Device not in port forwarding list

[saulcozens]

Does anyone know how the Google wi-fi device discovers the list of devices for the port forwarding list?

I'm trying to setup up port forwarding on a wired device, but it doesn't appear in the device list. Even when I've reserved an IP for it.

Thanks

[LA_dave]

So I have the problem with my Amcrest cameras - I can see them just fine on the LAN, I need to port forward them but most (not all) are not appearing in the list of IPv4 devices to forward. This is complete BS, id there another way of accessing the router other than the Google Home app?

[Zachp]

I am also having the same problems. Previously had it with the nest Wifi now having it with the Nest Wifi pro.

I am able to set an IP reservation for the computer however it does not show up in the port forwarding list. In the past with my nest wifi it eventually just showed up and I was able to add it. Now that I'm trying to set up my nest pro routers, it is not showing the device.

I'd love either manual mapping or use the same list you show on the IP reservation page.

[LA_dave]

Hi, please make sure to fill out the form they are asking us to fill https://goo.gle/3BICUaB I will be following up with Sundar Pichai's office again on 1/31 to report progress on this issue, so we need to make sure we are following their process please

[karwkam]

I am having the same issue for a wired device. My device is a h.265 encoder and I set a static IP address for it. It does not show up in the port forwarding list just like many of us seeing the same issue. I am curious if any of the specialist on this thread have tried to reproduce the issue on a real Google Next Wifi with a wired device or they just search their database and then copy and paste some questions/solution and hope the problem will get resolved by itself after 2 weeks. With so many members seeing this issue, I am hoping it is fairly easy to reproduce in Google lab.

Thanks,

Kar

[LA_dave]

Hi, please make sure to fill out the form they are asking us to fill https://goo.gle/3BICUaB I will be following up with Sundar Pichai's office again on 1/31 to report progress on this issue, so we need to make sure we are following their process please

[TimJack]

I am having a similar issue with the same results. Set up Google WiFi, and reserved IP for two devices (which worked fine) but the OLD DHCP addresses are showing up in the Port Forwarding list, not the reserved IP addresses. It is pretty frustrating that I can't just tell the router which IP and which ports when the router can't figure out what addresses are being used by which MAC addresses to make a list.

Tim

[TimJack]

I found a solution to the problem. The Port Forwarding device list only gets updated when DHCP hands out a NON-RESERVED, dynamic IP address. So, to forward a port on Google WiFi mesh routers:

1. Delete the IP reservation for the host.
2. Release and renew (or reboot) the host and the router will issue the SAME IP you had previously reserved to the device, but it will no longer be reserved, it will now be dynamic and will therefore update the Port Forwarding device list.
3. Create a Port Forwarding rule for the device (which will now be in the list with the dynamic address that is the same as the old reserved address)
4. Create a new IP reservation using the IP used in the Port Forwarding rule.

Ta da.

[kaledev]

The ultimate solution is don't buy Google WiFi if you need anything more complex than plugging it in. It's definitely not for power users...

[TimJack]

Truth. I didn't do my research before I purchased it. I do get nice coverage, but it is dumbed down a lot.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi everyone,

@TimJack, thanks for sharing the steps that helped fix your issue.

To all, I suggest trying the steps provided above.

Keep us posted.

Best,

Mel

[Jeff]

Hey all,

I just wanted to follow up once more to see if you were still needing some help here and to see if the suggested steps above helped out. If so, just let us know.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi everyone,

Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.

Thanks,
Jeff

[bijoy3d]

Jeff/Mel,

This is not a solution. It is an obvious bug on the device.

I will write the bug title for you that you guys can forward to the developers:

"A device with reserved static IP does not show up on the port forwarding list."

I have a home assistant in my network that was working fine till I gave it a reserved IP. After this the IP does not show up on the port forwarding list. 

This is a bug either on the Google WiFi device or Google Home App that needs to be fixed.

Asking users to revert their settings to fix a simple bug is not an acceptable solution.

Thanks.

[shmauk]

Hi just a quick check to see if this issue has been resolved yet? I still cannot add port forwarding rules manually.

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your patience and sorry for the delay.

If you have tried the suggested steps above, I recommend factory resetting your network. This will delete your saved setting for your Google Wifi network, but you can still use the same network name and password so your devices can reconnect back after setup.

Check this link to know how to factory reset your Google Wifi, Google Nest Wifi router and points, and Nest Wifi Pro.

Keep us posted.

Best,

Mel

[bijoy3d]

Hello Mel.

I have already tried factory resetting. The issue reoccurs. The port forwarding works intermittently. If the device has a reserved static IP, it intermittently does not show up in the port forwarding list. Even if you manage to add it when it shows up, the port forwarding stops working intermittently.

So there is a bug in the code that needs to be fixed by the devs. Just rebooting/factory resetting isn't helping fix the issue.

Thanks.

[shmauk]

Hi Mel, just letting you know that this hasn't worked either though from every other response in the thread hopefully you can see this is a bug report that needs to be escalated. Just checking there is a fix on the way? Hopefully one that lets us manually set port forwarding rules. Is there any update on this?

[MrPaulo]

Hi Jeff,
If I understand the solution correctly (which I may not)... it looks like it isn't an option for everyone. So we still have a problem here that we need help with.

How does the solution work for devices with static IPs? It looks like the solution requires you to update the host device to not have a static IP and hope that the router hands out one the device previously had, which then causes it to appear in the port forwarding list. Then I assume you can update the device again to go back to static IP and the rule will stay... but at some point the router might decide to remove the port forwarding rule.

Is there a way to get the ip into the port forwarding list without changing the host?

It is still staggering to think that you can't manually add a simple port forwarding rule (or select from every device active on the network, not just some of them...)

Thanks,
Paul.

[praveen2k4]

I still have issue for my static IP device ( Leviton home automation system) where router doesn’t recognize the device in the port forwarding list. The device showed up 2 times randomly in the recognized devices list in the past year .

the solution here is simple, provide ability to add port forwarding rule, just like every other router in the market allows it’s users to do. 
This is plain dumb that nest wifi doesn’t allow its user to do that. 
And it’s super frustrating that from time to time ppl try to close/lock this thread without providing a fix to the issue, just like 3 other threads that got closed without resolution . Google is not very customer focused and too slow to respond to customer feedback.

[rdmasters]

I'll continue to call for this  - in my case it is a WiFi printer that is not visible to the wired portion of my network, so manual pings are not an option.  Please give us the option of manually entering an IP address!

[bijoy3d]

Jeff/Mel,

This is not a solution. It is an obvious bug on the device.

I will write the bug title for you that you guys can forward to the developers:

"A device with reserved static IP does not show up on the port forwarding list."

I have a home assistant in my network that was working fine till I gave it a reserved IP. After this the IP does not show up on the port forwarding list. 

This is a bug either on the Google WiFi device or Google Home App that needs to be fixed.

Asking users to revert their settings to fix a simple bug is not an acceptable solution.

Thanks.

[saulcozens]

After waiting for a sensible answer to my question for about a year, only to get fobbed off with "try turning it off and on again", I have come to the conclusion that the Google Wifi devices are not fit for purpose. They do fine if you want nothing more than to get your wifi devices online. But as soon as you want to do anything beyond that, they suck.

I have just ordered some wired PoE wifi access points and will be selling my 4 Google wifi units as soon as I get them installed.

[shmauk]

Actually braindead that you cannot port forward manually. Might be okay if google could pick up what devices are connected to their own router but apparently that's too difficult.

[shmauk]

I'll also be continually posting about this until it's fixed. Hoping I still have time to return the nest wifi I got for Christmas though I don't know how much luck I'll have. Warning to others: don't purchase this product.

For the community manager who comes along to tell us to reboot some time next month, I'll bump what bijoy3d wrote earlier:  

I will write the bug title for you that you guys can forward to the developers:

"A device with reserved static IP does not show up on the port forwarding list."

---

[Evanyuri]

Any solutions yet? It seems to randomly appear and re-appear.

[bijoy3d]

I see the same. It just comes and goes randomly. 

[kaledev]

Just as a note - I ended up switching mesh routers and moved to another company's instead. From research, there are some companies like Google in which you have to select the device with no option for manual entry and others with more traditional interfaces that allow typing the IP address. I'm not sure why this seems to be a toss up with mesh networks in particular. The router I chose does not allow for manual entry, but unlike Google I didn't have any issues getting them to appear. I do find it concerning that the responses here have ignored the question repeatedly instead of simply addressing it. You'll probably need to do what I did and leave it behind for something else. Just read the manuals before making a switch.

[LA_dave]

So Yesterday I got fed up with this nonsense, so I got Sundar Pichai's email address and I sent him an email, explaining what is going on with this issue and how it has been unresolved for over  a year.  This morning at 10:38am I received a call from the executive offices at Google, they have reviewed this Community page and see that there is a problem, they are looking into it and the person  who called me has to report back to Sundar the findings.  

Let's see if it gets fixed now 🙂

by the way, you can find out the correct email addresses for most of the Fortune 500 companies at https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/  As a Public Company they have to respond to this type of issue - the SEC requires it 

[shmauk]

Bravo, fingers crossed for the ability to write a port forwarding rule manually.

[praveen2k4]

kudos to you. TIL that one could do this. esp. when I buy a $400 device and it does not do what every other basic router in the market allows its users to do.

[kumochisonan]

Did anything come of this?

[shmauk]

Hi Jeff/Mel/any other community manager,

Just checking in to see if there was any update regarding this issue.

Thanks!

[bijoy3d]

Adding Mel's reply to the main topic. Everyone with the issue please fill up the form:

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with your Nest WIfi. 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,
Mel

[arana198]

Any update on this issue?

I have RPI with metlalb - metallb ip doesn't show up on google home as its not a physical device so a manual port forwarding will help me. 

[praveen2k4]

Any update on this from google support team?

[arana198]

I think it's time to get rid of Google nest WiFi and get something like TP Link which is much more configurable for advanced user.

[CE92262]

I can't get ANY devices to show up in the connected devices list. Ipv4 or ipv6 lists say no devices connected. However I have over 40 devices connected and working. These Nest WiFi Pro router and AP have been the worst I've ever owned. I just want to forward a single port to get my Plex server working, but this router is making it impossible. What a waste of nearly $300!

[GalloMachisimo]

Well, I wish I had found this BEFORE I switched to the Nest Wifi Pro, because I'm having the same problem.  It's disappointing to see that Google clearly doesn't care about fixing it, given that we're now going on 15 months of posting, and at this point, there hasn't been a Community Specialist post in over two months.
I guess we can all start posting one-star reviews everywhere possible in hopes that maybe we can save others from the same fate, since none of us find this here until we're already stuck.

[GalloMachisimo]

Well, I tried to call support for this, and 7 minutes into the call the tech asked, "so your problem is slow internet connection?"  No.  No, it isn't.  Given that I have answered at least three of the questions withm "everything is working fine except for the port forwarding", this clearly, this isn't something that they are going to resolve before I have to leave for work.  I will have to try again tomorrow.

[GalloMachisimo]

Ok, so on to support person number 2.  After multiple holds and 30 minutes on the phone, he decided that it's a problem with my ISP.  This, of course, makes no sense because this is a matter of my router seeing a machine inside my network, so I've asked to be escalated.  I'm supposedly going to hear from Tier 2 in the next couple of hours.
I have now tried it myself with both a static IP that I assigned, as I would like to have it, and an IP assigned via Nest wifi DHCP.   The router can communicate with the machine to give it an address just fine.  But still cannot see it in the port forward screen.   Also, a nagging issue, how is this port forwarding screen sorted?  It's not by machine name, and it's not by IP, so maybe mac address?  Whatever it is, it certainly doesn't help its user friendliness.