How Much Data Does Nest Cam Use?

The Nest cam surveillance cameras are a great smart home addition to any house. They allow you to see your home and property so you can see who is coming and going. You will also be able to see when packages are delivered. Since the Nest Cam is a smart camera, it will use the internet. You might wonder how much data this will cost you and if it’s affordable. 

The data the Nest Cam uses depends on many factors. Data usage can range between 18GB-380 GB per month depending on the video quality you choose to stream and how much activity is around your cameras. 

You might be wondering how exactly you can try and estimate how much data your cam will use. We will go over more details in this article. We will also discuss the factors that affect data usage more in-depth. 

Does the Nest Camera Use a Lot of Data? 

Since Nest Cameras records and live streams video, they can use quite a bit of data. They also download and stream videos onto the nest app which uses even more data. However, the exact data usage will depend on the resolution of the video recordings and how much activity you have around your home. 

Here are some approximate usage figures based on the video settings:

Nest Camera Video Setting	360p SD resolution (lowest)	720p HS resolution (medium)	1080p Full HD resolution (highest)
Monthly average	18GB	60 GB	140 GB
Typical monthly data used	30 GB	120 GB	300 GB
Maximum data used (high activity areas)	48 GB	160 GB	380 GB

Whether these numbers are considered a lot depends on your data or WIFI plan. If you have unlimited WIFI, this won’t be very much data. However, if you are on a limited plan you might need to see how much your other devices use and see if the plan can also accommodate the Nest Cam. 

If you’d like to know more about Nest, check out this article.

Let’s look at exactly how the video quality and other factors will affect your data usage. 

How Much Data Does a Nest Cam Use Per Month? 

The amount of data your Nest Cam will use depends on how you use the camera and how often. The following factors will make a huge difference when it comes to monthly data usage:

• How much activity does your camera see? If you live in an area with many passing cars, trees that move around in the wind, or people walking by; your cam will use more data. 
• How often the camera streams live video. Your camera will only stream video when it’s recording detected events. The more events it detects, the more data it uses. 
• The quality and bandwidth you use. The higher the setting of your camera’s video quality, the more data it will use. You can change the video quality under settings if you’re concerned it’s using too much data. 

While the data usage will vary according to the factors above, Google estimates the monthly data to be 200 GB per month with high video and 300 GB per month with max video. 

How Much Data Does Nest Cam IQ Use?

The Nest Cam IQ cam is one great addition to any home, from helping you recognize familiar faces to sending security alerts for moving people, vehicles, and even animals. Like all smart cameras, the Nest Cam IQ relies on the internet to record and stream videos. 

On average, the Nest Cam IQ uses about 20 GB to 400GB of monthly data usage. However, your total data usage, of course, will eventually depend on usage, speed, video quality, and bandwidth settings.

How Much Data Does Nest App Use? 

The exact amount of data your Nest app will use depends on how often you use it. If your app is constantly running in the background of the phone, it will be using data. When not using the app, you should close it. 

Under the settings in your phone, you can also turn the data off for the Nest app if you don’t want it on all the time. This will reduce data usage. However, keep in mind, if you turn off the data for the app you won’t receive notifications about who is at your door or around the camera. 

Some other factors that affect how much data the Nest app will use:

• The speed of your data 
• If you have the app open all the time 
• If you use the app while at home and away 
• If you have the camera set to alert the app every time, there is a motion or detection

Now, let’s look at whether Nest cam works without the internet.

Can Nest Cam Work Without Internet? 

If you are concerned about using too much data, you might be wondering if the Nest Cam has any offline functionality. Unfortunately, unlike other Google products, the Nest Cam will not work if you are offline. 

Without a connection to WIFI, the Nest Cam will not be able to:

• Connect to the app
• Alert you of motions and activities 
• Record live video
• Store videos for later 

Basically, the entire security system will not work without WIFI or data. This is true of all smart cameras though, so it shouldn’t be a factor in trying to decide which camera to buy. 

Final Thoughts 

As you can see, data usage varies widely depending on how you use your camera. Since you want to protect your home though, using medium or high video quality is recommended so you can clearly see who or what is around your cameras. When using this quality, plan to use between 120 GB-200 GB per month.