topic Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network in Nest Wifi

Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

SpottedQuoll — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:18:19 GMT

It's late 2021, and I'm having essentially this 2 year old issue: https://support.google.com/googlenest/thread/1274651/some-guest-network-devices-show-as-wired?hl=en . The description is a 100% match to my situation, but playing out in the current Google Home app (rather than the old Google WiFi app back then).

My setup is a Nest WiFi router, and an older Google WiFi access point; all correctly set up, and with wired backhaul between the router and point. My partner's phone from work is connected to the Guest (WiFi) network. In the Google Home app, it frequently shows up as a "wired" connection, and in the list of devices in the main network rather than the Guest network. Both these indications don't make sense. Sometimes it randomly does show up ok, as connected (1) wireless and (2) to the Guest network. I'm not sure, but I think it might show correctly whenever it ends up connecting to the router, and possibly wrong when it connects to the additional access point. From its IP address though, I can see that it *is* effectively connected to the Guest network in reality; it's just the interface in the Google Home app showing it wrongly.

Anyone managed to get a definite solution after 2+ years?

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

SpottedQuoll — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:36:22 GMT

Some others on Reddit running into the exact same problem:

- https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/pmg5ja/guest_network_devices_grouped_with_main_network/

- https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/paaaw4/guest_network_devices_listed_under_primary/

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

olavrb — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 19:06:03 GMT

Still not fixed AFAIK, I experience the same. One would think this could't be that hard to fix, but what do I know. Priorities I guess.

Related old issue:

https://support.google.com/googlenest/thread/22492825/devices-showing-up-in-the-primary-network-tab-even-though-some-are-connected-to-guest-network?hl=en

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Foggerton — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 23:02:09 GMT

I’d be so curious to know why this happens, and only with certain devices in my experience. I have 10 devices in my guest network, and 2 of them experience this, while the other 8 correctly show on the guest network.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

olavrb — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:16:48 GMT

For me it seems to be that devices connected to any meshed 2nd node (not master) all appears as wired, guest network and primary alike.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Foggerton — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 13:29:10 GMT

I am not seeing that pattern. I’ve got 5 total units, all Nest WiFi routers, and a number of guest network devices are not hitting the main router and correctly appearing in the guest network section.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 17:50:20 GMT

Hi, everyone.

Sorry for the issues you're all having with the devices showing up as wired connections. I'm sure that's a bit confusing. It looks like this has been an ongoing issue for some time. I've gone ahead and brought it to the attention of our internal teams and I'll update everyone here once I know more.

Thanks for being patient with this and for sharing your input.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Foggerton — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 18:05:20 GMT

Hey Jeff. Just to confirm/clarify: it's not just that wireless devices are showing as wired, it is that wireless devices on the guest network are appearing as wired on the primary network.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

SpottedQuoll — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:26:15 GMT

Yes, I second this. @Jeff , can you just refer them to this topic, and the links I added for further reference? It's primarily about guest network devices showing as connected to the primary network. This sometimes seems to coincide with these devices also showing incorrectly as wired connections. But the actual issue of guest devices showing on the primary network is the bigger concern, because it's obviously miscommunicating information that is relevant for security purposes, when inspecting a network.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:19:14 GMT

Hey, Foggerton and SpottedQuoll.

Sorry for the confusion there. And yes, I reported it as wireless devices showing as wired. Also, our internal teams have links to this thread and are using it to diagnose the issue. Thanks for clarifying. I'll update as I know more.

Thanks.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 22:08:16 GMT

Hey, all.

It's been a little while, but I wanted to let you know that this was still being looked at internally and I'll update the thread when possible. Thanks for hanging in there.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 18:26:53 GMT

Hey, everyone.

It's been a few days, and I didn't want to just leave this hanging. I don't have anything new to share yet, but it's still being investigated. If anything changes in your situation, please feel free to share it here.

Thanks.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

SpottedQuoll — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 23:12:33 GMT

Nope, the same problem still occurs every now and then; no changes.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

KidCanada — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 01:44:17 GMT

I can help in a discord call, here's my discord: AshPatched#7298

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 17:19:47 GMT

Hey, everyone.

I know this has been frustrating for you all and it's been a while, but this is still an issue we're working to find a solution for internally. While I don't have any news today, it's still something I will keep updated here in the thread when I hear more.

Thanks.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

shearm — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 23:14:53 GMT

Hi everyone. I've had versions of this problem too. In my testing, it seems related to my decision to use an ethernet backhaul for my network. I have a main Nest Wifi router and three additional routers serving as points. Ive wired all four devices with ethernet, and as a result, many of my devices show up as "wired" to my main router (which has a unmanaged switch on it).

The very strange problem is the following:

Some devices (like my Apple TV) are hardwired to one of the points, and it makes sense that the Home app would report them as hardwired. But I also have devices like my iPhone and iPad which are clearly not hardwired, but they show up as "wired" devices in the Home app. The byproduct of that is that they appear to be connected to the main router, with no indication of which point they are actually connected to.

I have an android tablet, but that doesn't seem to fix the problem. wireless devices that show up in the Home app as "wired" still appear to be wired to the main router, even in the Android version of the home app.

It would obviously be great to get a solution to this because its hard to figure out where a problem is when you can't tell which of the four points a device is connected to.

Thanks

Mike

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

SpottedQuoll — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 02:56:58 GMT

I'm guessing it'll be more complicated than that alone likely, but you might be on to something though.

Context: as stated in my original post, my setup also involved a wired backhaul. However, for unrelated reasons I've removed that backhaul at the moment. (wanted to connect a Hue Bridge to the main router, as well as avoid including switches in my setup at the moment, and in addition also move the Google WiFi access point to a different spot that is not near the ethernet wall outlet I used before)

Since then, I don't think I've seen the issue occur any more in my setup.

Again unrelated, I've got one Google Nest Mini though that just stubbornly connects to the (far away) main Nest WiFi router, even though it's sitting right next to the access point in the same room. Other devices in the room or nearby connect to the Google WiFi access point without problems (or move their connection between the main router and the access point as they are moved through the house, e.g. smartphones).

...so well, I'm actually "hoping" / thinking this is the case though, because indeed the overarching problem is: can I trust what the Google Home app is reporting regarding what router/point the Nest Mini is connected to? It indeed makes it hard to diagnose any other possible problems.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

shearm — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 03:41:36 GMT

I suspect that if google set up a network with a wired backhaul, they would quickly see the problems we are describing. I’m hoping that Jeff or someone can pass this along.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Jeff — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:45:32 GMT

Hey, all.

Just so you know, we do pass the info along as it comes in and your experiences help paint a picture for our internal teams that are working on this stuff. Sorry that I don't have any news on a fix yet at this time, it is still being worked on. I'll update when I have more.

Thanks.

Re: Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

Henessy — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 23:40:54 GMT

It's been 3 months so far. yesterday I accidently stopped all wrongly showing wired connections. Any updates?