u/VintageBeard

Hey everyone, I’m considering building a Nest/Google Home security setup for my converted sprinter van and wanted to ask if there are any major gotchas I’m overlooking before I spend the money.

I live/travel full-time in the van, so when I leave my van at backpacking trailheads, I’m not just leaving a normal car behind I’m leaving most of my life possessions often tens of thousands of dollars of camera gear, computers, hard drives, etc. Trailhead break-ins are extremely common in the Pacific Northwest, and most remote trailheads I go to have broken glass in the parking lot. I’ve had a car broken into at a trailhead before, and I know multiple other people who have too.

The usual advice is “don’t leave valuables in your vehicle,” but that isn’t really possible with full-time van life. I can hide/lock up valuables better, but I can’t remove everything important every time I go backpacking.

The system I’m thinking about:

• Two wired 2nd-gen Nest Cams outside the van, positioned to cover the main enterable angles: front doors, rear doors, slider door, and likely approach areas.
• One wired Nest Cam inside the van, hidden/discreet, aimed at the main entry/search area.
• One Google Nest Audio inside the van to play audio if triggered.
• Starlink running 24/7, so the van should usually have internet even when I’m away.
• Google Home/Nest notifications going to both me and an emergency contact, since I often won’t have cell service while backpacking.

The main goal is not necessarily to “catch” someone after the fact, but to deter the break-in or limit how long someone stays inside.

My thinking is:

1. If an exterior camera detects someone close to the van, I’d want it to trigger a subtle “occupied van” response.. Turning on interior lights and playing normal human-sounding audio through the Nest Audio, like a conversation or something that makes it seem like someone might be inside. (I'm thinking of recording and uploading a YouTube video of van life sounds that would be very reasonable and realistic that it would automatically play when triggered) A lot of vanlifers sleep at trailheads with window covers up, so unless someone physically watched me leave, they assume the van is occupied with the triggered activity.
2. I probably don’t want the first automatic message to say “you are being recorded” or “owner has been notified,” because that could accidentally reveal that the van is empty and just has a remote security system.
3. If the interior camera detects a person actually inside the van, then I’d want the Nest Audio to play a more direct warning like: “You are being recorded on live video. This footage is being saved remotely. The police have been called. Leave the vehicle now.”
4. If my emergency contact sees an obvious active break-in on the camera feed, they could call police/rangers/sheriff and potentially use the speaker/camera talk feature to tell the person that police have been called.

I’d mostly use this when parked at trailheads for backpacking trips, but I’d probably also enable it when leaving the van in cities or other higher-risk areas.

Questions for the community:

• Can Google Home automations reliably do this with Nest Cams and a Nest Audio?
• Can exterior Nest Cam person detection trigger a speaker/audio routine without too much delay?
• Can an interior Nest Cam trigger a different, more serious warning routine only if someone is actually inside?
• Is there a good way to notify both me and a specific emergency contact if a camera detects suspicious activity?
• Are there issues with using Nest Cams on Starlink full-time?
• Are there any problems with using Nest Cams in a moving/vehicle-based “home” instead of a fixed house?
• Would the newer wired outdoor Nest Cams be the right choice, or are there reasons to avoid them for this use case?
• Any limitations with Google Home scripted automations, speaker playback, camera event triggers, or emergency-contact notifications that would make this setup fail in practice?

I know this wouldn’t make the van impossible to break into. My hope is that it would make the van feel occupied, make a potential thief choose an easier target, and if someone does get inside, make them leave quickly instead of spending the time required to find my hidden valuables.

I’d really appreciate any feedback from people who have used Nest Cams/Google Home automations in more unusual setups, especially anything that sounds good in theory but doesn’t actually work reliably in real life.

Hey everyone, I’m considering building a Nest/Google Home security setup for my converted sprinter van and wanted to ask if there are any major gotchas I’m overlooking before I spend the money.

I live/travel full-time in the van, so when I leave my van at backpacking trailheads, I’m not just leaving a normal car behind I’m leaving most of my life possessions often tens of thousands of dollars of camera gear, computers, hard drives, etc. Trailhead break-ins are extremely common in the Pacific Northwest, and most remote trailheads I go to have broken glass in the parking lot. I’ve had a car broken into at a trailhead before, and I know multiple other people who have too.

The usual advice is “don’t leave valuables in your vehicle,” but that isn’t really possible with full-time van life. I can hide/lock up valuables better, but I can’t remove everything important every time I go backpacking.

The system I’m thinking about:

• Two wired 2nd-gen Nest Cams outside the van, positioned to cover the main enterable angles: front doors, rear doors, slider door, and likely approach areas.
• One wired Nest Cam inside the van, hidden/discreet, aimed at the main entry/search area.
• One Google Nest Audio inside the van to play audio if triggered.
• Starlink running 24/7, so the van should usually have internet even when I’m away.
• Google Home/Nest notifications going to both me and an emergency contact, since I often won’t have cell service while backpacking.

The main goal is not necessarily to “catch” someone after the fact, but to deter the break-in or limit how long someone stays inside.

My thinking is:

1. If an exterior camera detects someone close to the van, I’d want it to trigger a subtle “occupied van” response.. Turning on interior lights and playing normal human-sounding audio through the Nest Audio, like a conversation or something that makes it seem like someone might be inside. (I'm thinking of recording and uploading a YouTube video of van life sounds that would be very reasonable and realistic that it would automatically play when triggered) A lot of vanlifers sleep at trailheads with window covers up, so unless someone physically watched me leave, they assume the van is occupied with the triggered activity.
2. I probably don’t want the first automatic message to say “you are being recorded” or “owner has been notified,” because that could accidentally reveal that the van is empty and just has a remote security system.
3. If the interior camera detects a person actually inside the van, then I’d want the Nest Audio to play a more direct warning like: “You are being recorded on live video. This footage is being saved remotely. The police have been called. Leave the vehicle now.”
4. If my emergency contact sees an obvious active break-in on the camera feed, they could call police/rangers/sheriff and potentially use the speaker/camera talk feature to tell the person that police have been called.

I’d mostly use this when parked at trailheads for backpacking trips, but I’d probably also enable it when leaving the van in cities or other higher-risk areas.

Questions for the community:

• Can Google Home automations reliably do this with Nest Cams and a Nest Audio?
• Can exterior Nest Cam person detection trigger a speaker/audio routine without too much delay?
• Can an interior Nest Cam trigger a different, more serious warning routine only if someone is actually inside?
• Is there a good way to notify both me and a specific emergency contact if a camera detects suspicious activity?
• Are there issues with using Nest Cams on Starlink full-time?
• Are there any problems with using Nest Cams in a moving/vehicle-based “home” instead of a fixed house?
• Would the newer wired outdoor Nest Cams be the right choice, or are there reasons to avoid them for this use case?
• Any limitations with Google Home scripted automations, speaker playback, camera event triggers, or emergency-contact notifications that would make this setup fail in practice?

I know this wouldn’t make the van impossible to break into. My hope is that it would make the van feel occupied, make a potential thief choose an easier target, and if someone does get inside, make them leave quickly instead of spending the time required to find my hidden valuables.

I’d really appreciate any feedback from people who have used Nest Cams/Google Home automations in more unusual setups, especially anything that sounds good in theory but doesn’t actually work reliably in real life.

Hey everyone, I’m considering building a Nest/Google Home security setup for my converted sprinter van and wanted to ask if there are any major gotchas I’m overlooking before I spend the money.

I live/travel full-time in the van, so when I leave my van at backpacking trailheads, I’m not just leaving a normal car behind I’m leaving most of my life possessions often tens of thousands of dollars of camera gear, computers, hard drives, etc. Trailhead break-ins are extremely common in the Pacific Northwest, and most remote trailheads I go to have broken glass in the parking lot. I’ve had a car broken into at a trailhead before, and I know multiple other people who have too.

The usual advice is “don’t leave valuables in your vehicle,” but that isn’t really possible with full-time van life. I can hide/lock up valuables better, but I can’t remove everything important every time I go backpacking.

The system I’m thinking about:

• Two wired 2nd-gen Nest Cams outside the van, positioned to cover the main enterable angles: front doors, rear doors, slider door, and likely approach areas.
• One wired Nest Cam inside the van, hidden/discreet, aimed at the main entry/search area.
• One Google Nest Audio inside the van to play audio if triggered.
• Starlink running 24/7, so the van should usually have internet even when I’m away.
• Google Home/Nest notifications going to both me and an emergency contact, since I often won’t have cell service while backpacking.

The main goal is not necessarily to “catch” someone after the fact, but to deter the break-in or limit how long someone stays inside.

My thinking is:

1. If an exterior camera detects someone close to the van, I’d want it to trigger a subtle “occupied van” response.. Turning on interior lights and playing normal human-sounding audio through the Nest Audio, like a conversation or something that makes it seem like someone might be inside. (I'm thinking of recording and uploading a YouTube video of van life sounds that would be very reasonable and realistic that it would automatically play when triggered) A lot of vanlifers sleep at trailheads with window covers up, so unless someone physically watched me leave, they assume the van is occupied with the triggered activity.
2. I probably don’t want the first automatic message to say “you are being recorded” or “owner has been notified,” because that could accidentally reveal that the van is empty and just has a remote security system.
3. If the interior camera detects a person actually inside the van, then I’d want the Nest Audio to play a more direct warning like: “You are being recorded on live video. This footage is being saved remotely. The police have been called. Leave the vehicle now.”
4. If my emergency contact sees an obvious active break-in on the camera feed, they could call police/rangers/sheriff and potentially use the speaker/camera talk feature to tell the person that police have been called.

I’d mostly use this when parked at trailheads for backpacking trips, but I’d probably also enable it when leaving the van in cities or other higher-risk areas.

Questions for the community:

• Can Google Home automations reliably do this with Nest Cams and a Nest Audio?
• Can exterior Nest Cam person detection trigger a speaker/audio routine without too much delay?
• Can an interior Nest Cam trigger a different, more serious warning routine only if someone is actually inside?
• Is there a good way to notify both me and a specific emergency contact if a camera detects suspicious activity?
• Are there issues with using Nest Cams on Starlink full-time?
• Are there any problems with using Nest Cams in a moving/vehicle-based “home” instead of a fixed house?
• Would the newer wired outdoor Nest Cams be the right choice, or are there reasons to avoid them for this use case?
• Any limitations with Google Home scripted automations, speaker playback, camera event triggers, or emergency-contact notifications that would make this setup fail in practice?

I know this wouldn’t make the van impossible to break into. My hope is that it would make the van feel occupied, make a potential thief choose an easier target, and if someone does get inside, make them leave quickly instead of spending the time required to find my hidden valuables.

I’d really appreciate any feedback from people who have used Nest Cams/Google Home automations in more unusual setups, especially anything that sounds good in theory but doesn’t actually work reliably in real life.