Google Nest Wifi Point Still Goes Offline

[IanJamesOz]

Even though Google claimed to have fixed this problem last year and closed the associated thread, one of my Wifi Points still keeps going offline every few days! It's so annoying having to repeatedly power cycle the Wifi Point to get it working again. When it's working normally the mesh test says it has a great connection to the Google Nest Router. 

Did Google's promised firmware update actually fix the problem? If so why does my wifi point still keep dropping out? 

[Ozzmike]

I'm in the same boat. Really frustrating, especially with our baby monitor going offline every time.

[Bhambrick1]

This is happening to my home setup now. Super frustrating because I am the home IT expert and I have to travel every week so now my families stuck with Wi-Fi that’s barely working because half of my Wi-Fi points have disconnected. This needs to be fixed or I will be switching to a different brand, and maybe all my google devices, included.

[DennyB]

Same here.  "Great connection" when it's working, but drops offline every few days.  Unplugging it brings it back online -- still with a "great connection" -- but in a day or two or three it drops offline again.  Factory reset of the point that drops most frequently did no better than unplugging it: it still drops every few days.

[Jeff]

Hi all,

I have something for you all to check. Can you go into your advanced networking settings in the Home app and see if you have IPv6 enabled? If so, try disabling it and see if it changes anything for you. If it's already disabled, let me know and we can look into other steps.

Thanks,
Jeff

[AbigailF]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for lending a hand, @Jeff.

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any concerns or questions from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Best,
Abi

[Cesarh7]

Still same issues

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Jeff, 

Thanks for following up this issue. I've been away on holidays and only just seen your reply. 

I checked the network settings and IPv6 was switched on. I've turned it off and will be very pleased if this resolves the problem. I'll keep monitoring the wifi point over the next week and let you know what happens. 

Cheers, Ian 

[DennyB]

I just returned from a week out of town. I had not yet tried @Jeff's suggestion to try disabling IPv6 before I left. I checked in Home a couple of times while I was gone and saw no offline periods and it is working now, so that's about 10 days -- longer than usual without a failure.  The point that goes offline most often is one that is heavily used when I'm home, often handling two or three video streams. I wonder if it could be a thermal issue when it's in use.

Anyway, I'll keep watching and I will post if (when) there are more offline events.

-- DennyB

I just returned from a week out of town. I checked in Home a couple of times while I was gone and there were no offline periods and it is working now, so that's about 10 days. I had not yet tried @Jeff's suggestion to try disabling IPv6. The point that goes offline most often is one that is heavily used when I'm home, handling two or three video streams. I wonder if it could be a thermal issue when it's in use.

Anyway, I'll keep watching and I will post if (when) there are more offline events.

-- DennyB

[AbigailF]

Hi DennyB,

Thanks for the update. I'll keep this thread open for a few more days to give you time to reply in case anything changes. Let us know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

Regards,
Abi

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Abi, 

Thanks for following up this issue. I've been away on holidays and only just seen your reply. 

I checked the network settings and IPv6 was switched on. I've turned it off and will be very pleased if this resolves the problem. I'll keep monitoring the wifi point over the next week and let you know what happens. 

Cheers, Ian 

[DennyB]

Isn't IPv6 necessary?

[AbigailF]

Hey everyone,

@IanJamesOz, we appreciate your reply. I’ll keep this thread open to give you time to update us. You can also let us know if you have additional questions.

@DennyB, in most cases it is necessary but we sometimes disable it as a troubleshooting step. It helps us isolate the issue better.

Best,
Abi

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Abi, 

☹️😭😖The news is not good! I turned off IPv6 in the network settings as recommended. A few days later and the Nest Wifi Point is offline again.

What's the next step to fix (or diagnose) the problem? 

Ian

[DennyB]

Got it.  And interestingly, IPv6 is off.  I didn't change it, so I assume it has been off all along.

[Ozzmike]

IPv6 has been off along for me too, I haven't had an issue in a week or two though.

[DennyB]

I have 1 base router and 2 points.  This evening, one point (light load) went offline and the other (streaming video) was essentially useless and Home reported it had a "weak" connection.  IPv6 is off, and has been throughout this exercise.  The three units have not been moved nor has anything near them been moved, there have been no power hiccups, there was no unusual activity that I know of, and I don't know of any unusual RF emission in the neighborhood -- no amateur radio antennas. None of the units is near a microwave or other RF source.

When the problems arose, I ran an Internet speed test in Home, which reported 600+ Mbps download from Comcast.  I then ran a mesh test a couple of times and it again reported the same: one offline and one "weak."  I then unplugged power from each of the points and plugged them back in.  In a few minutes, Home reported "Great connection" and everything was fine.  This is the first time both of the points have experienced a problem at the same time.

[AbigailF]

Hi everyone,

Could you try to toggle Cloud Services and Wifi Usage off and on from the Privacy settings? After that, restart your network. Check if it helps. I'll wait for your update.

Regards,
Abi

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Abi, 

I've opened the Google Home app, selected Settings then selected Privacy, and cannot find either Cloud Services or Wifi Usage. Can you please advise where these settings are located. 

Cheers, Ian 

[IanJamesOz]

Hi again Abi, 

I had another look for Cloud Services and Wifi Usage and found them under Wifi / Settings icon / Privacy and toggled them off/on as requested. I'll restart the network and let you know what if/when the Wifi Point goes offline.

Cheers, Ian 

[LovelyM]

Hello there, 

@IanJamesOz and @DennyB, we'll keep this thread open for three more days. Please keep us in the loop about your observations on your WiFi network after running the actions recommended by Abi. 

Best, 
Lovely

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Lovely, 

I implemented Abi's changes last night. So far so good but it's less than 24 hours ago. I'll check each day and update you.

Cheers, Ian 

[DennyB]

My system is also still OK after following the suggestions, but sometimes it will go a week or two without failing so surviving for  three or four days doesn't indicate a definitive fix.

                     -- Denny

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Lovely, 

After implementing Abi's changes Mesh tests 24 then 36 hours showed Wifi Point still online. But mesh test 48 hours after shows Wifi Point is offline again 😖😖!

@Abi @LovelyM @@  What's next?

I'm very concerned by other recent posts on this thread advising that Google Support kept them testing for months until they gave up and bought alternative nest systems. 

[IanJamesOz]

Hi @LovelyM  @AbigailF ,
An update for you. After implementing the changes suggested by Abi one week ago I've been monitoring it every day since. My Wifi Point went offline again after 3 days, after which I did the usual off/on power cycle.  In the 4 days since it has stayed online (which is better than it going offline every day or two) but it is still way to early to say that the problem is fixed.
Please keep the thread open so I can give further updates. If it goes offline again I will let you know asap.
Has Google made any progress identifying the actual problem and coming up with a permanent fix? If not, can I return the product under warranty and get a refund?

Regards, Ian

[DennyB]

AbigailF --

Thanks for the suggestion -- and thanks to IanJamesOz for finding where the Cloud Services and WiFi Usage settings are.  I have taken those actions, and we'll see how it goes.  It may be a while, though.  Sometimes the interval between failures is only a day or two, but sometimes it's a week or two.  If nothing happens after a couple of weeks, we'll declare a tentative victory.

   -- Denny

[Ozzmike]

Nope, not fixed. Just went down again, do more Google.

[DennyB]

One of my points went down again this afternoon.  After 3 or 4 hours, I unplugged it; it came right up when I restored its power.  So nothing is changed.

[DennyB]

A point died again, revived by unplugging power for a while.  As always, Google Home shows "Great connection" when I run a mesh test.

[AbigailF]

Hey again folks,

Give these steps a try:
 

• If you're using a modem/router combo, set that to bridge mode to avoid double NAT issues.
• Make sure that there is minimal to no interference (concrete, bulletproof glass, metal, mirror, etc.) and the points are no more than two rooms apart.
• Remove any special characters in your network name and password.
• Change your DNS server into 8.8.8.8 on the primary and 8.8.4.4 on the secondary server. Hit the save/ floppy disk icon on the upper right.
• Unplug the power from your Google Wifi devices for 2 minutes.
• If the issue persists, try factory resetting your network. Take note that this will delete all network data
   

Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Abi

[Ozzmike]

This is a ridiculous list of steps to get an expensive mesh system to work for 2 days at a time.

Google rep, please contact me directly to organise my refund.

[DennyB]

Abi --

Thanks, I'll give these a try.  The first three are already my default and I just changed the DNS server.  I'll unplug the three routers for 2 minutes when I finish this message.

Just out of curiosity, who runs those DNS servers?  How would the DNS server (an Internet service) cause a mesh point to go down, when I assume that it relays DNS requests through the primary router that never goes down?

       -- Denny

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Abi,
My Wifi Point went down again yesterday. This was the second time after toggling the settings you advised to toggle previously.

Regarding your latest instructions...

• My internet service is a modem only, so there's no double NAT issues.
• The whole aim of buying a mesh system was to resolve internet coverage issues in a large premises. I'm assuming that the mesh test saying I have a Great Connection when the Wifi Point is up and running means that the distance to the router and any obstacles in between are not an issue. 
• Changing the DNS server settings is easy to implement. I'm happy to do this and see if it resolves the problem.
• My network name includes a full-stop "." My network has around 30 devices connected to it. Having to change the network name on them all on the chance that it may resolve the problem would require an unreasonable amount of valuable time.
• Ditto for doing a factory reset. If this was definitely going to resolve the problem once and for all I would be willing to implement the fix, albeit reluctantly. However Google requesting that I implement suggestions like this that might fix the problem is simply unprofessional! 
  If Google don't have a definite fix for this long-standing problem by now the professional response would be to offer a full refund (or even better provide replacement WiFi Points that are guaranteed to work).

[AbigailF]

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with your Google 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,
Abi

[AbigailF]

Hey there, 

@DennyB, 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 to avoid confusion.

To everyone else, have you had the chance to fill out the form?

Cheers, 
Abi

[IanJamesOz]

Hi Abi, 

I'm currently away from home and unable to monitor the Wifi Point. I will fill out the form when I'm back next week. 

Please don't close this thread prematurely... the number of people reporting the problem just keeps on growing and we're all keen for Google to come up with a definitive fix (or provide a refund). 

Cheers, Ian 

[Jeff]

Hey IanJamesOz,

We'll keep the thread open so you can get back and do the necessary troubleshooting. I definitely understand the frustration, so we'll make sure we get this right with you.

Thanks,
Jeff

[IanJamesOz]

Thanks Jeff, much appreciated. 

[AbigailF]

Hello everyone, 

Checking back in — have you had the chance to fill out the form?

Best, 
Abi

[DennyB]

Yes.  My system hasn't gone down now for a couple of weeks -- unusual but not unprecedented.  Will Google tell us whether we can go back to IPv6 and othe NET servers?

        -- DennyB