Google G3AL9 Nest Cam (Outdoor / Indoor, Battery) Security Camera - Smart Home WiFi Camera - Wireless, Snow

This review is based on eights month’s experience with two Nest cameras at my own house and then, recently, installing two more for a family member.What you get with a Nest camera is 24/7 video recording in relatively high quality colour during the day and monochrome at night, the latter assisted by the camera’s built in infrared illuminator. You can access any of this footage, subject to paying a subscription.The performance of these cameras, both in terms of ease of installation, and operation has been excellent. If you set up your Nest account on a mobile device, preferably a phone, then connection involves little more than pointing your camera at the QR code on the camera and everything happens automatically. Physical installation of the camera is pretty straight forward provided you’ve got a power socket handy. Data connection is wireless only.Any issues? Key to successful installation – trust me – it really is the key, is a good wireless network. In my experience, one central wireless router in your home is hopeless these days. I have a Google Mesh network and cannot recommend it too highly. Every part of my property including outside areas receives WiFi at maximum strength. By contrast installation at my friend’s house was more problematic. One camera was at the edge of WiFi strength and I had to buy a cheap WiFi extender. That worked ok but it’s not ideal in other respects. Extenders create a second WiFi network and in my case I had to reconfigure the camera to this second network. That’s not difficult unless the camera is already fixed in place. Initial configuration is handled by Bluetooth and you should note that you must hold your phone close to the white circular power supply box, not the camera itself, to achieve this.The Nest app is good as it makes access to your footage very easy, automatically highlighting and sending you mini-clips when it detects any movement. Data service has proved extremely reliable so far. I have the cheapest five day subscription which I feel is good value.Hardware. Nest hardware quality is undoubtably high. The outside cameras appear to be well sealed.Any weaknesses? As others have commented it’s a real irritation having to drill a one inch hole through the wall or window frame of you house if your only mains socket is indoors. You will have to make arrangements to properly fill this hole after installation. The magnetic fixture allows easy adjustment to camera angle. Some people raise their eyebrows at the idea of a security camera held on by a magnet! But why not? If someone is prepared to climb into your back garden and remove your camera then you have an altogether more serious security problem to address. For me, being able to keep an eye on my house whilst I am away gives great peace of mind.

I have had them for two years now and they are good cams. I have opted for them to prevent the hassle of hard wired ones. INSTALLATION TIP: The USB connectors are chunky and I had to drill the walls of my old house at 14mm which is huge! Plus the connector would be catching inside the cavity wall or brick. Therefore in my new house, i ended up cutting the cable. I advise you to cut the USB data cable as close as possible of the USB connector, drill at 8mm and feed nicely the cable through. Reconnect it inside your house with crimp, colour on colour. Don't forget to reconnect the mesh too as this is the screening protecting any data signal against interferences from nearby power cables or applicance. I chose places where it would be hidden away like behind beds etc....I drilled just above my skirting board upstairs which set the cam at around 3m. All the wiring that can be seen can be enclosed in mini trunking. None of my wiring can be seen. This way I also get a very good angle to capture faces and even see who is at my door for deliveries. Some people would advise to fit them as high as possible to prevent intentional damages but where is the point to see only the top of the head of a burglar. Installation on soffit is too high IMAO. Most of burglars who steal modest homes are not professionals and would not think of destryoing the cams. This is a deterrant for the opportunist burglars not a bullet proof security system which then would cost far more expensive.Pros:Wireless video signalCan be viewed on various devices like mobile, TV, laptops etc..Powered by a 5V transformer and not short lasting batteriesGood designEasy to installhave a microphone and speaker to speak to people at the doorNo need of subsciption for live viewingCons:-A susscription if you want recording history and alerts-The size of the USB connectors that need to go through walls. please see tip for installs above-A strong WIFI signal is required as you may experience low bandwith issues. In my previous house, i had to buy a signal booster for one of the cams in particular. in my new house which is bigger, no issues experienced. I put it down on the very wifi speed i get from BT fibre broadband. Test them first in the chosen location to see if you get a good signal, and then only drill the walls

If you have plu socket within reach and the ability to drill and screw as necessary, the camera is reasonably easy to install. The magnetic mount gives easy adjustment to get the best view, the lense giving an excellent field of view and perfect focus over the full depth of view without a fish-eye lense effect. Night vision capability is excellent and works well with the low output street lighting in our neighbourhood to give bright images in black & white. The Nest app, needed to view the images, did fail on my first day of use and the other problem is that it times out after approx 30 minutes. If you want a constant, always on, instant ability to monitor: get a CCTV system instead. There can also be some lag between real time and the image being displayed, despite having a fast fibre connection.

The actual camera is great and the picture quality is fantastic but they don't last long. My first camera lasted 15 months as a power cut rendered it useless. In fairness, Google replaced it with no fuss but the same thing happened with the replacement 18 months later. As the warranty starts with the first camera, there is no replacement so I now have no camera. Both were fitted by a qualified electrician. I expected a better quality item.

Installed and used Google Nest Cams for a while now and it’s consistently good. The night vision, motion detection and picture quality are fantastic, and the installation is nice and easy. So long as you’re able to drill holes, this can be installed by anyone, as opposed to a lot of other wired cctv systems which require a little more finesse.The cable is nice and long (7.5m) so it’s perfect for mounting outside and plugging it into the nearest socket indoors. Then all you need to do it make sure it has Wi-Fi.