Google Plans to Reduce Nest Camera Quality to Ease Network Strain

[citysnaps]

And this is why you install your own camera system with internal storage. Control everything about the environment and keep your files on your local network only!

I always thought that Nest was a great company that did very good IoT integration, but the second Google got their hands on it I got VERY nervous.

Yes - and it's easy!

But I would also add that any images of detected people on your property, or security breaches from sensors, while you're away (or in for the night/sleeping), should be instantly messaged to your phone and to another cloud service; such as Dropbox. Since that happens relatively infrequently, the relative bandwidth used is negligible.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Serves the dmm fks right. Cameras that only connect to the interwebs are stoopid.

 

[arkmannj]

When you get robbed and the DVR is stolen I'll try to shed a tear.

Did he say his own system was only an on-site DVR? It may be possible he has a system that is better at bandwidth management through things like motion/sound/person detection that only uploads video based on such events. Or it could be that his DVR still backs up similar events to an off-site (cloud) storage.

I’ve got 2 nest cams and and recently I got a new router (replacing and old airport extreme & Time Capsule) and I have been amazed now that I can see traffic just how much of a hog the Nest cams needlessly are.

 

[WilliamG]

Discovering the above amount of bandwidth used is why I returned my Nest camera within a week of purchasing it. I'm much happier with my own system, that performs much better.

That's an insane amount of bandwidth used simply to have images stream to Nest 24/7. I have no need for that.

Well you are getting a great product for that bandwidth if you ask me. And the scrolling back through video on your phone/iPad is amazing. It has zero effect on my own personal network speed etc, even with 5 of them.

 

[tgwaste]

Or... make them stream via the local network instead of going out/in. Stupid.. mindless.. google.

 

[davidf18]

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).

I think it is a wise move moving away from Google. Also, Google or any other firm has no business changing the video stream bandwidth *without permission* of the owner of the camera.

There is a lot of dark fiber that can be lit if they really need more internet capacity, which I doubt.

I am in very dense Manhattan and my regular internet is 125 Mbit/sec DL, 180 Mbit/sec UL
The Verizon iPhone 11 Pro Max is 77 Mbit/sec DL, 10 Mbit/sec UL.

 

[citysnaps]

Well you are getting a great product for that bandwidth if you ask me. And the scrolling back through video on your phone/iPad is amazing. It has zero effect on my own personal network speed etc, even with 5 of them.

I don't need or want to scroll back and forth through my eight cameras when there's no one on my property. I already know what my landscaping, walkway, driveway, cars, porch, garage, backyard, etc looks like. And I certainly do not want to pay for ISP bandwidth uploading that to Nest. I don't have an issue with personal network speed.

I only need to know when my cameras detect a person/activity. And since that's infrequent, the ISP bandwidth is not an issue.

 

[davidf18]

No, we're dealing with a global pandemic and there's billions of people streaming and using far more bandwidth at home than normal, which is why Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube etc etc etc have all slashed the bitrate to reduce the bandwidth people are using to help the networks cope.

You don't have a choice, it's happening for the right reasons & I'm ok with that.

I'm not going to cry just because the 4K streaming services I pay for have lesser quality if it keeps everything else online.

Some people need to stop being so selfish & understand the steps taken are for the benefit of us all. No one is entitled to a refund either, as they can lower the bitrate to ensure QoS for all.

Plenty of unlit fiber in the US. They just have to put the unlit fiber online to take care of bandwidth issues. As things are, I am in very dense Manhattan and no service degradation for both regular Internet and Verizon wireless.

 

[cocky jeremy]

How dumb. The same number of people are on the internet doing the same thing, they're just doing it from a difference place.

 

[DoctorTech]

I think it is a wise move moving away from Google. Also, Google or any other firm has no business changing the video stream bandwidth *without permission* of the owner of the camera.

There is a lot of dark fiber that can be lit if they really need more internet capacity, which I doubt.

I am in very dense Manhattan and my regular internet is 125 Mbit/sec DL, 180 Mbit/sec UL
The Verizon iPhone 11 Pro Max is 77 Mbit/sec DL, 10 Mbit/sec UL.

I live in somewhat rural area of Indiana and I normally get around 350 Mbs to my cable modem and 250+ Mbs throughout my home with my mesh router system. I have seen ZERO drop in performance over the past month. I'm not a big fan of Comcast but I have to give them credit for having the capacity to maintain my full network speed at a time when I am sure the usage is much higher than normal. I can't speak to their performance in Indianapolis but where I live there hasn't been any impact to home users.

 

[fairuz]

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.

Not outages, just reduced bandwidth and maybe spikier latency. If they're saying outages, either it's a lie or something is really wrong with their network. There's such thing as congestion control.
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Yes it is. We can all take a hit on IQ for a month or two if that's what it takes to keep everything online.

Yes, but that's not what it takes to keep everything online.
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“Users can if they wish change the setting back to a higher quality at any time.”
Lol didn’t anyone not read this???
Took me 2secs to switch back this is not a big deal

Sshhh
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And this is why you install your own camera system with internal storage. Control everything about the environment and keep your files on your local network only!

I always thought that Nest was a great company that did very good IoT integration, but the second Google got their hands on it I got VERY nervous.

First off, to get that working well with all the proper detection and alerting is a full-time job. Secondly, IoT is such a wild west situation right now that I'd honestly trust Google with it more than most companies. You buy random systems, they're gonna have backdoors and/or some telephony to China. I've been down that route and wish I haven't.

So yeah, freedom ain't free. In this case, you'll have to spend either a lot of time or a lot of money on your setup. Hoping for a privacy-focused commercial alternative that becomes #1 or #2. Right now Google is likely #2 behind Amazon.

 

[Black Belt]

Yeah they’re SO altruistic. No they just want to provide crappier hardware so they make more money

 

[twennywonn]

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.

Yeah but that's because Arlo cameras suck I had two different sets and the video quality isn't great but worse their motion/object detection and app is hot garbage. As an IQ cam owner (10 of them) it doesn't bother me because they specifically say if we don't like it we can move them back.

 

[Tech198]

I'm not sure that this is the best approach to reduce quality.. change the default..

 

[mike...]

The daytime peak is lower but overall consumption is up as adults work from home using video calls and there’s more usage of streaming services. If the quality wasn’t lowered we would have had higher usage levels

Well yes consumption is up and it's obvious more bandwidth would be used if the normal quality was maintained. That's not the point. The point is the ISPs can handle it, so it's pointless to decrease bandwidth.

BT, for example, have handled 17.5Tb/sec of traffic at their biggest ever peak. Current daytime traffic is averaging around 5Tb/sec with 7.5Tb/sec - which they say is *half* their normal evening traffic.

The facts about our network and Coronavirus

As stronger restrictions around COVID-19 begin to take effect, and many of us contemplate a future of working from home for an extended period, the resilience and capability of our networks takes on an even greater importance. No-one is more aware of that than me, and my network engineering...

newsroom.bt.com

Further reading:

...the mainstream media appear to have finally ended their initially quite inaccurate reporting, which largely concerned the ability of UK broadband and mobile operators to cope with the rise in domestic demand from the Coronavirus crisis (i.e. more adults and children working or playing from home at the same time).

In the end it was all a bit of a storm in a teacup since both fixed line broadband and mobile network operators promptly adapted without any major problems, which will come as no surprise to anybody who actually works in this industry.

- https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...of-uk-internet-traffic-over-past-4-weeks.html

COVID-19 – Home Working Probably Won’t Break UK Broadband

Over the past few days a number of newspapers and websites have run with stories claiming "experts" are predicting that the United Kingdom's broadband ISP netwo

www.ispreview.co.uk

COVID-19 – A Look at Monday’s UK Internet Traffic and ISP Speeds

Yesterday was an important day for broadband ISPs in the United Kingdom because it was the first working Monday after the mass closure of schools, which has con

www.ispreview.co.uk

A Snapshot of UK and EU Broadband Speed During COVID-19

Internet speed testing giant Ookla (Speedtest.net) has updated a report that looks at the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on global broadband speeds, which

www.ispreview.co.uk

COVID-19 – A Look at UK Internet Traffic Across March 2020

Last week represented the first full week of the national Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown since schools closed. Due to this we thought it might be a good idea t

www.ispreview.co.uk

 

[unplugme71]

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.

Maybe in Europe, but we haven’t had many issues in the US.

Really the only “added” bandwidth is online learning. Anyone who used the Internet at work is using it the same at home plus a few extra kbps for the remote session to their work PC.

My buddies at Comcast and AT&T said things aren’t as bad as everyone thinks it is.

 

[recoil80]

Maybe in Europe, but we haven’t had many issues in the US.

Really the only “added” bandwidth is online learning. Anyone who used the Internet at work is using it the same at home plus a few extra kbps for the remote session to their work PC.

My buddies at Comcast and AT&T said things aren’t as bad as everyone thinks it is.

I live in the EU, hopefully the US is doing fine.
We now have online learning and people are working remotely on their PC and are making video calls instead of meeting at office.
The major problem is mobile, everybody is staying at home so those cells are full of devices connected. In cities we are connected via fiber and I guess everybody is using his home wi-fi, but many part of the country are still served with ADSL or FTTC, so people who need to work prefer to connect via mobile.
It reminds me when I go to the beach, I'm sure the network is great throughout the year but during summer weekends they have a huge number of people connected, and it sucks.

 

[WilliamG]

I don't need or want to scroll back and forth through my eight cameras when there's no one on my property. I already know what my landscaping, walkway, driveway, cars, porch, garage, backyard, etc looks like. And I certainly do not want to pay for ISP bandwidth uploading that to Nest. I don't have an issue with personal network speed.

I only need to know when my cameras detect a person/activity. And since that's infrequent, the ISP bandwidth is not an issue.

I get to know that, too? It’s just been very helpful to be able to live-scroll through video to pick up stuff that you wouldn’t get a notification for.

 

[Tech198]

Well yes consumption is up and it's obvious more bandwidth would be used if the normal quality was maintained. That's not the point. The point is the ISPs can handle it, so it's pointless to decrease bandwidth.

BT, for example, have handled 17.5Tb/sec of traffic at their biggest ever peak. Current daytime traffic is averaging around 5Tb/sec with 7.5Tb/sec - which they say is *half* their normal evening traffic.

The facts about our network and Coronavirus

As stronger restrictions around COVID-19 begin to take effect, and many of us contemplate a future of working from home for an extended period, the resilience and capability of our networks takes on an even greater importance. No-one is more aware of that than me, and my network engineering...

newsroom.bt.com

Further reading:



- https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...of-uk-internet-traffic-over-past-4-weeks.html

COVID-19 – Home Working Probably Won’t Break UK Broadband

Over the past few days a number of newspapers and websites have run with stories claiming "experts" are predicting that the United Kingdom's broadband ISP netwo

www.ispreview.co.uk

COVID-19 – A Look at Monday’s UK Internet Traffic and ISP Speeds

Yesterday was an important day for broadband ISPs in the United Kingdom because it was the first working Monday after the mass closure of schools, which has con

www.ispreview.co.uk

A Snapshot of UK and EU Broadband Speed During COVID-19

Internet speed testing giant Ookla (Speedtest.net) has updated a report that looks at the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on global broadband speeds, which

www.ispreview.co.uk

COVID-19 – A Look at UK Internet Traffic Across March 2020

Last week represented the first full week of the national Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown since schools closed. Due to this we thought it might be a good idea t

www.ispreview.co.uk

Well, ya all that is good, but that can only be true for UK and US..What about others ? Plus it doesn't make much sense for Google to reduce the default quality if there was no need to and Google thought ISP's could have coped anyway.

Google changed their default obviously because they realized ISP's couldn't cope with demand. Allowed for a bit more breathing space.