the cheapest.  Experience from the POC, if you're going to go the virtual machine route, put the VM on a dedicated windows box.  The issue that I had was the VM is obviously dependent on getting its resources from Windows, so if Windows has an issue (which it will. Its Windows!) such as freezing or anything that forces you to hard boot your PC, you may not be able to shutdown HA properly first.  Possible risk of corruption to the Home Assistant VM depending on what issues Windows was having.

Here's a link to HA homepage.  Regards.

https://www.home-assistant.io/

[Captain565]

I am a high level network admin. I have a spare sever in my rack at home. I just might give this a go.

thanks so much!

[NestForums]

itm's reply reminded me about another cost.  Its small.  In order to register your Nest appliances, you have to create and register a "project" with Google console.  There is a one time fee of $5.  When you run the Google Nest integration in HA, you will be directed with instructions on how to set it up.

Also if you want to access to HA from outside your home, you can sign up with Nabu Casa.  This will also allow you to integrate Amazon hardware.  You get a 30 day free trail.  If you want to subscribe its $6.50 monthly or $64 Annual.  If you are really good at networking, you can bypass Nabu Casa and setup HA external access using port forwarding I believe.  There are several YouTube tutorials on this.

Regards

[Captain565]

Lol

thanks

i was just reading about this a couple of hrs ago.

nice to know this stuff exists.

Saw a few vids about tablet consoles build in wall.

Some really cool stuff.

thanks again

[NestForums]

Great. 

If there is a way to direct message from here, I would be interested in knowing what your thoughts are for HA and if you plan on moving forward with it (VM, Pi, etc). 

I just got geofencing working today so I can setup some automations in HA for leaving and arriving home.

[itm]

That's odd, as I have never paid to create a project on the Google Developer Console. I'm based in the UK  - maybe the rules are different here?

I also don't subscribe to Nabu Casa, I use port forwarding and SSL.  Not as secure as the Nabu Casa solution but I really don't want to get into another monthly subscription which can be repriced at any time.

[itm]

I'm also a Home Assistant user. It integrates pretty well with Google Assistant, once you get the initial setup out of the way, so you can still control things with Google Assistant voice commands.

[bananamedic]

@Princesss 

Does Google have an official update on this issue, lots of suggestions that don't work, lots of threads that all seem to link back into one another in a never ending loop and lots of very, very annoyed customers! 

[layer0]

I have noticed that issues will start as soon as I see on the hub display “open goggle

home app and link account” that is the signal, after that without reboot no joy. I am

putting them on a smart socket from smart things … so I can remotely power cycle this garbage from Google. The frustrating part is their handing of customer complaints and support. Come on google fan people now tell again that the other are the bad evil guys. Microsoft does not behave like this. Almost no one does … except Google and other social things 🙂

[MSG]

Suddenly, both Nest Hub Max Cam and Nest Doorbell Battery have said at the same time today that they went offline. However, Doorbell still continues to record events and sends realtime notifications (so obviously it is not offline, but says so and doesn't give live stream) and Nest Hub Max cam still streams to Nest App and Nest Web (saying it's offline in Home App). Have no words... I don't remember even 1 month that every my device from Google worked properly. 

[ybnice]

I too am suffering the same issue with the Google Hub Max Camera showing "Offline" for a number of months now with no fix as yet grrr.  I contacted Google Support yesterday and they have sent it to the Engineering Team along with the GHT3 Number; even though over a month ago it has been posted above this has already been done and still NO fix.  I thought with the new Home App update a few days ago it would fix it but NO.  One small thing, the Camera I noticed today connects for a few minutes then nothing, offline it shows again.  In the meantime while I wait whilst Google Support Engineers scratch their heads, I look at my reliable Arlo Cameras x 3 to which all work perfectly.
PLEASE Google this has been toooooo long now - nearly 6 months for me.  In the meantime I have paid for 1 year Nest Aware Base Plan and will be pushing for a 6 month refund.

[Captain565]

Good luck with the refund! I would be surprised! As a whole, people need to see how bad google software is. Nest Cams have the most issues I have ever seen. An ironic google search will show you. I’ll say it again, practically anything else is better. I have canceled 2 Nest Aware subscriptions over the last month.

YouTube music is next, and then I’m done with this never ending torture of Google Home. I still have 2 NHM units, and love the streaming of movies, and local via Plex, but I have given up on the cameras. The joining assistant garbage was the beginning. Google integration with Nest has been an absolute disaster. Even the Nest Android TV app has all but been sacrificed, as it simply does not work. The worst part that people need to truly understand is Google messaging is nonexistent when it comes to failures. They don’t care one bit, just keep buying their garbage.

[Euro]

Just an FYI. Has been a month. No issues. (knock on wood). 

[Haley13]

I'm just joining the thread but have had the same issue for weeks. Has anyone gotten any real help, answers, or fixed issue? 

[Nester23]

I have been experiencing the same issue, exhausted all reset/restart options and issue persists. Camera works/online for some time and then goes offline. Have plugged both nest hub max & nest wifi router on a smart plug to automate the restart. Hoping for some nest hub max firmware fix. Have other cams on the wifi network and no issues with them.

[ybnice]

This is solely a firmware fix - how hard is it Google???

[NestForums]

Since I turned on notifications for this topic, I see more and more people reporting this same issue that was identified to google months ago.  The fact that it is still a major problem, especially since a large number of us have integrated these devices to be used for home security, and google STILL has not fixed it is sad to say the least.

I do not work for google, but I do know someone that is on the preview program.  I'm not sure how many people are aware of this, but the majority of the problems we've been having with Nest/Google products is because google is trying to phase out the Nest app and have everything in the google app.  Nest Aware presence sensing works great in the Nest App.  But the changes that were made to presence sensing in the google app kinda-sorta work ... sometimes.  My friend says that when he switched to the presence sensing in the google home app, Nest Aware (home/away) is automatically deactivated.  When you leave home, sometimes the google app will mark you as away and do whatever "away" routine you have set up, other times it doesn't mark you as away.  Same problem in reverse. You may be home and the app will mark you as away.  If you have a nest yale door lock that you have setup to lock automatically when your status is away... well you get the picture.  It appears that some of these changes are not restricted to the preview program and are being rolled out to the whole google community and we're the QA testers.

I'm saying this to Google.  The phrase, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" should be your motto going forward.  Not "if it ain't broke, lets find a way to break it".  Don't make changes to the functionality of the Google Home App just for the sake of making it "look pretty".

The Hub offline issue has been outstanding since April 2023. 

The Hub photo frame issue has been outstanding since April-May 2023.  Personal google photo slideshow doesn't work anymore unless you have the photo app installed on your phone and you use it to backup your photos to google photos cloud.  Is this so that we will use up our cloud space faster and we might opt to pay you to increase the size of our google drive in order to store more photos and videos?

I stated in an earlier post that months ago I stopped recommending nest/google products to people and I won't be buying any ever again until/IF google changes its track record of pushing out UN-tested updates.  Both software and firmware.  And needs to improve on the turn around time for product fixes.   The only time google rushes to help the user community with fixes is when they get bad press from the news and online outlets.  Or it has a big impact on their own infrastructure.

What happened to you Google?  You used to take pride in giving us good products and good services.  SAD. 😪

[locu]

I'm experiencing the same issue.  Restarting the hub max makes it work for a brief time, but then it stops recording again shortly after.  This has been going on for a couple months now.  Eagerly awaiting a fix.

[ybnice]

We will be waiting forever - until the "Cows come Home".  No fix as yet.  Even tried to Telephone the Support for Hub but as usual can never connect, only via their Chat.  I also have the Pixel Pro Phone, can get hold of live Telephone Support there no problem.
So by the look of it Google have stopped all Telephone Support for the Nest Camera and only can contact the USELESS Chat Support- typical.  Also saying they will get back to you via Email within 5 days, 24 hours etc - guess what - get nothing, no Email reply with answers to your query

STILL NOT FIXED!!!

[Peener]

It's been months now that many people have reported an issue with seeing the internal camera of the Nest Hub Max being off line for the Nest App. The camera itself works fine (because the hub says 'good morning Luc or good evening Luc' when I pass in front of it. So, it's not a hardware problem. After numerous factory resets, reboots, reinstalling Google Home, etc. the problem is still there. Sometimes it worked for a couple of days and then I started seeing error messages about the camera appearing on the screen, green LED turning of and then finally 'gone'. When trying to re-install the Nest Cam into the Hub, all works fine but at the end of the process, it says 'something went wrong'. BTW, 'works fine' is a euphemism: it usually takes a few attempts to re-integrate the hub into the list of devices in the Google Home app. 

Now, my questions to Google are (via some users here that seem to be in close contact with Google - Princesss, Muddy, ...):

• where are you with fixing this issue?
• What is the ETA?
• Do you have all the information you need to resolve this?
• Would it help to have a testers group? I volunteer
• What else is needed?

I am currently running the following versions:

Fuchsia version: 10.20221207.2.120

Softwareversion: 51.0.24.513642888

Chromecast firmware: 1.68.353511

Google Home version: 3.2.104 (iOS) -- version history says that a completely new version will arrive in the coming weeks (will this have the fix?)

It is time to have this issue resolved and at least to inform us about the status.

[essco]

I have the same problem. First day after instaling Google Nest Max, camera was ok. On the evening, after a power failure at my home, camera is offline, no matter what I do.

[BenGunn]

Finally, I've got everything working again. This past weekend I noticed that my Nest Hub Max had updated firmware:

New: Fuchsia 11.20230306.3.134, Chromecast firmware 1.69.362882
Old: Fuchsia 10.20221207.2.109, Chromecast firmware 1.68.3535119

I had to remove the device from Google Home and then reset to factory preset (by pressing volume and and down simultaneously for 10 seconds).

When I added it again to the Google Home app, I had to activate the camera functions by scanning a QR code on the device. After this, the everything seemed to been working correctly. There was one major difference with the last time everything was working: facial recognition has been turned off due to regional regulatory restrictions. Perhaps this has something to do with why stuff wasn't working?

[essco]

I have the same versions of Fuchsia and software but only work s for one day. See above.

[Kinyl]

Why does this still happen??? Its July yet its still happening! Unacceptable having to reboot multiple times and hoping the X time it connects.

[Kinyl]

I lost count how many reboots and reinstalls I have attempted but each and every time when setting up the nest cam it ends with "There was an problem communicating with google" "Try again"