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Doorbell (battery) not finding 5GHZ - Wifi

EetuAndersson
Community Member

Hello Nest - Community,

 

just received my Nest doorbell (battery powered), after returning my Blink doorbell which didn't support headphone - audio.

 

Besides headphone - support, I was pleased to see that the Nest doorbell comes with dual - band support (2.4- & 5GHZ) for it's higher price (Google Store).

 

So I just tried to set it up, but Google Home just couldn't find the 5GHZ WiFi of my TP-Link RE 330 Access point.

 

Having the doorbell connected to the AP's 2.4GHZ WiFi, while having the phone on 5GHZ, is marked with limited functionality in the Google Home app.

 

Since I play through the cloud on 5GHZ, switching to 2.4GHZ is not an option. And besides that, what did I pay 150€ for? Anyone an idea?

 

Greetings,

Eetu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 REPLIES 17

EetuAndersson
Community Member

Some specs, in case this might help.

AP

Wireless standards : IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz, IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz

Frequency : 2.4GHz & 5GHz(11ac)

Doorbell

WLAN: 802.11a/b/g/n (2,4 GHz & 5 GHz)

 

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@EetuAndersson 

The only reason I can think of for why your doorbell couldn't find your 5 GHz frequency is because that signal is not as strong as on the 2.4 GHz frequency in going through walls and structures.

We have several Google Nest cameras (1st and 2nd gen), doorbells (1st gen), and Nest Hubs. We have one SSID for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and I don't even pay any attention to which frequency they are on, and all of the devices work fine.

Can't be the case. During setup the doorbell was just 3ft./1m away from my AP and my low - budget Samsung A22 picks up the 5Ghz WiFi just fine.

EmptyNester
Silver Product Expert
Silver Product Expert

Hello,  I'm an end user like you.    So on WIFI, the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands are in 100% full communication with each other inside the router. So I'm not sure what limited functionality you are talking about.   Can you clarify?    

There was a pop - up indicating limited functionality within the app, which didn't show the second time I've set the doorbell up (doorbell 2.4Ghz & phone 5Ghz).

So I guess I am going with dual - wifi solution now. Although I really would like to know, why it's not detecting the 5Ghz WiFi. Here and there I've read about configuring channels, but so far I haven't found any info on how to do that with my AP. 

I have been a home-tech person for many many years and there are definitely some mysteries to wifi I have never fully understood.   I have the EURO mesh routers (which I love) and they only broadcast one SSID.  The routers determine on a device-by-device basis the 2.4 vs the 5.0 connection point.  And in fact during the day I can see a device will be auto-switched from one to the other for no apparent reason.     

Also,  I like to think about the 2.4 vs 5.0 as highways that allow traffic at 2 different speeds.  But if a vehicle doesn't go that fast then it doesn't matter which one they are on.  I believe this is the case with the Nest Doorbells.  I believe they are not transmitting so much data that it matters which one they are on.   MplsCustomer is correct in that 2.4Ghz covers longer distances than 5.0 but 5.0 will give a faster data connection.  

Anyway,,, not sure this helps but I thought I would mention it.

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@EetuAndersson 

I hope your battery doorbell works well on 2.4 GHz. As is true in @EmptyNester 's case, our devices switch from 2.4 GHz to 5.0 GHz and back, and I don't pay any attention; they just work.

If your doorbell is that close to your router, I can't explain why it couldn't pick up the 5 GHz frequency. (I did find this Reddit post where one customer claims that Google Nest disables 5 GHz in Europe: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/yk4bo0/google_doorbell_battery_does_not_connect_to_5ghz/.)

We have 3 of the older Google Nest Hello Doorbells. We got the first one almost 5 years ago, and we just don't worry about 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz.

The popup message you got from Google Nest indicating limited functionality within the Google Home app for 5 GHz is bizarre; I've never seen any documentation on that, or why that would be the case.

EetuAndersson
Community Member

@EmptyNester  @MplsCustomer 

Here we go again :

Screenshot_20231201_141823_Home.jpg

I've also seen that Europe & Google thing, guess I'm going to contact customer support.

I have no clue which functions I am missing, since it's my first Google doorbell. But regardless, I want full functionality Jesus Christ.

@EetuAndersson 

Oh. That warning message in your screen shot does NOT say anything about missing functionality if you're using 5 GHz.

It says: "Some settings are available only when your mobile device and this Front door doorbell are connected to the same Wi-Fi network."

If you have a DIFFERENT network name (SSID) for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and if your doorbell is connected to the 2.4 GHz SSID and your phone is connected to the 5 GHz SSID, THEN you might be affected, but Google Nest doesn't seem to document which settings might not be available. Maybe Google Nest Support can clarify.

Most ISPs now seem to recommend using the same SSID for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, which means all of the devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. Our ISP, Comcast (xFinity) recommends the same SSID for both, and their default configuration includes both.

If you need separate SSIDs for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz for some reason, perhaps you could consider connecting your phone to the 2.4 GHz SSID temporarily whenever you need to access the doorbell settings that Google Nest says might not be available if you're on a different Wi-Fi. 

Just a thought:  Did you purchase the door bell in one country and then bring it to another country?  I ask only because I know that is very problematic for Google with the licensing.  I'm told that there are functional issues when that happens.

EetuAndersson
Community Member

@MplsCustomer 

Jesus Christ, this has less & less to do with plug-and-play. So I have different SSIDs for 5- & 2.4Ghz and no clue what the ISP is recommending. And to be honest, I have no intention of fiddling around with my AP because my low budget phone is picking up the 5Ghz WiFi just fine. (Samsung A22 5g, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5GHz, VHT80)

Besides that, I've had contact with customer support a few hours ago and went through the usual first - contact procedure. We left off at AP configuration, because my AP wouldn't let me access for whatever reason. So I've reset my AP, regained access and then setup my doorbell again, having the phone and doorbell BOTH on 2.4Ghz. And at this point, the warning message of limited functionality still showed (?) and I could not make out any additional functionality/options in comparison when having the phone running on 5Ghz. 

So like you proposed, I will ask customer service in detail about which functions are actually limited, because my case will be passed on to senior customer support or sth. like that. Seems like this warning message might be a little random. But still bugging me, that the doorbell won't connect to 5Ghz. Hope they can help me. I've also asked them about European devices not running on 5Ghz, which they declined.

@EmptyNester 

Thx for pointing that out, definitely not the case.

@EetuAndersson 

It's unfortunate that Google Nest Support could not tell you the actual meaning or significance of that Google Home app informational message; after all, it's Google Nest's own message. I've never seen the message. I tried turning off Wi-Fi so that my phone was using our cell phone network and not our Wi-Fi network, and did not get that message on our 2nd gen battery camera or 2nd gen indoor camera.

Since it's not known what triggers the message, and since you could not make out any differences in functionality when your phone was on 2.4 GHz versus 5 GHz, perhaps the message is not worth worrying about.

I don't know why your doorbell won't connect to 5 GHz, but if it works on fine on 2.4 GHz, and if Google Nest Support can't tell you why you're getting that message, maybe, as you said, the message is just "a little random".

EetuAndersson
Community Member

So I just went through the specs again. Does someone have a clue if it has something to do with the missing "ac"(?!?!?) - support on the doorbell?

 

Phone

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5GHz, VHT80

 

AP 

Wireless Standards : 

EEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz

IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz

Frequency:

2.4GHz & 5GHz(11ac)

 

Doorbell

802.11a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)

Sorry I'm out of ideas on this one.   I hope this can get sorted out soon.    If you get to a final solution please return here and let us know what the solution was.  

EetuAndersson
Community Member

@EmptyNester 

Thx for your effort so far, will report when the solution/cause is found.

(Although I would not be surprised if it is going to be because of that "ac"-support up there, which would mean I didn't do enough research upfront).

I'm 99% sure the AC support has nothing to do with it.  My routers support AC and I've never seen that message.   AC is just another protocol in addition to 802.11 B G and N.  Only devices that can see the AC band will use it.  Other devices like the Nest products will ignore it.

 

EetuAndersson
Community Member

Someone over at tp-link's community pointed out, that according to Google-US (not just a reddit - post), 5Ghz is turned off for "Rest of World".

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9259110?hl=en#zippy=%2Cnest-doorbell-battery

https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/644460?replyId=1286882

Which is strange, because at Google UK it clearly says 5Ghz support?!?!

https://store.google.com/gb/product/nest_doorbell_battery_specs?hl=en-GB

Isn't that fraud?