Nest WiFi Still Requiring Regular Restart to Maintain Performance

[AFite]

I have seen this issue documented by others as well. I originally purchased the Nest WiFi router for its reputation for stability and consistent performance back at he beginning of 2020. For the first year and half, I had a great experience with the most reliable home WiFi and Internet Network performance. Then all of a sudden with no explanation other than potentially some new firmware updates, my network would slow down to a crawl. The slowdown occurs across all connection types WiFi or Wired Ethernet. When I run speed test on Nest WiFi router it shows full speed network connection to ISP. This ofcourse leaves the router as the only bottle neck to the speed issue. When restart the router, magically the entire network returns to running at full speed (as expected). Then 1 or 2 days later I am back in the same issue with incredibly terrible network performance.

For context, I have Gigabit Fiber internet that goes directly from the Fiber ONT into my Nest router (aka... there isn't an intermediary router).

Is there any updates on how this issue is being resolved? I have been waiting nearly a year now for a fix and I still don't have a solution.

[Jkibblerocks]

I've had the exact same issue. Multiple troubleshooting attempts with a Google support specialist. Open case with no resolution. I purchased this system less than 4 months ago and have had issues for 3 of those months. I asked for a refund, or at the very least an upgrade to the pro system, which I would have paid the difference in cost, with no assistance from Google. I am looking for a replacement system (not Google) as we speak. It sucks that Google doesn't stand behind their product with so many dissatisfied customers having the exact same issue, but they still got our money up front, so in the end, they still win.

[AbigailF]

Hey folks,

Thanks for posting — let's see what's going on.

Are you using a modem/router combo from your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? How many devices are dropping from the network? Also, do you have any paused devices?

Give these steps a try:

If you're using a modem/router combo, set that to bridge mode to avoid double NAT issues.
Make sure that there is minimal to no interference (concrete, bulletproof glass, metal, mirror, etc.) and the points are no more than two rooms apart.
Remove any special characters in your network name and password.
Turn off IPv6.
Change your DNS server into 8.8.8.8 on the primary and 8.8.4.4 on the secondary server. Hit the save/ floppy disk icon on the upper right.
Unplug the power from your Google Wifi devices for 2 minutes.
If the issue persists, try factory resetting your network.

Let us know how it goes.

Best,
Abi

[EmersonB]

Hi everyone,

How's it going with your Nest Wifi router? Were you able to do the steps shared above? If so, please give us an update. Let me know if you have any additional questions from here.

I appreciate the help, Abi.

Regards,
Emerson

[Jkibblerocks]

Hello Ebedia,

Yes, I went through those steps multiple times, as well as restoring the network to factory and starting over. I also tried moving both access points right next to the router when setting up. One of the access points won't complete the setup process. It stops at the connecting to your network phase. I tried responding to the original technical support email with my case, but never got a response. I'm extremely frustrated that I wasted my money on something that has known issues that can't be resolved.

[AFite]

Hi All,

I don't want to get ahead of myself but I at least think I better understand what the issue is related to. Myy internet had slowed down to crawl again as usual and I was about to invoke a "Network Restart" which at least seems to temporarily fix the problem. Out of frustration, I was just browsing through my settings on my Nest Wifi and noticed the section called "Preferred Activities". This is different than the setting everyone talks about which is setting the Device Priority. I noticed for some reason that "Video conferencing" was checked as a priority activity (there's apparently also an option for "Gaming"). I simply unchecked the "Video conferencing" option and instantaneously my internet was back to full performance across all my devices. This was odd as I didn't even perform a network restart or anything else. It's too soon to tell if this fix will work in the long term, but it does at least leave an important clue. The performance issue is being caused by router enforced throttling("network optimizations") gone wrong. In other words, what is fixing my network is making sure every manual feature nest has for optimizing network performance is off. It explains why the router itself can test full 1gig fiber speeds and yet all my wired and wireless devices can be experiencing slowdowns. Anyhow, I would advise at least experimentally making sure all your "device priority" and "preferred activities" are turned off. I hope others can test this and report back. (As a next step, if my network slows down again I plan on toggling the "Preferred Activities" off an on to see if it fixes the issue again. As annoying as that might be, it beats restarting the network and having to disconnect all device connections)

[AFite · Accepted solution]

Just as a short term update, I am on Day 3 and I still have not experienced any network slowdowns (I was having to restart daily up to this point). In fact, it seems even snappier overall than after a fresh restart. I will continue to monitor and report back.

So basically, the answer so far seems to shut off any preferred activities and device priority. Make sure it's all off.

FYI, Google/Nest your network optimization is broke and needs to be fixed or just remove features that inadvertently destroy the internet performance (ironic). PLEASE FIX THIS!!!!

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi folks,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having an issue with your Google Nest Wifi. We'd like to take a deeper look into this — could you fill out this form and let us know once you're done?

Thanks,
Mel

[AFite]

Thanks. I submitted the form.

[AbigailF]

Hey folks, 

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Keep your lines open as our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. 

Also, please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Cheers, 
Abi