topic Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection in Nest Wifi

Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 23:05:15 GMT

I see there have been various posts on this issue but no clear resolution was provided. Troubleshooting on these issues presents like some outside cause or misdiagnosing as an ISP outage, however, this issue is real and I would like to understand how I am able to get some support. I am based in Australia.

My environment

3 x Google wifi (Gen 1) and 3 x Nest wifi

I have various Google home devices, Google home minis, google nest hubs, google nest audio. I have various other wifi devices including TVs and 5 family members with Apple phones. I work in IT and my PCs are ethernet wired.

With this configuration, it is obvious when the wifi drops and the ethernet connected devices remain connected and the internet service provider connection is uninterupted.

The issue is solely with the wifi and all wifi devices drop connection at the same time. The Google home app on my iPhone is set to notify when someone (or device) joins the wifi network, which informs me when my devices reconnect after the wifi drops.

This has been happening since around June 2021. I am not sure what happened at this time, but I suspect a firmware update was done by Google.

I have done extensive troubleshooting and turned off all other wifi devices that could act as an access point (even though they were disabled in settings), tried isolating it to a faulty google wifi device by turning them off one by one for a day to see if the issue is no longer present. Nothing seems to have resolved this.

With various wifi drops during the day for 5 months now, I believe I have definitely isolated this issue to the Goggle wifi and nest wifi devices. I believe it is now obvious that there is a firmware issue on these devices and with no way to upgrade or downgrade to different versions of firmware, like every other router/wifi access point provider on the market, this leaves me with no options to resolve these issues.

So I am reaching out in one last attempt to get some support before I have to change to another mesh wifi provider and never go back to Google for such devices due to lack of support and poor firmware quality.

As an IT Professional who recommends these devices to anyone needing a good wifi solution, I am embarrassed.I

Is there anything else that I can try to resolve this issue that I have not tried?
Is there a way for me to get direct support from the vendor (Google)? For example a support email address, or a phone number?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Ashepherdson — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 02:01:24 GMT

You can contact nest support at the link below, with options for call or chat.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp?hl=en

I have had zero wifi drops with my nest wifi system, but you said you are using a hybrid of both nest wifi and Google wifi, have you tried removing all the Google pucks and only using the nest ones ? Also how large is your home, as 6 points seems to be quite a lot for a standard size home(depending on construction materials used, etc ) .

Is IPv6 enabled ? Google cloud services?

Have you factory reset ALL points of both generations and started setup from scratch (again starting with the nest router first, then once it's setup and working, add one point, get it running, then move on)

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 03:02:11 GMT

Thanks for the link, I will try to contact them when I have the time to troubleshoot with them.

There is no IPv6 enabled and no google cloud services.

One of the first things I tried back in about July was a factory reset and set up from scratch setting up the Nest wifi router first, the two additional pucks and then the older gen google wifi pucks. I am not sure if there have been any further firmware updates since.
I will need to try this again I think, but I am sure the support team will want me to do this, so I will wait and do it with them.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

nickp001 — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 02:29:58 GMT

I'm having the exact same problem. It started with my Google wifi setup. Because of the problem, I upgraded to the Nest wifi, using the Nest router and access points and also using a couple of the old Google wifi points. After completely recreating my network with the Nest setup, and I still had the same problem. Removed all of the old Google pucks and went with just the Nest mesh setup, still had the same problem. You may have seen my thread regarding the same issue. I can only guess that my problem is due to having plaster walls in the house. Aparrently, wifi signals don't play well with plaster. I don't know what else it could be.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Ashepherdson — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 03:31:02 GMT

So many older plaster walls use a metallic mesh as the base , which would act similar to a Faraday cage and wreak havoc with wifi signals. If this is the case then I am not sure what I can offer to help, any mesh system would have this issue. The only solution would be to add an ethernet cable between each of the points, which would only be possible on the older Google wifi system as the nest wifi only has ports on the router, not the individual points.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Gizmocorn — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 01:10:58 GMT

I have the same problem. It evidently started when Google pushed a firmware update in June, 2021.

My first successful workaround until Google fixes it was to factory reset everything and revert my entire network to use only the old Wi-Fi pucks.

It stayed stable for a whole week so I tried another step that hasn't failed yet. That was to install the marshmallow nest router and only use old pucks for the other nodes.

The nest points, or the smart speaker element of them, are the problem. I won't use mine until I see news that Google has fixed the instability problem. Then I'll add a point back in and see if I can stay on the internet for more than a half day.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 09:02:01 GMT

Update: I have turned off the two nest wifi pucks. I now have the older google wifi pucks and the newer nest wifi router in service and now waiting to see if it stays operational.

Thanks for all your replies and input so far.

I am hopeful we can get to the cause at some point soon.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:24:17 GMT

I am having the same issues! Never going with Google WiFi products again. I have a 2 bedroom house with 4 Google WiFi point, 2 connected via Lan (no problems with wired connections) but any wireless devices are having constant issues. I don't organise meetings at 3:00 pm anymore because I will always loose connection at that time, to ALL devices on wireless.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:30:21 GMT

Hi nickp001

If your plaster walls are post-1980s then they are unlikely to have a metal mesh in them and will not likely be the cause of these issues. If the issues are similar to mine, then it would be more likely have a great signal and all of a sudden experience a complete drop in wifi for a one to five minutes or so. This happens maybe once to four times per day. If it was caused by older plaster walls, it is likely you would experience a poor contestant signal that would drop more often.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Ashepherdson — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:31:05 GMT

For anyone experiencing connection issues, have you :

1 - factory reset and resetup the network?

2- contacted support about this issue?

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 10:32:38 GMT

Yes, both these things

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

keenumm — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 13:05:29 GMT

Same here. Upgraded to all new Nest WiFi. Have 4 installed in 4000sf house. It works great for a while and then devices start loosing network connections. I can unplug tv and power back on it works for while. Even swapping to other network i created will start it back up. My Galaxy phone will even do same thing as well as Dell laptop. Never happened until I upgraded from old Gen 1 mesh system.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Ashepherdson — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 14:29:09 GMT

Can you try disabling IPv6 in the wifi settings? Also are Google cloud services enabled?

Teru, what did support say when you spoke with them?

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 09:20:29 GMT

UPDATE: It has happened again today. All devices dropped and reconnected and now happened a second time straight after recovering.

I have checked IPv6 was enabled (must have been after the last factory reset). Also the privacy settings (cloud services). I have now disabled these and see what happens now.

I had to physically restart the router to be able to change the settings in the google home app. It would time out trying to change these settings.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 09:26:20 GMT

Support didn't help, just said to restart everything and factory reset. Will contact again tomorrow.

Latest development is that disconnecting the two wireless points improved my connection to my PC. Before it was Wired Router --> Wireless Point --> PC via Ethernet. Now it's just Wired Router --> PC via WiFi. Before 45, now 80. Connection to Router is 100.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Jeff — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 23:48:39 GMT

Thanks for sharing your updates, Teru. As we all look at this and try things, it's really helpful for everyone to see what impacts others.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

DaveTheDad — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:02:15 GMT

UPDATE: The wifi dropouts have been reduced. I have noticed only one in the last two days. However, by turning off the Google cloud services, our google home devices are acting up severely. Routines are not working which is the most obvious and sometimes the google devices listen to commands but do not respond for some time and state something went wrong and to try again in a few seconds.

I plan to run over the weekend for further observation and if it continues, I will then enable Google services and note any further differences.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:44:34 GMT

Update: I am now down to a single Google WiFi point, as suggested by Google Support. I have done some testing with WiFiman (WiFi analyser) and set up a continuous speed test every 5 minutes on TestMy.net.

Currently, I have a good connection, shown on WiFiman, but download is approximately 10Mbps on my phone, my computer (right next to me) is 80Mbps. 5 minutes ago, the computer showed 33Mbs. An hour ago it was 5Mbs.

It's like Google WiFi is trying to optimise connection but is failing. I only have 5 devices connected... I keep thinking it's interference but I get good speeds (sometimes).

That being said, another 5 minutes has past and the result... 16.5Mbs. fml.

As a result, I have an electrician booked in for a quote for a new access point in the office. I will compare that to a top of the line WiFi router. Either way, I will be getting rid of my Google WiFi points.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:46:14 GMT

One extra note, my case has now been escalated on Google support. Still waiting for a callback.

Re: Google Wifi point keeps dropping the connection

Teru — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 07:54:16 GMT

Final update: Google support never contacted me back. I will be selling my units and using the money to purchase a WiFi 6 router.