Is the Nest Router not compatible with my home modem?

[Coachdvc]

I am currently using a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router with no issues, but wanted to upgrade to a mesh system because I have a two story home.

Today I received my Nest Router and after an hour of trying to get it set up I decided to reach out to support. The agent was extremely helpful and we went through every trouble shooting option available but in the end we couldn't get it connected.

He had me run a status report when the Nest and Nighthawk were connected which produced a bunch of code I wasn't familiar with. Then he directed me to sections of the code that read "false" which confirmed his suspicion that the Nest wasn't compatible with my home setup. This was the line of the code: "lan0link" : false

I have a newer home and the Nighthawk router seems to have no compatibility issues, so I'm trying to better understand why the Nest wouldn't work in my home. Can anyone explain why the Nest Router wouldn't be compatible with my current setup?

[olavrb]

Could be that your ISP offer a WAN type that Nest Wifi does not support:

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6246630?hl=en
• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6274166

Maybe your ISP uses VLAN tagging:

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9798157?hl=en

What are you connecting the Nest Wifi router or Netgear to? A modem? What modem?

Could you find out what WAN type you get from your ISP?

[Coachdvc]

I called my ISP, but I'm not sure I got the information I needed.

I asked about WAN type and was told "dynamic."  I asked about VLAN tagging, and the agent seemed confused, but told me "902."  I was not able to find the make/model of the modem as it is attached in a cabinet in a closet by the cable company, BlueStream.

The Nest Wifi router was plugged directly into my modem.  However, there was no information going to the router from the modem so the Google support agent wasn't able to run the status report he needed.  He then had me disconnect from the modem and connect to one of the ethernet ports on the Netgear router which was connected to the modem at that point and I was able to run the status report for him.

I took a screenshot of the status report, so if there is any information you need from that report that will help confirm whether or not I can use the Nest Wifi router with my modem let me know.  I am starting to think that after an hour of being on with Google tech support and all the troubleshooting we did, the Nest Wifi router just won't work with my current setup.

[olavrb]

What does the Netgear say about WAN connection type when it's up and running?

Your ISP should be able to tell you just what a router needs to support to be able to work with their service. Without it one can't tell why it doesn't work.

If you don't want to spend more time and energy on it, maybe it's time to accept the defeat and return the Nest Wifi router and get your money back. Assuming that's still an option. 🙂

[Coachdvc]

You've been very helpful, and I appreciate it.  I did email my ISP with the specific VLAN information you linked, and I'm waiting for their response.  

I think I'm just going to return it at this time and possibly try again later on when I have more information.  I didn't think it would be this much of an issue.

[Jeff]

Hi, Coachdvc.

I just wanted to check in real fast to see if your ISP was able to respond with any helpful info for you and to see if you were still looking into this or if you were able to sort it out.

Thanks.

[Coachdvc]

Thanks for checking!  

I was able to confirm that my ISP (Bluestream) doesn't use VLAN tagging.  The tech I spoke to on the phone said that the Google Nest Router should be a plug and play product and wasn't sure why there was an issue.

I ended up getting a Deco mesh system and had to call my ISP to get it set up because they had to reset something due to the MAC address of the old router showing up.  When I got the Deco set up, I thought that maybe this could have been the issue with the Google Nest router.  I asked the tech to follow the same process with the Nest router as with the Deco and reset whatever needed resetting to see if the Nest could be set up.  He confirmed the MAC address of the Nest router, but the setup still failed.  I went back to the Deco and everything is working fine.  I returned the Nest router.

[Jeff]

Thanks for updating, Caochdvc. Sorry to hear that the Nest system didn't work out for you, but I appreciate you letting us know what happened there. If there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, everyone.
Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.
Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks