Short pauses or skips can can sometimes happen because of a temporary issue with your Wi-Fi connection. As long as they’re not continuous, you shouldn’t need to troubleshoot. But if the symptoms are long term, follow the steps below.
Note: Some newer Nest cameras and displays can connect to each other directly over your local Wi-Fi network instead of using the cloud. Switching between local and cloud streaming happens automatically and seamlessly. But you may notice a short pause in the live video stream when your camera switches between local and cloud streaming. This is normal behavior.
1. Check the app version
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 connection. A slower internet connection might not be able to keep up. If you have more than one camera, it can compound the issue, as can other devices that compete for bandwidth at the same time (when you stream movies, play games, upload or download files, and more).
Learn more about each Nest Cam’s internet bandwidth (speed) usage
Here are some things to try:
- 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. This will help with the next 2 suggestions.
Note: If you’re sure you have enough bandwidth to accommodate all the traffic on your network, you can skip to the next section about how to watch video remotely, or refer to this article for more detailed Wi-Fi troubleshooting. - You can also check what happens when you pause other devices or apps that use a lot of bandwidth like when you stream movies and play games. If that solves the issue, 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.
.
- Keep in mind that if you’re a Nest Aware subscriber and you change your camera’s video quality, it also changes the quality of your recorded video history. However, if there are gaps in your timeline, you can lower this setting to help make the gaps less frequent.
3. Check your device's internet connection
Even if your home’s internet connection is good enough to stream Nest Cam video, you may have difficulty watching the stream 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. But if the network is exceptionally slow, you might run into issues. A firewall or other IT policy may also prevent your video from loading properly.
Try a different network and check if the video gets better. Here are some tips:
- 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. But 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 don’t have great 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.