Slow response when using Google Home to control Philips Hue devices

[Bernt]

(I have also reported this from within the Google Home app)

Problem: In a Google Nest network, all Phillips Hue devices are responding very slowly (10 seconds or so) through Google Home a day or two after either restarting the network or performing a factory reset of the network. The network performance is good in other respetcs.The problem occurs both with speech commands and by using in the Google Home app on the phone. After a restart of the network it works as expected for some hours or a couple of days.

I realize others have reported similar issues, but since I have done extensive testing the last month I think it is worth reporting a summary of my results, which may be of help when fixing this issue. I just mention here what seems significant, but can report more details if nescessary. 

1. Even though Hue products slow down, other smart devices do not slow down when using Google Home to control them (in my case several power plugs from Deltaco and a couple of heat pumps). The problem is specifically related to Philips Hue.
2. Google home commands to Philips Hue devices produce a 10 sec. delay on the wifi and also from internet, outside the wifi. BUT: Philips Hue devices respond immediately when being controlled from the Philips Hue app both from the internet and from inside the wifi. This excludes a number of possible errors with radio channel congestion and routing, I guess.
3. Restarting the Philips Hue bridge has no effect, neither has reconnecting Philips Hue to Google Home. This would suggest that the problem does not originate in the bridge. 
4. I have tested a number of physical setups of the Philips Hue bridge without any change. I have connected it to a Google wifi ethernet port and to the Nest Wifi ethernet port. It makes no difference. 
5. A very surprising discovery (or maybe not so surprising): When changing DNS setup and confirming it in Google Home, the Philips Hue devices will in many cases start to respond quickly. I guess the network is restarted when changing DNS? According to my “research” the specific DNS setting chosen does not matter much in this case.  

Some more details which I doubt have any significance, due to point 2 above: My home network consist of a Nest Wifi router, a Nest wifi point, and three Google wifi pucks connected by switches and cable to the router.

I greatly appreciate Google Home, but would really like the control of Philips Hue devices to be as smooth and immediate as expected in a modern network! 

[11-eagle-11]

I concur with your observations with Google assistant's control of Hue. Annoying when the system devices aren't stable. C'mon Google...products have been in circulation for plenty of time to not have kinks. Hoping (as usual) it gets worked out.

[AbigailF]

Hey folks,

Thanks for posting — let's see what's going on. 

Are you using a modem/router combo from your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? How many devices are dropping from the network? Also, do you have any paused devices? 

Give these steps a try:

If you're using a modem/router combo, set that to bridge mode to avoid double NAT issues.
Make sure that there is minimal to no interference (concrete, bulletproof glass, metal, mirror, etc.) and the points are no more than two rooms apart.
Remove any special characters in your network name and password.
Turn off IPv6.
Change your DNS server into 8.8.8.8 on the primary and 8.8.4.4 on the secondary server. Hit the save/ floppy disk icon on the upper right.

Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Abi

[bck17]

I have had the same problem for the past few weeks. Everything works find with the native Hue iOS app. The only reliable way I have been able to temporarily fix this is to unlink and then re-link Hue in the Google Home app. It fixes it every time but doesn't last more than a few days before return to a state where it take 5-10 seconds to turn Hue lights on and off. Factory resets of Google Nest Wifi devices or re-installing the Home app seems like it should be a very last resort. It's now wonder this stuff is nowhere near mainstream yet. Most "normal" people don't have the time or interest to troubleshoot firmware or network issues.

[KoldSteel]

Tried this and did not fix the issue permanently in my case. 

[Bernt]

Hi, there,

Thanks for the suggestions. As illustrated in my original post, the error returns again and again. The error is most likely an issue in the Nest wifi firmware, and there seems to be many reporting the very same problem!

• Bridged mode on ISP router: check
• Wifi-interference: check, measured and everything else works without any delay
• Wifi/name-password: works, and Philips Hue bridge is connected through cable ,not wifi
• IPv6: I have tried to disable this earlier, but it did not fix the issue
• DNS: I have tried this earlier also (as stated in my original post), and it helps for some hours until the problem is back (just like when restarting or factory resetting the wifi; see orig. post); the same behaviour with any valid DNS change (!)

Please, do consult my original post, since the information there may be helpful when debugging the FW.

[iLookLikeElvis]

I am having exact same issue, for last month or so. Have also submitted debug info via Home app. Worth noting for me is that the native Hue app (running on Android and iOS) is legless. The lag only happens when using Google Home app (or Google Assistant) to control a Hue device.

[Bernt]

Agreed, also here the Hue App is entirely without delay, even when it controls the lights from the internet, outside my wifi. That fact seems to exclude the relevance of most suggested solutions. I hope Google recognize this bug soon, it needs to be fixed! 

[iLookLikeElvis]

One additional data point: I’ve got a few Wyze lights connected, and those are lagless in Google Home. So issue is specific to Hue.

[Bernt]

Same here: the lagging only affects Philips Hue Devices and exclusively when using Google Home to control them. Other things works just fine.

[AbigailF]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the update.

Give these steps a try:

Power cycle your entire network by unplugging the power and Ethernet cables from your modem router and removing it from the main Nest Wifi router. If you have any Nest Wifi points, remove the power cable of those points too. Keep them all unplugged for 5 minutes. 
While you’re waiting for that, you can power cycle your Phillips Hue bridge by unplugging it for 5 minutes as well.
Once that’s done, you can plug the power and the cables of your modem router. Wait until that’s online.
Then, connect your Nest Wifi router back to your modem router. Wait until that one’s online too.
You may reconnect your other Nest Wifi points after that.

If that doesn’t work, you can also try uninstalling and reinstalling your Google Home app. 

Try another phone or device to isolate if the issue happens in just one specific device.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers,
Abi

[Bernt]

Hi @AbigailF ,

After some 26 hours the Philips Hue devices are still responding quickly through Google Home App and speech commands from Nest minis. I hope it lasts, but I would like to wait another 24 hours before confirming that it worked and recommending the answer. I remember that after a  factory reset it all looked bright for more than day, and then started to fail again. But let's stay optimistic! 

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi everyone,

Bernt, I'm glad that your devices' performance has improved.

To all, I suggest trying the steps above.

Keep us posted.

Best,

Mel

[maiello3fl]

Hello Abi, I have tried all these steps already and can give you an update. Just like everything else mentioned on this page they work for 1 to 2 days before going right back to 10 second delay. It's very frustrating especially since I was trying to move away from Alexa. Now I cant because Alexa never fails with the hue bridge. Making it difficult to convince the wife.....

Thanks,

Mike

[KoldSteel]

Please read the comments and you will see that your steps do not fix this issue permanently... 

[Bernt]

Hi, AbigailF,

Thanks for the advice, and I have power cycled the Nest devices and the ISP router as you suggested. Before I contacted the Nest community, I tried a factory reset of the network without any positive results, so I am uncertain if this has any effect.  I have to wait until tomorrow to report if this last suggestion has any effect because a simple restarting of the network also do "fix" the prolbem for some hours until it is back to "Philips Hue lag mode." 

The Home App: Sorry, but II have already testet it on different devices (Nest minis, Pixel phone, Nest hub v.2 and Chromecast TV). It makes no difference. It also makes no difference if it is done from within my wifi or from without it.

Anyway, I will report tomorrow if this has had any effect, so please do not close this thread.

All best,
Bernt   

[MrGug]

I've been having the exact same issue for the last 1-2 months. It comes and goes intermittently. I was OK for the past week or so and the issue came back this morning. Rebooting the networks temporarily fixes the issue but it comes back after a while. 

[iLookLikeElvis]

Like @Bernt I hard-reset my wifi (Google Wifi) and my Hue Bridge about a month ago as another test solution. That removed the lag for me for a day or so, but it came back eentually. A wifi/network reboot has a similar effect: will remove the lag initially, but it always comes back. 

One thing I've also noticed is that the lag seems to kick in overnight. For example, if I'm not experiencing the lag during the day, it will be fine for the rest of that day. But sometimes when I wake up, the lag will have returned. The lag does not seem to go away during the day (short of a network reset/reboot), nor does it seem to start during the day. So perhaps some overnight server-side process triggers it?

Because of that, I also tried to disable the Hue software's auto update functionality for a few days (it checks nightly at 2am by default for me) thinking that maybe that had something to do with things. But no change in behavior - the lag always returns. 

[Bernt]

Unfortunately, @AbigailF  and @Jhonleanmel, two days after restarting everything the delay is back and the Philips Hue devices respond very slowly again. This corresponds with my previous testing 😥 I think this issue needs to be addressed as a bug somewhere in Google Home or Nest Wifi. My tests suggest that the delay must occur  somewhere in between a command is issued in Google Home  and the Philips Hue bridge receives the signal from Google Home, and local network quality and routing is not the problem, as is clear from the tests reported in the first post. I hope this problem will be fixed soon.

[MrGug]

I had also restarted my network yesterday and the issue is back this morning. 😞

As additional information, I have a room where I have a Hue bulb and bulbs of another brand, I have created an Assistant routine that turns these bulbs on when the Hue bulb turns on and same thing when turning off. Even when the lag is present, I did not notice a significant delay increase between the Hue bulb turning on or off and the corresponding action on the other bulbs when the routine runs.

[vinster199714]

Same here, I've tried everything. Changing DNS, disconnecting Hue integration, switching Zigbee channels.

The weirdest thing for me is that using other integrations seems unaffected. So this could be a google home X google nest Wifi thing.  

Please fix this, it's really annoying

[Bernt]

The last three days or so, my Hue devices have responed much quicker than before. I am the only experiencing this? 

[MrGug]

Hi Bernt, same here, the last few days have been more stable.

But in the past I've seen it work well for a few days and degrade again after a while so I would not do the victory dance just yet 😉

[iLookLikeElvis]

Interesting, @Bernt! Mine seem to have actually become worse - most days showing the lag over the last week.

And last night, I unlinked Hue from my Google Home app (on all Google accounts), and relinked - it "worked" until I woke up in the morning, and the lag was back. Last weekend, I unplugged the Hue Bridge and shut down my network, let it sit for a few minutes, then restarted everything. That also "worked" until I woke up the next morning, with the lag back.

Also, I found a thread on Reddit about this too, started 6m ago but with comments over the last few weeks (the post from last night is me).

[MrGug]

And the issue is back this morning, this time it it worse, it takes even longer than before to respond. 🙄

[Sean_A]

Same issues here, had it since November, tried everything, cures for a few days then back to lag! Could do with someone from Google or Phillips to acknowledge if there is an official issue or an update coming

[11-eagle-11]

One can only wish 🤦🏻

It sporadically work perfectly, my living room has 5 hue bulbs + Nanoleaf Aura + 2 globe bulbs, when commanding the Googler to turn on/off only the Hue has the delay issue. 22 other Hue bulbs throughout the house suffer from the same issue. The wifi is handled by Google Nest which works great (unless this is the choke point for Hue). Too much time wasted troubleshooting that makes me feel it certainly shouldn't be that way and it may be a flaw that can't be fixed...because really, it should be the gold standard. 🙏🤞🤔🤦🏻💩

[11-eagle-11]

UPDATE:

Without making any changes like rebooting, resetting, checking, uninstalling or reinstalling...no changes from last post....response to Hue commands through the Googler is fine 🤦🏻

Hard to pinpoint the change of state from working to not working properly...stand by for possible disappointment with current status 🤞🙏

[Bernt]

Lately, my Hue devices have also responded quickly, and the Hue Hub has for some reason popped up in Home as "Philips Hue". I do not remember fow how long it has worked well, but  I  am mildly optimistic 😉

[MrGug]

I also have this new "Phlips Hue" item in my Home app, it has been appearing and disapreaing for a few months. And I still have to reboot my network once or twice a week to make the issue go away, last time was yesterday morning. Really annoying issue.

[AbigailF]

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with your Philips Hue devices in your Google Home app. We'd like to take a deeper look into this — could you fill out this form and let us know once you're done?

Thanks,
Abi

[MrGug]

Hi Abi,

I just filled out the form.

Thanks

[iLookLikeElvis]

I have also filled out/submitted that form. Thanks, Abi.

[MrGug]

Hi,

FYI, the frequency of the problem has now gone from once or twice a week to every day for the last 4 days. This is getting annoying.

Thanks

[AbigailF]

Hey folks,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Keep your lines open as our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon.

To those who are still having issues and haven’t filled out the form yet, let us know once you’ve finished filling it out so we can confirm on our end. We’ll wait for your update.

Cheers,

Abi

[AbigailF]

Hello everyone, 

Checking back in — have you had the chance to fill out the form?

Best, 
Abi

[bck17]

I have filled out the form. The problem is definitely intermittent. If it gets too bad the only thing I've found that offers temporary relief is to unlink and then link the Hue integration again. All the standard powering off/on or otherwise resetting of full networks and devices does not fix the problem but is incredibly time consuming and disruptive. Like others, we have no problem with the Hue app. Everything works as expected on the same network with the same bridges, the same lighting in the same home. I hope Google engineers can find the time to take a look at this. 

[AbigailF]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for filling out the form. Our senior support will be reaching out to you shortly. For those that haven't filled out the form yet, feel free to let us know if you need help.

Regards,
Abi

[KoldSteel]

I have filled out the form!

[KoldSteel]

Hello Abi,

I have filled out the form!

I hope this issue is fixed soon as I have a lot of Philips Hue lights in my home. Thanks!