topic Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP in Nest Wifi

Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 03:50:59 GMT

Situation:

I have a Nest WiFi router which I had configured with a static IP (WAN).
I no longer have a static IP with my ISP.
I need, therefore, to change my Nest WiFi to use DHCP to configure its WAN port.

Problem:

When I try to reconfigure my primary Nest WiFi router in the Google Home app on my Android device (Pixel 5), it cannot connect due to the Nest WiFi being offline. This is not a surprise, because it is configured with a static IP that is no longer routable on my home network.

The Home app SAYS that in order to change this, I should:

Disconnect the Ethernet from my Nest WiFi router (done).
Wait for it to flash yellow (done).
Connect to its WiFi using my phone (done).
Disable Mobile Data on my phone (done).

It says when I do this I should be able to save the settings change to DHCP. It took many times trying this before it actually recognized that I had completed the requested steps and made the WAN settings editable.

The big problem is that even though I can *change* it, when I hit the save (floppy disk) icon, it shows a spinner forever.

It never *actually* saves the setting to my primary Nest WiFi router.

Help?

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 04:37:55 GMT

I spent something like an hour on the phone with Nest WiFi support, doing what they said even though the rep wasn't understanding that the Nest WiFi coming up, getting on ethernet, and assuming it could communicate using its statically configured IP address doesn't help when it cannot *actually* use that IP address. I had to go around in circles with them about this, and when I got cut off, they didn't call me back.

I'm pretty sure it would be difficult to get through to a rep who is senior enough to understand the problem, and it's possible this is simply something that is just broken in the Nest WiFi router OS. 😞

Also extremely frustrating:

Neither with my phone connected to the Internet via other means (mobile data or a different WiFi network) ... nor connected to my Nest WiFi network (offline, disconnected from ethernet) can I retrieve wireless passwords. Presumably the same flaky, not properly tested system of connecting to a Nest WiFi without a functioning uplink that causes me to be unable to reconfigure it for DHCP ... also stopped me from retrieving the WiFi password for the guest network.

If I had the guest network password, I could factory reset the Nest WiFi router and reconfigure it, but without that I would be stuck, because there is a device which I cannot reconfigure (someone from the US Geological Survey would have to schedule a visit to my house to reconfigure the device) which needs access to my guest network.

Apple cloud keychain to the rescue. Even though I do not normally connect to my guest network, I apparently at some point *had* done so, and Keychain had the password. Phew. So now I can factory reset my Nest WiFi router to fix its configuration.

I don't *want* to have to factory reset. This is a seriously broken Nest WiFi router OS problem. But I don't see there as being any other solution for me at this point. I hope someone from Nest WiFi sees this and is able to fix the problem for other people.

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 23:57:39 GMT

Hi mavjop,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that you're having an issue with re-configuring your Google WiFi's WAN settings. I'd love to know more about this. Could you share the case number of your interaction with our team so we can check the steps that you've done?

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 09:47:09 GMT

Hi @EdwardT,

I'd be happy to, but I'm not sure that I should post the case number in a public response. Is there a DM facility? Or could I e-mail you at your google.com e-mail address or something?

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 21:33:51 GMT

Hi mavjop,

Thanks for the response. I'm afraid we don't have an option for a DM here. No worries, you could share your case number here since it can only be accessed by our team.

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 05:53:13 GMT

@EdwardT -- Ok, here is the case info:
"Your Google Support Inquiry: Case ID [7-6327000032307]"

- Stephen

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 19:34:40 GMT

Hi mavjop,

Thanks for sharing the case ID. Upon checking, the Nest Wi-fi or Google Wi-fi must be online before we try editing the WAN settings. I'm afraid we need to reset the network back to factory defaults in your case. We're always looking for ways to improve and we'll take this as feedback. Let us know if you have any questions — we'd be happy to help.

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 22:13:38 GMT

That is indeed what I found. That's an invalid assumption that you can always be successfully online to edit network settings, as network settings changes may be needed to get you back online.

In this case, if I had thought of it in advance I could have undone the static IP configuration, but I would never have guessed that a networking device would be incapable of being reconfigured unless it had a working connection to the Internet.

I would suggest treating this as a high priority to fix. One needs to be able to recover without the thermonuclear option.

Things you really MUST be able to do without a functioning upstream connection:

1. Retrieve the WiFi password for main network and guest network (especially guess WiFi).
2. Fix the network configuration on the device (WAN settings).

- Stephen

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 23:24:20 GMT

Hi Stephen,

We appreciate people who are keen on sharing with us their thoughts. We're always looking for ways to improve and we'll take this as feedback.

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:35:46 GMT

Thanks, @EdwardT. Have a great week!

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 22:18:15 GMT

Hi mavjop,

You too! Just let us know if you have other questions and we'd be glad to assist you.

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:39:31 GMT

Hi mavjop,

Just checking in to make sure that you saw our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Thanks,

Edward

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

mavjop — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 01:06:03 GMT

Hi @EdwardT - Yep, all good. I still don't have any further questions. Thanks!

Re: Cannot reconfigure Nest WiFi router for DHCP

EdwardT — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 16:20:01 GMT

Hi mavjop,

Thanks for the update. I will lock this thread now. Please feel free to create a new thread should you have some more questions or concerns in the near future and we'll be more than glad to help.

Thanks,

Edward