Device on guest WiFi network showing as "Wired" connection on main network

[SpottedQuoll]

It's late 2021, and I'm having essentially this 2 year old issue: https://support.google.com/googlenest/thread/1274651/some-guest-network-devices-show-as-wired?hl=en .  The description is a 100% match to my situation, but playing out in the current Google Home app (rather than the old Google WiFi app back then).

My setup is a Nest WiFi router, and an older Google WiFi access point; all correctly set up, and with wired backhaul between the router and point.  My partner's phone from work is connected to the Guest (WiFi) network.  In the Google Home app, it frequently shows up as a "wired" connection, and in the list of devices in the main network rather than the Guest network.  Both these indications don't make sense.  Sometimes it randomly does show up ok, as connected (1) wireless and (2) to the Guest network.  I'm not sure, but I think it might show correctly whenever it ends up connecting to the router, and possibly wrong when it connects to the additional access point.  From its IP address though, I can see that it *is* effectively connected to the Guest network in reality; it's just the interface in the Google Home app showing it wrongly.

Anyone managed to get a definite solution after 2+ years?

[-Bob]

Issue is likely the Google WiFi device.   I have a single Google WiFi setup as router and wireless devices attached to guest network show in Google Home as connected on primary.  My guess they are not fixing because it’s not the latest product in this line even though still offered for sale.   Am a tremendous Google fan but between thus and the YouTube Roku rift (now solved, but took 7 months) I am about done.  Especially in this case where there is no other vendor involved.  Google Home doesn’t work correctly work Google WiFi.  Pretty embarrassing

[Foggerton]

Issue is happening with Nest WiFi products as well. 

[-Bob]

Even worse

[Weemscreek]

Started experiencing this issue today on Nest WiFi. Caused me to rename the SSID for my main network and have to reconnect a bunch of devices, just to find this thread and realize it's a visual bug in the app that's still occurring even after I changed the SSID.

It has been months since this thread was started. Can we get an update?

[pokey]

I recently purchased Nest wifi a few weeks ago and have had several instances now with connection issues with my Apple TV.  Apple TV is using a wireless connection to a Nest wifi access point in my den...just a few feet from the Apple TV.  I am having experiences where the Apple TV connection to the Nest wifi will start to drop and then reconnect, then drop then reconnect, with just seconds between each disconnect / reconnect.  When I look at Nest wifi in the home app, it shows the Apple TV connection to the access point in the den and the connection type will change back and forth from wireless to wired...even though it is not a wired connection.  Last night it got so bad, I disconnected the access point which forced Apple TV to connect to the Nest router and the connection then stabilized.

[Viking]

Hi - I am experiencing the same issues as well.  Wired device status and devices on my guest network that show up under primary.  I am also experiencing a lot of "unknown devices" and when I pause them some of them they continue to have sending and receiving numbers as if they are active.  It's seems to be getting progressively worse.  Hope for a fix soon as this is very concerning from an administration, security and control standpoint.   Any updates please?? 

[SpottedQuoll]

Hey @Viking ,  I have the same problem still as well, and I'm indeed also getting a lot of "unknown device"-es popping up and growing the device list with garbage over time.  For me, this happens each time I reboot my network and/or points.  My current setup is different since my first point: I now have the Nest Router and 2 Nest WiFi points.  Each reboot adds 2 unknown devices, which I'm starting to suspect are related to the 2 Nest WiFi points somehow.

In terms of updates, I'll make a (not so bold) call: @Jeff the "Community Specialist" will soon reply to us that there are still no updates (after 2.5 years), but of course they're staring really hard at the problem in the hopes that it evaporates eventually. 🙄

Ah well. 😑

[Viking]

Thank you!  I have the same set-up as you currently have and I'm experiencing the same thing on reboot.  Maybe this will help them solve the riddle, it must be a tech eternity as the link of your original post on Google support is dead now.  My list of "unknown devices" has ballooned to 28.

I'll reach out to Google One support to see if I can get any traction there - this makes me feel like my network is very unsecure and it's really unsettling.  If it's just a display error I would think it would be a quick fix.  Thanks again 👍

[pokey]

I have moved from Nest Wifi to Orbi.  I got tired of the periods of the Nest Wifi network dropping out / in.  Sometimes cycling the Nest Wifi router / access point will resolve the issue for a few days.  Other times only a few minutes.  After switching to Orbi, with no other changes, I have had no network drops / issues.  Hopefully Google will realize they have an issue and resolve it for those who decide to stick with it.

[Viking]

Thank you for the info - good advice. If they don't correct this soon, I'm going to jump ship also and I'll check out Orbi.  Appreciate it!

[TK86]

I may have resolved the problem of devices showing "wired" and devices jumping between primary and guest networks. 

It's only been a week, but problem has not come back.

I configured an old router with same SSIDs and pwds as the Google wifi setup.

I disconnected and powered down the Google wifi from the modem and installed the old router in its place.   I also powered down all Google wifi in the mesh network.

I let every device connect to the old router and verified they all worked properly and we're on the desired network meaning primary or guest.  All was good.

I then powered down the old router and disconnected it from the modem.

I made sure the wifi points were powered off

I  then connected Google wifi to the modem and powered both up.

As all devices re-registered, they did so correctly.  No device was "wired" or on the wrong network.

Not wanting to mess things up, I left it run without the wifi points powered up.

After a day of running correctly, I powered up the wifi points and all has been running as it should.

I have no idea why the problem began in the first place, "maybe" the devices contained the wired flags?   This doesn't explain the device being shown on wrong network though.

After a week, all is still good here.....

[Viking]

Hi!  Thank you so much for this - I may go and try it and maybe this can help Google troubleshoot and correct the problem. How is it, still running good?  Any issues since your post?  Thanks again 👍

[TK86]

Yes, it's running very good, especially now since I wasn't thinking too much  when I decided to delete our Google Home, thinking it was just going to take the Google speakers and displays down BUT, it took everything down including wifi.

I took the opportunity to factory default the wifi router and two endpoints again.

Good thing I had just done this a day or so before and it all was still fresh in my mind.

Got it all restored in about 30 mins.

It's been working perfectly ever since.

Good luck if you still have the devices

[Shgmlg]

So basically need to factory default the main router and all points and setup as new to fix the issue.  With wired back haul setup did you let the mesh connect first to the points and then connect the points to wired or setup as wired from the start.  Thnx 

[Foggerton]

Running latest firmware, and this issue persists. Just an fyi. 

[Viking]

Thank you - same and my list of unknown and idle wired connections is growing exponentially 😠.  I've had no luck resolving this issue still. 

[SpottedQuoll]

Yes, my list of "unnamed device"s is growing faster than before.  These are all nonsense devices, with zero up/download traffic.  They also don't disappear after 30 (or so) days like other devices do when they're not connected to the network.

So essentially, after all these years, the problems described in this thread are not being resolved.  Instead, they are seemingly growing worse.

[Ggg1]

Jumping ship seems like the best option.  Years ago by and this continues

[DorraJ]

Yes, most disheartening to see that there are lots of users like ourselves encountering this issue since years ago and the problem hasn’t been resolved. 
This and the annoying fake network offline issue. 

[SpottedQuoll]

Yep, I've also been getting the fake network offline issue recently.  It looks like only new issues are being added, and none are getting resolved.  Very disappointing.

[SpottedQuoll]

@Jeff , are you still following all of this up?  I've seen this before: support on the newest type of forum starts going silent.  Soon this forum will be abandoned and replaced by a newer newest forum system for "even better support".  The public record of all issues is erased; rinse and repeat.  A bit like the Matrix, but without Neo.

[DorraJ]

The fake network offline issue resolved by itself - hope it doesn't come back again.

However, Nest Wifi Mesh point appeared as offline - had to manually restart it.

Thereafter, the guest wireless device that appeared as main network wired device appeared in the correct list too.

Now, if I can get rid of the 45 unnamed devices clogging up the device list, that will be great.

[Reyes-Oz]

I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for a fix announcement from Google. The unknown devices list has grown as everyone else here is experiencing. When I have a minute, I’m going to blow up my network by factory-defaulting my Google Nest routers and start from scratch… it isn’t going to fix the root cause but at least the unknown devices should be gone. Blah. 

[Viking]

I am going to do the same one last time.  I have anywhere from 40 - 45 devices running and it's a pain so probably switching soon anyway.  Good luck cuz I feel we are on our own.... 

[JoepB]

Hello. I still have the wired issue. Worst thing is that the 'guest' devices have full access to the primary network. 

[Foggerton]

How have you validated that?

[JoepB]

Friends of my daughter are using speakers that are not supposed to be reachable from the guest network. And they are on guest with their phones.

[Foggerton]

Have you confirmed what IP range the speaker is on and what IP range their phones are using?

[JoepB]

Have not checked that. They're not here now. I will test with one of my devices

[DorraJ]

@JoepB have you confirmed that Guest WiFi devices incorrectly marked as "Wired" on the main network are able to access the main network?

I'm starting to see a few of my Guest WiFi IoT devices appearing as "Wired" in my main network again - didn't think much of it previously assuming it was just a cosmetic issue and there's no security risks.

[Foggerton]

In my own testing, no, these devices on the Guest network are on a totally different subnet, and when trying to access a device on the main network, it won't be able. 

My suspicion regarding the other poster's comments is that since it is a speaker, it may be something like an Apple Airplay speaker, which is not limited by Wifi network.

[olavrb]

That, or Google Home -> Wi-Fi -> Settings (icon) -> Guest network -> Shared devices.

[SpottedQuoll]

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@olavrb wrote:

That, or Google Home -> Wi-Fi -> Settings (icon) -> Guest network -> Shared devices.

---

Well, nope.  See my other post reply somewhere here; essentially: Nest Points are not listed in the "Shared devices" list.  I.e., unlike other devices, they can not be actively selected (or unselected) for sharing to the Guest Network.  From the information posted here, it now seems they are shared *by default* or something, and *unable to not be shared* somehow.  Cast access via the Guest network seems to be forced on for them, if at least the observations of that other user check out.

[JoepB]

Sorry for the late reply. It is a Nest WiFi point. The point itself seems on a different subnet but the built in speaker seems reachable from the guest network 

[SpottedQuoll]

I was going to ask whether you're sure the Nest WiFi point/speaker wasn't enabled in the "Shared devices" list in the "Guest network" settings, but going to that interface myself, I now also realise that the Nest WiFi points/speakers can't be selected there; i.e., they're not even listed.  This is a surprising limitation regardless, but if it turns out that the speakers in the Nest WiFi points are shared with the guest network either by default or under certain other unintended circumstances, it becomes a severe security problem. @JoepB , if you can indeed verify this, you should probably post it as a new topic/thread; this goes way beyond my original bug description, which only implied issues with the information reported in the Google Home app interface.

[DorraJ]

It makes sense that the Nest WiFi point is accessible from both the main and guest network since it has to act as the access point for guest devices which are beyond the main Nest router range.

[SpottedQuoll]

It needs to serve up WiFi and pass on traffic to the main router, yes. But that doesn't necessarily imply it needs to expose its speaker to the Guest network for the purpose of casting. 

[Foggerton]

I do not have any Points to test, only Nest Routers. Can a guest network user use Google Assistant on a Nest Point? If yes, than I would expect casting to work as well. I don’t see any security issues with this. 

[DorraJ]

Just tested by joining my iPhone to the Guest WiFi and observed the following:

1. iPhone now shows as "Wired" in the main network - I'm nearer to the Nest WiFi Point, so quite likely that Guest WiFi devices connected to it are somehow showing up as "Wired" in main network.

2. Using TuneIn app on iPhone, I'm able to Chromecast a radio station stream to the Nest WiFi point.

Next, I soft restarted the Nest WiFi point via Home App.

3. iPhone still shows as "Wired" in main network.

Next, I hard restarted the Nest WiFi point by power cycling.

4. iPhone still shows as "Wired" in main network.

Next, I powered off the Nest WiFi point by turning off the wall socket.

5. iPhone still shows as "Wired" in main network?!?

6. WiFi point still shows as having "Great Connection"?!?

Next, do a "Test Mesh".

7. Home App now shows Nest Wifi point as offline.

8. iPhone now shows correctly as connected to Guest WiFi.

9. Other Guest WiFi IoT devices are now corrected as well.

Next, powered on Nest WiFi and wait for it to appear online in Home App.

10. iPhone continues to show correctly as connected to Guest WiFi.

11. TuneIn app on iPhone is still able to chromecast radio station to Nest WiFi point.

Above confirms that Guest devices can cast to Nest WiFi point.

Next, switched iPhone back to main network and then back to Guest WiFi.

12. iPhone now appears as "Wired" in main network again?!?

Looking at the IP address of the iPhone, confirmed that it is in the Guest WiFi subnet, default 192.168.87.X, which is separate from the main network subnet default 192.168.86.X.

Hence, confirmed it is a cosmetic issue - i.e. there should be no security concern.

Next, to test that this issue only happens when the guest device is connected to the Nest WiFi point, I bring my iPhone right up next to the main Nest router, switched back to main network and then to Guest WiFi again.

13. iPhone now correctly shows "Great connection" under the Guest network section.

Hopefully, the above tests are useful data points for the Google team to resolve the issue.

Btw, I've turned off IPv6 prior to today's testing as recommended by Jeff on another thread saying that there's a bug in IPv6 handling which can cause a variety of issues - but I don't think IPv6 has any effect on this issue.

Also, "Unknown device" appears to have undergone a cosmetic rename and is now shown as "Unnamed device" - and I have 43 of them stuck in the main network list despite having switched all iPhones and iPads at home to not use "Private Wi-Fi Address" since several weeks back and just returning from a one week holiday away from home.

[SpottedQuoll]

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@Foggerton wrote:

I do not have any Points to test, only Nest Routers. Can a guest network user use Google Assistant on a Nest Point? If yes, than I would expect casting to work as well. I don’t see any security issues with this. 

---

No, sorry, this is entirely unrelated.  Using Google Assistant "on a Nest Point" can be done just by voice.  It has nothing to do with being connected via WiFi to either the main or guest networks.  Anyone can use general commands ("what's the weather?" type of stuff) on a Nest Point, just as they can on any Google Nest speaker.

The relevant difference is though: for any other Nest speaker, people connected to the Guest network can't cast to them.  However, they apparently can cast to the Nest Point's speakers.  The key point is; these speakers should be separate from the WiFi access functionality.  A Nest Point is nothing more than a WiFi access point crammed into the same plastic shell with a Google Nest speaker for convenience.