Nest Hub Max camera won’t work

[Shon]

My Nest Hub Max camera won’t work. It was working fine until about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago. I was using it for Google Duo, and also for nest camera home monitoring. Now it does not show up on my Google home or on my Google nest app. I tried resetting the router, resetting the hub max, going through all the settings, and still the camera does not work. I went through the threads listed here and it appears that many other people have had this same problem, but an earlier thread addressing the issue was closed. I could not reply to that thread and so I'm starting a new thread at this time. The problem is, I received this as a Christmas present less than 1 year ago. I do not have the receipt or proof of purchase, therefore I cannot go through the normal warranty or claim steps.

Edit: Here is the solution. Follow these steps carefully: 

1. Completely remove the nest hub Max from the Google home account

2. Reset the hub Max. You could also restart your phone for good measure. 

3. Open the Google Home app. DO NOT SELECT "SET UP GOOGLE MAX" ON THE HOME PAGE. Instead, use the "+" symbol in the top corner and then select "set up device". Follow the instructions and add the Google max to your account again. 

4. After the Google max is successfully added to your account, you will need to set up there camera again. Go back to the Google Home app homepage and in the middle of the page you will see the option to "setup hub Max camera" (or something similar). Follow those instructions and your camera should be working again. 

If this method doesn't work, another method that somebody reported trying was to uninstall all of the Google Home devices, including door locks, cameras, security, etc.  

[NearlyThere]

You have to remove the other nest cams from the home and then factory reset hubs. Then add hub back and add other cams after that. See my steps above. 

[ChipHayner]

I’m having troubles with this too. Have two Nest Cams (Battery), Nest Doorbell (Battery), and an old Dropcam Pro. Just tried to add the Home Max and am having trouble with the camera as mentioned in this thread.

[ChipHayner]

Does anyone know if you lose all historical video footage when you remove videos (particularly from home.nest.com)? I have been doing a kitchen renovation and have about a month of Timelapse that I want to be sure doesn’t get lost…

[NearlyThere]

Yes, when you remove a camera it does warn you that history will go. I actually went into one of my cameras right now and confirmed that video history only starts the day I re-added them. All other prior dates are empty - I have a nest aware subscription that holds 30 days, but I only see them since Dec 23, which is probably when I posted my steps 

[ChipHayner]

I’ll probably wait to do all of this then! Thank you for the heads up!

[Tproveau]

New Google Nest Thermostat maybe with a similar issue?

Bought a Nest Thermostat on Boxing day special and my Enbridge Gas provider had a 75 dollar rebate to go with it so I couldn't pass it up!

I tired to install it several times to my one home in the Google Home app where I have several Google products including the Nest Max display, another 7 inch nest 2nd gen display, Nest Audio speaker, Nvidia Shield, X Box, several smart light bulbs and smart plugs. Each time during setup Google Home app could connect to my Nest Thermostat, however the WIFI setup could not complete always erroring out. I called Google Support and the woman who helped me was excellent in tracking down and fixing the issue. She simply had me create a second home calling it Thermostat home and adding the Thermostat to it and then went through the entire setup process which worked this time flawlessly. She wanted to make sure everything worked well and stayed with me until she was sure all my questions were answered, so kudos to her and Google support. It took about 15 minutes initially to get a support person on the call.

I can use Google voice assistant regardless of which home is being viewed in the home app and change/check my thermostat temperature etc. She told me when troubleshooting that there were too many devices in the one Home on the Google Home App to get the setup to connect to the WIFI, so I am not sure if that relates to the Google Nest Max camera issues or not since the camera also uses the Nest App. The Thermostat and it's home showed up in the Nest App after it installed properly in the Google Home App, once the WIFI connection and Thermostat setup completed.

I am still apprehensive to buy a Nest doorbell or other Google camera because of all the issues so many have had with the Nest Max camera not working when having another Google camera installed.

Has anyone had issues with other brands of cameras messing with the Nest Max camera?

[NearlyThere]

This is exactly my experience with Google Support. They are nice, and are able to solve basic problems, but that's it. What they told you is not true. I have 54+ (approx - forgot exact count) wifi lights and several more google devices than you posted, and everything works just fine (after I tweaked it based on advice from this forum- see later). The support person who walked you through setting up two homes took the easy way out. This is absolutely a problem with Google software.  People have gotten it working by making sure Max devices are setup first. See these steps.

Now to your core question - will you face issues b/w your doorbell and nest cams? Possible. But there is a workaround I pointed you to, that makes it all work together at the end. Will you face issues because you have too many devices? No.

[Tproveau]

Thanks for the info. I thought the "too many devices" was maybe the easy way to get it working without getting to the root of the problem.

[Rockbottom8]

I returned this junk and got the smaller one. 

[nateclarkaz]

First off, this was frustrating and I spent a lot of time reading these forums and trying various  actions to get the camera to work.  I have several Google devices with cameras and it appears the Google Nest Hub Max has to be the FIRST device with a camera added to your Google Home for the camera to work.

So, to save time, here is a summary of what worked for me:

1.  Within the Google Home App, I removed all devices that had a camera.  I did NOT remove any device that did not have a camera except my smaller Google Nest Hub, just to be safe.  I have around 15 other devices.

2.  I factory reset the Google Nest Hub Max by holding both the + and - volume buttons (back right of device) until it reset.  I did the same for my Google Nest Hub, just to be safe.

3.  Within the Google Home App, using the + >>> + Set up device, I followed the instructions for setting up a new device and added the Google Nest Hub Max to my home.  There were additional options to setup the camera in the Nest App.  Verified the camera was working in both apps.

4.  Within the Google Home App, using the + >>> + Set up device, I followed the instructions for adding my smaller Google Nest Hub and other devices with cameras (outdoor, indoor, doorbell, etc.).  After adding each device with a camera, I verified they were all working.

Also note, I only Factory Reset the Google Nest Hub Max and Google Nest Hub.  Everything else I just added using the QR codes, which I saved from the initial install and the doorbell was on a blue sheet of paper that came with the device.

[NestUser4]

I have opened ticket with Google Support via a phone call. During the call they told me to reset the hub and add it back to my home and it did not work. Then they told me to reset it and add it to a new home, when I added it to new home it worked and then they told me to move the hub to the existing home and as soon as I did that it stopped working. I did that few times and same result.  Each time Google would tell me to reset and add it back to the home but each time I must be either close to the Nest Doorbell or close to one of my other Google Nest Cameras, I was on call with them for over 2 hours going through various trial and error and after that they gave up and told me that someone from their engineering team will reach out to me to get it fixed, this was about a month ago and I am still waiting for them to call me.  I have reached out to them multiple times via email and they have not responded to any of my emails.  So my only advise would be to beware of buying Google products and if they don't work make sure you can return them within the 14 day return period (Bestbuy).   I will post an update of I ever hear back from Google support in this matter. 

Goodluck.  

Ok got a response back from Google support stating that they cannot refund or replace the Hub Max as they are still trying to figure out a solution. Basically they are saying enjoy the nice expensive paper weight and thanks for giving us your money. So it seems I am stuck with this expensive display, I should have just bought the Hub (2nd Gen) for $50. Once again I would recommend that if you purchase any Google products and it does not work then immediately open a ticket with Google support and return the item within the return allowable timeframe

[Shshshshshshsh]

Same issue as everyone above.  Shockingly buggy app and connectivity considering this is Google and not some no-name company. 

I left a one star review in the App Store, it’s a small thing, but would encourage anyone else reading this to do the same.

[ludwigryan69]

Don't worry. Google will not warranty anything anyway. I've had numerous issue with my hub max including the nest cam. I get the same run around each time. But I'm not giving up! 

[LazyTripod]

I was able to get mine working by removing the 3 Nest Thermostats I have in my house.  I think there's something with the Nest Network that's causing this issue.  I think resolving it includes removing existing Nest devices that connect to that Nest network (thermostats and cameras and smoke detectors) so that effectively the Nest Hub Max is the first device to start the Nest network.   

[jamal01]

These methods did not work for me, however this worked:
1. Remove original/old nest hub max from home (don't need to reset, just remove, much less work)
2. Setup your new nest hub max
3. Add the old nest hub max back to home (should show in the bottom under other devices) 

Note: I unplugged my old devices when doing steps 1-2. No idea if it makes a difference

[DAH]

worked perfectly, thanks!

[GeoAdcock]

Thank you Shon!!! I followed your instructions and everything loaded up easily and so far so go. I waited till the both of my Nest Max Displays were installed and verified camera worked on both and then loaded the doorbell and it too worked fine. I am starting to move all the other devices over to the new home location, so I am crossing my fingers everything will move and work as expected. Again, Thank you for providing very detailed instructions 

[Wakeupwithwoody]

I've tried the steps, 2 times now and still cannot get the Nest Max Hub camera to "turn on".  I've completely deleted it, factory reset, learned it back in using "add device".  when I get to Nest Cam in the settings, and I try to turn on home monitoring features, the radial button turns on blue for 2 seconds and goes back to off.  I cannot get the camera to TURN ON.

[NearlyThere]

Might be just me, but I find it hard to know if people are trying the "accepted solution" or the more detailed one. I posted very specific notes here - if you haven't seen it.

[NestUser4]

Hi,

   I did follow the steps you have outlined with all my cameras and doorbell and with Hub Max as instructed in your detailed steps. But after doing it twice and still not working, I have left it as is. I have also opened a ticket with google support but they have gone silent and have a standard response that they have escalated the issue to senior engineer and I just have to wait without any ETA. I did ask them for a refund but they told me that they can issue any refund until the issue is fixed. My thought was is the issue is fixed then why do i need a refund and why cant I have refund/return the product and then once the issue is fixed I can purchase it again, in mean time I just have a bigger screen hub which does not perform as advertised by google. In any case, it seems like I have lost over $200 on this device and google does not want to refund the money and so I am stuck with the device. 

One thing to note is that the device did work when I added it to a new home, but as soon as I moved it back to my original home the monitoring stopped working.

Thanks again for your help. 

[NearlyThere]

I hope you don't take my post the wrong way - but almost always when someone says a specific set of detailed instructions did not work, and don't post details, the real problem is they actually missed out a step. This may not be true in your case, but I have no way of knowing. But one way to know is actually if you choose to post detailed notes on what did not work and when. In your case, you mentioned adding it to a new home worked, so the equipment is likely not faulty.

Example:

1. I said you have to make sure all other 'camera capable' nest devices need to be removed from your existing home first. A good answer to that is:

1.a: List all nest devices you own that are configured and/or powered on

1.b: confirm that you have removed all camera capable devices - your google home app should show no devices that are camera capable. Post a screenshot

1.c: Once done, factory reset your hub and add it back. At this stage (let's call it the base case), I'd like to know if your Nest camera of your hub is able to turn on.

If it fails at this stage, no point proceeding. But I don't know where it failed and at what iteration as that detail is missing. 

[NestUser4]

Nothing personal don't worry.  I did not write the steps down but i did go through them as per your instructions and that's why I did it twice just incase I might have done one of the steps wrong.  Since I have multiple cameras and they are all working fine I do not plan to redo the steps again as it does take some time to go through your steps.  But i really appreciate your help and follow up.  To answer your question, during the first go i simply removed all camera devices from my Google Home App and for the 2nd try I also reset all cameras plus remove from the Home App. 

If I do get the strength and I am bored, I may redo your steps and will sure to write down each steps and post it here.  

Thanks again for your help.  

As an FYI... Google support keeps ignore my request for refund and they just reply back stating the issue is escalates and will get back to me.  Even though I have informed them that I just want to return and get refund.  

[NearlyThere]

Sounds good. If you do choose to re-do, just do the first step (that is, remove all camera devices, post a list of devices still on the app, factory reset hub, add it back and see if the camera turns on --> base case)

Totally get your frustration in not having to do this all over again (and ever, actually, given the price of these things). 

I am surprised why you are not able to return the product if it is under warranty. That is rather terrible. Have you tried calling in?

[Waynewfarrow]

Thanks for all the responses, I have done all the above steps and the camera simply wont turn on, I believe it's something to do with the home app as the camera worked fine when it was using the Nest App. 

[Patelam]

I’ll pile on so google at least sees that our problem isn’t isolated to a single person.  I am trying to set up two physically different homes and have tried everything under the sun.  From factory resetting and removing every single smart device to creating new homes.  Adding the devices in every single combination of orders, to physically moving all devices to be 2 feet apart.  At one point or another, every camera has worked in both houses, but when combining them, something always drops out, be it a spot light, standard camera or hub max camera.  In both houses.  (I’m not trying to merge all these devices under one login, I’m helping to set up my mother in laws house with her separate login)  Why. The. Eff. Can’t it all work together????  Literally, only bought it just for that one reason.

[djgras]

I have DUO on Pixel 6 Pro and Nest hub max, same for my 81 year old mother but with a different Android smartphone. For months I am having problems either seeing her camera or her seeing me. Also very annoying, the phones or Nest hubs keep ringing for too many seconds after a video call has been accepted on any of the phones or hubs. (I have several nest hubs and nest minis v2... I am getting very disappointed after a great start.

[paul0605]

Exact same issue here. Nothing had changed. It's complaining about not being able to connect to WiFi to turn the camera on when it is connected & the rest of it is working. I tried what someone else suggested & swiping up from the bottom to turn it on. It does work which proves there isn't anything wrong with the camera or my Wifi.
Sounds like a software bug Google needs to fix!

[Pulsarsimon]

Here's the thing. 

It was working, and then stopped. 

Something changed to make it stop. 

Since I changed nothing, it's a Google issue that they should fix from their end. 

Why should users have to remove, reset, re install, etc., when it should be fixed from Google?