Starling Home Hub (firmware 14.5 and above) features the option to stream camera content directly from supported Nest cameras to Starling Home Hub over your local network, bypassing Google's cloud video service. This can significantly reduce Starling Home Hub's data usage and improve camera latency. Local streaming for the live camera view in HomeKit is supported for the following camera models:
- First-generation Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor transferred to the Google Home app
- 2021 model Nest Cam (wired)
- 2021 model Nest Cam (battery)
- 2021 model Nest Cam with Floodlight
- 2021 model Nest Doorbell (battery)
- 2022 model Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen)
Local streaming also works with HomeKit Secure Video event recording if your camera meets the requirements for HomeKit Secure Video support. Nest Aware subscription is still required for HomeKit Secure Video recording.
Advantages of local network streaming
- Significant reduction in data consumption (useful if your Internet provider has a monthly data cap)
- Lower latency during camera streaming
- Improved privacy, as video data flows directly from the camera to Starling Home Hub and then onto HomeKit entirely over your local network, bypassing Google's cloud video service
Limitations of local network streaming
Local network streaming requires Starling Home Hub and your cameras to be on the same network, so they can communicate directly with each other. If your cameras are on a different network from Starling Home Hub, camera streaming in Apple Home will not work if local network streaming is enabled.
With local network streaming enabled, each camera will support only one video stream at a time. If you start a second local stream to a camera while it is already streaming, the first stream will stop. However, if you have HomeKit Secure Video enabled for a camera in the Starling app, you can still start multiple streams to the same camera from different Apple devices as the hub will handle multiplexing of the camera stream transparently.
Does local network streaming prevent the camera from sending any video data to Google?
Nest cameras send video data to Google's cloud service when the live stream is being viewed, and also when an activity event occurs if video history is enabled in the Google Home app. Additionally, if you have Nest Aware Plus and 24/7 recording is enabled for the camera in the Google Home app, video data will be streamed to Google's cloud service continually.
If local network streaming is enabled in Starling Home Hub, video data will no longer be sent to Google when the live stream is being viewed in Apple Home. If you wish to prevent video data from being sent by the camera to Google's cloud service under any circumstances (including when an activity event occurs), go to the camera's settings in Google Home, Video, then set Video history to No video history (in which case only live view will be available, and motion events will not be registered) or 3-hour snapshot event history (if available for your camera, which will maintain full event functionality in Apple Home including 10 days of event recordings for HomeKit Secure Video capable cameras).
HomeKit Secure Video recording requires a Nest Aware subscription, even with local streaming enabled.
How to enable local network streaming for supported cameras
In the Starling app, navigate to Advanced Settings and then select Enable local network streaming for supported cameras. If this setting is greyed out, it means that you do not have any Nest cameras that support local network streaming.