Is my extender breaking my Google Nest Cam?

The short answer

Extenders halve the speed available, and video upload is the first thing to suffer. Cheap extenders make a second network. Once your phone and the gadget end up on different halves of it, they can no longer find each other.

What's happening underneath

Talks mainly to the manufacturer's servers, so it survives strict routers well — but live view needs a steady upload, not just a good signal bar. An extender that makes its own network name puts your phone and the gadget on two different networks.

Source: Manufacturer documentation

Try these, in this order

• • Check your upload speed, not just download — cameras use the upload direction.
• • Move the camera or the mesh box closer; glass and outside walls cut the signal hard.
• • Reduce video quality in the app if several cameras share one connection.
• • Check the signal where the gadget actually lives, not where you're standing.
• • Move the router off the floor and out of any cupboard before buying anything.
• • Put the gadget and your phone on the same Wi-Fi name.
• • Restart the gadget before the router — it is quicker and it fixes more.

Setting it up again properly

• • Stand next to your router while you set it up, then move the gadget to where it lives.
• • Put your phone on the 2.4 GHz network name for the setup, or use one name for both bands so the phone can follow.
• • If your router splits bands into two names, turn the 5 GHz one off for five minutes rather than fighting it.
• • Turn mobile data off on your phone during setup — some apps quietly use it and never find the gadget.

When it's worth spending money

Only once upload speed and signal are both ruled out; extra cameras on a slow upload will always struggle.