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Hard wired wifi point connected to network

dkro11
Community Member

I have a Google mesh network with two points extending wifi in my house from the Google Wifi router, and a third Google wifi point that is connected to the network via an ethernet cable in an outbuilding. This was basically working fine until today, when I restarted the whole network after the system got really slow. When I restarted everything, the hardwired point in the outbuilding would not come back online. I've tried a factory reset, after which I re-added it to the network wirelessly via Google Home from inside the house (successfully), and then I moved it back to the outbuilding and plugged in the ethernet cable. I did this twice, and each time, it joined the network wirelessly in the house but wouldn't connect via ethernet from the outbuilding. It just shows as 'offline'.

Does anyone have any suggestions about further troubleshooting? 

Reading through support threads has only caused confusion, as I've read some discussion that seems to indicate that I need unmanaged switches, in order to do this? (Where on the network? I really need a diagram to work through this, if it's necessary.) For example, I reviewed this post: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Nest-Wifi-Google-Wifi-Mixed-Part-Wired-Multiple-Que...

I'm stumped because it was working fine until now, so I don't know why switches or reconfiguration would be necessary. Can anyone help? 

Thanks,

D

1 Recommended Answer

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @dkro11 

It sounds like something may have gone wrong with the Ethernet connection to your outbuilding. Wiring a remote point up like this is the best way to get a WiFi network extended to an outbuilding, but it can be more susceptible to things like power surges. So, I do typically recommend placing an inexpensive (unmanaged) Ethernet switch on each end of such a long cable run between buildings. Since those switches are relatively inexpensive, if a power surge takes one or both of them out, they are easy (and less costly) to replace than having to replace the more expensive Google WiFi units.

However, at this point, since you don't have Ethernet switches in place already, and it sounds like something has gone wrong, I would start by moving that outbuilding unit back into the house where it can join the mesh wirelessly again, and then I'd connect a short Ethernet cable between it and the primary Google WiFi unit's LAN Ethernet port. After making that connection, use the Google Home app and open the detailed settings for that point and make sure the "Connection Type: (under "Wi-Fi information") shows as "Wired" after you connect that short Ethernet cable. What we're trying to do here is make sure the Ethernet ports on both Google WiFi units still work properly. If it still shows as "mesh" instead of "wired" after making the Ethernet connection, then one (or possibly both) of those Ethernet ports have been damaged. To figure out which one, use a laptop or something else that has an Ethernet port and connect it to that short cable to the primary Google WiFi unit and see if it works. If it doesn't, then we know at least the LAN port on the primary Google WiFi unit has been damaged. If that does work, then it may only be the Ethernet port on the outbuilding Google WiFi unit. You may be able to get that to work by using the other port on that unit (i.e., if you had been connecting it via its WAN / globe port, try connecting to the LAN port instead or vice versa).

Now, if connecting it via a short cable in the house does work, then we have to suspect the long cable to the outbuilding may have been damaged. I would test that by reconnecting the house end to the primary Google WiFi unit's LAN port and then using a laptop or something with an Ethernet port to connect to the other end in the outbuilding. At some point, investing in an Ethernet cable tester may be warranted.

Hopefully you can start to see the idea here – test individual elements to narrow down where the issue may be.

View Recommended Answer in original post

7 REPLIES 7

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Hello @dkro11 

It sounds like something may have gone wrong with the Ethernet connection to your outbuilding. Wiring a remote point up like this is the best way to get a WiFi network extended to an outbuilding, but it can be more susceptible to things like power surges. So, I do typically recommend placing an inexpensive (unmanaged) Ethernet switch on each end of such a long cable run between buildings. Since those switches are relatively inexpensive, if a power surge takes one or both of them out, they are easy (and less costly) to replace than having to replace the more expensive Google WiFi units.

However, at this point, since you don't have Ethernet switches in place already, and it sounds like something has gone wrong, I would start by moving that outbuilding unit back into the house where it can join the mesh wirelessly again, and then I'd connect a short Ethernet cable between it and the primary Google WiFi unit's LAN Ethernet port. After making that connection, use the Google Home app and open the detailed settings for that point and make sure the "Connection Type: (under "Wi-Fi information") shows as "Wired" after you connect that short Ethernet cable. What we're trying to do here is make sure the Ethernet ports on both Google WiFi units still work properly. If it still shows as "mesh" instead of "wired" after making the Ethernet connection, then one (or possibly both) of those Ethernet ports have been damaged. To figure out which one, use a laptop or something else that has an Ethernet port and connect it to that short cable to the primary Google WiFi unit and see if it works. If it doesn't, then we know at least the LAN port on the primary Google WiFi unit has been damaged. If that does work, then it may only be the Ethernet port on the outbuilding Google WiFi unit. You may be able to get that to work by using the other port on that unit (i.e., if you had been connecting it via its WAN / globe port, try connecting to the LAN port instead or vice versa).

Now, if connecting it via a short cable in the house does work, then we have to suspect the long cable to the outbuilding may have been damaged. I would test that by reconnecting the house end to the primary Google WiFi unit's LAN port and then using a laptop or something with an Ethernet port to connect to the other end in the outbuilding. At some point, investing in an Ethernet cable tester may be warranted.

Hopefully you can start to see the idea here – test individual elements to narrow down where the issue may be.

dkro11
Community Member

Thank you so much for these suggestions. I tried everything you suggested, and the issue turned out to be a splitter that was between the Google wifi and the cable going out to the garden. It is working now!

MichaelP
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Yay!

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

I'm happy to see you got things working, dkro11. Also, I appreciate you letting us know what the fix ended up being for you.

 

Before I mark this as resolved, is there anything else you might need?

 

Thanks,

Jeff

Jhonleanmel
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey folks, 

Appreciate your helpful responses, @Jeff

@dkro11, chiming in to ensure everything is good here. If you're still in need of any assistance, feel free to let us know. 

Best,
Mel

dkro11
Community Member

All is well - thanks for checking. 😊

Jhonleanmel
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey dkro11, 

Awesome — glad to hear that and thanks for getting back to us. We'll then go ahead and lock this thread after a day. If you have any new questions, concerns, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.

Best, 
Mel