tl;dr: Just found out that Google Fiber equipment is not compatible with Google Nest Mesh Wifi equipment. Is there any way to still use the points as speakers and Google Assistant on my new Google Fiber network?
A bit of background:
I purchased the Google Nest Wifi router and point 2-Pack in December 2023 from the Google store to help with deadzones in my townhome. I was using Spectrum at the time, and the mesh system and points gave me service on my upper floors. The speakers and Google assistant was also awesome because I could listen to music or give a voice command from anywhere in the house.
Fast forward to November 2024 when Google Fiber comes to town. They set up a tent and invited the whole neighborhood. Someone even invited a food truck and paid for the food. Spectrum service was crappy, so I decided to sign up. I explained to the sales person that I had Spectrum and the Google Nest Mesh Wifi system. She said that would not be a problem and the technician would help get everything set up.
In late December 2024, a technician came. He seemed surprised that I had Google Nest Mesh, but I explained that I told the sales person when I signed up. He plugged it into the new Google Fiber equipment and suggested I give Google Fiber the same name as my Spectrum Internet, which I did. And that was it.
In the first couple days, we all started having issues with a few devices. The printer wouldn't connect to the computer any more, and our points stopped working as speakers. My Pixel threw an error that it "couldn't be found". But Google Assistant still worked.
Over the course of a couple days, I contacted Google Fiber and Google Home support via chat and phone. We tried a Factory Reset, a manual reset of each point, changing the Wifi name, switching networks, even creating a Guest Network. Nothing worked, and the poor support rep, Dennis, was stumped. I was referred back to Google Fiber support.
That's when one Dylan quickly pointed out that Google Fiber's equipment is not compatible with Google Nest Mesh wifi equipment! A fact that the sales woman, technician, and support rep didn't know. So now I've been told that I can use one or the other: 1) use Google Fiber's equipment which has 1-gig speed and actually reached the top corner of my townhome but I won't have my points as speakers or Google Assistant anymore or 2) have a weaker network reach but stick with Google Nest Mesh wifi so that I can have speakers and Google Assistant. Either way, there's no refund or swap permitted since I already had the equipment, a fact I told Google when I signed up.
My question is: is there any way to still use the points as speakers and Google Assistant on my new Google Fiber network? Any advice would be appreciated! Otherwise these year-old devices are going in a box in the basement. <a single tear>
