Adding any mesh to Google Wifi is killing the network

[Jfritton74]

So this is pretty frustrating.

I bought a Google wifi 3 pack roughly 2 weeks ago, set it up and it worked great out of the box. I have one puck at the modem, one on the opposite side of the house (roughly 75 feet) and one upstairs in the office (Roughly 75 feet and up a floor). On a mesh test all signals were great, download speed to the router was roughly 450 Mbps and I was getting 250 - 350+ Mbps anywhere in the house on wireless. I only have 5 devices connected.

Yesterday, all of a sudden, everything slowed way way down. There's been no changes in locations of the pucks, no changes to the house, no new appliances or devices, etc. My download speed to the primary router is still 450 Mbps based on the google home speed test, but now using a speed test on my phone, I'm only getting 1 - 2 Mbps anywhere in the house, even five feet from the primary. The internet is basically unusable.

I tried all the advice, like a 5 minute shut down and restart, no luck. I then factory reset everything, and set everything up again, no luck. Still 1 -2Mbps anywhere.d

Now here's where it gets interesting: I factory reset all the pucks, including the primary at the modem but instead of setting up all the pucks, I just left it at the one puck at the modem. After restarting after setup, I am getting ~450 Mbps on wireless 5 feet from the router, 360Mbps at the opposite end of the house where the second puck *used* to be, and roughly 50 Mbps upstairs in the office where the third used to be.

I then set up the second puck at the old location and everything is right back to 1 -2Mbps anywhere in the house. It stays that way until I factory reset everything again, set up just the primary puck again, and then restart it. Then it's back to normal. It seems that adding any kind of mesh screws up the whole system. Same thing happens if I try just the third puck. (I checked to see if one puck was defective and screwing everything else up)

There's no changes to the environment from what it was two weeks ago when the mesh was working great and I had fast speeds all through the house. I haven't changed any network settings and it's all what it comes with out of the box.

Since I just spent a good amount of money on this system, I'd appreciate any help before I have to trash it and go try a different brand. Thanks in advance.

[wparish81]

Sounds like this falls in line with a well-known and documented problem that many people are dealing with, myself included, and Google, to date, has done nothing to help. I pay for gigabit speed and the best that I get over the mesh now is 180 up/200 down. Sadly though, this was not always the case.  

[Jeff]

Hey, guys.

This is indeed part of a known issue that we're working. I'm sorry for the frustration it's causing, but know that it is being looked at by our teams at Google with a fix in mind. In the meantime, would you be able to submit your device report and feedback? This goes directly to our teams and they can use the data to help figure things out more quickly. Here are the instructions for doing that.

Step 1. Turn on device reports

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as your Chromecast, or speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Select the device you want to share feedback about.
4. At the top right corner of the screen, tap Settings   Recognition & sharing.
5. Turn on Send [device model] device usage and crash reports to Google. (Example: Send Google Home device usage and crash reports to Google.)

Step 2. Share your feedback

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. At the top right, tap your account.
3. Tap Feedback  tap the type of device you'd like to submit feedback for.
4. To display available emails, in the "From:" section, tap the arrow on the right. Select your email address.
5. In the feedback summary, write a brief description of your issue.
6. Be sure to check the box for Screenshot and System logs.
7. To submit feedback, at the top right corner, tap Send .

I'll keep you updated as I find out more. Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, all.

It's been a while, but I wanted to check in and let everyone know that we're still looking into this here. I don't have news on a fix yet, but we're gathering customer data and hoping to have news on a fix soon. I'll share more as I learn more.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, Jfritton74.

I know it's been quite some time since you started reporting this issue, and we still haven't found a fix from our internal teams, but I wanted to check in with you and see if you have had any luck making progress or have seen any changes in your situation. If so, let me know.

Thank you.

[wparish81]

Lame

[Jfritton74]

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately no. The situation remains the same. The signal from all pucks are weak and it's better to just keep the main point without the mesh. Thank you for checking in.

[Jeff]

Thanks for updating, Jfritton74. We'll keep this open and I'll keep updating as I learn more.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, ColinrThiessen.

Sorry that you're having the same issue. To be sure, when your two points are connected, the speeds are normal? What if you just have a single point added into the mix?

[Jeff]

Hey, everyone.

It's been a while, so I wanted to check in and see if anything has changed for those that were experiencing issues. While I don't have a fix to report at this time, I did want to see who was still having issues and we can resume troubleshooting efforts.

Thanks.

[3rd_base]

Yep! Submitted feedback in the app today.....PLEASE FIX!!!!

[rickangeles]

RESUME troubleshooting? That means you guys stopped at some point. Is google just hoping the problem goes away on its own? 

[wparish81]

HaHa @rickangeles! I said the exact same thing on another thread that I follow, about the same problem, here.

Its borderline absurd.. 

[Bfw]

Adding my voice the chorus of people that have this problem. Noticed about 2 weeks ago and its persisting now, All the same descriptions as here. Version is currently 14150.43.81

[Cogal12]

Is google going to issue refunds for these devices?

[ColinrThiessen]

I am having the exact same issues internet 800MBPS from main router and my 2 other pucks connected suddenly make it 2.. how is this happening to a system i spent 600 dollars on last year

[problems]

Yes, me too. I took it down to just 1 Google Mesh Router and it is stable. As soon as I add a Second one it goes to hell. I cannot believe it. This was after many months of Rock Solid Service and years of solid Service with the Google Wifi pucks. 

[Heywoorr]

Any chance that this issues has a fix yet? I am experiencing the same thing.

[Heywoorr]

I have dropped Google for my home internet. TP-Link makes a much better product, and it works. I will likely be replacing all of my Google products with other brands. Google should spend less time inundating us with adds and focus on a little customer service from time to time. TP-Llink deco x90 Mesh wi-fi 6 

[Akr]

Google fiber forced me to switch to these pucks when they changed their service. You're actively using these with this known issues, and haven't found a solution in over half a year? 

I went from having insanely fast speeds to single digit Mbps, while still paying gigabit prices. 

Do I just drop google products all together at this point, or what is my solution making these routers with zero advanced settings work?

[Heywoorr]

I dumped my pucks and went with this. It works much better. TP-Link Deco x90 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 

[OldManBabyBody]

Recently got AT&T fiber...pulling 300+ down. Put my google mesh on there and boom, 80 down. WTF!!

[BobbyJ]

Same issue here. I just setup the Google Wifi mesh with three units. Upload and downloads are really slow when the mesh pucks are connected. If I unplug them, and only have the main puck connected, upload and downloads return to normal. Isn't the point of a mesh system to have multiple units on-line at the same time to "improve" performance?

[sirblund3r]

It's literally not even a mesh system. My speeds are WORSE when I'm closer to one unit vs another. And one of them doesn't work at all most of the time. Uhhhh???

It literally appears like Google gave up (YES, THEY F'ING GAVE UP) on this fix, but they continue to sell these, and people continue to buy them. GOOGLE: EITHER FIX THEM OR STOP SELLING THEM. They are horrible to use as they are now. @AbigailF does Google intend to ever fix this? Or have they truly just given up after a  few years? 

SHOULDN'T YOU BE TELLING US, THE CUSTOMERS, WHAT'S HAPPENING INSTEAD OF DISAPPEARING? 

[Potterdood]

I've had this issue over 3 years. I had the original Google WiFi then last year I decided to get the new model(who knew the WiFi 6 model was coming out two months later). Brought it home, set it up, worked great then a few weeks later same thing. They're needs to be a class action lawsuit. I'm well over $700 instead into this garbage mesh system. Google should issue us a refund. I sold my first gen nest WiFi for all I could. Now I'm about to go buy an eero mesh and hope it fixes my problems. I have 500mb Internet and can barely get 40mb in my living room and it's not that far away from the main puck. Main puck is upstairs over garage and downstairs I have 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and the kitchen, dining room and breakfast nook. Total sq ft of 2100.

[AbigailF]

Hello Potterdood,

I'm sorry to hear you're also having an issue. Just to clarify, are you getting dropping or slow speeds from your Nest Wifi system? What troubleshooting steps have you done so far? We'd like to help out.

Best,
Abi

[Akr]

There are zero troubleshooting steps that can fix the problem. The only way to fix the issue is to find the problem with the devices themselves on googles end, and update them with new firmware that resolves the problem. I tried every possible solution I could come up with, almost daily, for like a year before I finally gave in and spent money on something better, that instantly fixed the issues.

Even if the product did work, It's built for the most basic internet users possible. You have zero control over any real settings.

[AbigailF]

Hi Akr,

We're sad to see you go. If ever you change your mind, we're here to help.

Regards,
Abi

[rickangeles]

Except you aren’t here to help. This has been going on for almost 2 years and we have gotten no help that actually works. 

[Potterdood]

Yeah it's insane, how poorly the google wifi works, I had the AC1200 in my 2800 sq ft house  from 2017-2019 apprx with the router upstairs for 2 years, worked perfectly, moved to new house Dec 2019 until present, 2100 sq ft, same build etc and after 2-3 weeks it started the weak connection and slow speeds downstairs. Last year March 2022, I got the AC2200, hooked it up and it worked a little better for about a month, then it went back to doing exactly what the 1200 was doing. Basically what everyone else is experiencing, I even bought a 3rd puck to try and get better signal to my living room...I'm currently invested $470 apprx and I just feel robbed by Google and they aren't doing anything to fix their issue. Plenty of other mesh systems work perfectly fine, but not Google. I don't usually take the time to comment on this type of stuff but this is driving me crazy.

[AbigailF]

Hello Potterdood,

Apologies for the late reply. I'd like to check in with you. I understand that you're also experiencing the same issue. Could you let us know all the troubleshooting steps you've done so far? We'll wait for your reply.

Thanks,
Abi

[Potterdood]

I have purchased the Orbi AX4200, a far superior system. I am extremely happy, just hoping I can get a little bit out of these when I resell them, I think the word is out about how terrible a product it is, bc the resell value is worse than some old used shoes.

[Akr]

Nice, that's the exact kit I went with. 

[AbigailF]

Hello folks,

We're sorry to hear that you didn't continue with your Google Wifi devices anymore. If anything changes and you decide to use them again, we're always here to help you out. I'll lock this thread in 24 hours, if you have a new concern you can always create a new thread.

Regards,
Abi

[rickangeles]

I’m still waiting for a fix. This thread has been going on for about 3 years with no fix. Locking this thread will only prove that nobody wants to do anything to fix the issue, just sweep it under the rug. 

[Akr]

They gave up a long time ago. You can tell by the original "specialists" comments that their support team was lost, and in over their heads. 

At this point they have to lock it to shut us up, and hide face.

Just switch to a different kit. Even if they find a fix, they built the software to lock you out of having much control. I'd rather be able to manually make adjustments to settings. Who knows maybe we could have found a fix for em, with more access.

[Heywoorr]

I don’t think there is any chance me or anyone else is going to go back to Google Wi-Fi any time soon. 

[Potterdood]

ever, you can say ever lol. My Orbi setup is slaying! Wish I had went with them years before I wasted hundreds of dollars on google stuff.

[sirblund3r]

Abi... MANY PEOPLE CONTINUE TO HAVE THIS ISSUE. 

If you scroll this thread, somebody named Jeff from your team, back in October of 2021 (!!!) acknowledged that this was a "known issue" that they/you were working on. AND THEN THERE'S NO UPDATE FROM THERE?

Why are you encouraging people to troubleshoot when, again, THERE IS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT YOUR TEAM WAS (at least at one point) TRYING TO FIX? 

[RabbitOpperatoX]

Hey I was thinking of doing this because I am running into the same issue over and over and im sick of it. Was the set up with google fiber pretty simple?