topic Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline in Nest Wifi

Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 12:07:36 GMT

Hello

Im trying to connect a new wifi point to the router (that worked when I installed it a few weeks ago). No matter what I do reboot, etc. It says offline but works fine. Please don’t give me the standard stuff. If reset to factory is the only solution, I’m throwing this in the garbage as literally nothing has happened to this router to decide to turn off.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 13:21:32 GMT

Please see my similar thread posted in the Thermostat community at https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Nest-Learning-Thermostat-connects-to-Wifi-but-with-wrong-IP-so/m-p/65151#M14771 and see whether this resolves your issue.

Regards,

Howard

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 17:27:14 GMT

Sorry but I really don’t see how this relevant. I have one router connected my isp router that works but does not say it’s offline so cannot add another wifi point. What does all the static address or ip protocol to do with a basic Google home configuration?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 19:26:39 GMT

StuBurgess -

Sorry for the confusion. I read that you were having connectivity issues resulting in the new point showing offline. I thought that you might be facing a similar situation with an out of band IP address assignment for the new device, but perhaps not.

You do mention that you have both an ISP and (presumably) a nest router on your network. If you have an ISP modem/router, you should disable the internal wireless router and only use the modem function of the unit. There should only be one router on your network.

Regards,

Howard

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 11:47:19 GMT

Thanks Howard. Do you mean that my nest router can only be a wifi point? It’s connected by the wan port to my ISP router in a part of the house with lousy connectivity (thick rock walls). From there ai bought a wifi point which needs to connect to the other Google router. Doesn’t it?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 13:57:06 GMT

Stu -

You can't easily mix mesh and non-mesh wifi systems, and you definitely only want one router handling the IP address assignments in your network to avoid conflicts. Since you say you need better coverage, the mesh system seems to make sense. My recommendation would be to identify the manufacturer make and model for your ISP modem/router, log in to it and turn off the wireless router. Attach the Nest router to the ethernet port of the now modem only unit, and then do the configuration of the Nest mesh with your additional point and experiment to determine the best placement of the two units. I'm still working to optimize the performance and coverage of my network by looking at different placements of the units. You may find that you will need additional points to get the coverage you need.

LMK your progress.

Regards,

Howard

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 07:57:26 GMT

I’m going to work on this and get back to the thread for everyone’s potential benefit. One last question to verify my understanding: if I turn off the router capability (which I assume is possible) will I still be able to connect to this as a wifi point giving it still servers a bunch of wifi devices coverage-wise?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 13:44:26 GMT

Stu -

The wireless router capability that should be disabled is in your ISP modem/router unit. The nest router should be the only wireless router enabled on your network. Once you disable the ISP as a wireless router by turning off the radio, connect your Nest router to (one of) the ethernet ports. The "router" in the ISP unit will provide the wan IP address to your nest, and it will then serve as the router to assign the wireless IP addresses on your network with no conflicts, and should then successfully connect with the nest points.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:13:23 GMT

Thanks. Does that mean that I can still connect to the Wifi point, which is the ISP modem? When I look at the instructions it says to turn off Wifi (which I don't understand why) and the DHCP (which makes sense since the routing tables are somewhere else)

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:20:41 GMT

By disabling the wifi in the ISP gateway, all of your wireless coverage will come from your Nest Wifi router and points - the ISP device will only serve to provide your WAN connectivity.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:40:08 GMT

So when I try and connect to a wifi point it will be a very weak signal coming from the google mesh routeur at the other end of the house?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Stuburgess — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 16:20:40 GMT

Let me rephrase my question.

I will need to add a separate Wifi point to this part of the house where I was connecting to wifi with many devices, because I'm disabling wifi? Why can't I just turn off the DHCP and leave the wifi on?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 16:33:08 GMT

You will need a sufficient number of nest points to achieve your required coverage. My suggestion is to get the nest mesh up first, and then you can try experimenting with the gateway Wifi if the gateway has a Wifi repeater mode (not common). Fewer variables to start.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 16:40:56 GMT

Why don't you configure the next wifi first and plug your one point in in the next room just to set it up. You can then experiment with the gateway to see if it can serve as a Wifi repeater. Once you make that determination, you can try putting the point halfway between the router and gateway, and determine whether you need additional Nest point(s).

Plan to spend a fair amount of time getting the placement right using the Google home mesh test.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

Jake — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:25:39 GMT

Hey Stuburgess,

Sorry for the late reply. I wanted to follow up and ensure you are good to go. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Best regards,
Jake

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

gphilly — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 17:53:17 GMT

I added an old Apple Airport Extreme to my setup so I could have more hardwired connections. I don't need the wifi from it. Do I just need to disable wifi on the airport and my network will show as connected again for my Fiber wifi?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 20:43:14 GMT

If I understand your question correctly, you would like to add your Airport Extreme router to your Nest wifi network (connected to a fiber ISP modem?). Only the nest router has a single ethernet port, the points do not. If you would like to use it to add additional ethernet ports to your nest wifi network, then all you would need to do is to disable wifi on the Airport as you asked, and then run an ethernet cable from the Nest router port to one of the ethernet ports on the Airport, NOT the WAN port. You can then use the remaining ethernet ports to connect to your wireless network. This is similar to what I'm doing to use my Airport Time Capsule as a backup device for my Wireless network, though I'm not using any additional ethernet ports.

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

gphilly — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 20:53:12 GMT

In my Google Home app, it says my network is disconnected. The issue arose when I added the Airport. I don't need another WiFi network, I just needed more hardwire options.

I have the Google WiFi router (yes connected to fiber ISP modem) not the Nest one with the speaker. But support directed me here? Anyway yes, that one cable running to my Airport.

So if I plug that Google router cable into an ethernet port, and disable wifi, then theoretically my Google Wifi Network should appear back in the app?

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

hij2001 — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 21:08:44 GMT

Is everything alright in the Google Home app when it is just the nest router and point? How and where did you "add" the Airport that caused the network to show as disconnected?

Remove the Airport and verify the Home app shows your network as connected and everything works. Then add the Airport as I described, and let me know what happens. In my Home app I only see my nest devices under wifi devices. I see my Time Capsule as a device under the device list - not sure that you will see the Airport listed as a device since it is acting as a switch if connected as I suggested,, though any devices connected via ethernet should appear there,

Re: Wifi router is connected to internet but says offline

RhinebeckDude — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 22:03:29 GMT

So, all 4 of my Google WiFi pucks are offline, yet I continue to have access to internet...its clearly using the Google pucks that are distributed across my 3 story house,,and have been working for 2+ years...my Google puck that is acting as router with ethernet connection to the model/router 6 inches away....has the modem WiFi enabled and has never been an issue. But something in the past week has caused my Google Home or Wifi appl to show all the nodes as offline. A network check fails within the appl indicating they are all offline. I don't want to uninstall/reinstall all 4 just because the google appl is confused.