Google Nest Wifi - Unable to reconnect after power failure

[DGU]

Google Nest Router is unable to reconnect to the internet after a power failure. This is extremely frustrating and time consuming to fix.

1. Google Nest Wifi router is unable to reconnect by itself to internet after a power failure. Although, to be fair, once when I was on vacations for several weeks, I noticed that Google Nest Wifi router re-connected to the internet by itself after about one week. This is not so great when we have several Nest cameras and we pay for a Nest Aware subscription to record while we are away. 

2. I have tried everything I could find to have Google Nest Wifi router reconnect to the internet when I am at home. Switch off everything… Wait… Reconnect internet modem…. Wait… Reconnect Google Nest Wifi router… Wait… It is never able to reconnect. At one point, I even contacted my internet provider to enquire if the problem could be on their side. They confirm that the internet was fine , and I validated by connecting a computer with an ethernet cable directly to the internet modem. The problem is with Google Nest Wifi router…

3. This is extremely frustrating… It take me easily 1 to 2 hours to get Google Nest Wifi router to reconnect to the internet. The only option that works is to factory reset the device (each time the power goes off). And even that is not trivial. Your Google Home App often fails to connect to the devices, display some visual indications that it is “working” only to display a few minutes later that it cannot connect (“Problem connecting”).

In summary:

The Google Nest Wifi router and its two Nest Wifi points work great long as there is power. But after a power failure, it becomes a nightmare, as only a factory reset solves the problem and even that is non-trivial and very time consuming (lots of failure to connect). To me, this looks like a software issue. Don’t you fix issues and provide software updates for your router? I looked around the web and I don’t seem to be the only one experiencing those issues

https://www.reddit.com/r/googlehome/comments/qy1ojl/nest_hub_cant_reconnect_to_wifi_after_power_outa...

Modem: Thomson Technicolor DCM 475 (bridge mode)

Router: Nest Wifi router and point, 2-pack (Snow)

Connecting Thomson Technicolor DCM 475 directly to iMac27

• Mac: Preferences/Network/Ethernet/IP address: 198.84.2XX.XX

==> The modem is on bridge mode

Connect Google Nest Wifi router to the modem

• The Wifi network goes up… But no internet connection.

[AshShres]

I seem to be having the same issues. Who can we contact?

[deidraitken]

We also have this issue, although haven’t left the house for long enough during a power outage to know. But we have the same issue - although it doesn’t always have to be a power outage. If the wifi has a system error or glitch it will cut out and not reset when the wifi router does. Has only happened a couple of times, but we do have to manually reset all the pods to reconnect. 

[degreeze]

I've got exactly the same issue with Nest Audio and Nest Mini (both gen 2). But I figured what went wrong at least in my case.

After the power outage I noticed that my Nest devices can’t see my 2.4Ghz SSID, but can see 5Ghz one. And every other device can see 2.4Ghz without any difficulties. My neighbors 2.4Ghz was identified by Nest also. And factory resetting devices did not fixed this issue. So it looks like something was changed in my 2.4Ghz setup and broke Nest connection to it.

Looking at router settings did not show me any possible problems at first. But after I looked at WiFi band analyzer app - I saw that my 2.4Ghz SSID was using 12 channel, which my Nest devices (bought in USA) probably can’t use because of regional restrictions (12, 13 and 14 control channels are restricted for USA). But my router (bought in Europe) channel setting was on Auto and it switched to free 12 channel after power outage.

After I selected other relatively free channel below 12 manually - Nest devices reconnected to 2.4Ghz again immediately. 
So this particular problem can happen to other routers as well, and it's a good place to check when Nest devices are having connectivity issues. Hope this will help somebody.

[Seabhreach]

This fix worked for me thanks 

[Jeff]

Hey, everyone.

Sorry for the connection issues you're having. That sounds like quite a frustrating issue. I just have a few questions, and I know the answers might vary with each of you, that should help us narrow down what's happening.

• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network?
• Do you always have to do a full factory reset, or will a power cycle work to reconnect the point?
• For those that have more than one WiFi point, is it always the same point that fails to reconnect?
• If you perform a network restart via the Home app (not using a power cycle), does it find the point after?
• Does the point that fails to reconnect have any status lights showing? If so, what color are they?

If I can get a bit more info from you all, it would help to diagnose things. There have been a few other reports of this, so we're trying to learn as much as possible to come up with a solution. Thanks.

[deidraitken]

From Canada, on SaskTel’s network. 
Two points. Both are having issues reconnecting. It just glows and then if there is no connection Google tells us they’re having an issue and to try again. If the wifi is back on, it might respond but is really slow when it does with a poor connection. Unplugging for a minute or so or restarting the point from the app will resolve the issue until it happens again. Points are within close range (confirmed by Google’s help support) and when working they work excellent. If a device is using our basement connection (where the modem and router are) there are no connectivity issues, unless a power outage, and once a wifi outage. Otherwise, video call streaming has never been affected in the basement. Upstairs with devices connecting to the points will experience issues and loss of connection randomly throughout the day. There usually is no light unless I ask the point to do something, then it glows/blinks white. 

The issue on our end is mostly that when the network has a weak connection the points will drop and not reconnect on their own, causing us to manually restart them. It is unknown if the modem is causing the weak connection or the Google Nest router, or both; regardless, both points are affected and fail to reconnect. 

[syd]

power failure is very common where I'm at. I've got about 18 nest devices. Once power comes on, all nodes are not found and are shown to be offline on the google home app. You have to painstakingly watch each node come online over hours. It's not easy to reset each nest device so that it can be found on the network

[jwf5294]

Every time the power goes out, the router and 2 points blink yellow. The network does appear when this happens, but there is no internet connection. It will only return to functioning properly when I force a factory reset on the router and modem. Resetting on the home app does not do anything. 

[Dregie]

I have 4 points and the nest router.  I have the exact same problem, the router and 2 points won't connect.

[DGU]

• I always have to do a factory reset of the Nest Wifi router (+ 2 Nest Wifi points) in order to get an internet connection.
• The Nest Wifi router indicates having no internet connection (idem for the 2 Nest Wifi Points).
• For the status lights, I get all of the colours as I try every possible options: first blinking white, then other colours (blinking).

[Jeff]

Hi, everyone.

This is definitely an issue that I need to take to our internal teams for a deeper look. I'll hopefully be able to get more insight from them and I'll update the thread when I know more. Thanks for hanging in there with me on this.

[Robica]

Confirming that I just had the same exact issue after an intentional power cycle. Had an issue with intermittent dropped connection and customer service rep told me to power cycle. Now I get slow blinking yellow on nest wifi router. Modem is fine.

[jfetz88]

Same issue here as well! We have 1 nest router and 3 points and had a long internet outage 2 days ago (not power outage, just straight internet outage for a few hours). Since then we have not been able to get any of our Nest devices connected. Have gone through every troubleshooting article and are now at the point of a factory reset, which is not fun to do. Please fix this- it works so well when this isn't the case, but it should be able to just reconnect once the internet is back up. Location: Atlanta, Georgia (in the actual middle of the city) with AT&T Fiber. 

Jeff, to answer your specific questions for troubleshooting on your team's end:

• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network?- It will not connect to the network. We tried to do the troubleshooting and re-setup, but we just get a blinking orange light that there's no connection at all.
• Do you always have to do a full factory reset, or will a power cycle work to reconnect the point?- We are at the full factory reset- we tried multiple power cycles and it always came back to the same "no internet connection"
• For those that have more than one WiFi point, is it always the same point that fails to reconnect?- All of them are failing to connect since the first main one won't connect. All 4 (aka our entire mesh network) are out of commission due to this
• If you perform a network restart via the Home app (not using a power cycle), does it find the point after?- We tried this a few times and I honestly couldn't even tell if it tried o do anything as literally nothing happened/changed. No indicators in the app and no changes on the blinking orange light.
• Does the point that fails to reconnect have any status lights showing? If so, what color are they?- After we unplug and replug, it flashes blue for about 1 minute and then goes to flashing orange. We tried to reconnect the rest of the points during the flashing blue time but couldn't get around to them all before it changed to orange anyways

[jll]

Pretty sure it's safe to say we are all experiencing the exact same issue (very well aritculated btw @jfetz88). Different ISPs, different countries, different internet technologies; exact same issues. I've even tried with multiple Nest Routers and they both have the same issue.

I've spent over ten (yes 10) hours with different levels of Nest Router customer support agents, who were all very friendly, but ultimately useless. It always resulted in a factory reset and a 1 hour re-setup. The issue is 100% with the Nest Router, straight up in Google's court. The products are defective and nothing's done to address the issues. Super frustrating. CC @Jeff 

[jwf5294]

Oh yea, it is already a done deal for me - I will not be purchasing another Google product after this. Truly absurd how much they obviously do not care about their lucratively expensive product not working. I'm shocked by this experience. Learned a lot about Google.

[chmcarlsen]

Just wondering if there is any update on this issue yet? I have the same happening to me every time the power is out. It cannot possibly take over 2 months to get some feedback and status on this? It is the only router I've ever had that does not automatically get back online after a simple power outage.

[Checkmate]

Where's the update?

[VV]

Hi Jeff 

every time when we have power outage, it always turn into slow blinking white. The only option is to factory reset and reconnect using set up. Due to this I have to factory reset and connect all other google cameras and reconnect doorbell, thermostat and other google equipment. It’s nightmare each time doing the same work. How do I fix?

[Otsui]

Hi Jeff, 

The Google router and points totally disconnect after power outage, my modem is connected, I restart both modem and router and same, I believe the white light is on - set up mode, however, it couldn’t find the router when I tried to set up again, or said connection is off but my modem is connected still. So I need to ask my service provider to refresh and send me signal again then I need to do the reset manufactory mode, to set up again the router and points, then all devices…it’s frustrated when I was away, and all device shutdown. Like my camera and such…how we can address this issue? Is it the router have problem? Your advise would be much appreciated. Thank you 

[nawestbr00k]

I never get a slow pulsing white light when I am following the Google home set-up instructions 

[Daryl_WX4QZ]

Whenever there's a threat of thunderstorms (no amount of surge protection will stop damage from a lightning strike, and I'm a 2 time lightning strike survivor), I unplug the computers, internet routers, etc. If no storms are present, and if power goes out for whatever reason, the camera is offline once internet or power is restored.

But, I recall that it's an extended process to do a factory reset on the system. I just bought and had the doorbell camera installed yesterday (since I'm now homebound due to medical issues), and I hate having to sit at the front door waiting for deliveries to show up. But, is there a step by step guide on how to do a factory reset or to get the device back online, once power is restored??

Also, since my residence was built over 50 years ago, I had to get a Netgear Router Wi-Fi Extender, so the doorbell camera would pick up the network. The strange thing is, my cellphone could still pick up the home Wi-Fi if I was outside, but the doorbell camera would not without the router Wi-Fi extender.

Daryl, Little Rock, Arkansas

[dhsewell]

Here are the answers to your questions and some comments:

• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network? Wired network still works, wireless does not. does not go back to setup mode
• Do you always have to do a full factory reset, or will a power cycle work to reconnect the point? Power cycle is not helpful
• For those that have more than one WiFi point, is it always the same point that fails to reconnect? It is totally random
• If you perform a network restart via the Home app (not using a power cycle), does it find the point after? If you are going to suggest a step to take, please give instruction on how to do it.
• Does the point that fails to reconnect have any status lights showing? If so, what color are they? Here again, it is random and sometimes there will be a pulsing white light on the base.
• Comment: I gave up a mesh system from Netgear Orbi to invest a BUNCH of money in the Google Nest/Home system (many devices). I have IOT devices that I depend on working and will soon be adding a flightaware feeder so one of two things needs to happen: 1. Google fixes it's devices so they actually work (at this point I have absolutely no confidence in any Google device and I am definitely not going to switch to the Pixel). 2. Configure Home and Nest so the entire system can run in bridge mode if I have to buy a Wireless router from one of your competitors. I can't have my wireless network just crash randomly - I really depend on it. I really like the Google system but your hardware leaves a LOT to be desired. Please help get this fixed!

[tayla]

I have bought two chomecasts for this exact issue and it’s getting very frustrating now. If my wifi drops out, it will not connect to the network. 

When it disconnects, it does not go to the set up mode and will also not connect the network. 

A factory reset does not fix the problem, I have tried it about 5-8 times across two of my chromecasts. 

[Seabhreach]

I fixed this by following degreeze advice earlier in this thread. He changed the channel his router had randomly selected on restart (it was on Auto) to lower than 12 and that sorted the issue. Same worked for me, he bought his in the US which he assumed was the issue but I bought mine in Ireland and had the same prob. Extract from his post below.

--------------------------

Looking at router settings did not show me any possible problems at first. But after I looked at WiFi band analyzer app - I saw that my 2.4Ghz SSID was using 12 channel, which my Nest devices (bought in USA) probably can’t use because of regional restrictions (12, 13 and 14 control channels are restricted for USA). But my router (bought in Europe) channel setting was on Auto and it switched to free 12 channel after power outage.

----------------------------

Hope this helps

[Checkmate]

Can't find how to change the channel. 

[Droger96]

I have a WiFi 6 router. After a power outage, the router will come back on BUT it will not connect to the internet. I power on and off the router mutliple times and it does not fix the issue. Inexplicably after mutliple hours it will reconnect.

[lvahling22]

I can’t even get it to turn on!

[Matt191]

• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network? Answer: In my case, the app is telling me that the router was successfully factory reset and to remove it. I can click cancel, close the app, open it up again, click the router and it shows that it WASN'T factory reset but is offline and disconnected from the network
• Do you always have to do a full factory reset, or will a power cycle work to reconnect the point? Answer: I have done 6 power cycles without any luck getting the router to connect. It does not give me an option to factory reset. 
• For those that have more than one WiFi point, is it always the same point that fails to reconnect? Answer: in my case, it's only been the wifi router. None of the points are failing
• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network? Answer: it will simply not connect to the network. It says "offline" despite the fact that it's powered on.

One other thing I noticed. I did a power cycle in the app and the 2 access points power cycled, but this did not. I'm guessing because there's no connection. The light is on, but no one's home. 

[MikeInMaine]

I have five hard-wired, 2nd generation, Nest Protect Smoke Detectors (software 3.5rc3) .  My WIFI router is an ASUS RT-AC68U. 

Yesterday we had a five hour power outage.  Hours after power was restored, I noticed that the detectors were illuminated with a yellow ring (instead of the normal blue).  When I pressed the button on the Nest Protect, it said that it was not connected to the internet.

I then used the phone app to check that WIFI settings, and saw that the WIFI login settings were no longer there. I re-entered the WIFI login settings.  The first few times it didn't take, but finally I was able to update the settings, and all five detectors connected to the home WIFI.

This morning, I noticed that one of the detectors now had a yellow ring (instead of blue).  In opening the phone app, it says "Nest Protect is offline".  The remaining four detectors say "Everything is OK".

I have repeatedly tried to enter the WIFI settings (on the phone APP).  The indicator light on the Nest Protect changes to blue as the app connects, but the update ends with the message "Something went wrong. The app is having trouble connecting to Nest Protect". Pull the battery tab or press the button to make sure the blue light is on. P014."

Based on other suggestions in this thread I changed the Control Channel on the router from "auto" to 8 to no avail.

I have also rebooted the phone and the router, to no avail.

In response to your questions:

• When it disconnects on the power outage, does it go back into setup mode, or will it simply not connect to the network?  It simply does not connect to the network.  All other parameter are "remembered"
• Do you always have to do a full factory reset, or will a power cycle work to reconnect the point? - Power cycle did not work.  I have not yet done a full factory reset.
• For those that have more than one WiFi point, is it always the same point that fails to reconnect?  I do have more than one WIFI point, but I have only tried connecting the five Nest Protects to one WIFI network.
• If you perform a network restart via the Home app (not using a power cycle), does it find the point after? No
• Does the point that fails to reconnect have any status lights showing? If so, what color are they?  When I attempt to connect with the phone app it turns blue.

Do you have any suggestions to get all five of my nest protects connected to the home WIFI?

Update: I did a factory reset of the problem unit, and was able to re-add it to my network.  It seems to be fine now.  I installed these five Protects earlier this month.  I am frequently away, and we have frequent power failures, so the advantages that I thought made the Nest Protect would provide, seem non-existent if I need to be home to reset the devices whenever there is a power failure.  If this issue, which was identified nearly 2 years ago, does not have a resolution, I would like to return all five Nest Protects.

[jll]

I’m jumping on this bandwagon. Same exact issue as described above be other users after an intentional power cycle. I even went through the trouble of getting my ISO to send me a new modem as i blamed it first for such a disconcerting error. 
Definitely not impressed with google hardware. 

[jwf5294]

Just happened to me AGAIN. Another 30 minutes of factory resetting equipment ahead of me. And I’m hearing more and more Google Nest users saying they’re experiencing the same issue. This is absurd and should be fixed by now. I tell you what, it would behoove Google to put this at the top of their to-do list before we all jump ship to Amazon or other options. This is outrageous, especially for $300 equipment.

[jll]

Are you located in Canada? Who's your internet provider?

I'm experiencing these issues as well and I'm strating to suspect that my ISP is to blame. I have a broadband connection in Canada and I called my ISP to get them to reset the DHCP allocation on my modem to rule that out as a root cause, and they would not do it for me!! (Told me it costs them money to renew my DHCP IP...)

What I'm noticing is that if i power cycle either the modem or the nest router immediately after setting it up it works fine and the connection is re-established right away, but if I wait a couple of days and power cycle either the modem or the nest router, I'm unable to get a public IP from the modem! 

Wondering if others have thoughts on this.

[deidraitken]

I’m in SK, Canada and we have SaskTel. I’ve been having the random disconnects and the wifi points don’t reset on their own. I’ve been following this thread for a couple months and it sounds like Google has some bad tech they switched to in August due to the patent court case they lost. Seems to be when the issue started. I think from everyone’s comments it varies on severity probably because of the variety of internet providers. But the issue of the points seems consistent that they drop a connection from the router or modem and don’t want to reconnect automatically - causing wifi to disconnect from devices and not come back without a reset/restart.  

[dhsewell]

Is your ISP modem set o bridge mode?

[johnnygmo]

Just had this happen to me when I needed to shut off power to replace a faulty outlet in our home:

-Nest Router is in Bridge mode, connected to an Xfinity router.

-When in Google Home, it told me my Nest Router and both Nest Points were factory reset and needed to be removed. 

-I then had to spend 90 minutes reinstalling my system, and since it had reconfigured altogether, I had to REINSTALL ALL OTHER GOOGLE DEVICES (every single speaker), re-assign them to groups, and then I spent another 30 minutes REINSTALLING OUR SECURITY SYSTEM. 

-This is not only an inconvenience, but a major security issue for homes depending on reliable wifi for their family's security. 

The only thing that I can think might help FOR NOW is to go out and buy a battery backup supply, but this is a HUGE issue. Seriously considering switching to a more reliable Mesh network and looking at Amazon home devices. 

Any update in the last month? It is February 11, 2022. 

[DGU]

Absolutely zero update from Google Nest... It is indeed quite frustrating to spend hours reinitializing everything after each power failure. It also renders a Nest Aware subscription for cameras totally useless if there is a short power interruption while on vacations. Happened to me last summer. No connection for one full week while I was away. I know we cannot go back in time, but I never had such an issue with Apple AirPort Extreme for many many years... I am also looking into purchasing an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) as an unfortunate fix to a a defective and expensive Google (Nest) product. 

[Jeff]

Hey, everyone.
As an update for you all, I wanted to let you know that we have a firmware update coming out now. Some people may have already received the update, but most will see it coming still. Everyone will have it before the end of April. If you receive that update and don't see an improvement in your issues here, please let me know and we can keep looking into things.
Thanks.

[DGU]

A bit more precision would be helpful here... What is the firmware update number? What are the fixes/enhancements included in that software update? Does the update addresses the issues mentioned in this thread or does it address something else entirely but we never know... By chance, it might also fix the issues mentioned here... Do you suggest waiting until end of April, then simulating a power interruption by unplugging the Next router and spending a few hours re-initializing everything. I would have expected a bit more than that from Google.

[jll]

I'm not getting my hopes up.

I'm still on this firmware version (same as a few months ago)

"softwareVersion": "13729.57.27"

A factory reset forces a firmware update, so if anyone on this thread experiences a power failure and ends up needing a factory and is brave enough to experiment, please let us know if the update fixes it!!!

As for release notes, Google has a terrible track record of properly publishing them, and for them to be accurate and exhaustive. For what it's worth, @Jeff is most likely talking about the M94 (14150.43.80) firmware update (release notes here).