04-07-2022 05:20 AM
Look - this forum is filled with the same issue - if you have a household full of Google devices, the setup is massively broken. Why? Well from what I can tell they tried to make the setup easy by sharing wifi information between devices via Bluetooth during setup. The problem is that the "assisting device" is usually the first device you set up and it ends up being too far away (or through too many walls) to support setup of the other devices. This makes it almost impossible to setup a home with multiple google home devices.
The way to fix this is to delete all your devices and attempt to start with a centrally located device, then grow the device list from there. This sort of works - but takes a lot of experimentation to get right. Google could solve this whole issue with a really simple software update that joins you to the device wifi network, has you enter your wifi password, and then rejoins that device to your household. Seriously google - are you listening? IF the auto-join fails, default to wifi setup. I am over 2K$ invested in google devices that barely work, sometimes fall off the network, and are impossible to add.
04-07-2022 10:25 AM
Hi JonR, You nailed it on the head with how Google should fix this.
But until they do: Another option that works well for me is this: Since I have the BATTERY smoke detectors I just go remove one from the wall and bring it into the room where I'm trying to add a new device. It works great and is a super simple solution.
04-07-2022 12:24 PM
I don't have any battery-powered Nest Protects, but I do have them in every room. This doesn't seem to solve the problem as the FIRST device on the network seems to be the target "assisting device" rather than the CLOSEST device. Making that problem worse, I have the google wifi routers (two of them - the second is hard wired as an extender). Seems like the router in the basement where the cable comes into the house is the assisting device. The extender (hard wired) is in the same floor as the cameras - but they don't connect to it when they do work, and they try to use the basement for setup. So broken. I am attempting to resolve by purchasing Amazons EERO routers - will see if that somehow helps as the 3rd party routers will not be able to function as assisting devices... ugg.
04-07-2022 04:11 PM
I have the Eero routers and they work get with my Nest product.
But I don't think the "assisting device" work via WIFI. I think it works via Bluetooth which is why it needs to be only about 5-10 feet away. Also, I have done this many times and it has never required me to use the "first" device on the network. Any Nest device should work as I understand it.
04-07-2022 05:52 PM
In my experience you can’t choose the assisting device. This could be because I am using google WiFi. I have had a connected device 5 feet from the device I am trying to add and it fails. The only time I got it to work was building from the middle out - hence my assumption that the assisting device is not the closest, but the first.
04-07-2022 05:53 PM
And yeah the assisting devices work via Bluetooth, hence the issue
04-08-2022 08:58 AM
I was reading another thread on another forum and they said they were able to add the new device by using a different smart phone from another family member. And in fact they went on to way it was an Android phone that failed and the iPhone that worked and allowed them to add it.
Other than that I'm out of ideas.
04-19-2022 10:36 AM
Hey, jonR.
Sorry for the late response here, but I wanted to check in to see if you were still having this issue and to see if you have done any additional troubleshooting than mentioned here. If you still need help, let me know and I'll be happy to work on this with you.
Thanks.
04-25-2022 12:16 PM
Hi, jonR.
I just wanted to check in real fast to see if you saw my reply and to find out if you still needed any help on this. If you're still needing assistance, please just let me know and I'll be happy to continue helping.
Thanks.
04-29-2022 09:59 AM
Hi, everyone.
Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.
Thanks.
05-04-2022 12:31 PM
Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks