Camera not able to play recorded events

[FixitPlease17]

Hi everyone!   

Arrrrrrrgh!!  

I can see that I have events recorded, but I cannot play them.  

I was on the phone to “support “ for 2 1/2 hours, and I spoke to 6 different people.  

We tried: 

• WiFi is great at 5 bars   

• Recorded events, yes we see that they are there but we still cannot play the events   

• Paying for the right subscription  

So I am thinking that maybe it’s a hardware problem—maybe they can send all new cameras if they can’t fix it.  I bought 9 of these worthless cameras after the April 8 cut off where they stopped all previous dropcam/nest.    

I am now on the Google Home app.  Very frustrating! 

Maybe they need to work with engineering if it’s a functional issue?  
Can somebody please help me? 

Hellllllllllpppp!!! 

[MplsCustomer]

@FixitPlease17 

When you talked with Support, did they explore whether the cause might be insufficient bandwidth?

The old Dropcams required a maximum upload bandwidth of 150 Kbps (Low) to 500 Kbps (Medium), while the 2nd gen Nest Cam Indoor can use as much as 1,200 Kbps if set to High quality, and the 2nd gen battery camera uses between 700 Kbps (High) to 1,000 Kbps (Max).

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9245832

[FixitPlease17]

Thank you so much!

Yes, they went into my phone and saw for themselves that bandwidth is not the issue either. I have more than enough bandwidth.

In essence, I have nine brand new Google nest cameras that I was forced to buy, and they’re all useless because I cannot play back. 

Thanks again!  

Any other ideas please?  

[MplsCustomer]

@FixitPlease17 

What happens when you try to play clips for events?

[FixitPlease17]

I can see the clip, (in Activities and in each camera).  I can also see the length and time of the clip (usually seconds), and even the tiny previews window show some of the clip at a fast pace.  I can move up and down the timeline and see the quick previews. 

But when I stop at an activity or toggle between them, the picture is frozen. Even when I hit play.  The seconds don’t move either.  The pause doesn’t do anything either. 

It doesn’t even show the spinning wheel. Just frozen. 

Speaking of, I don’t have the issue that others have, which is that any of the cameras spin. I have good Wi-Fi and bandwidth, and have tried different connections.

And I can view live no problem.  Just none of the recordings—which is the main point of these cameras. 

Doesn’t work on my laptop either. 

I have also deleted and reinstalled the Google Home app. 

So frustrating!  

[FixitPlease17]

PS:  it also doesn’t play when there is no events.  

[MplsCustomer]

@FixitPlease17 

Wow. Well, if it were a hardware problem, that would mean you have nine faulty cameras, which is possible but seems improbable.

And if you were getting the spinning wheel, that perhaps might point to a bandwidth issue on your internet connection.

So that seems to point to an issue on Google Nest's servers. Based on other posts in this forum, it seems that sometimes a Google Nest defect corrupts something on a customer's Google Nest "home/structure", and the only recourse (since Google Nest either can't or won't fix a customer's corrupted "home/structure" on their servers) is for the customer to remove all of their Google Nest devices, factory reset them, and reinstall them in a new Google Nest "home/structure" (and get their Nest Aware subscription moved).

I'm not recommending this, but if you have the time and inclination, you could try creating a new Google Nest "home/structure", and remove, factory reset, and install one of your cameras in that Google Nest "home/structure", and see if the problem persists there. Since there would be no Nest Aware subscription in that "home/structure", you'd only be able to check clips for events in the most recent 3 hours. If the camera works there, that would seem to indicate a corrupted "home/structure", but since Google Nest does not seem to ever fix such corrupted "homes", the burden would be on you to move all your devices to that new "home/structure".

I wish I had a better suggestion. Maybe another customer will chime in on this.

[FixitPlease17]

It took a while, but I removed and reset all of the cameras,  I reset my wifi too.  Nothing changed.   It was worth trying.  I also restarted my phone.  And uninstalled/reinstalled the GH a

It was worth trying though, so thank you. 

[mdr2]

Hello,  there is a lot in this thread but maybe  here are a few things to try...

#1 I know it is a pain but as a trouble shooting step how about unplugging the power from maybe 6 of the cameras and see if anything changes.

#2 Can you get someone else's phone and install the app and see if it works?

#3 what happens when you go home.google.com from your computer browser and try and view the recorded events?  Does it still show black?

#4 just confirming these cameras are in the U.S.?

#5 what kind of WIFI router do you have?   Some people report they have to turn off the IPV6 feature of the router for the Nest Cams to work properly.

I hope this helps you figure this out.

[FixitPlease17]

Thank you for chiming in and trying to help!Thank you for chiming in and trying to help!

#1. I did that when I did the above with mplscustomer 

#2.  Now that’s a great idea, I’ll do that in the next couple of days
#3.  The laptop has the same issue, unrecorded events, and in regular view. 
#4. Cameras are in the US indeed. 
#5. No idea.  I will probably need to engage somebody to help. Not sure how to find a technician like that. Hm.  Any ideas, please? 

thanks again for all your suggestions!

[ByronP · Accepted solution]

Hi Folks,

Thank you for posting. I'm sorry that the new cameras didn't play the recorded events; this could be frustrating when it is supposed to be the main purpose of the cameras. I really appreciate the help, @MplsCustomer and @mdr2.

For this concern, if you really tried to do the previous steps and they didn't work, please fill out this form, and our specialist will assist you with your issue.

Let me know once you're done.

Regards,

Byron

[FixitPlease17]

Thank you, Byron. I filled out the form.

[FixitPlease17]

Hi Bryon,

Thanks for jumping in here. 

I have 3 Nest cameras on the regular Nest app that have worked great for years (my Dropcams were fantastic too, but I had to dump them unfortunately on April 8).

Maybe we can switch these new Nest cameras off the Google Home onto the regular Nest app?  If the new Nest cameras don’t work on the Nest app, maybe we can exchange the new ones for older an older model. 

Is Google’s plan to phase out the Nest app in favor of this Google Home app?).

Thank you in advance. 

[ByronP]

Hi FixitPlease17,

Thanks for the details, sorry for the delayed response. We appreciate you filling out the form.

To help with your Nest camera concerns, can you share some specific feedback?

This will help us improve the Google Home App and explore other options.

Regards,

Byron

[FixitPlease17]

Hi!  I filled out your feedback form.

By the way, I opened a ticket via the app 5 days ago, and also also filled out the form you suggested i fill out. Still, nobody has contacted me to help fix this mess.