A temporary issue with your connection can cause short pauses or skips in your Nest camera or doorbell video. If your camera playback is continuously not working, try these steps to troubleshoot.
1. Update the app
Make sure you have the latest version of the Google Home app or Nest app to get the latest features and bug fixes.
2. Check your modem or router's connection speed
At the highest video quality setting, Nest cameras and doorbells can use a large part of your internet bandwidth. A slower internet connection might not be able to keep up. More than one camera can compound the issue, as can other devices that compete for bandwidth at the same time, such as when you stream movies, play games, upload or download files, and more.
Learn about Internet bandwidth and speed requirements for Nest cameras.
To help resolve bandwidth issues, try the following steps:
- Run an internet speed test to check your bandwidth, and pay particular attention to upload speed (it’s usually a smaller number than download speed). You can contact your internet service provider (ISP) to help you test.
Note: If you’re sure you have enough bandwidth to accommodate all the traffic on your network, you can skip to the next section, or refer to Fix Nest camera or doorbell Wi-Fi connection issues.
- Pause other devices or apps that stream movies, play games, or do other activities that use a lot of bandwidth. If your camera doesn’t have issues while these activities are paused, you might want to contact your ISP to switch to a plan with more bandwidth.
- If you think a slow connection at your home is the cause of the issue with your camera, change its video quality to a lower setting.
- Nest app:
- Open the Nest app
.
- Tap Settings
Quality and bandwidth.
- Adjust the video quality from high to low.
- Open the Nest app
- Home app:
-
- Open the Home app
.
- Tap and hold your device's tile.
- Tap Settings
- Lower the video quality from Max to High.
- Open the Home app
.
Quality and bandwidth.
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- If you’re a Nest Aware subscriber and you change your camera’s video quality, the quality of your recorded video history also changes. However, if you find gaps in your timeline, a lower video quality setting helps make the gaps less frequent.
3. Check your device's Wi-Fi or cellular connection
Even if your home’s internet connection is good enough to stream Nest Cam video, you may have difficulty if your phone has a poor cellular or Wi-Fi connection.
For example, your camera’s video might:
- Pause or skip
- Look grainy or pixelated
- Get stuck on a spinning circle icon
The Nest app automatically adjusts playback based on the type of connection you have. However, you might have issues because of an exceptionally slow network, a firewall, or another IT policy.
To get better video, try the following steps:
- Turn on Wi-Fi. If you're using a cellular data connection, your bandwidth can be severely restricted. Typically, a 4G cellular connection maintains good video quality. If your phone’s connection drops to 3G or lower, you may notice degraded video quality.
- Switch to a different network. Many public Wi-Fi networks have poor bandwidth. If you can, find a network that's fast enough to view high quality video.
- A firewall may block video playback on a corporate, educational, or institutional network that enforces a tight security policy. If you can, contact the owner of the network, such as your IT department, to check if they can make any changes that would help you view Nest Cam video through their connection.
- If you're on Wi-Fi, try to turn it off and use your phone's cellular connection.
4. Check the Nest service
The Nest Service Status lets you know about any current temporary service interruptions. If the Nest service has an issue, you'll need to wait until it’s resolved.