Nest Doorbell video is blurry, dark, frozen or delayed

The checks in more detail

the app's Device settings show the signal, and a poor reading explains blocky video and long loading times. A mesh node or access point near the front of the house is the fix. Third is the lens window, which sits behind a protective cover that collects spots and film; a soft, dry cloth cleans it. Lighting decides the rest. The doorbell sees well in dim light and in the dark with infrared, and it copes with a bright sky using HDR, but a strong light directly behind the visitor still makes the face dark, so a lamp that shines on the person from the front helps.

In the Google Home app you can turn on Night Vision settings and check the video resolution choice for the doorbell; Google says higher quality uses more bandwidth. Condensation behind the glass after a cold night usually clears in an hour. If the picture is pink or milky at night, a nearby white wall or a glass storm door is reflecting the infrared, and tilting the mounting wedge changes the angle. Compare the live view with a saved clip to see whether the problem is the live link or the camera. A picture that stays poor with good power, strong Wi-Fi and a clean window should go to Google support for a replacement.

Check the doorbell's mounting too. A doorbell set crooked on its plate, or tilted by a thick siding strip, frames the porch badly and cuts off the visitor's head, so the picture seems poor when the angle is the problem. The wedge in the box tilts the camera up or down a few degrees, and a level helps if you want the frame square. Check that the plate is firmly screwed, since a loose doorbell shakes in wind and blurs motion clips. After any change, look at a clip recorded in daylight and one at night, so you judge both cases, and keep the doorbell's firmware up to date by leaving it online.