Ethernet port not working

[idearat]

I've seen a couple posts with no resolution on this.  I have a feeling it's a feature that's broken on Nest WiFi that worked with Google WiFi.

I "upgraded" by getting a new Nest WiFi system.  I reset my existing Google WiFi devices and started from scratch.  The Nest WiFi router is connected directly to my fiber modem.  I have 2 Google WiFi devices configured and when using WiFi they work great.

The problem is the LAN ethernet ports on the Google WiFi devices.  After hours spent troubleshooting, fiddling with DNS settings, etc I found the behavior.  I can connect a PC or other device to the LAN port and access internal network devices, like my NAS box.  But if I try to connect to any external site it fails.  I even tried accessing Google.com via IP address, but that also fails.  About the only thing I can do to access the outside world is to ping 8.8.8.8  That works, indicating that there is a network connection.  I didn't find anything that responded to a ping besides the DNS.

It's very frustrating.  The Google Home app shows the devices connected.  The app doesn't show "wired", but it just doesn't say "great connection" for wired devices.  I can see upload and download speeds when accessing my NAS box.  But I cannot make any connection outside the house when connected via ethernet.  The same device connecting via WiFi works great.

Is this a feature that was removed from Nest WiFi?  It feels like it since I was surprised to find the Nest Point has no ethernet.

If this is how it's supposed to work, then I'll just remove the Nest WiFi from my system, return it, and go back to just the Google WiFi.   The only "solution" I found was someone suggesting using a WiFi repeater as a WiFi-to-Ethernet device.  For me, that's a lame fix versus just going back to Google WiFi that worked for years.

[olavrb]

How did you connet everything by wire? It should be modem -> primary puck WAN port -> primary puck LAN port -> unmanaged switch -> other devices, like secondary puck(s) WAN port. Avoid daisy chaining if possible.

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6274262?hl=en
• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7215624?hl=en

[idearat]

My previous reply is missing.  

Everything is wired correctly.  The problem is that with Nest WiFi as the router and  Google WiFi access points, the Ethernet LAN ports on the Google WiFi points don't work properly.  Several other posts have mentioned the the same thing and close with no resolution.

The ports are functional.  I can connect locally to  NAS from more that one them, but cannot connect to anything outside my local network.  I can ping 8.8.8.8 via Ethernet, but not any other IP addresses.  If the same device connects via WiFi I can communicate.  The Google Home app shows connectivity and bits transferred.  Devices connected via Ethernet don't indicate a wired connection, just are missing the WiFi quality indication.

After hours wasted I've got an RMA to return the Nest Wifi.  I need the Ethernet to work in other rooms as it has for years.  

[EdwardT]

Hi folks,

@olavrb, thanks for the help!

@idearat, glad to hear that you were able to get an RMA with your Nest router. Please let us know once you received it and give us an update if it's working fine.

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi dearat,

It's me again. I wanted to check back in to see if you have other questions and concerns. Feel free to let me know if you do. 

Thanks,

Edward

[EdwardT]

Hi dearat,

Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Thanks,

Edward

[idearat]

It's not resolved, and not likely to be.  There are multiple posts here complaining about the same defect in the Nest WiFi that prevents a Google WiFi point to use its ethernet ports.  They've all been closed due to lack of activity.
It's a defect in Nest WiFi that has cost me many hours trying to sort it out. I've just decided it will never work and no one has suggested otherwise. 

[Mabio]

I had a working ethernet port on a Google nest router for 14 months.  It suddenly stopped working 3 weeks ago and I've spent many hours troubleshooting with Google support.  Was finally approved for a replacement device which arrived today.  Just tried it; no ethernet.  Same exact behaviour as you describe.  Some wired devices are visible within the Home app, but none of those devices can connect to the Internet.

[EdwardT]

Hi Mabio,

Thanks for letting us know. Could you share the case number of your interaction with our team?

Thanks,

Edward

[Mabio]

Sure.  It's case number 6-0088000032959

[Mabio]

Just as a follow-up, instead of further advice from the Google WiFi team they simply, and without comment, approved me for yet another replacement.  I'm almost positive this problem is not hardware related, but what can one do if the team in charge doesn't want to explore it further?  

[olavrb]

What IP address do devices connected by ethernet get? I read in following post that such devices might get a address of 169.254.88.x, a link local IP address.

• https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Is-it-possible-to-use-the-LAN-port-of-a-nest-wifi-P...

If that's the case with you as well, we might finally have a pattern here.

[Mabio]

The IP addresses of wired devices as shown in the Google Home app are all within the DHCP pool assigned by the Nest router, i.e. 192.168.86.xxx.  

[olavrb]

Alright, dead end then. Thanks.

[frustratedWithL]

I have the same issue, it started last week (early June 2023). Everything had worked perfectly for 1-2 years before this. Google appear to have no interest in fixing this.

Remember this? What a joke, Google can't even make a lan port work work on a wifi router.

Still an innovation lab, but now a separate division within Alphabet, Google X becomes X, and its job is to generate moonshot-based businesses for Alphabet.

[idearat]

This falls into the area of "known problem" that Google just ignores.    Feel free to mix and match Nest and Google WiFi devices, but not if you plan to use the ethernet connections.   They are functional, but only on the internal network, not for access to the outside world. 

[olavrb]

The behavior is the same regardless of how the Google Wifi puck is connected to the primary Nest Wifi router: wirelessly vs. wired backhaul?

You said you've seen others having the same problem, I did a quick search, did not find any threads. Could you give me some references/ URLs?

I'll try to add this to a Google Sheet we PEs have access to for visibility, but will need more examples of people facing the same problem, and more info on how to replicate.

[idearat]

I spent days trying to get it to work.  In my case it was wireless backhaul.  You'll have to get better at searching because I found multiple instances.  All closed with no solution.  I've spent way too much time on this.  I'm now using Eero mesh devices because I need the ethernet to work away from the router.  

[olavrb]

I shall practice my searching.

[BrainChild]

Started having the exact same problem on a Google Wi-Fi unit. Can connect to internal devices but can't get to the internet

[idearat]

That's interesting.   My Google Wi-Fi units worked fine until  I tried to integrate the Nest as the main router.  When I did the Google WiFi units would allow me to connect to everything via WiFi, but when connected via Ethernet they didn't work.   The symptom sounds the same as you describe, connecting to internet devices, (printer, file server) but failing to connect to hosts on the Internet outside the house,

[neomail]

Same here with 5 google wifi... 

[Mabio]

Here are some of the requested reference threads of people having problems with the LAN port on their wifi router

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Ethernet-port-not-working/m-p/112847

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/ethernet-port-not-working/m-p/35779

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Ethernet-configuration/m-p/13546

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Ethernet-ports-on-google-nest-mesh-router-quit-work...

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Google-Nest-LAN-port-not-working/m-p/42608

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Google-Nest-LAN-port-not-working/m-p/157749

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Is-it-possible-to-use-the-LAN-port-of-a-nest-wifi-P...

[BrainChild]

I am now having this same issue with Google WiFi units that have worked for years!

[olavrb]

What have your tried? Reboot/ power cycle? Factory reset and set up from scratch?

[jontyb]

The same thing has just happened to me this morning. My setup has 3 Google WiFi pucks and has worked faultlessly for years. All of a sudden today, none of the wired devices on my network can get an IP address or connect to the outside world. I have spent several hours rebooting, swapping cables, fiddling with router settings but nothing works. WiFi devices are fine, but wired are totally disconnected. My bet would be a software update that is responsible, but I can't tell what version of the firmware the pucks are running or when they were last updated. Totally frustrating....

[olavrb]

What firmware version do you got currently? How to check:

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6273871?hl=en
• Eventually go to http://192.168.86.1/api/v1/status in a web browser from a device connected to Nest Wifi.

14150.43.80 (Nest Wifi router and Google Wifi), 1.54.294928 (Nest Wifi point) / 22Q1 / M94 was the previous one.

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/11993118?hl=en

14150.376.32 is the new one currently rolling out.

• https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/xmpktb 

[Mabio]

For me, the firmware version of my first router (the one that had a working LAN port for 14 months before the LAN port stopped working) was 14150.43.81 on the 12th of September when I sent that info to the help team.  

The firmware of the replacement router on the 17th when I again contacted support about the new router's LAN port also not working was also 14150.43.81

[King_de_la_casa]

I'm about 6 years with no changes to my network and all of a sudden wired backhaul is broken and the Ethernet ports on the main Google router are the only ones working. 

[BrainChild]

The only way I was able to get it working again was to reset my network.

[jontyb]

Okay, so I checked the firmware versions and it appears all the devices are running the new version (14150.376.32) so I was wondering if the update had caused the issue... After a lot of swapping cables and even swapping which puck was acting as the router, I eventually worked out that the fault seems to be not the google pucks but instead my trusty Netgear gigabit switch. It still looks like its working (lights for active connections etc) but in fact it is not passing IP addresses or seemingly data through anymore... So I replaced it temporarily with an old hub and everything seems to work now. The real test will be when the new switch arrives today and I try plugging that into the Google wifi router.... Fingers crossed. 

[frustratedWithL]

me too just last week

[Jayjay3]

Same issue here. Have had an Apple TV connected to the LAN port for years. A couple of days ago it just stopped working. 
The Apple TV recognises it’s connected through an ethernet connection but the IP address it gets is 169.254.92.0

No router or DNS address set. 

[Tryinhard]

Same here. Had apple TV connected via RJ45 to Google Nest WiFi Router. Worked fine for past 2 years. Then past two months has been getting glitchy and router had to be rebooted weekly to keep all the networks (RJ45 and WiFi) working. Over Xmas holiday weekend, LAN port on the router dropped from 200Mbps up and down ( I have that as my isp service pkg) to 5 up and 60 down. Cold boots. Reset and reconfigure. Nothing worked and AppleTV stopped being able to run all the apps (netflix, amazon prime, apple TV, etc.). Pulled the RJ45 and forced Apple TV to the WiFi… back to 200Mbps down and up. So there is definitely a quality issue with the Google Nest WiFi Router. I’m treating myself to a new NetGear at this point. Ridiculous to have to reboot the router weekly and now no LAN comms working right.

[King_de_la_casa]

I power washed all my Google wifi and set the up again because support was useless. (I'm still waking on a call back from 3 different people) 

I got really frustrated because wired backhaul still wasnt working, if power cycled from the app and everything nis right now. Has been for 2 days. 

[Jayjay3]

Maybe not the right forum to write this  😁

But I replaced my three Google wifi nodes (bought 4 years ago) with three TP Link Deco X60 and went from 5,5Mbps with Google to 250Mbps according to fast.com 

[Karlk]

My google best wifi worked for a few years and out of the blue got the blinking yellow light.  Reset network, reset devices, got new cables, fiddled with COX fiber… nothing.  Tried a random modem/router, works fine.  I don’t know what to do?!?!

[Jigarepatel]

Check any cables and reboot any routers, modems, or other network devices you may be using.

[Rockbottom8]

Fyi, same problem here. For months this was working fine on the original pucks and then saw one day months ago that everything went from great connect to good connection. It's now saying it's connected wirelessly in the Google home app and not wired. What a mess up on Google and they don't care to fix it. 

[frustratedWithL]

Yep, Google doesn't care.Period