Can The Nest Doorbell & Cameras Turn On Your Lights?

A veranda/porch with an overhead light turned on.

A fairly desired (and standard) feature of smart doorbells and cameras is that they notify another service about motion, so that automation routines can run – for example, turning a smart light on when motion is detected. This is possible with many smart doorbells and cameras, and is often as easy as integrating your device … Read more

Which Ring And Nest Cameras Are PoE (Power over Ethernet)?

Various Ring doorbells and cameras in a UK store.

Power over Ethernet involves using the multiple wire strands within an Ethernet cable to send both data and electrical power. This allows the end device to be fully powered by the Ethernet cable, whilst also having full internet connectivity without the need for WiFi. None of Nest’s cameras nor doorbells support power over Ethernet (without … Read more

Nest Thermostats and Underfloor Heating: Latest Info Guide

Two Google Nest thermostats in store, the Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen and Thermostat E.

Underfloor heating provides soft, gentle heating from underfoot throughout the day, giving a nice, natural feel to a house’s heating provision. This is especially compared to an occasional blast of warm air (or heat from a wall-mounted radiator) that many houses provide. So I wanted to explore how well the Nest Learning Thermostat range and … Read more

Why Does My Nest Doorbell Keep Going Offline?

WiFi faulty error sign

The Nest Doorbell is great for both convenience and home security. It lets you know when a package has arrived as well as sending you videos of who has come for a visit, but what good are these features if the device can’t stay connected to the internet? Connectivity problems are a huge issue with … Read more

Ring and Nest: Video Management Support (Blue Iris, iSpy & ZoneMinder)

A Ring Doorbell Pro in-front of a D-Link ShareCenter NAS, and an SD-card adapter and Ethernet cable on the sides.

One of the key components of smart home security is a security camera. In the modern world, these cameras come in multiple forms: security cameras, video doorbell, and even built-in cameras on smart assistants (like the optional security feature in the Nest Hub Max). The ability to access these feeds at any time of day, … Read more

Can Ring, Nest, Wyze & Eufy Smart Cameras Be Hacked?

Various light glare from a Ring recording, due to sudden light, when in night vision mode.

The world of smart home technology has developed quickly and for the most part, it’s an exciting and positive change. Being able to control your smart home with ease, whilst checking in on video feeds when you’re out and about (or simply in another part of the house) has never been easier. It’s fun, convenient … Read more

Your Nest Device May Be Pointless In Illnois (Or The EU!)

Nest help pages - familiar face detection

When you’re looking at Nest’s smart doorbells and cameras, you may see a symbol (indicating a footnote) whenever “familiar face detection” is mentioned: So what does this suspicious footnote mention? Scrolling down to the bottom of the page says: (1) Nest’s familiar face detection feature is not available on Nest Hub Max used in the … Read more

Can We Add Nest Protect To The Google Home App Yet?

The Nest app on the left, and the Google Home app on the right.

If you search for “Nest Protect” – the Nest Protect Smoke Alarm and CO alarm – you’ll be greeted with Google’s logo and the words “Google Nest”. It’s clearly a Google smart home product: So logic would dictate that you can manage Nest Protect in your Google Home app, right? Well, for over half a … Read more