Recently I installed a Nest Doorbell and Camera and have never had it running “correctly”. When I look into my history “video clips” that have been saved either due to motion or noise, I click on them but they just display a still picture. There is no video clip, or motion. I have not yet bought a monthly service subscription with them yet to view historic vids. I’m wondering if I should update my wifi router, its just a crappy 4 year old unit which is supplied by my cable provider, Cablevision. Wifi reception at the doorbell and the camera is 2 of 3
Wifi bars. My house is a 2 story 2500 sq. ft Colonial, my modem and router is located upstairs in a spare bedroom/office. I imagine that matters. Suggestions please, thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: apf383,

Although I have several wired cameras, I do have a Nest Wireless Camera in my garage. It worked fine for the "free" month but it was certainly not worth it to continue the monthly paid service. Now I get the single clips when there is movement. It is fine for my needs. The camera I have does seem to be a bit finicky when it comes to wireless connectivity

As far as routers; my experience level is certainly not like others here, but I would certainly invest in a newer more powerful router and associated surge suppressor. A high end router has solved so many wireless issues for me.

For a lower cost and easy to use option, check these out.
I bought a couple for inside and outside my shop and they work great.

https://www.wyzecam.com/

I have WYZE works great.

Too invested in Nest at this time. Looking for a good performing router in hopes it will cure the problem. Going to add a few more for outside. Inside camera not a concern at this time.

I use to have several Nest cameras, their alarm system, etc throughout our house. It was horribly unreliable. Always lost connection, more calls to tech support than I can remember. I sold it all on eBay. That’s all I got, sorry it’s not helpful!

You probably need to boost your wifi or relocate your router. Nest's wifi reception leaves a lot to be desired. My floodlight cam was acting just like your doorbell until I moved my router, now it works flawlessly.

I forgot to mention that I went through two Asus routers and an Orbi mesh set up trying to get the Nest system to work (to no avail).

Wireless Nest on our front portico and it works perfectly. Linksys Velop mesh system.

Two things, first it looks like you have already noticed the wi-fi issue, strong connection is important. To solve mine I added Nest smoke/co detectors and due to their mesh network my cameras no longer drop including one in a steel barn 150' away from the house, so updating your wi-fi or creating a mesh network will help greatly (you don't need to go the smoke/co route, if was just easier for me)

Second without their service, stills and live appear to be all you will get, the benefit is that Nest recently dropped their basic rate to $5/month so it's reasonable. An alternate once you get your wi-fi set is to use an old computer and software like Blue Iris as a recorder and view them remotely.

Gook luck with yours, mine do a great job of checking my horses when I'm at work.

+1. Until installing our wireless mesh grid ( Velop) WiFi was a challenge for nest..

quote:

Originally posted by Doc H.:
Wireless Nest on our front portico and it works perfectly. Linksys Velop mesh system.

Several family members have the Ring doorbell and have the history service shared with up to 10 devices. We can watch anywhere with either wireless or data plan, it is usually a 30 second to 1 minute clip depending on the movement that is triggered. No problems with ours. We use it to watch each other's homes, etc. God Bless

As a follow-up to my previous post. I also have 12 Nest Protect Smoke Detectors (one wi-fi, eleven wired) in my house. They work perfectly and solved many issues with my unreliable standard smoke detectors I highly recommend their smoke detectors.

I only have one Nest camera so WI-fi issues have not been a problem especially now that I have upgraded to a Netgear Nighthawk X10 Router and associated AC-3000 Range Extender.

Like Robert 90 above, I too recommend Blue Iris for network recording if you decide to enlarge your system. It is the best of the software programs out there even if the learning curve is a bit high. I have been using it for four years with my wired cameras.

I believe the key to your success with Nest products is a powerful (high end) Router.

about 2 wks ago my son installed a 4 camera wireless Blink system. So far it is working gr8, When armed it will take 14 sec video clips, in the dearmed mode it constantly monitors everything.
the video clips can be saved to a folder. There are no charges involved! I can monitor it from anywhere using my iPhone.

This is unfortunate to hear. I have a Nest thermostat and it works great. I have been thinking of trying some of their other products.

Thanks for all the input guys. For starters I am going to try the 5.00/mo. service, I’m going to need it anyway, and they offer 1 yr. for 50.00, saving me 10.00 for the year. Next would be an updated, more powerful router before I invest in the expense of a mesh network. Still open for router suggestions folks, and again, thanks for the input.

ETA-0658, just checked those routers, they aren’t giving them away! So many models as well.

Just a resolution to my problem. Subscribing to the service fixed the issue. I also moved the router just a few feet. I don’t know if that helped, but either way Im good to go. Thanks all.

It's one thing I avoided about Nest. Users will always have to subscribe. I went for a different brand since they give a few days free, to store up videos and all. They have similar features anyway, only Nest is really a bit expensive.