Google Wifi and constant disconnections

[kgenus]

Saving you all a bunch of time. I started using Linux in 1995 - I am only mentioning that because that means I live in logs when I have problems. In 2019, I purchased a 3-pack Google Wifi mesh setup. It worked phenomenally, until the day I enabled IPv6.

Here is your problem:
The network appears to drop connectivity randomly, as if the router has been removed. Your devices will state there is not internet connectivity. For those of you using Linux, you will see a different error, basically a statement saying the DNS server is unreachable. The problem is DNS resolution via IPv6.

Why Google can't fix this:
These kind of errors are nearly impossible to recreate when people reporting the problem have different statements, and the group receiving the reports appears to put little to no effort into engaging with their community. It's like the perfect storm for a consumer.  For me, should there be a class action suit? Probably not. Do you need to purchase a new mesh network? Only if you absolutely need IPv6 running on your network. This is something Google should be fixing.

Here's your solution:
Disable IPv6.
Using your mobile device. open Google Home. Select Wifi >> Network Settings >> Advanced Network Settings
Locate IPv6 (currently the third option) and disable it.

Google Wifi is a great product if you don't need IPv6.
Enjoy.

[MichaelP]

Hello @kgenus 

I, too, am a long-time Linux user. I find this report interesting, because I have been using IPv6 with my Google WiFi system for several years now, and have never seen issues with DNS resolution. However, I will say that I have a somewhat unusual DNS setup. Let me describe it first, then I do have a suggestion (feel free to skip to the end if you want to try it). Google WiFi has a built in DNS resolver. This resolver is used for all DHCP-configured clients, and it just sends the request to whichever DNS server you have configured for your system. I have mine configured to "Custom", and I have two Raspberry Pi nodes, each running cloudflared configured as DNS resolvers that send the DNS requests to internet-based DNS servers via encrypted DNS-over-HTTPS connections. I have those cloudflared instances configured to send requests to Google's servers by default, but they will fall back to other servers if necessary, including CloudFlare's own 1.1.1.1 or Quad9's 9.9.9.9

So, I have two resolvers inside my network, and both resolvers have a prioritized list of DNS servers on the internet to connect to. I do not have DNS resolution issues, and IPv6 works as expected. Also, just as an FYI: if you use Chrome, and have it configured (in the security settings) to use "Secure DNS", it will actually be using DNS-over-HTTPS itself, skipping your network's DNS setup entirely. You can pick which secure DNS provider you want in there. This is nice (and I use it), but it can actually make debugging DNS harder, since things that work in the browser may not work from other places.

Here's what is interesting about your report: when I set all of this up with IPv6 enabled, I had to fill in both the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for both of my custom servers. The IPv6 addresses I found to work are the global fixed addresses, not the local addresses (I have a theory for why this is, but it doesn't matter – I tried both, and the global addresses are what worked).

So, if you want to experiment, you might try configuring "Custom" DNS on your system, and then filling in both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for something like Google's DNS servers:

• IPv4: 8.8.8.8 --> IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888
• IPv4: 8.8.4.4 --> IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8844

You would think the "Automatic" DNS setting that uses Google's servers would use these same addresses, but maybe not? But, if you've been using "ISP", it's entirely possible your ISP doesn't support DNS over IPv6 at all (which would be a little surprising if they support IPv6, but I guess maybe I wouldn't be shocked).

One other possibility is that your ISP wants to make some extra money by snooping on your DNS requests. If so, they may be filtering recording DNS-over-IPv4 and blocking DNS-over-IPv6. Using DNS-over-HTTPS gets around that for most ISPs (but requires a setup more like mine, unfortunately).

Anyway, I do find this interesting, and I bet Google would as well – if you submit Feedback through the Google Home app, and summarize your findings there, they may be able to learn something from it.