Internet bandwidth and speed requirements for Nest cameras

When you pick video quality and bandwidth settings, you set the maximum video quality for your camera. Your camera will automatically adjust video resolution and compression according to how much bandwidth is available. 

Select your camera or doorbell below to get a general idea of how much bandwidth it might use.

In general, you only use download bandwidth when you watch video in the app over Wi-Fi. This typically requires the same amount of bandwidth it takes to upload the video. 

If you're connected to a cellular network, the app compensates for the slower connection if you lower the quality of the video stream. This helps reduce disconnections, pauses, and stuttering.

Your camera also uses a small amount of bandwidth to download software updates and other information from the Nest service.

Note: Regardless of the connection on your phone, your camera will upload video to the Nest service based on your camera's connection to the internet and the quality and bandwidth you set for your camera.

Some internet providers limit how much data you can use per month, or they charge an extra fee if you go over the limit. This is different from the upload and download bandwidth described in the sections above.

Check with your internet provider for details about your data plan, including any monthly data limitations.

Your camera's data usage can vary

The total amount of data used by your camera over a month depends on a few things:

How much activity your camera sees

If there's a lot of motion in your camera's view (people moving, cars passing by, leaves rustling) your camera will use more data than when everything's relatively still and quiet.

How Nest cameras detect sound and motion

When your camera streams live video

Some Nest cameras stream video and use bandwidth whenever it's turned on.

However, newer Nest cameras and doorbells like the Nest Cam (wired), Nest Cam (battery), or Nest Doorbell (battery) only stream video when someone's watching the live stream or when your camera is recording detected events, so its data consumption will probably be lower than the examples below.

The quality and bandwidth setting you choose

The higher the video quality setting, the more data your camera uses.

• Cameras set up in the Home app:

  • The High video setting will balance video quality with data usage.

  • Max setting will prioritize high video quality.

• Cameras set up in the Nest app: 

  • Low quality uses the smallest amount of bandwidth but impacts video quality.

  • Medium quality balances bandwidth use and video quality.

  • High quality uses more bandwidth to get a higher video quality.

Change your camera's video quality

Because these 3 factors can vary, here are some possible usage numbers on the high side to help you estimate how much monthly data you'll need for each Nest camera in your home.

If you need your camera to use less data over the course of a month, you can try a couple of things:

• Lower the video quality and bandwidth settings so that your camera won't use as much data to upload video to the cloud.

• Use Home & Away Routines (Home app) or Home/Away Assist (Nest app) to turn your camera on and off automatically. This is especially useful if your camera has 24/7 video history, so that it doesn't constantly upload video to the Nest service.

• Some camera and doorbell models can also use camera schedules to turn on and off automatically to help reduce the amount of data used.

Note: It's not recommended to stream camera video with a mobile hotspot.