Smart cameras, especially as a part of a smart home system, are supposed to be a major part of home security and protection, day or night. So when they just go offline in the middle of the night, the worst time to go offline, it’s pretty frustrating. 

It’s important to consider various factors outside of your camera as well.

A Nest Camera, like any other smart security camera, requires a steady, consistent power supply and a strong internet connection.

Why Does My Nest Camera Go Offline at Night?

Nest Cameras may go offline due to network congestion, poor WiFi at home, your choice of network settings, interference in your mesh network, and problems with your wireless router or gateway. 

It happens to be one of the most common problems with Nest Cameras. Fortunately, they can still operate and record video locally until they come back online. In the meantime, however, you won’t be able to access the cameras via your smartphone until they are back online. 

Some smaller contributing factors may cause it to go offline as well, such as not keeping your app updated or your own WiFi devices running interference with each other. WiFi signals have trouble dealing with brick, concrete, metal, glass, and sheetrock.

How To Fix Your Nest Camera Going Offline At Night

When you’re setting up a Nest Camera for the first time, it’s important to pay attention to the signal strength before you install the camera and mount it. Open your Nest Camera app or the Google Home App and select the Nest Camera in question. Its WiFi connection strength will be displayed on the screen. 

You can also run speed tests through the apps, which you should do periodically. WiFi signal strength can change from something as simple as hanging a picture on a wall that happens to be in between the router and the camera.

Restart Your Router and Nest Camera

One of the easiest fixes you can make is a simple reset. Sometimes, a Nest Camera won’t complete its own automated update until it resets. Resetting it yourself will accomplish this. 

Simply plug it out for a few minutes and plug it back in. The same goes for your router/modem. It only requires a few minutes without power and then you can restart it.

Related Article: Why Does My Nest Camera Turn On By Itself? (And How To Stop It)

Increase Bandwidth

We covered some of this above. There needs to be a strong signal between the router and the Nest Camera. You can track the signal strength by looking at your Nest Camera’s status in the app.

It may be worth installing a WiFi extender near the camera that’s going offline at night.

Try Switching WiFi Frequencies

Some Nest users found that switching to 5 GHz WiFi solved the issue of their camera going off at night.

However, the 2.5 GHz band is usually recommended for consistent video. Try getting a dedicated extender or If you’re using a dual-band router, try switching the frequency to see if it helps.

Replace Your Power Supply

Your Nest Camera needs a solid power supply. It’s easy enough for the plug to slide out of the power outlet just enough. You may want to check your outlet as well by plugging and running other devices on it.

You can confirm if the camera is receiving power by looking for a green light. If there’s no light, the camera is not receiving power.

You can pick up a new power supply online for around $30.

Remove Interference

Microwaves, walls, aluminum, LED lights, and more are all capable of disrupting your WiFi signal. If you’ve installed new devices recently, those devices could interfere with the WiFi signal between the router and your Nest Camera.

Before you rearrange furniture or add new devices, check your Nest Camera’s connection status to ensure that it’s stable.

ISP Maintenance Could Be The Cause

Internet Service Providers sometimes carry out maintenance during the night and that could be causing your Nest Camera to go offline. Check with your ISP to find out if they are doing any maintenance during the night that might be leading to your WiFi dropping.

Lower Video Quality

Sometimes, if you have the video quality set a bit too high for the speed of the internet you are receiving, the camera may not be as reliable as it could be.

It may help to go into settings and lower the resolution of the video to medium or low to see if that makes a difference.

Update Your App

Smartphones are funny things and even though you may have set the app up to update automatically, things happen. Check your app to make sure you are using the latest software.

Also, check to make sure that your phone is connected to the same WiFi network as your Nest camera.

Bottom Line

These are some of the most common issues affecting a Nest Camera’s connection status. It’s also a good idea to install your camera in a place where it’s not in direct sunlight all day, reducing the potential for overheating. 

Always try to set your cameras up so they are as close to the router as possible while maintaining a clean line between them.

That’s not always easy but if you pay attention to the connection status as you set it up, you’ll know when it’s good to mount and install.