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Google Nest Wifi Throttling Download Speed?

RachelC
Googler
Googler

Disclaimer: This thread was migrated from our previous version of the Google Nest Community.  You can continue to receive updates on your thread issue here or simply ask, browse or more in the new Google Nest Community.

Original Poster:  Ebok

I have an Exetel 50/20 plan, while I have no issue with the upload speed, I cannot exceed 26mb with the download speed using the Google Nest Wifi router except if I prioritize the device I am running the speedtest from. If I prioritize, I can reach 50mb download speed for the duration of the prioritization. 

 
I have tried using the Wifi and also Ethernet so directly connected to the Google Nest Wifi router and I have the same issue. 
 
If I use the Exetel router, I can reach 50mb consistently with no issue. 
 
I think based on my testing, there is clearly something throttling the download speed on the Google nest device. All firmwares and OS have been updated on all my devices to the latest available versions, I use primarily Mac devices. 
 
I have logged a support ticket with Google and despite looking at the logs, they cannot see an issue?! 
 
This sounds like a product issue to me, considering how many other threads I read in the community forums. 
 
Has anyone else experienced this and managed to get it fixed?
 
Thanks
74 REPLIES 74

RachelC
Googler
Googler
Hey there Ebok, 
 
I'm sorry for the late response, but wanted to hop in here to help you. I know that it can be frustrating and confusing when you are experiencing WiFi issues, but I'm happy to help. 
 
Do you mind answering these few questions to better assist you?
  1. Are you getting the expected speed when connected directly to the modem?
  2. What's the make & model of the modem you're using on the network?
  3. Could you give us an idea how does your network structure looks like? (e.g. Modem -> Switch -> Nest Wifi router -> Switch -> Wifi points)
  4. What other troubleshooting steps have you guys tried doing so far?
Let me know so that we can better pinpoint the problem.
 
Also, here's a couple links that I would suggest reviewing that have some great troubleshooting steps in them as well:
Garrett DS
 
- From Garrett (Community Specialist)

Hi, 

Thanks for the follow-up.
I have a basic configuration:
LBNCo modem > Wired to the Nest Wifi router > Bridged with a Wifi point located upstairs, although the router signal is strong enough that I don't really need the point in the house. 
 
So far, the focus has been on changing the DNS servers, from custom to Automatic to ISP. The ISP option seemed to have improved the speed, meaning I could get full speed 50mbps, but that lasted for 2 days and got back down to half around 26mbps. The devices have been factory reset, ipv6 and wpa3 left disabled, and this has not helped. We have also tried to change the SSID name with only one device connected to the wifi, that has not helped. We used different sites to perform the speedtest tests. 
 
It seems to be every time the network is restarted or a configuration change is applied, then the speed goes up for a while and goes down again or not at all, very sporadic, although every time I prioritize the device on the Nest router I am using, then I get full speed!  So it is clear that there are no issues with the wiring, the wifi signal, the channel, the DNS servers, it comes down to in my opinion to the router cutting in half the speed available for some reason. 
 
This issue has been logged with the support team and I am told it is now with level 3, still waiting for feedback. I can also see on other forums (e.g. reddit) that many other customers are having this issue so clearly not an isolated case. 
 
In the meantime, I am using the ISP router and get full download speed with no issue for now anyway. 
 
Are you able to help further from here?
 
Thanks.
 
- From Ebok (Original Poster)

Jrs1973
Community Member

Any update to this? This is a common Google Nest WiFi issue. If Google is doing this by design, perhaps to reserve bandwidth for other devices on the network, please just say so.

Chhibber
Community Member

Can u respond to all these queries or you guys need a formal notice

mew
Community Member

Thanks for the experiments! This is still a issue in 2022 unfortunately... Prioritizing devices did the workaround.

I am requesting that Google pays for my internet bill u til they get there latest update issue resolved.  We shouldn't be forced to go out and by new routers because of their test and development lab got it wrong and imagine that right around the time their new routers were being launched.  Thisnis notnfaie ro thw consumers who keep Google afloat buy purchasing their products, thank you.

GiuseppeMess
Community Member

I have the same problem

Google Wifi LAN wired to the ISP Modem/Router (FTTH) 

  • Download/Upload speed wired to the ISP modem - 903 mbps Down / 273 Up
  • Download/Upload speed wired to Google Wifi - 89mbps Down / 250 UP

I have 10% of my download bandwich :O.

I don't have any problem with Netgear Orbi (800mbps/250mbps)

I just test... Thank you amazon for your service! 🙂

this appear from 27th/28th October 2021

skib10
Community Member

I’m facing a similar issue. Modem speed connected directly to device is 500 mbps, nest Wi-Fi slows to around 10 mbps download speed.  Is there a fix? 

Buckeye573
Community Member

I'm having the EXACT same problem as well. I've had my nest wifi router + 2 access points for several months and recently bought a switch (2 months ago) to extend my wired connections. I have fiber through socket internet and have consistently been receiving 900+ download & 900+ upload speeds through my wired connections. Last week all of my devices (both wired & wireless) were recieving no more than 150 download speeds and I even contacted my ISP. They ran several tests and verified the speed coming from my modem was 1 gigabit. 

I recently just tried to prioritize one of my wired connections through the google home app and it immediately started recieving 1 gigabit speeds as it was before. Clearly the google nest routers are throttling our speeds based on bandwidth and is causing several problems for their customers. My next step is to buy a different brand router that can accept gigabit speeds to see if the problem ceases. I even spoke with a google representative that insisted my speeds were a result of my ISP even when I tried to explain to him that the speed coming directly from my modem was wayyyy higher! 

UPDATE!!

I replaced my nest routers with the Eero routers and no issues whatsoever.  All wired speeds are running 1gig consistently.  Even the wireless speeds are consistently better than the nest speeds were!

I contacted google yesterday and now they want me to run even more diagnostics on my nest routers than I previously did with the last google representative. They want me to do this after I told them that I was going to test out another brand router to see if my issues were internet, which we concluded are not. The only thing google is willing to do is send me a replacement router, but offers no refund whatsoever. I'm very disappointed in google and I will be personally advocating against buying their products since they do not stand behind them. No one should be subjected to spend almost $500 on routers that don't work as advertised. 

SteelWyrm
Community Member

I hit this problem yesterday.  Nest router ETHERNET throughput was 400mbps slower for download and 100mbps slower for upload than the direct connection to the modem.  After checking all my cables, restarts of various devices, etc, etc, I turned ON Video conferencing and Gaming in the Preferred activities section in the Home app.  Poof, back to full speed.  This particular fix probably won't work for everyone, but it does point to there being a bug in the prioritization functions in this firmware.

I also had the same issue. Google Nest would throttle speed by 50%. Also turned on the video conferencing and gaming on the main wifi router and it went to full speed. 

JohnFi
Community Member

I am seeing the same issue where the upload speed is very slow -  limited to ~ 10% of the total available bandwidth but if I prioritize a device there is no issue at all for the prioritized device.   I tried various combinations of the Preferred Activities but no change.  Sure looks like a bug when no prioritization QoS is set and its limiting upload for all devices.   In looking at the boards it seems this issue is mentioned for 6+ months - Any firmware update planned?

rcrook
Community Member

I have the same issue and from what I can tell, it is fairly new...at least for me.

I have AT&T fiber and have been using Nest WiFi (3 all wired to a switch) since June 2021. I've had terrific speeds ranging from 600mbps to 900mbps. Sometime over the holidays I noticed the speed test in the Google Home app was displaying very low speeds, so I started investigating. It turns out I am seeing the same throttling that others have complained about. I connected directly to my AT&T gateway and got 924 down and 652 up. Once the cable hits the Nest WiFi router, everything drops to roughly 10% of these actual speeds coming in from AT&T.

There has to be a fix for this. I pay my ISP for large data and unless I configure settings to throttle data speeds, this should not be happening. Please let us know what is happening on the Google side.

Chhibber
Community Member

I have same problem ans if google doesn't resolve this, I will take this to ACCc to stop this product from being sold in Australia

TC73
Community Member

I have the same problem.  My 1Gb internet speed from Verizon Fio is limited to 2############ Mbps.  I have done extensive speed testing to and from ISP and my nest router.  The problem pointed to the internet speed from the Nest router port.  This problem started yesterday in me nest wifi network..

 

skib10
Community Member

I dont know if this will work for everyone else but it worked for me. I stood next to each access point and router and ran the speed test in the google home app. I figured proximity would force my mobile device to connect to that specific point in the mesh. One of the two access points and the router had “good” speeds, while the third was what was bringing my speeds down. I reset that single access point to factory settings in the google home app and reconfigured it. It seems to have solved my problem. It’s been 2 weeks and everything has been running smoothly.  Hope this helps. 

JohnFi
Community Member

Hi - @RachelC,

I see you had earlier comments on this type issue, do you have any suggestions?   This is not a proximity issue for me, my WIFI network and ISP connection has been fine for 1+ years and this degraded upload speed was noticed in the last month or so.   It clearly is a software issue based on the fact I can prioritize a device in the app and it works at full speed.  The s/w version is 13729.57.27.  I assume this issue is a regression around this version number or slightly before.  

Let me know if I can do more troubleshooting to provide more specific details.

Thanks!

Jrs1973
Community Member

When I first put the Google nest WI-FI system in I clearly received full bandwidth from my ISP. It is now throttle down to half bandwidth of my isp. A direct connection to my ISP shows the full bandwidth. Settling priority to my device in Google Nest and I get full bandwidth until the time expires. I haven’t had any major issues with how Google Nest is performing, but some clear communication from Google when you change my stuff would be nice.

This has to be by design to reserve bandwidth…Please Google just say so. Oh, and give us an option to turn it off. Expensive Wi-Fi system with changes made to functionality after its been paid for and in service for months is bad form.

 

Answer please…

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, everyone.

I wanted to jump in and mention a few things you can all try. I know some of you might have already done some of these things, but I want to offer up some common solutions. If this doesn't work out for you, feel free to let me know and we'll look at more specific solutions for your specific case.

  • Disable preferred activities in the Home app
  • Prioritize a device on your network (any device) and see if it affects speed on the overall network
  • Try resetting your connection to cloud services (instructions below)
  • Factory reset your devices

To reset your cloud services connection, do the following:

Open the Google Home app.

  1. Tap the WiFi icon.

  2. Tap Settings.

  3. Select Privacy settings.

  4. Toggle Nest WiFi cloud services OFF and wait for 30 seconds, then back ON.

Once done, close the Home app and perform a full network restart to ensure that the new settings are in place. To do this, I would recommend doing a power cycle on your network.

  1. Disconnect the power adapter and the Ethernet cable from the Nest WiFi router.

  2. Disconnect the power adapter from the Nest WiFi points.

  3. Disconnect the power adapter from the modem. Allow all devices to stay disconnected from the power for 5 minutes.

  4. Connect the power back to the modem only and wait for it to fully back up. All lights should be lit up before moving to the next step.

  5. After the modem is back online, connect the Ethernet cable back to Nest WiFi router's WAN port (globe symbol port).

  6. Connect the power back to the Nest WiFi router and to the Nest WiFi points. Wait until they're all fully back on.

Please let me know if you are still having issues after trying these processes.

Thanks.

indielou
Community Member

Still did not help. I am having the same problems as the above posters. When I connect directly to the router I am receiving the correct speed. As a matter of fact, when I run the speed test in the Google Home app it is displaying the correct speed as well. It is only on devices that the speed is throttled to at times, 5% of the speed provided by my ISP. I am paying for Gig speeds but videos are still grainy. I performed a full network reset God knows how many times at this point and still nothing.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, RayRay007.

Just to clarify, you set up the preferred activities in Google Home, right? What's interesting is setting preferred activities works for some while disabling works for others.

For those that want to try the preferred activities a try, here's how: https://bit.ly/3CWePuI.

Thanks.

PaulH
Community Member

In my case, I have a 50/20 plan from my ISP. Enabling both video and gaming preferences gives me the slowest download speeds (each individually doesn't seem to have that effect) reducing my download speed from 50mbs to around 28mbs. With no preferences selected I get a download speed of around 30mbs to 32mbs, while setting that device to prioritised I get 52mbs to 54mbs. These speeds are consistent and repeatable. Under all scenarios upload speeds are unaffected at 18mbs to 19mbs.

RayRay007
Community Member

Hi Jeff

Yes I set it in Google Home. Tried to switch on priority for the device, and although this did work as well for me, the video conference and gaming setting was at least a more permanent solution. At least consistently getting the full line speed now for a few days now. 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Thanks for the update, RayRay007.

Good to hear that you're getting proper speeds. Let's see how it evolves and see if things are stable going forward.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, all.

It looks like the thread is slowing down a bit, so if you're still looking for some input, let me know. As a general update, however, we have a new firmware release that is rolling out now that may help you with the issues you've been seeing on your devices. The update will download and install automatically, so you don't need to do anything to receive it.

Thanks.

JohnFi
Community Member

Thanks Jeff.  I'm continuing to have this issue so will look forward to the new firmware update - do you have an ETA for it?

Thanks,

-John

PaulH
Community Member

No change for me as well, still seeing the throttled speeds. Let's see if the new firmware makes a difference.  Would be good to know when it is arriving though. 

rcrook
Community Member

I disconnected my Nest devices and went back to Eero. 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

So the firmware is starting to hit devices now, but the updates roll out in waves, much like with cell phone updates. Early on they roll out a bit more slowly and then pick up pace over time. Before the end of April 100% of devices will have the update if they're connected to the Internet, but some of you might already be seeing the firmware showing up.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Sorry to hear that we couldn't resolve this for you, rcrook. If you want to connect your devices later in the  month to try everything with the updated firmware, you might see a better experience, though I understand if you've chosen a different product. If you choose to pick up the product again down the line and need some help, please let me know.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, everyone.
Just as a bit more info, the update version for both Google WiFi and Nest WiFi will be 14150.43.80. If you are seeing a different version number when you check in Google Home, you have yet to receive the updated firmware. Let me know if you have any questions about that.
Thanks.

DragonZ
Community Member

Hi @Jeff , I just check my Google Wifi version and already update to 14150.43.80.
But the problem throttling speed still occure. 

My Internet speed 150mbps for download/upload.

Without prioritize device : All devices download 65mbps : upload 150mbps
With prioritize a device : Prioritize Device download 150mbps : upload 150mbps, Unprioritze Devices download 150mbps : upload 50mbps.

This update is worst than previous one, the previous when prioritize a device, all devices got download 150mbps : upload 150mbps

 

PaulH
Community Member

Hi all, I got the firmware update overnight (now on 14150.43.80) and have run a few different tests to see how everything is performing. I'm seeing much the same effects as DragonZ.

I get 50mbs download and 20mbs upload from my ISP. With the new firmware and no prioritised devices I am getting around 30mbs download and the full 20mbs upload on all devices (this is the same as I got on the previous firmware). If I prioritise any device, every device gets the full 50mbs download but only 5mbs upload until the prioritisation ends when everything reverts to the 30/20 figures. This seems to be the same results as DragonZ.

However, the speed results I see vary depending on whether I use the Google Home app's speed test functionality or the online speedtest from my ISP. The Google Home app's test now always reports results of 30/20 or 30/5 no matter whether any device is prioritised or not, whereas my ISP's speedtest reports the 50/5 or 30/20 results depending on device prioritisation. My feelings are that the ISP speedtest is likely to be correct. 

I guess in summary the new firmware seems to have changed the nature of the issues we are seeing rather than fixing them.

Mattymointx
Community Member

Still not working after the firmware update.  This is obviously a widespread problem.  Why won’t you guys prioritize this?  If you are banking on us buying a new Google product, I can assure you that won’t be the case after your failure to fix this issue.

jsfrye
Community Member

Hi @Jeff.. I am posting this on September 15 2022.   I have version 14150.43.81 .  I tried all the steps you previously outlined with no luck.

ISP Verizon Fios 300/300

Without Prioritization: 70/5 constantly across multiple laptops and phone (iphone 13). Same speed no matter if I connected to the main device or to the access point.

With prioritization: 267/315

setup:   Modem > cat 6 > Nest wifi > cat 6 > switch

Would love to troubleshoot and share logs with you  if you want to dig into the issue

PaulH
Community Member

I have exactly the same issue as the original post, same ISP and set up, exactly the same speeds upload and download. I have turned off prioritisation of traffic for video etc, reset my cloud services and restarted my network.

 

As others have reported, prioritising a specific device on my network immediately results in it getting the full download speed my ISP is providing me with (which to be fair is slightly in excess of the plan I pay them for) but only for that specific device. However, the moment that prioritisation ends, I go back to the throttled speed.

 

This certainly has the look and feel of a 'feature', be that intended or not, and I would like to understand why that feature exists and if/how I can disable it so that my full network gets the benefit of the maximum speeds my ISP is providing at all times.

Gagan1
Community Member

I was having the same exact issues. Speedtest.net result was 29mbps download. 

I switched DNS settings from automatic to ISP's DNS. Speedtest.net result came back 48mbps download. 

I changed DNS settings back to automatic and tested speed test. Speedtest.net result was 48mbps. 

There is definitely some sort of throttling happening at the Google nest wifi access point or Google nest wifi router. 

Let's me see if this speed stays the same or throttling starts after sometime. 

Hooksie
Community Member

Same issues that have been going on for years with Google Nest Wifi. Other than this random throttling of traffic, I generally really like the product. But waited for long enough for this issue to be fixed, obviously not a priority for Google to fix, time to look elsewhere....