16 ms·

The Nest Cam Outdoor is a $199 camera with an easy-to-install magnetic base

35 points by shawndumas 10y ago

emsy 10y ago
The question is: will they get people to actually buy Nest products anymore?
uhiaskjbd 10y ago
Recording still only available through their cloud service? No thanks fuckers.
awqrre 10y ago
For $200, you would expect to be able to use your camera as you wish and be able to record on the local network.
- JshWright 10y ago
  What...? it's not like Nest would ever shut down a service, leaving its users with nothing more than an expensive piece of plastic and silicon... Anyone who buys this is nuts.
  - jasonellis 10y ago
    I really regret buying into the Nest Cam ecosystem. I have 3 now. Sure, it's convenient to view things remotely, but I also run a NAS and I hate not having the option to record locally or serve the camera streams myself instead of relying on Nest's service or paying an outrageous price for recording. The only reason I went with them in the first place is that they have a very good picture and viewing range.
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      If you ever want to escape: https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/ I've deployed them for my uncle at some of his rental properties in less desirable parts of town for the security of his tenants.
dvcc 10y ago
A question more out of unfamiliarity more than anything, but is the market for at-home security cameras really that large? Then to overlap that with the market that can afford to pay the $10+/month to support it, I would guess you run kind of low on customers? I mean I guess not since the product is coming to market -- I just personally don't know of anyone who uses one.
- kevenwang0531 10y ago
  DIY home security is definitely a large market. Every house in America has some form of subscription-based home security system mostly consisting of door sensors and a monitoring service. If home security startups can make a good-enough product that lets users monitor their own homes, they can charge a much smaller fee and still be more useful than companies like ADT.
  - dvcc 10y ago
    Interesting is it more of a regional thing then? I've lived in the NE suburbs my whole life and really never ran into that many installations.
    - randallsquared 10y ago
      I see a lot of security system stickers on windows and doors, but I don't know anyone who actually has the subscription. Mostly the stickers are just marketing, I think.
- mseebach 10y ago
  I would not underestimate it. My immediate thought is "security moms" -- suburban mothers whose overarching priority is security (they came out pretty strongly for Bush in 2004, IIRC, which is when the name was coined). A similar demographic makes up a substantial segment of the SUV market. It's clearly marketed to a not-technically-skilled market (the magnet is pretty brilliant - tool-free installation, if you can find a bit of metal) which probably intersects the above market to a certain extend.
Overtonwindow 10y ago
A broader question I've had as I've been looking into these is: are there any low-cost alternative is that do NOT involve the cloud? I really don't want to send video from inside and outside my home across the Internet. I don't mind that I can't check it remotely. I'm more interested in giving my wife the ability to see what's outside without spending an arm and a leg or letting it go out onto the Internet.
- raesene6 10y ago
  I've used Foscam's for wildlife watching round our house. they have outdoor cameras that seem pretty robust and aren't too expensive, although their software is a bit basic. They work reasonbly over wireless or Powerline networking. To overcome the software problems we use Sighthound to do the image recognition + storage. It's a local install on a PC/Mac no cloud needed. One trick to note is that newer Foscam's send some telemetry stuff to the cloud but that's easily blocked with an outbound firewall rule.
- mseebach 10y ago
  Pretty much any other IP camera? D-Link has a range.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    And that range dips down into the valley of crap. The smartphone software that came with the camera will frequently lock up, so it's nearly impossible to tell whether our baby is actually sleeping quietly or the image has just frozen. Ditto for the browser-based cloud garbage. I've resorted to just accessing the feed directly (via http://192.168.1.xx/video.cgi http://192.168.1.xx/video.cgi, which is a streaming jpeg) but that tends to lock up as well.
    - knz 10y ago
      That has been my experience with foscam IP cameras as well. The UI was horrible, they routinely lost the static IP's I had assigned, and it reached the territory of being something that caused more stress than it was worth. The only appeal of Nest for me would be a potentially more reliable experience.
veidr 10y ago
I have the $200 old regular indoor Nest camera. It's so horrible, in more ways than I would have imagined that a camera could possibly suck, that it's completely redefined my understanding of awful. It's caused me to rethink many other purchases way outside of the category, from blenders to TVs to cars. Absolutely don't ever buy a Nest product, unless your aim is to do experimental anitmaterialism therapy.
- wepple 10y ago
  curious to know why, I have one and really like it, but maybe I'm missing something?
  - goldenkey 10y ago
    I gave my experience and even provided screenshots but it appears that the above commenter downvoted me for having a conflicting opinion. Downvotes are supposed to be used for offtopic or malignant comments. I hope we can get a reply so I can see the shortcomings of dropcams -- because so far they've worked very well for me, but little do I know, maybe there are some real big issues that are just not in my regular routine use cases.
    - mcphage 10y ago
      > but it appears that the above commenter downvoted me for having a conflicting opinion I may be mistaken, but I don't think you can downvote replies to your comments.
      - goldenkey 10y ago
        Thanks, I didn't know that, I am mistaken then. I do wonder who downvoted me for providing objective information even if it is in support of a product from a company that has gone to shit internally. I agree that the CEO who recently got dumped was a real piece of work, and that the culture in the company became toxic. But Dropcam is still decent, can't really screw something up too badly that worked well to begin with. It's still something that I find worth it because its one less thing to worry about. I love my cats and it helps me watch them when I am on vacation or away.
macleanjr 10y ago
I used to be a big fan of Nest. I've owned the thermostat, protect, Dropcam Pro, and a Nest Cam. This product announcement leaves me very underwhelmed. Since Nest took stewardship of the Dropcam products, there has been a noticeable decline in quality. The Nest App is not as fully featured as the Dropcam one was previously, and I seem to be having more and more connectivity issues, despite having improved Internet connectivity. There isn't anything compelling about this new product that will lead me to "upgrade". One of my cameras is already pointed outdoors and it gets the job done for monitoring my entrances.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  >Since Nest took stewardship of the Dropcam products, there has been a noticeable decline in quality. Oh, there's a reason for that. Fadell's leadership was so horrible that a lot of the dropcam team ended up quitting after being acqui-hired.
ceejayoz 10y ago
> The magnetic base attachment potentially makes the Nest Cam Outdoor very easy to steal, but Nest claims the screwed-in, permanently attached power cord will prevent people from walking away with your $200 camera. Nooooooope.
- wepple 10y ago
  Yeah that seems the most dubious claim, that a power cord will protect the device, really? stating that the fact the thief will be on video is IMO a stronger deterrent if there's one at all.
- joezydeco 10y ago
  Doesn't even need to be stolen. If the camera can be knocked off the base and left hanging in a position that can't see anything, then the camera is useless.
antsar 10y ago
Save yourself $50 and the monthly subscription fee. Recording software runs on any networked machine, and there's no cloud dependency. https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ (Not affiliated)
- baseten 10y ago
  I like their wireless stuff. I've been looking at the ubiquiti cameras and NVR for a while but haven't pulled the trigger.
  - antsar 10y ago
    I use the UVC Micro to watch an indoor entryway. Video quality is satisfactory but nothing to write home about. Hardware design is nice. Considered the NVR but went with a small Linux VM instead.
    - braum 10y ago
      What camera would you recommend for use ourdoors (full hd)? What software did you use in your diy linux setup: zoneminder, xeoma, or something else?
      - antsar 10y ago
        I use the Unifi NVR software[0] which ships with their hardware NVRs, running on a Debian VM within my home network. This works nicely with their iOS app[1]. The new UVC-G3[2] is rated for outdoor use, but appears to be preorder-only for now[3]. [0] https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi-video/unifi-nvr https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi-video/unifi-nvr [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unifi-video/id964967062?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unifi-video/id964967062?mt=8 [2] https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ [3] http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1244761-REG http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1244761-REG
        10y ago
radoslawc 10y ago
Magnetic mount only? Access trough cloud service? $200? Seems like something that should be marketed in TV Shop shows. Anyway I highly recommend https://zoneminder.com/ https://zoneminder.com/ even old laptop with built in camera can be decent playground for it then buy some cheap Chinese IP cameras with WiFi and make separate VLAN for them on router cut off from internet access (some of those cameras are doing home ping back or even sending images to Chinese servers). For $200 you can buy 2 to 4 of them, old lappy and you're done.
- elithrar 10y ago
  I don't think the Nest cameras (or others like them) are marketed at the same people who want* to set up their own VLANs, install software onto old laptops, and find a bespoke way to monitor the whole thing remotely. * Want meaning 'not just technically capable, but who want to expend the time to set up & maintain this'
- awqrre 10y ago
  Motion[0] is pretty nice too. [0] http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome
Mister_Snuggles 10y ago
Does it require a cloud service to operate? Will it work if I put it on a WiFi network that can't access the internet? Does it present an MJPEG stream that I can consume with other tools to do recording and monitoring locally? My current cameras meet all this criteria. They've got a cloud service available, but they work just fine even if they are unable to phone home.
dogma1138 10y ago
I have a feeling that these cameras are more likely to be stolen by bored teenagers than actually help in preventing any crime.
univalent 10y ago
Monthly subscription fee? No, thanks. I'll just run my own NVR for no cost.
dmritard96 10y ago
so a security camera that I can easy pull off the wall or clip the exposed cable. Yeah, I dunno.
peterbonney 10y ago
Can anyone explain the value of a magnetic mount when the power cable has to be screwed down? It's not like you need to be able to quickly detach and move the camera, and it could still look nice and sufficiently "Nest-y" with a mechanical base. Am I missing something?
- qyv 10y ago
  Well, it will be waaaaay easier to steal.
ascorbic 10y ago
Would've been nice if they'd made a battery-powered one. I've a couple of Netgear Arlo cameras and am a big fan. They're wireless and battery powered and I was pretty dubious about the claimed battery life. However I've now had them for four months and they're still showing as 3/4 full. https://www.arlo.com/ https://www.arlo.com/
deedubaya 10y ago
I've been enjoying my Homeboy for quite some time. Why would I go with a wired version? I have to recharge my Homeboy about once every two months. https://www.homeboy.com/ https://www.homeboy.com/
- lurkinggrue 10y ago
  * No Wires. Dammit.
heywire 10y ago
I don't know, after seeing the video [1] from Brad Fitzpatrick about his experience with Nest products, I'm not sure I'd ever consider them. Side note: if you watched the season premiere of Mr. Robot last night, there was a scene that reminded me of Brad's video (I'll say no more for fear of spoilers) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY
danielpal 10y ago
One of the biggest issues with Nest is that they pretend to be a serious company that takes cares of your home needs (security/monitoring, fire & gas prevention and heating) but their products are toy like in that respect. However I own 3 cameras and the fire alarm. The fire alarm, is worthless, I eventually disconnected it given the large amount of false positives. Then there are the cameras. I travel a lot so wanted a system that allowed me to monitor my home remotely for security purposes. However, I soon found out they are pretty much gimmick and any burglar will by-pass their security. If you own a nest cam, be aware that if the cam is disconnected from your Wifi, it will take 30 MINUTES FOR NEST TO NOTIFY YOU. What did I learned? Burglars will power off the electricity in you house upon entry - to prevent alarms etc from sounding. This will bring you Wifi and your cameras down. Don't worry, 30 minutes later, or approximately 20 minutes after burglars have left, you'll know. You'll also only be able to set notifications via email and push, so if you are sleeping you're out of luck. I was thinking of hacking a system with Twilio to do an automated call upon the email being received, but after finding out that it would take 30 minutes to even be notified I gave up. Nest is cool, easy to setup and the cameras look nice, but they are toys. Other products might be hard to setup, look uglier but work. I'd rather they did both, but if I have to chose between ugly and works, and beautiful but doesn't - i'll take the first.
- ebcase 10y ago
  Fwiw, a few UPS devices (for battery backup) could help out in this scenario.
  - goldenkey 10y ago
    This is what most security companies do if they are any good. A battery backup with cell connection. Can easily replicate it yourself using a mobile hotspot on an old phone. Along with some usb battery packs. Pretty cheap and easy to make a solution. (Under $50)
    - danielpal 10y ago
      The premise is that having this on the cloud is supposed to make it easier and not require this complex setups. For instance, not needing a recording station in the house that can be stolen or a Telco chipset with an alternative power source. If you do this on the cloud, you can call from a cloud provider and record outside the house. Nest could easily call you from Twilio after 1 minute of being disconnected and it will achieve the same.
lurkinggrue 10y ago
Still wifi only ... dammit.

35 points by shawndumas 10y ago

emsy 10y ago

The question is: will they get people to actually buy Nest products anymore?

uhiaskjbd 10y ago

Recording still only available through their cloud service? No thanks fuckers.

awqrre 10y ago

For $200, you would expect to be able to use your camera as you wish and be able to record on the local network.

JshWright 10y ago
What...? it's not like Nest would ever shut down a service, leaving its users with nothing more than an expensive piece of plastic and silicon... Anyone who buys this is nuts.
- jasonellis 10y ago
  I really regret buying into the Nest Cam ecosystem. I have 3 now. Sure, it's convenient to view things remotely, but I also run a NAS and I hate not having the option to record locally or serve the camera streams myself instead of relying on Nest's service or paying an outrageous price for recording. The only reason I went with them in the first place is that they have a very good picture and viewing range.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    If you ever want to escape: https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-nvr/ I've deployed them for my uncle at some of his rental properties in less desirable parts of town for the security of his tenants.

dvcc 10y ago

A question more out of unfamiliarity more than anything, but is the market for at-home security cameras really that large? Then to overlap that with the market that can afford to pay the $10+/month to support it, I would guess you run kind of low on customers? I mean I guess not since the product is coming to market -- I just personally don't know of anyone who uses one.

kevenwang0531 10y ago
DIY home security is definitely a large market. Every house in America has some form of subscription-based home security system mostly consisting of door sensors and a monitoring service. If home security startups can make a good-enough product that lets users monitor their own homes, they can charge a much smaller fee and still be more useful than companies like ADT.
- dvcc 10y ago
  Interesting is it more of a regional thing then? I've lived in the NE suburbs my whole life and really never ran into that many installations.
  - randallsquared 10y ago
    I see a lot of security system stickers on windows and doors, but I don't know anyone who actually has the subscription. Mostly the stickers are just marketing, I think.
mseebach 10y ago
I would not underestimate it. My immediate thought is "security moms" -- suburban mothers whose overarching priority is security (they came out pretty strongly for Bush in 2004, IIRC, which is when the name was coined). A similar demographic makes up a substantial segment of the SUV market. It's clearly marketed to a not-technically-skilled market (the magnet is pretty brilliant - tool-free installation, if you can find a bit of metal) which probably intersects the above market to a certain extend.

Overtonwindow 10y ago

A broader question I've had as I've been looking into these is: are there any low-cost alternative is that do NOT involve the cloud? I really don't want to send video from inside and outside my home across the Internet. I don't mind that I can't check it remotely. I'm more interested in giving my wife the ability to see what's outside without spending an arm and a leg or letting it go out onto the Internet.

raesene6 10y ago
I've used Foscam's for wildlife watching round our house. they have outdoor cameras that seem pretty robust and aren't too expensive, although their software is a bit basic. They work reasonbly over wireless or Powerline networking. To overcome the software problems we use Sighthound to do the image recognition + storage. It's a local install on a PC/Mac no cloud needed. One trick to note is that newer Foscam's send some telemetry stuff to the cloud but that's easily blocked with an outbound firewall rule.
mseebach 10y ago
Pretty much any other IP camera? D-Link has a range.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  And that range dips down into the valley of crap. The smartphone software that came with the camera will frequently lock up, so it's nearly impossible to tell whether our baby is actually sleeping quietly or the image has just frozen. Ditto for the browser-based cloud garbage. I've resorted to just accessing the feed directly (via http://192.168.1.xx/video.cgi http://192.168.1.xx/video.cgi, which is a streaming jpeg) but that tends to lock up as well.
  - knz 10y ago
    That has been my experience with foscam IP cameras as well. The UI was horrible, they routinely lost the static IP's I had assigned, and it reached the territory of being something that caused more stress than it was worth. The only appeal of Nest for me would be a potentially more reliable experience.

veidr 10y ago

I have the $200 old regular indoor Nest camera. It's so horrible, in more ways than I would have imagined that a camera could possibly suck, that it's completely redefined my understanding of awful. It's caused me to rethink many other purchases way outside of the category, from blenders to TVs to cars. Absolutely don't ever buy a Nest product, unless your aim is to do experimental anitmaterialism therapy.

wepple 10y ago
curious to know why, I have one and really like it, but maybe I'm missing something?
- goldenkey 10y ago
  I gave my experience and even provided screenshots but it appears that the above commenter downvoted me for having a conflicting opinion. Downvotes are supposed to be used for offtopic or malignant comments. I hope we can get a reply so I can see the shortcomings of dropcams -- because so far they've worked very well for me, but little do I know, maybe there are some real big issues that are just not in my regular routine use cases.
  - mcphage 10y ago
    > but it appears that the above commenter downvoted me for having a conflicting opinion I may be mistaken, but I don't think you can downvote replies to your comments.
    - goldenkey 10y ago
      Thanks, I didn't know that, I am mistaken then. I do wonder who downvoted me for providing objective information even if it is in support of a product from a company that has gone to shit internally. I agree that the CEO who recently got dumped was a real piece of work, and that the culture in the company became toxic. But Dropcam is still decent, can't really screw something up too badly that worked well to begin with. It's still something that I find worth it because its one less thing to worry about. I love my cats and it helps me watch them when I am on vacation or away.

macleanjr 10y ago

I used to be a big fan of Nest. I've owned the thermostat, protect, Dropcam Pro, and a Nest Cam. This product announcement leaves me very underwhelmed. Since Nest took stewardship of the Dropcam products, there has been a noticeable decline in quality. The Nest App is not as fully featured as the Dropcam one was previously, and I seem to be having more and more connectivity issues, despite having improved Internet connectivity. There isn't anything compelling about this new product that will lead me to "upgrade". One of my cameras is already pointed outdoors and it gets the job done for monitoring my entrances.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
>Since Nest took stewardship of the Dropcam products, there has been a noticeable decline in quality. Oh, there's a reason for that. Fadell's leadership was so horrible that a lot of the dropcam team ended up quitting after being acqui-hired.

ceejayoz 10y ago

> The magnetic base attachment potentially makes the Nest Cam Outdoor very easy to steal, but Nest claims the screwed-in, permanently attached power cord will prevent people from walking away with your $200 camera. Nooooooope.

wepple 10y ago
Yeah that seems the most dubious claim, that a power cord will protect the device, really? stating that the fact the thief will be on video is IMO a stronger deterrent if there's one at all.
joezydeco 10y ago
Doesn't even need to be stolen. If the camera can be knocked off the base and left hanging in a position that can't see anything, then the camera is useless.

antsar 10y ago

Save yourself $50 and the monthly subscription fee. Recording software runs on any networked machine, and there's no cloud dependency. https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ (Not affiliated)

baseten 10y ago
I like their wireless stuff. I've been looking at the ubiquiti cameras and NVR for a while but haven't pulled the trigger.
- antsar 10y ago
  I use the UVC Micro to watch an indoor entryway. Video quality is satisfactory but nothing to write home about. Hardware design is nice. Considered the NVR but went with a small Linux VM instead.
  - braum 10y ago
    What camera would you recommend for use ourdoors (full hd)? What software did you use in your diy linux setup: zoneminder, xeoma, or something else?
    - antsar 10y ago
      I use the Unifi NVR software[0] which ships with their hardware NVRs, running on a Debian VM within my home network. This works nicely with their iOS app[1]. The new UVC-G3[2] is rated for outdoor use, but appears to be preorder-only for now[3]. [0] https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi-video/unifi-nvr https://www.ubnt.com/download/unifi-video/unifi-nvr [1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unifi-video/id964967062?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/unifi-video/id964967062?mt=8 [2] https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ https://www.ubnt.com/unifi-video/unifi-video-camera-g3/ [3] http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1244761-REG http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1244761-REG
      - 10y ago

radoslawc 10y ago

Magnetic mount only? Access trough cloud service? $200? Seems like something that should be marketed in TV Shop shows. Anyway I highly recommend https://zoneminder.com/ https://zoneminder.com/ even old laptop with built in camera can be decent playground for it then buy some cheap Chinese IP cameras with WiFi and make separate VLAN for them on router cut off from internet access (some of those cameras are doing home ping back or even sending images to Chinese servers). For $200 you can buy 2 to 4 of them, old lappy and you're done.

elithrar 10y ago
I don't think the Nest cameras (or others like them) are marketed at the same people who want* to set up their own VLANs, install software onto old laptops, and find a bespoke way to monitor the whole thing remotely. * Want meaning 'not just technically capable, but who want to expend the time to set up & maintain this'
awqrre 10y ago
Motion[0] is pretty nice too. [0] http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome http://www.lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome

Mister_Snuggles 10y ago

Does it require a cloud service to operate? Will it work if I put it on a WiFi network that can't access the internet? Does it present an MJPEG stream that I can consume with other tools to do recording and monitoring locally? My current cameras meet all this criteria. They've got a cloud service available, but they work just fine even if they are unable to phone home.

dogma1138 10y ago

I have a feeling that these cameras are more likely to be stolen by bored teenagers than actually help in preventing any crime.

univalent 10y ago

Monthly subscription fee? No, thanks. I'll just run my own NVR for no cost.

dmritard96 10y ago

so a security camera that I can easy pull off the wall or clip the exposed cable. Yeah, I dunno.

peterbonney 10y ago

Can anyone explain the value of a magnetic mount when the power cable has to be screwed down? It's not like you need to be able to quickly detach and move the camera, and it could still look nice and sufficiently "Nest-y" with a mechanical base. Am I missing something?

qyv 10y ago
Well, it will be waaaaay easier to steal.

ascorbic 10y ago

Would've been nice if they'd made a battery-powered one. I've a couple of Netgear Arlo cameras and am a big fan. They're wireless and battery powered and I was pretty dubious about the claimed battery life. However I've now had them for four months and they're still showing as 3/4 full. https://www.arlo.com/ https://www.arlo.com/

deedubaya 10y ago

I've been enjoying my Homeboy for quite some time. Why would I go with a wired version? I have to recharge my Homeboy about once every two months. https://www.homeboy.com/ https://www.homeboy.com/

lurkinggrue 10y ago
* No Wires. Dammit.

heywire 10y ago

I don't know, after seeing the video [1] from Brad Fitzpatrick about his experience with Nest products, I'm not sure I'd ever consider them. Side note: if you watched the season premiere of Mr. Robot last night, there was a scene that reminded me of Brad's video (I'll say no more for fear of spoilers) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsMkLaEiOY

danielpal 10y ago

One of the biggest issues with Nest is that they pretend to be a serious company that takes cares of your home needs (security/monitoring, fire & gas prevention and heating) but their products are toy like in that respect. However I own 3 cameras and the fire alarm. The fire alarm, is worthless, I eventually disconnected it given the large amount of false positives. Then there are the cameras. I travel a lot so wanted a system that allowed me to monitor my home remotely for security purposes. However, I soon found out they are pretty much gimmick and any burglar will by-pass their security. If you own a nest cam, be aware that if the cam is disconnected from your Wifi, it will take 30 MINUTES FOR NEST TO NOTIFY YOU. What did I learned? Burglars will power off the electricity in you house upon entry - to prevent alarms etc from sounding. This will bring you Wifi and your cameras down. Don't worry, 30 minutes later, or approximately 20 minutes after burglars have left, you'll know. You'll also only be able to set notifications via email and push, so if you are sleeping you're out of luck. I was thinking of hacking a system with Twilio to do an automated call upon the email being received, but after finding out that it would take 30 minutes to even be notified I gave up. Nest is cool, easy to setup and the cameras look nice, but they are toys. Other products might be hard to setup, look uglier but work. I'd rather they did both, but if I have to chose between ugly and works, and beautiful but doesn't - i'll take the first.

ebcase 10y ago
Fwiw, a few UPS devices (for battery backup) could help out in this scenario.
- goldenkey 10y ago
  This is what most security companies do if they are any good. A battery backup with cell connection. Can easily replicate it yourself using a mobile hotspot on an old phone. Along with some usb battery packs. Pretty cheap and easy to make a solution. (Under $50)
  - danielpal 10y ago
    The premise is that having this on the cloud is supposed to make it easier and not require this complex setups. For instance, not needing a recording station in the house that can be stolen or a Telco chipset with an alternative power source. If you do this on the cloud, you can call from a cloud provider and record outside the house. Nest could easily call you from Twilio after 1 minute of being disconnected and it will achieve the same.

lurkinggrue 10y ago

Still wifi only ... dammit.