Google Plans to Reduce Nest Camera Quality to Ease Network Strain

[MacRumors]

Google plans to lower the quality of its Nest cameras to preserve internet bandwidth as large numbers of adults and children work and play online amid the continuing stay-at-home measures.

A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch that it will lower camera quality settings by default this week.

"To answer the global call to prioritize internet bandwidth for learning and working, in the next few days we're going to be making a few changes. We believe these changes have the potential to help make it easier for communities to keep up with school, work, and everything in between."

When the change takes effect, users will see video quality settings revert to Default (the middle setting between Low and High). Users can if they wish change the setting back to a higher quality at any time. Google plans to roll back the settings to users' previous preferences when broadband network traffic eventually eases off.

Many streaming companies have already taken similar precautions, with Disney+, YouTube, Netflix, and Apple TV+ all cutting streaming data bitrates in Europe last month.

Most of these changes began in Europe after the European Union asked companies to temporarily reduce streaming quality to ease the strain on broadband networks. Similar policies have since spread to the United States and other countries.

Article Link: Google Plans to Reduce Nest Camera Quality to Ease Network Strain

 

[recoil80]

Thankfully Apple was prudent and kept releasing MacBooks with 720p cameras so they don't have to reduce quality during these days.
Joking aside, carriers were not ready for millions of people working and studying from home. It is their fault, but since they can't improve their networks overnight it is necessary to reduce quality wherever possible.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Was a very sad moment when Google acquired Nest, would have bought their home cameras in a heartbeat if it wasn't the case. Will probably go down the route of Ubiquiti's offerings instead (and have the data kept safe on-site).

 

[Reapro]

Of course. Gaming is much more important than my safety. I would really hate it when some 12 year old doesn't get his kill, while I would be able to recognize the guy that stole my car or robbed my house.

 

[PickUrPoison]

It’s hard for me to believe that decreasing the quality of Nest footage moves the needle at all.

 

[Skika]

Of course. Gaming is much more important than my safety. I would really hate it when some 12 year old doesn't get his kill, while I would be able to recognize the guy that stole my car or robbed my house.

Gaming actually uses very very little data, dont know why its even mentioned.
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[tcgjeukens]

Maybe it is worth considering if you want an 'external entity' remotely altering YOUR camera settings.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Joking aside, carriers were not ready for millions of people working and studying from home. It is their fault...

Had anyone, anywhere set up excess capacity in anything on the expectation of world wide lockdown? (Home working and studies probably™ accounts for a tiny fraction of the internet's bandwidth compared to video streaming.)

 

[zubikov]

I’d be pissed if I paid the really high prices for these IQ cams, spent time and money drilling holes in exterior walls, and then got hit with “sorry, you’re not getting what u paid for”.

Some of these cams are like $400 each! You can get an entire Arlo 2 $1080p wireless system w/ 3-4 cams and free 1 week recording for that much.

 

[Steve121178]

I’d be pissed if I paid the really high prices for these IQ cams, spent time and money drilling holes in exterior walls, and then got hit with “sorry, you’re not getting what u paid for”.

Some of these cams are like $400 each! You can get an entire Arlo 2 $1080p wireless system w/ 3-4 cams and free 1 week recording for that much.

Imagine how pissed you'd be if everyone kept everything at full throttle and the ISP's & SP's started to have outages due to lack of bandwidth?

We all have to accept a drop in quality while we are all working/studying from home during this unprecedented time. No one should have the cheek to moan about it either.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Brave new world, it’s the small steps all people around the world do, limiting our privacy and democratic rights.

lots of people cheering google for intruding your home and changing your inventory, strange ....

 

[JosephAW]

Good thing we use different cameras on our intranet where big brother has no access.

 

[zubikov]

Imagine how pissed you'd be if everyone kept everything at full throttle and the ISP's & SP's started to have outages due to lack of bandwidth?

We all have to accept a drop in quality while we are all working/studying from home during this unprecedented time. No one should have the cheek to moan about it either.

in the world of “you get what you paid for” that logic doesn’t work. We all do not have to accept a drop in quality.

if Verizon can’t get you 1Gbps internet, they should charge for the lower tier. If T mobile starts throttling my mobile internet, I would ask for a lower plan where that happens anyways. And with these super high end cams, I’d ask for money back.

This isn’t some kinda internet socialism.

 

[Glideslope]

It’s hard for me to believe that decreasing the quality of Nest footage moves the needle at all.

I'm not so sure. Both our children (now 30+) have these video setups and participate in the "Neighborhood Watch" type functions that come with products such as Nest, Ring, and others. While it was last December since we have traveled to be together I was amazed at the amount of video back and forth that was going on between the neighborhoods.

I could see where even a small reduction could have a small but not insignificant effect givin the massive growth in these products.

My own experience with our Ring Video Doorbell (only device) shows virtually undetectable load on our network.

 

[jonnysods]

Was a very sad moment when Google acquired Nest, would have bought their home cameras in a heartbeat if it wasn't the case. Will probably go down the route of Ubiquiti's offerings instead (and have the data kept safe on-site).

I agree. I have a Nest Hello and was wanting to put cameras outside the house, but I'm not so certain now. We use Ubiquiti for many of our clients, for cameras, switches and wireless - can't speak highly enough of them.

 

[Spacetime Anomaly]

The tubes get clogged, you see.

 

[purpleparrotuk]

So can I get a reduction in my nest aware sub that I have just renewed?

 

[DoctorTech]

Had anyone, anywhere set up excess capacity in anything on the expectation of world wide lockdown? (Home working and studies probably™ accounts for a tiny fraction of the internet's bandwidth compared to video streaming.)

I agree 100%. I teach for a Big 10 University and most of our instruction is now being done via narrated PowerPoint, short recorded videos, and some live streaming classes. Of these 3 methods, the narrated PowerPoints do not take up that much bandwidth, students download files that at typically in the 30-100 MB range. The recorded videos are usually streamed to students but they are typically a series of 2-4 videos that are 5-10 minutes each so in ballpark figures, we are talking about 20-25 minutes of video per class times 4-5 classes per week. This means for a typical university student from my campus, they would be streaming about 90-120 minutes (roughly 1 Netflix movie) per week. Live streaming classes would take up more bandwidth but those classes are typically shorter than a face to face, in person class. I STRONGLY suspect there is a lot more bandwidth going to Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, etc. than to students doing their studies.

 

[WilliamG]

It’s hard for me to believe that decreasing the quality of Nest footage moves the needle at all.

Not sure I agree with you.

From Nest, quality, per month:

Low: 30GB
Medium: 120GB
High: 300GB

The Nest Cam IQ Indoor/Outdoor - High: 400GB

That's quite a significant amount of data per camera. I have 5 cameras, so just my 5 cameras is 1.6TB of data per month on high.

Internet bandwidth and speed requirements for Nest cameras - Google Nest Help

Google Nest cameras and doorbells upload video to the cloud, which requires a portion of your internet bandwidth. Generally, most internet plans have a lower bandwidth for upload speeds and a

support.google.com

 

[DoctorTech]

Was a very sad moment when Google acquired Nest, would have bought their home cameras in a heartbeat if it wasn't the case. Will probably go down the route of Ubiquiti's offerings instead (and have the data kept safe on-site).

I replaced my Nest thermostat (purchased when Nest was a stand alone company) with an Ecobee thermostat after Google acquired them. The only cameras I have at my home are Eufy cameras (a doorbell cam, a floodlight cam, and 2 battery powered security cams) all with encrypted local storage. Even with local storage (and no subscription fees) I still only have them mounted outside of my house watching points of entry - I personally do not want cameras and microphones inside of my house (other than those built into my iPhone, iPad and Mac).

 

[WilliamG]

So can I get a reduction in my nest aware sub that I have just renewed?

Why would you think that? You can change the quality back to high if you want to, straight away.

 

[purpleparrotuk]

Why would you think that? You can change the quality back to high if you want to, straight away.

As long as they don't keep changing it back.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Not sure I agree with you.

From Nest, quality, per month:

Low: 30GB
Medium: 120GB
High: 300GB

The Nest Cam IQ Indoor/Outdoor - High: 400GB

That's quite a significant amount of data per camera. I have 5 cameras, so just my 5 cameras is 1.6TB of data per month on high.

Internet bandwidth and speed requirements for Nest cameras - Google Nest Help

Google Nest cameras and doorbells upload video to the cloud, which requires a portion of your internet bandwidth. Generally, most internet plans have a lower bandwidth for upload speeds and a

support.google.com

It sounds like a lot, but is it really? It’s spread out over quite a long period of time.

300GB/month is about 116kB/sec. Dialing it back to medium quality saves about 70kB/sec. I suppose it does add up though, especially with multiple cameras.

 

[nt5672]

Maybe it is worth considering if you want an 'external entity' remotely altering YOUR camera settings.

So this camera is not really yours. This should be illegal in a free country.

 

[WilliamG]

As long as they don't keep changing it back.

Is that really your argument? What's next - using your IP to locate your camera and then physically stealing it back? Nest has already said you can change the quality setting back to high if you want that, so worrying about that makes no sense.
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It sounds like a lot, but is it really? It’s spread out over quite a long period of time.

300GB/month is about 116KB/sec. Dialing it back to medium quality saves about 70KB/sec. I suppose it does add up though, especially with multiple cameras.

Right, with multiple cameras it absolutely adds up. Heck, some providers limit you to 1TB per month. JUST my cameras go over this, easily! Thankfully I have gigabit fiber with no data caps.