Google Nest (Outdoor or Indoor, Battery) LAN Limitations – Possible Hack.
While Google advertises that all Nest devices can be included on a single Nest Aware, this is simply not true.
Nest Aware subscriptions are available in two sizes. Nest Aware ($6/month or $60/year) and Nest Aware Plus ($12/month or $120/year).
Although you don’t need a subscription, it is useful, otherwise you are limited to 3 hours of event video history and no intelligent alerts.
With Nest Aware you get 30 days of event history while Nest Aware Plus doubles that to 60 days. Nest Aware allows 24/7 video history (i.e. constant recording) that lasts up to 10 days. Finally both Nest Aware and Plus allow intelligent alerts for Familiar Faces, Smoke Alarm, Carbon Monoxide Alarm and Glass Breaking. Both also offer e911 and support Nest Cameras, Doorbells, Speakers and Displays.
Google advertises the following:
One simple price: over all the Google Nest cameras, displays and speakers in your home for just $6/month, and control them all from the Google Home app.
But there is a catch. They must all be on the same WiFi network (Router). Even if you have one broadband connection but several routers on your property, all devices must connect to the same router. Thus extending to a remote garage with an additional router is not an option even if you give it the same SSID. The same goes if you want to add devices to a 2nd home, etc. It will not work as they are not on the same WiFi network/router. This is a shame as it discourages users from adding devices as costs go up significantly.
Our tech team is looking at hacking this with VPN that can server the same Router MAC address to get around this limitation. Check back with us or watch TechTalk for more on this subject.
One interesting undocumented feature is you can hook up a Google Hub from any Wifi connection and assign it to any home. While you can’t display all the devices on other homes, you can simply say “hey google” and the device name to operate/display any device an any home. I hope this feature stays as it is nice.
by, Sarah Barlow, Field Reporter II & Aimee Johnson Reporter I