How do I get my Nest thermostat to see when my phone is at home

[stevegoldfield]

I tried to work with Google Nest support on this, but they appear to have no clue.  My phone and my thermostat are on the same wifi network. However, when I go into the Nest app, I see a yellow warning which says "It's been a few days since we've heard from your phone. For now it's not being used for Home/Away Assist." My location settings allow the Nest app to use my phone's location. I don't want to use the thermostat's sensor because it frequently thinks I am away when I am sitting in front of it and only a few feet away. I notice that it's getting very cold, and I check and see that it thinks I'm away.

Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution? As far as I can tell, the thermostat's software is defective. I had it replaced for the same reason when I first bought it, so I'm not sure that is the solution.

I have little confidence in the firmware which is written to waste energy because it has 9 pm to 7 am hard-coded in one of its features which switches to the remote sensor. That wastes energy because it is often several degrees cooler in the room with the remote sensor, and  that would mean heating more to bring up the temperature in that room when it isn't necessary. It makes no sense to do that, but it does not allow the user to select our own times.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi stevegoldfield,

Thanks for posting ― let's get this sorted.

Go to Home/Away Assist settings in the Nest app. Verify what products are contributing to Home/Away status:

In the Nest App, go to Settings > Home Away Assist > What decides if you’re home > select your phone.

Best,

Mel

[stevegoldfield]

Steve Goldfield <#>	12:12 PM (1 minute ago)
to Google

I've done all that. The problem is that the Nest app says it doesn't see my iPhone, even though it should, and the thermostat says I am away when I am right in front of it. I told the Nest app to use only my phone, but that doesn't work because it says it can't see it even though the Nest app is on the phone. Location settings are set so that the app can always use them. Cellular data is on. Local Network is on. The phone and the thermostat are on the same wifi network. When I first moved the thermostat to that network, it did see the phone, but, since then, it always says that it doesn't see it. If I tell the app to use only the thermostat or to use both the thermostat and the phone, then the heat goes off when I am at home because it thinks I'm not. So, this feature doesn't work at all. The weird thing is that my phone can see the thermostat, but the Nest app cannot detect my phone. I have done resets on both the phone and thermostat. Those don't fix the problem. I worked in IT for 25 years so I am not a neophyte in such matters. Seems to me that Google Nest is peddling defective software and hardware.

I even gave Google Nest Support access to remotely view my phone, and they could not solve this problem. They said they would escalate it, but I have heard nothing from them since then.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi stevegoldfield,

Thanks for getting back to us.

You case ID 0-6284000033716 has indeed been elevated to a senior support. I've followed up with them and they will be reaching out to you shortly. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

I will keep this thread open until you are assisted by our senior support team.

Regards,

Mel

[Jhonleanmel]

Hey there stevegoldfield,

Checking back in should you still have some questions here. Let us know by replying to this thread. 

Best, 
Mel

[stevegoldfield]

My only question is why my Nest thermostat and app do not work as described and why the firmware is so poorly written.

[stevegoldfield]

Also, I'm wondering when and whether someone from your senior support team will contact me. They don't seem to care that this product does not work.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi stevegoldfield,

Thanks for getting back to us. I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you. I suggest replying to the email our senior support team sent you.

Best,

Mel

[stevegoldfield]

I have not received an Email from your senior support team to my knowledge.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi stevegoldfield,

I checked your case and you have an active conversation with them through email. I suggest keeping your conversation there to avoid confusion as I'll be locking this thread after 24 hours.

If you have any new questions, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.

Thanks,
Mel

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi stevegoldfield,

I'm sorry for the confusion, but you replied to the email today to our support team. Since you are in an active one-on-one conversation with our senior support, I suggest you keep your conversation there to avoid confusion as this thread will be closed shortly.

Feel free to start a new thread in the Community if you have any new questions, updates or just a discussion topic.

Thanks,

Mel

[stevegoldfield]

Your definition of "active" and mine are obviously completely different. Nothing significant has been discussed about my case in weeks.