W5 error problem, have tried all the troubleshooting suggestions but nothing works. Please help

[nas_analog]

My Nest Thermostat has the reported "w5 error" and cannot connect to WiFi. It does not even detect the WiFi. Have tried all suggestions (restart and reset both the router and Nest Thermostat) and still won’t connect to WiFi. None of my other nest thermostats have issues connecting. Please help.

[robsafa]

useless info

[joshretiredusaf]

I've tried every recommended troubleshooting method and cannot get my thermostat to connect to the wifi, it's only been installed less than a year 9 months

[wesdumalski]

DETAILS for those with this issue. I am now on my second Nest thermostat and got the dreaded W5 error. According to google on my first replacement, it is a failure in the chipset in the display that handles wifi connection. To my knowledge there is NO FIX aside from a new display. Now that I am on my second display (first one bought new lasted nearly 1 year with no  issues, replacement display seems to be a refurbished unit that has now failed within 2 months of installation. This is a serious defect and needs to be addressed by google more proactively than what seems to be a lot of individual warranty claims. 

[wesdumalski]

After working with google support via chat I will now be getting my 3rd NEST display. Users should be aware that the warranty period is from the date of purchase. If you get a replacement display it carries no further warranty than the original display. The warranty period is 2 years and if these keep failing, we will be stuck with thermostats that have no ability to connect to WIFI. 

[robsafa]

It would be helpful if you can post a link to get in contact with the google support people.

That would be quite helpful

[wesdumalski]

Rob,

        I used 2 steps. First link takes you to the W5 issue specifically with the steps you should try before contacting support.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9244715?hl=en#zippy=%2Ccontact-support

The link below is directly to google support: 

https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp

If you DO have the W5 issue, before you initiate the chat or phone call. They will ask you for the serial number for the NEST thermostat display. Go to your thermostat display > settings > technical info > display. I used my phone to take a picture of the numbers to give to support. 

[robsafa]

This info is not helpful

[Cricket115]

Same. W5 issue here. Been trying to fix by going through all the trouble shooting,  it hung works.

[jf1450]

Deja Vu all over again. Bought a Gen 3 thermostat from Crutchfield 7/19/22 to replace our Gen 2. We wanted the remote sensor capability. About 2 months later it lost WiFi with the nest.com/w5 error. GoogleNest sent us a replacement thermostat display. It worked fine until yesterday, now it is throwing the w5 code.  2nd failure. I guess I'll try to get another replacement or see if I can get a refund from Crutchfield and I'll reinstall the Gen 2 and be done with it.

[wesdumalski]

Same experience here. Just got my 3rd replacement display and the surface is cracked in half. ONE instance where I wish I purchased the extended warranty from best buy.... 

[jf1450]

Good grief, that would drive me up a wall. I called support, after 59 minutes and 31 seconds on the phone with 'em they're sending me another display. In the meantime the 1st line support person led me down a path and now the current thermostat reads 5-6 degrees higher than the actual temperature. I mentioned that to 2nd level support dude and he said it should stabilize in 24 hours. Ya know, Google just needs to stay the hell away from the hardware business and just do search engines. Seems everything they touch hardware-wise turns to crap.

[NestProInst]

Hi, finding this page tells me this W5 error is widespread and this is only for those who found this page. I'm a former Nest Pro Installer, but never in my life would I think i would have to explain to a client the unfixable w5 error. It is embarrassing and makes us installers look very bad, so I quit. But before I quit i have client w/ 4 Nest thermostats, all of them did not work and could not connect to wifi for whatever reason. Several calls to tech support resulted in nothing but more confusion. And whats worse? My cliet just had hip surgery last week and being able to use her multiple nests on her phone was very important but there was nothing i could do about it. So i am asking as a last resort to have someone contact me before my client throws away these Nests out of frustration. This is googles mess and i think its time for you to help resolve this. It has been a while.

[Jeff50]

I have same issue. 

[Jaquea04]

I’m having the same issue. Who can I speak with to resolve the issue

[jf1450]

Go through the troubleshooting steps on the Google Nest Thermostat Support Page. Eventually you'll get to a page that has an option "Get a Call". Select it, they'll call you. You'll then need to suffer through an hour with a support tech going through a troubleshooting script. The end result will be that they'll send you a replacement thermostat assuming you're still in warranty. You'll have 2 options. 1. Send your thermostat to them and they'll send a replacement after they receive yours. 2. Let them put a temporary charge on your credit card, they'll send you a replacement immediately and you return your bad one after you replace it. The charge goes away after they receive your replacement.

It's a sorry state of affairs, we're on our 3rd one which, for now, is working. We'll see for how long.

[wesdumalski]

This is exactly my experience. I have to say that to date, the service from Google has been amongst the worst I have ever experienced. The people have zero authority to do anything aside from put a hold on your card and send you a "replacement". We are on our 3rd one as well and the most recent replacement that they sent, was CLEARLY a refurbished unit as the outer ring was scratched the the screen was cracked all the way through. 

To top that off it took them a week to decide how I should return it. They had me use the same RMA for the original defective unit and when the serial #'s did not match, they charged me anyway. I had even asked this of the support person if I needed a different RMA> 

It has been infuriating. They have a large scale defect either in the soft/firm ware that runs the WIFI chip or the chip itself. I would be curious as to JUST HOW big this problem is as it seems hundreds, likely thousands of people are experiencing this same problem... 

[jf1450]

Yeah, it's pitiful. As you say they have a hardware/firmware problem and fail to address it. Nest was great before Google got their grubby mitts on them. We had a Gen 2 that worked great for years (pre Google acquisition) and replaced it with a Gen 3 cuz we wanted certain features. I fully expect this 3rd replacement to fail within the next couple months. Assuming it does we'll cut our losses, replace it with an Ecobee and never look back.

[rrellison]

Jumping in on this too.  One of two of my Nest thermostats is having the same issue.  No longer sees ANY wireless network.  Resetting does nothing!  Software version is 6-2.22 from October 2021.  Please provide some sort of fix for this.  This thermostat isn't very old and has never had an issue until now.

[wesdumalski]

If you read through some of the other comments you will, unfortunately learn, there is no fix short of a replacement head unit... it's either a driver or a chipset failure that happens quite often... Call or use the chat support channel. They will ask for your display serial # (not the base) and will get you a new head unit. They require you to place a pre-pay hold for the new unit and you have a few weeks to return your old one. If it is returned within that time frame you never get charged. If you return it after the time frame they still refund your $$$. 

Still, it is a royal pain to deal with. 

Best of luck. 

[rrellison]

I even ordered an entirely new unit and it still would not work. I also took the new unit and placed on other thermostat locations in the house and also would not pick up wifi. Crazy. 

[hsaUqs]

I have the same exact issue

[robsafa]

So you were just givien  a solution did you do it?

[Nestprobhelppls]

Phone number provided is no longer active.

do you know of any updated phone number to call to google Nest.

[Blee]

How do I fix this?

[nnolte]

To anyone reading this, don't buy a nest thermostat!  I was promised a replacement and that never happened.

[Kz1]

Have submitted request for replacement one month ago due to know w5 error and have not received the replacement device. Please respond

[wesdumalski]

What do you mean you submitted a request? Did you get an rma and pay/put a deposit for the replacement head unit and get a shipping notification? 

[Kz1]

No i completed the forms on the google website which i might add are quite difficult to navigate and circular in natire leading ine away from successfully completing the task

[wesdumalski]

I see. The only way to get a replacement is to use the live chat feature or to call the support line. They will require you to ale Wayne t for the replacement before it ships. They put a hold on the payment and once you get the replacement and mail them back the old one, they remove the payment hold. There is no other way to get a replacement or to resolve the issue. I have made other more in detail posts about it in the thread. 

[Gemma3]

I have the same issue. Can someone please help 

[Ambsloya]

I am getting the w5 error and have already restarted my device: still not connecting 

[cinzia]

HELP, I’m having the same issue. 

[Ijarvis]

This is a thermostat that obviously goes out and has wifi connection issues so I need my unit replaced.

[Bondnotman1]

I’ve got the same problem. Is there a fix or is the nest thermostat broken? 

[sinasamie]

my nest thermostat stopped connecting to wi-fi, i tried the troubleshooting for the w5 error code and nothing helped. my thermostat is less than 1 year old. can i have this replaced?

[jdstuck]

Having the same issue!

[sinasamie]

how do i return this piece of junk. seems like google doesn’t have any customer service

[chiz147]

Go through the troubleshooting steps on the Google Nest Thermostat Support Page. If they don't work (likely since you've already tried them or you wouldn't be here) select the option for "Get a Call". Someone called me within a few minutes. I explained the error and how I had already gone through all of the troubleshooting steps. They asked a few questions, put me on hold for a couple minutes, and came back saying that they would replace the unit since it was under warranty. In all a pretty painless process and nothing like some of the stories above. Maybe I was just lucky 🙂

[CRTR]

add my name to the list.  My Nest is only 6 months old!!!

[downtwsr-gmail]

W5 error appears.  Understand you are replacing thermostat because of this