2nd Gen Can't Locate WiFi Network

[Jasel]

I am familiar with the 2nd generation Learning Thermostat as our previous house had one. I have just moved and the new house has two 2nd Gen Learning thermostats; one for the upstairs HVAC and one for the downstairs HVAC.

I reset both to factory settings and both are running software v5.9.4-5. The downstairs thermostat discovered my WiFi without incident. The upstairs thermostat cannot find the WiFi, even when manually entering the SSID and password.

I have verified the WiFi is indeed reachable at the upstairs location by holding a laptop at the same spot as the thermostat. The laptop shows no degradation in WiFi signal as it does at any other reasonable location in the house.

The upstairs thermostat doesn't search long before reporting, "Your network may be hidden or too far away."

I have switched the locations of the thermostats (moved the upstairs down and the downstairs up). The former-downstairs-now-upstairs thermostat can still connect to WiFi. The former-upstairs-now-downstairs still cannot connect and still shows the same "hidden or too far away" message.

Due to the above, I am wondering if the thermostat is faulty. Remember, please, that I have no history of when purchased or installed. Is there a way to perform a "deeper" factory reset (than that which is available via the GUI)? Or is there a way to fully refresh the firmware manually?

Thank you...

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

Thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that you're having an issue with connecting one of your Nest Thermostats  to your Wifi. To isolate the issue, could you try turning on the mobile hotspot of your phone and check if your Nest Thermostat could find it?

Also, you could follow the steps on this link to reset your Nest Thermostat back to the factory defaults.

Thanks,

Edward

[Jasel]

Edward -

Thank you for reaching out!

I have indeed reset (vice performing a restart) multiple times. Each time, I have gone with "All Settings" to be sure no errant settings (should be) hanging around. The most recent reset was performed this morning after I set up a separate 5GHz access point and a separate 2.4GHz access point to see if the thermostat could see them. It could not.

I just tried your recommendation of my phone's hotspot and as expected, the thermostat continues to report "Your network may be hidden or too far away."

What I find interesting with this thermostat is that when I go to Settings > Network, it searches for no more than two seconds before reporting the "hidden or too far away" message. So the error message is being displayed fairly immediately. When doing the same on the upstairs thermostat, the searching "spinner" will display for at least a few seconds (5-7) before reporting the WiFi access points it can "see." This behavior is consistent with the 2nd gen Learning Thermostat I had at my old house.

To be clear, the thermostat I had at my old house stayed with the house. The new (to me) house has two 2nd gen Learning Thermostats, one upstairs and one downstairs. In the current configuration, the thermostat upstairs CAN connect to WiFi and the downstairs thermostat is the problem child. If you'll recall from my initial post, I physically removed both thermostats from their bases and swapped upstairs/downstairs locations as part of troubleshooting (in case one location, for some crazy reason, experienced too weak of a signal even though it is only 12 feet and one interior wall away from the access point).

I wish I could provide you with more positive results from your troubleshooting suggestions, but I really do feel I've exhausted all "environmental" reasons for the trouble. It's as if the thermostat's WiFi radio is disabled or dysfunctional, somehow. This is why I ask if there is some way to manually wipe the firmware and reload. The goal here is to provide an understanding as to whether the WiFi connectivity trouble is software related or is hardware related (a physical defect with the internals of the thermostat).

Again, thank you!

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

Thanks for doing the steps. I'm afraid we don't have a way to wipe and reload the firmware on the thermostat. Based on the results of the troubleshooting, it's possible that it really has something to do with the Wifi chip of your Nest Thermostat. Do you know when was it purchased?

Thanks,

Edward

[Jasel]

Edward -

Sorry for the response delay, I was awaiting return contact from the previous owner. The device was purchased some time in 2015.

Thank you.

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

Thanks for the response. While you're waiting for their response, you could check this link to learn about the warranty of your Nest Thermostats.

Thanks,

Edward

[Jasel]

Edward -

My last post indicated their response. I was apologizing for not responding to you, sooner.

Thank you.

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

Sorry for the confusion. I'm afraid that your Nest Thermostat is no longer under warranty.  You could still use your Nest Thermostat manually. However, we're not going to be able to connect it to your Wifi and control it with the app.

Thanks,

Edward

[Jasel]

Edward -

You've provided a viewpoint that agrees with my suspicions. I greatly appreciate the Q&A with you.

Thank you.

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

Thanks for understanding. Don't hesitate to reach out to us whenever you need assistance and we'd be glad to assist.

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi Jasel,

It's me again. I wanted to check back in to see if you have other questions and concerns. Feel free to let me know if you do. 

Thanks,

Edward

[Jasel]

Edward -

Nope, all good. Thank you. 

[EdwardT]

HI Jasel,

Thanks for letting us know. I will be locking this thread now. Please feel free to create a new thread should you have some more questions or concerns in the near future and we'll be more than glad to help.

Thanks,

Edward