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International Nest Aware Subscriptions Jump in Price, as Much As 100% (arstechnica.com) 43

Posted by msmash from the tough-luck dept.
Google's "Nest Aware" camera subscription is going through another round of price increases. From a report: This time it's for international users. There's no big announcement or anything, just a smattering of email screenshots from various countries on the Nest subreddit. 9to5Google was nice enough to hunt down a pile of the announcements. Nest Aware is a monthly subscription fee for Google's Nest cameras. Nest cameras exclusively store all their video in the cloud, and without the subscription, you aren't allowed to record video 24/7.

There are two sets of subscriptions to keep track of: the current generation subscription for modern cameras and the "first generation Nest Aware" subscription for older cameras. To give you an idea of what we're dealing with, in the US, the current free tier only gets you three hours of "event" video -- meaning video triggered by motion detection. Even the basic $8-a-month subscription doesn't get you 24/7 recording -- that's still only 30 days of event video. The "Nest Aware Plus" subscription, at $15 a month in the US, gets you 10 days of 24/7 video recording. The "first-generation" Nest Aware subscription, which is tied to earlier cameras and isn't available for new customers anymore, is doubling in price in Canada. The basic tier of five days of 24/7 video is going from a yearly fee of CA$50 to CA$110 (the first-generation sub has 24/7 video on every tier). Ten days of video is jumping from CA$80 to CA$160, and 30 days is going from CA$110 to CA$220. These are the prices for a single camera; the first-generation subscription will have additional charges for additional cameras. The current Nest Aware subscription for modern cameras is getting jumps that look similar to the US, with Nest Aware Plus, the mid-tier, going from CA$16 to CA $20 per month, and presumably similar raises across the board.
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International Nest Aware Subscriptions Jump in Price, as Much As 100% More

International Nest Aware Subscriptions Jump in Price, as Much As 100%

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  • Why go cloud (Score:5, Interesting)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Tuesday February 20, 2024 @10:39AM (#64254448)

    Several vendors on the market now offer offline storage systems, usually in the form of a kit with indoor/outdoor cameras and a remote hub in which you can slot an SD card / HDD hidden somewhere inside your house you so don't have to worry about losing the footage when someone steals your camera.

    Nest cameras are very much outdated in their approach.

    • Re:Why go cloud (Score:5, Informative)

      by Comboman ( 895500 ) on Tuesday February 20, 2024 @10:55AM (#64254474)

      >>Nest cameras are very much outdated in their approach.

      Sadly, vendor lock-in and recurring payments for devices you already own are the default approach for most tech companies these days.

    • Having recording stored locally and off-site in real time has advantages. If the whole building is destroyed - think arson or natural disaster - your "SD card / HDD hidden somewhere inside your house" may be lost or destroyed.

      Also, cloud is helpful if you need any real-time remote monitoring.

      That said, there are privacy-related downsides to any cloud or hybrid solution, not to mention recurring fees.

      • If the whole building is destroyed - think arson or natural disaster - your "SD card / HDD hidden somewhere inside your house" may be lost or destroyed.

        rsync / rebroadcast to offsite storage.

        Also, cloud is helpful if you need any real-time remote monitoring.

        That said, there are privacy-related downsides to any cloud or hybrid solution, not to mention recurring fees.

        VPN.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by PPH ( 736903 )

          rsync / rebroadcast to offsite storage

          This.

          And since you are just backing up local storage, it can be any one of a number of offsite services. Files are files.

      • Having recording stored locally and off-site in real time has advantages. If the whole building is destroyed - think arson or natural disaster

        If you want to get fancy then most products support RTSP allowing you to do with your footage whatever you like. Including... hosting it on your own cloud service somewhere.

        But the reality is you're hitting edge cases. No one gives a shit about home security cameras during a natural disaster, and the overwhelming majority of people are not subject to arson. If you're running a drug lab and fighting a local mob, then whatever security system you pickup at Bestbuy is probably not for you.

    • Proper storage systems with some redundancy are easily $800 without disks, then you need it in at least 2 locations. A proper camera system can cost several thousands at the end of the day, $100-200/year is not bad.

      • Proper storage systems with some redundancy are easily $800 without disks, then you need it in at least 2 locations. A proper camera system can cost several thousands at the end of the day, $100-200/year is not bad.

        No one is protecting their drug lab from rival gangs or their office complex with an off the shelf cloud product from best buy. You may as well be saying that I can't used my tiny hatchback to tow a plough through a field. Technically correct, but wildly off topic given the products and the applications being discussed.

        You don't need multi-redudant mult-location video storage with offline backups in your home. And even if you did you can set that up with RTSP on many crappy cameras.

  • Best "Advertisement" for HomeAssistant and OOS (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DigitalSorceress ( 156609 ) on Tuesday February 20, 2024 @11:03AM (#64254498)

    Seriously, the more enshittified Google and Alexa and even HomeKit stuff gets (and as much as I like to bash on Apple, they've been some of the least enshittified to a point if you are willing to drink their Kool-aid)

    but yeah the more enshittified they get the more it becomes clear that with Thread/Matter devices and the improving FOSS voice assistant that the only smart move for a smart home is going to be away from commercial offerings.

    Yeah, I know not for everyone... a lot of folks want stuff that "just works" but when vendors feel they have you locked in and start jacking up prices, when digital libraries can just decide "that content you 'bought' is no longer available" the more they abuse their customers the more willing to look into the open source alternatives people will be.

    maybe. I suppose never underestimate folks willingness to not have to think about it... /sigh

    • BAAH I meant FOSS not OOS

    • ... may be to avoid it altogether.

      As for me and my home, it's offline-only as much as possible. TV, radio, speakers, HVAC system, household appliances, and, yes, even my doorbell, are all offline.

    • I suppose never underestimate folks willingness to not have to think about it... /sigh

      A neighbor of mine asked me about my cameras. I offered to setup and configure a real monitoring solution for him, no cloud, with offsite backup, for free, he only needed to buy the hardware.
      His answer?
      "Nah, too expensive".
      $400 for 2x good PoE cameras, a PoE switch, and a RPi was too expensive.
      He got some shitty Chinese cameras which don't work most of the time, have only cloud-based recording via app, and the only time he needed some historical data, it was corrupted, wouldn't play on anything, including t

      • > "Nah, too expensive".

        Sounds like he doesn't expect a RoI, maybe because he's not expecting any real benefit (just seeking novelty).

        Assuming a rational actor, and such.

        • I wonder how much cameras help anyways. My personal experience and that of my neighbors is that between the chances of the cameras even still working a few years down the line when something happens, and of being able to see anything in the dark, and of the criminal wearing a ballcap and hoodie, and then of the police actually doing anything with even a marginally decent image, all in all the odds of a payoff are slim.

          Seems like I see more successful applications of dashcams.

          • Honestly, for me it's more about piece of mind when I'm away that "all is quiet" at home... I can kind of review things - see that the cat sitter stopped by, the neighbor's kid once again chased his ball into the yard for the bazillionth time but nothing untoward.. nobody skulking around.

            Also once caught a person doing door to door canvasing on behalf of a politician illegally putting things into US Mail slot (that is a serious no no)

          • If the cameras are visible, they act as a deterrent for most perpetrators, unless they know or strongly suspect the valuables inside justify the risk.
            Furthermore, it's relatively trivial to link cameras to an alarm system, for example ONVIF events triggering automations which turns on an alarm, floodlights, phone notifications, even automated calls to emergency services.
            Hell, you can even electrify a fence when an alarm is triggered.

        • It's just the local mentality. Get the cheapest 2nd hand car, expect it to beat a Ferrari.

      • Or... or... maybe putting your effort into making your neighbour your service provider is just plain fucking stupid? What if you get into a dispute over whose tree limbs are overhanging the other's property, and suddenly support vanishes? Or you move and he's got something sitting in front of him that he doesn't know how to deal with?

        • What in the world are you talking about?
          The setup and configuration are services. You know... installing the wiring, configuring the software, setting up a free MS / Google account where he would have his 15 GB of free storage for camera footage.

          It's a "set up once" thing. What happens afterwards doesn't affect nobody.
          Not sure what your neighborhood looks like, but I bet it's bitter than mine.

      • $400 + support cost overhead. Even if he had to give you a crate of beer every time something broke, it ends up being more expensive than whatever is on the market today.

        • Um... he STILL needs help with the cheap stuff, more often than with the good stuff.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by guruevi ( 827432 )

            I manage devices for a living, no way a camera + Raspberry Pi + hard drive you cobbled together will have less maintenance than just the camera. The combined failure rates alone guarantee a worse service, unless you want to build out half a datacenter to make sure things remain reliable. As bad as the apps are for those things, keeping DIY updated is a lot more expensive.

            • Yet my stuff is still going strong after a few years.
              I admit I upgraded to Blue Iris for the niceness of AI-based analysis, but for basic usage, the solution works very well.

              My take is you are used to managing hundreds or thousands of devices, where one or more fail each day, but home use is different. Very different.

              At any rate, I don't care what he chose in the end, not my problem. I'm happy with what I have, he's not happy with what he has, life goes on.

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by guruevi ( 827432 )

                You have a sample size of 1. I manage devices at home too, for probably a lot longer than you've been alive, they fail as well eventually.

                It's similar to people saying their hard drives last for 10+ years and now their SSD's don't. They never had a life span design of 10+ years, SSD's are more reliable overall, you just got good luck followed by bad luck. The cost of doing business must include that eventuality. If your RPi setup failed the day after it was set up, which does happen, who will be on the hook

                • I manage devices at home too, for probably a lot longer than you've been alive

                  Ad hominem. Cute.
                  Anyway...

                  You overcomplicate things to an absurd extent.
                  Basically, what you are saying is "everything risks failing, don't do anything".

                  Yes, I have a sample size of 1. Well, OK, not 1, but less than 100. Yes, there's always a risk of a device failing. Yes, it could happen the day after it's setup.
                  But this whole debate is academic.

                  The shitty Chinese camera could also fail the day after it's setup. The shitty Chinese cloud provider could go tits up any time and you end up with a nice door stop

                  • Re: (Score:1)

                    by guruevi ( 827432 )

                    Yes, but then you go to Amazon, click return and it's solved, even if it failed $25-50 for these cameras is easier to absorb than another $400 for a new setup.

                    • Dude... you gotta be trolling.
                      WHAT another $400 for a new setup? It's not like the whole solution just explodes.
                      Anyway... I give up. As I said, you do you.

    • Well, let's take a look at the cost/benefit. The following goes into being your own island, assuming you don't personally need substantial training to get going:

      - Time invested in installing, configuring, and maintaining a HomeAssistant server
      - Server hardware cost
      - Battery backup / UPS
      - Ongoing electrical costs
      - NAS storage for video

      Take whatever that cost comes up to, and divide it by the monthly cost it would take to offload it. At what point are you net positive?

      All that other stuff might be of interest

  • In the 3+ years I've been running my home security system, I guess it has paid for itself in Nest subscription fees.

    Raspberry Pi 4 running motion. USB camera with infrared LEDs for low-light situations. Video stored locally and also rsync'd off-site in real time.

    Monthly subscription is $0.00.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by davidwr ( 791652 )

      Monthly subscription is $0.00.

      If you want to be "fair" you need to include the marginal cost of rsyncing files off-site (possibly $0 if you have existing off-site storage with excess capacity and an existing network feed with excess capacity), the maintenance cost of your equipment, and the amortized cost of your capital investment over its life.

      Of course, the "Nest" side of the best-bang-for-your-buck equation would also need to include these things, particularly the marginal monthly cost of any internet-upgrade you might need, the cos

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dskoll ( 99328 )

        Yeah, the rsync destination is another pi4 that lives at my sister's house. The odds of both places several km apart undergoing simultaneous loss of data are pretty small, I think... and if it does happen, I probably have bigger things to worry about than burglars.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Is there a howto guide of your setup?

  • Why are people so angry when a service costs money? It sounds like a good deal to me, full 24/7 storage for a month is hard to replicate yourself for similar money and time investment.

    • If you are offering a quality service at a reasonable price that stays reasonable, people are willing to pay.

      If you give people shoddy service, charge to much, or get them hooked (or get them to pay upfront for equipment) then jack up the price, they have good reason to complain or, if they can, jump ship.

  • Ever since I bought my first Ring doorbell, I learned what a tangled mess it is to rely on the cloud for security cameras. Not only are you just buying into yet another need for a monthly subscription service, but you get into all the questions about privacy and a company's right to use the video from your camera for whatever THEY want to do with it.

    If you think of traditional security cameras? All of the content was always stored locally on physical videotape. The only reason we have the cloud inserted in

  • This is the sound of ratchets in madly spinning fishing reels, as Google starts landing all those suckers they successfully baited.

  • ... not provide local network recording, while charging a subscription fee to record on the cloud.

  • .

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