Google Nest Cam Battery Anti Drop & Theft - Alternate Solution

[@devonkittel6787]

I’ve been through six or ten videos looking for this exact install. Thank you for making it because now I KNOW what I need and HOW to do it.

[@TofuRobots]

Awesome, glad the video helped!

[@joes9545]

I believe they actually come with a small safety loop now. Mine did so double check the box. Screws in the bottom and loops around the base. Good idea especially with high winds.

[@diceflawless9115]

But that does nothing for theft

[@joes9545]

@@diceflawless9115 Well it could be a deterrent because you can’t just pop it off with a quick grab. I can’t imagine these would be a high theft item. But mounting higher would help. You will also have the thief on video.

[@diceflawless9115]

@@joes9545 Yea that's true. But you'd be surprised at what people will steal. They do cost 180 bucks. That's a lot for a broke person

[@austintibbs]

@@diceflawless9115 I just picked up one yesterday for $120 or $129 from my local Home Depot! That's even cheaper than Google sells the cameras to us as their 'Google/Nest Pro' installers. But I still see your point. Granted Google will replace the cameras with a valid police report if stolen but still a headache to go through. There will always be a battle between convenience and security though - if you had 8 screws to remove your battery cam to bring in for a charge it would push many customers away.

[@panman2632]

Legend! Just bought this. Better than the expensive version with the defects

[@xXLARzXx]

This product needs to come with two of the special screws to slow a thief down… The thief will pop off the camera, pop off the battery mount in one second, and use a regular screw driver to remove the screw holding the other end of the cable.

[@craigheaps7520]

What size is the special screw that connects the cable to the camera?

[@TofuRobots]

The screw pattern is a T20 with a pin in the center. The size is 1/4” - 20 which is standard for most cameras.

[@craigheaps7520]

@@TofuRobots Terrific. Thanks.

[@Videpedia]

How can you add the timestamp embedded into the clips after you download them to your cellphone ?

[@TofuRobots]

I don't think the latest generation Google Nest Cameras embed that data like the older Nest cams do. But please correct me if I'm wrong, because its is very annoying that information is not available. What I do is take a screen capture of the "Event Details" page in the app before I download the clip. Then both files have the same creation date, and the event details page has the actual date and time. * *You have to wait a few days for the actual date & time, otherwise the event details says "today" or "yesterday" which becomes useless when you archive it.

[@anthonyviviani9241]

looks like a pain in the butt every time I have to charge it

[@TofuRobots]

Well it's gotta to be a little bit of a pain if you don't want a thief to easily snatch your camera. Assuming you don't need a ladder to get to your camera, it takes a few seconds to unscrew. Just don't lose the screw. (or the screwdriver)

[@jjparks9263]

Hard wire it

[@rrod7643]

Get the solar attachment.

[@ThePhillip9000]

google sells a weather resistant power cable to permanently connect the camera to power or you could also just get an long extension cord and plug it in to recharge it without removing the camera. ( last time I was at costco they had a 3 pack of 25 foot extension cords for $14.99 )

[@deleted.6743]

As said keep it plugged in . It’s useless as a battery camera anyway

[@ST-of2uc]

Hi, thanks for the tip. Would you please share the link of them, so I can order them too? Thanks in advance 😃

[@TofuRobots]

Looks like there are many more options since I posted the video. On Amazon, search for "nest anti drop" and a bunch will show up.

[@ST-of2uc]

@@TofuRobots got it, thank you so much.

[@johnnyboy3197]

I’ve searched for this kit you bought on Amazon fairly extensively with no luck. Only found a Koroao anti drop chain compatible with Arlo that looked similar. Can you provide a name of maker to help others find this product?

[@TofuRobots]

Looks like the 2 pack that I bought is out of stock, but the Koroao 3 pack is exactly the same kit. They advertise it for the Arlo, but the screw size is the same. I'll put the links up in the description.

[@johnnyboy3197]

@@TofuRobots Thank you!!!

[@anzoXanzo]

This is a decent solution. But any solution if I need to recharge it regularly? Just unscrew it?

[@TofuRobots]

Only options I can think of are to unscrew and remove it, run the 30ft power cable to it temporarily, run an extension cord and use the short charging cable, or try the solar charging kit.

[@hasanc786]

The cable can be easily cut with cutter no? Any way to protect that?

[@TofuRobots]

You are correct. With the right cutting tool, the wire can be cut. Or if you grab the camera and give a really strong tug, you may snap the wire where it's connected at the ends. That's why it's mostly an any drop cable first, and theft deterrent second. Not sure if there is a stronger cable out there with the little screw holes. I suppose you can also install the Wasserstein Anti-Theft Mount and have double the protection. And finally you can glue the power cable with RTV. Easy to remove, but be another layer to slow down a smash and grab thief.

[@XsayomiX]

Can you please either post a link to buy the cable or explain what it’s called exactly please? Can’t seem to get the verbiage right on Amazon. Thank you :)

[@TofuRobots]

Hi, you can find the links in the description of my video, but you can also search for "anti drop chain arlo" on Amazon and I see the 3 and 4 pack still available.

[@derekseban4753]

What size was the screw

[@josecolon4071]

Awesome video thanks!!💯

[@1tpmg]

Great idea

[@TofuRobots]

This really helps deter a non-determined thief. I had someone try to grab my camera the other day and left it dangling on this metal cable. If I didn't have the metal cable the camera would be gone.

[@igobythisname]

I love it, thank you!!

[@Tundex_Plays]

Thanks for this

[@flexingblog8717]

Nice review 👍

[@TofuRobots]

Thanks! 👍

[@WowRixter]

My IQ Outdoor cam just packed it in. I'm so disappointed. Do you think the magnet is strong enough to prevent the camera from shifting or falling off in the wind? Great simple solution 👍

[@TofuRobots]

I have a few of these newer Nest Cams both wired and battery powered around the house. The magnet is super strong and has not been affected at all by any strong winds. Just be sure the base is secured properly so that's not your point of failure.

[@WowRixter]

@@TofuRobots That's great to know. Our current (dead) IQ is 20' on a pole and we're ocean side, so I'm quite concerned about a winter storm knocking the camera off. I will be installing a security chain with the wired unit. Hopefully that will suffice. Thanks for the comments

[@TBb____]

Side question: how did you like the IQ camera?? I really wish they were not discontinued! I’d love to have the 4k option

[@jamesm568]

The accessory is nice, but the cameras themselves suck when using battery. The cameras are actually useful when they're plugged in full time.

[@TofuRobots]

I got 2 plugged in, and 2 on battery power. The 2 battery powered are looking into parts of the yard that have essentially no activity except for alley cats. They easily last over a month on max quality, length, sensitivity, sound, etc.. , although I haven't been keeping an exact record. Now if there was tons of activity regularly, the battery would drain faster for sure. Definitely a YMMV device.

[@jamesm568]

@@TofuRobots on battery they're so erratic on what it picks up. If you're going to have a cool down period at least give me the option to turn that feature off. off.

[@TofuRobots]

I agree. It's mostly good at that first detection when the movement comes in and then out of frame. But if it re-enters, it's pretty random if it'll start a new clip or do nothing during the mysterious cooldown period. An option to tune it would be nice.

[@jamesm568]

@@TofuRobots Haven't tested out the battery backup or when they lose internet connection and see what type of recordings it does when everything comes back online. I still pick my older Nest cams over this though.

[@armandoramirez8743]

Just plug this camera to a google solar panel and you don’t need to charge it

[@georgeefremidis]

Thanks for the info. I just bought a set of 2 on ebay.

[@TofuRobots]

Thanks! Glad my video helped!

[@TristanBarrocks]

Good job bro

[@PanChod-ct7ou]

A wire cutter will get past this in 2 seconds.

[@TofuRobots]

True, but not everyone is so sophisticated and cunning. /s This cheapy wire saved my camera from being stolen. They grabbed it, and immediately gave up when they realized it was secured. All while looking right at the camera.

[@EthnosSynergyEnergy]

True, but if they want it that badly, they can have it.

[@PhillyDjHook]

Horrible review. Well some of it was good but, you failed to mention the name of the chain in the video, and that the link in the description is for Arlo cameras but, it would fit the Google cams. And, you failed to tell the people that, if they're replacing ADT Pulse cameras or similar that, they can use the same base in the Google Nest cams. I don't think that the magnet is strong enough to secure the camera from high winds, birds or squirrels. And people need to start mentioning that. My only question now is, Can I splice the charge cable of the Nest cam and tie it into my existing wiring of my ADT Pulse cameras power adapters? That's all I wanna know. I wanna just cut the cable, to see what's inside but, I'm kind of scared. But WTH, I can just take it right back to the store if it don't work. I just got it today. 👍🏾

[@ThePhillip9000]

what are you talking about ? this was a video for securing a wireless google nest camera. this has nothing to do with ADT or any other camera's. also, the magnet on these camera's is extremely powerful, It would require extreme weather conditions to even have a small chance to knock this off the magnetic base.