Google Nest Pro failure — firmware or hardware?

[drzed]

Context: Google Nest Pro WiFi network with one master and one mesh slave.

Last night an IoT device lost connectivity to the WiFi network. I blamed it on the device. This morning a second device dropped, and then all connections to the router dropped. Google Home reported zero devices attached. The network settings page failed to load or populate. 

I managed to perform a factory reset on the master. Next I swapped master and slave and rebuilt the network. So far it has been stable. 

I’m trying to determine if I experienced a firmware failure or a hardware failure. It certainly appeared that the DHCP address table filled and never refreshed properly, but there were no diagnostics available. 

Have others experienced the same or similar? Is there any way to determine the cause of the failure?

Unfortunately, level 1 support was useless and wanted to troubleshoot DNS settings on a fully operational network and could offer no insights on router internals (and seemed to have no understanding of router internals). 

[AbigailF]

Hi drzed,

Thanks for posting. Our apologies for the late reply.

I’d like to check in and see if the issue persists after swapping your Nest Wifi Pro main router and point. If you could also provide the case ID number of your interaction with our Google support, please do so I can review your case.

I’ll wait for your update.

Best,
Abi

[drzed]

the case number is 7-5095000033859. my conversation with the agent felt like I was in the Bob & Ray skit about the Komodo dragon.

so far the swap has created a stable network. but since the crash occurred several months after I had set it up, I’ve no idea if it will recur. 

[AbigailF]

Hello drzed,

Thanks for the update. My apologies for the late reply. I'd like to check in if the issue occurred again. Let us know so we can help you out.

Regards,
Abi

[drzed]

I believe there’s a hardware error. the strength of the connection between current slave point (the original master)  and the master suddenly went from extremely strong to extremely weak. power-on reset restored it. there’s probably a way to check RSSI, but it wasn’t obvious and I needed the network back. 

[AbigailF]

Hey drzed,

I’ll keep this thread open for a few days to monitor the issue. If anything changes, let me know so we can proceed with the next steps. Let me know if you have any other questions for now.
 

Thanks,
Abi

[AbigailF]

Hi again drzed,

Checking back in should you still have some questions here. Let us know by replying to this thread. 

Cheers, 
Abi

[Zedsquared]

the remote post once again lost connectivity; and once again a power-on- reset was the remedy. 

[AbigailF]

Hi Zedsquared,

I'm sorry to hear you're also having an issue. Could you give us more details? What did you mean by 'remote post'? We'll wait for your reply.

Regards,
Abi

[drzed]

I mean the slave point on the mesh. 

[LovelyM]

Hey drzed,

I just want to give you a nudge. How is it going? Do you still need help? 

Kind regards, 
Lovely

[drzed]

As I went to respond to your note, my network failed. I can’t get Google Home to load its device list fully; what it does show is most devices offline. I have a growing number of IoT clients, making me feel once again that there’s something going wrong with either a DHCP list not refreshing or some unexpected overload. 

[Zedsquared]

or, in my other community alias, the slave mesh point. 

[AbigailF]

Hello drzed,

Thanks for letting us know. I'll keep this thread open for a few more days to see if your Nest Wifi Pro point will lose connectivity again. Keep us posted.

Best,
Abi

[drzed]

the slave point has once again lost signal strength and the mesh is downgraded to weak. 

[LovelyM]

Hello there drzed, 

Awesome — we're glad that the replacement Google Nest Wifi Pro devices are working as intended and we appreciate you keeping us in the loop! We're going to lock the thread within 24 hours. If you have further concerns, please feel free to create a new post.

Best regards, 
Lovely

[drzed]

Googlers out there ... I believe the time has come for an warranty return on that unit. Can you set that up?

[Jeff]

Hey drzed,

After these efforts, I think it would be best to pass you along to a higher tier of support. If you can fill out the form I'm sharing here, someone will reach out to you directly to work one on one with you. Here's that form: https://goo.gle/3BICUaB.

Once you have filled that out, just let us know and we'll let them take over the troubleshooting and diagnosis process.

Thanks,
Jeff

[drzed]

Thanks. I've filled it in and submitted it.

[Jeff]

Thanks for filling that out, drzed.

Someone will be in touch with you shortly to help out. Make sure you keep an eye on the email you used to register for the forums. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards,
Jeff

[AbigailF]

Hello everyone, 

@drzed, we got your form — thanks for filling it out. Keep your lines open as our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. Also, please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Thanks for the help, @Jeff. 

Cheers, 
Abi

[drzed]

In the past 3 or 4 days my network has failed. by “failed” I mean that multiple devices suddenly and simultaneously go offline and I need to restart my network; or that the remote point is suddenly unavailable and it needs a power-on reset. 

locking the thread will not solve the problem. I have yet to hear directly from support. 

[AbigailF]

Hey again drzed,

Thanks for the update. I checked your case and saw that a senior specialist sent you an email already. Feel free to let us know if you have any other question or clarification for now.

Best,
Abi

[AbigailF]

Hi drzed,

Checking back in should you still have some questions here. Let us know by replying to this thread. 

Thanks, 
Abi

[drzed]

Thanks, Abi. My replacement units arrived yesterday and so far seem fine. I think you can close the thread.