topic Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band in Streaming

Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 22:10:51 GMT

My chromecast second generation was connected with 5 GHz wifi network but it disconnected suddenly and i am never able to connect with 5 ghz network the network doesnt show up on google home app,

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Bryce — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 23:02:41 GMT

I'm having the same issue, it's disconnected itself and won't detect 5 Ghz wifi when I try to reconnect.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 22:43:56 GMT

Any chance your firmware is on the preview version 275994? (You might need to connect the Chromecast to a 2.4GHz network to check this).

It looks like a defect was introduced in this latest firmware that prevents the device from connecting to 5GHz channels in the upper range (i.e. ch 149-165). Whereas if you can configure your router to a lower end 5GHz channel (i.e. 36-48), the Chromecast will connect.

I ran into the same problem last week. Across 2 households, I've had 5 Chromecast v2, 3 Home Minis, and 1 Home all disconnect for this very reason - changing the 5GHz channel to 48 or connecting the devices to the 2.4GHz network has worked around the problem, however is not a long term fix. In my environment, I get much better connectivity with the higher 5GHz channels.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 08:05:56 GMT

thanks for your reply, yes i was opt in for beta program and my chromecast was updated to latest beta firmware, although I have removed my device from beta program but I am not sure how to get the lower workable firmware

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 01:45:29 GMT

I don't think there is a way to downgrade firmware, even by unenrolling from the preview channel. We will just have to wait for another firmware update from Google to fix the defect.

In the interim, there are 2 workarounds (which is dependent on what you can configure in your network) - use a lower 5GHz channel (36-48), or connect the devices to your 2.4GHz network.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 13:49:08 GMT

thanks for feedback, i am not able to connect on 5ghz wifi network even selecting lower channels, however I can connect with 2.4 GHz but the problem is with so many devices connected on 2.4 GHz, the steaming quality switches back to low and high due to traffic load on 2.4 ghz

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Jeran — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 17:52:58 GMT

Hey there,

Did you have any more questions or need any additional help?

Just checking up,
Jeran

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 18:15:24 GMT

thanks for checking, the problem is not solved, it seems google testing team has still not realized the problem that has caused by their faulty firmware. do you know exactly how to make my device compatible with 5 ghz network

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 23:06:10 GMT

Thanks Jeran. This is a broken firmware - with no solution (e.g. roll back) available for the end user.

Imagine if your TV manufacturer pushed out a new firmware that stopped you from watching HD TV channels - sure there might be workarounds where you can still watch SD, or stream the channels, but that's not the product that you bought.

Any idea how to raise it with Google? I logged a ticket through support over a week ago but haven't had any progress.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Jeran — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 23:19:39 GMT

For sure! The best way to let the Google engineering team know about this issue is by submitting feedback via the Google Home app with logs enabled. In the description, you could put something along the lines of "CCT3 5GHz Wi-Fi Issue", then they can look into it deeper into this. I will also bring up the issue so that they are aware.

Best regards,

Jeran

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 06:41:31 GMT

i did already but nothing happens.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 07:00:22 GMT

In addition to my support ticket, I too have now submitted 3x feedback for the three device types (Chromecast 2, Google Home Mini and Google Home) that I am aware of that this firmware has broken.

It's a very simple problem to replicate, so they shouldn't really need logs.
1. Set your 5GHz WiFi to channel 161 (or any channel in 149-165).
2. Try to connect a device running firmware 275994.
3. It won't be able to detect your 5GHz WiFi.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

muhammadashraf — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 09:30:21 GMT

it seems like google is trying to kill this product in order to force customer to buy new hardware, we have seen this in past for example apple iPhone which forced older phones to perform below their capabilities.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Jeran — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 16:29:26 GMT

If you've already done so, no worries! What it does is it sends the error logs from your devices to the engineering department, so they have more information on what is exactly happening. Just to be transparent, it may take them some time to analyze the issue, work on a fix, and release it.

Best regards,

Jeran

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Jeran — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 22:36:14 GMT

Hey there,

Did you have any more questions or need any additional help?

Thank you,
Jeran

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 23:32:47 GMT

Any indication as to how long a fix will take, or alternate resolution? The two workarounds are not really viable solutions in my environment.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

Jeran — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 16:53:08 GMT

I don't have any information from the engineering team as of yet, unfortunately. We'll provide updates as soon as we are able. As for the workarounds, really the only viable one at the moment if connecting the device to the 2.4GHz network, which I understand is not a good solution for everyone.

I'll keep the thread open for the time being.

Best regards,

Jeran

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

arcains — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 17:59:16 GMT

Wow. Is this already a month old issue? This firmware release should really be paused. My primary home device updated on 10 Dec. I figured it was buggy firmware, cos I had a spare Chromecast that hadn't updated yet. 🤔 👎 ☠️

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

AndRam — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 00:13:03 GMT

Hi Jeran, I have 3 Chromecast. 2 of them got updated yesterday and lost connection to 5 GHz Wifi. The 3rd Chromecast is used occasionally. I believe it will get updated and loose 5Ghz connection if I turn it On. Is there a way to stop firmware updates permanently. Obviously Google nest team is sleeping on the job and has not fixed the month old issue.

Re: Chromecast 2 doesnt connect to wifi 5 ghz band

hiluke — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 00:52:58 GMT

The update from Google with the support ticket I raised a month ago is that investigation for this issue is closed as this is the intended behaviour, and to use a channel in the 36-140 range.

Seriously...?

The devices have been working properly on the higher range channels for years without issues. I appreciate that some of the affected devices are no longer sold, but some are still actively available for purchase from Google (e.g. CC Gen 3). To cripple them now and say its intended behaviour is poor.

Based on this, maybe Google need to update their technical specs to specify the limited 5GHz frequencies supported, otherwise it's false and misleading advertising.

Imagine all the people receiving the CCv3 for Christmas this year, who connect to their WiFi, update the firmware, and all of a sudden can't connect them again because 5GHz is broken. Spending Christmas trying to troubleshoot a technical issue. Guessing there might be quite a few more support requests incoming.

I've been using my Alexa/Amazon devices a lot more recently due to this issue - might be time to switch all of them over.