Nest WiFi network fails a few days after connecting an ethernet switch

[AaronB]

I have a Nest WiFi router and one point. My setup is currently 
Modem -> Nest router -> Ethernet switch via port on Nest router -> Wired devices (work laptop, tv, ps5)

The issue started a couple of weeks ago when I was out of town and I got a notification that my network was offline. After returning home, I decided that my ethernet switch was the problem, so I bought a new Netgear 8-port unmanaged switch. Swapping that out didn't help, so I contacted Google, and they walked me through doing a factory reset. Everything has been working fine for a couple of weeks until I went out of town again this week, and once again I get a notification that my network is offline. I'll try the factory reset again when I get home, but I'd like to know why this keeps happening, especially when I'm out of town (I hope that part is a coincidence). 

[Jeff]

Hey, AaronB.

Sorry for the disconnects you're experiencing. I know how frustrating that can be, especially when it doesn't seem to be consistent with any specific cause. Let's see what is happening here. I do have a few questions.

• Did you have any setup going before introducing the switch? If so, did you experience any disconnects at that time?
• Does the network reconnect after a time, or does it stay offline until you do a reset?
• Is the entire network down, or is it only on a specific point?

I know that it's hard to diagnose with it not happening while you're at home, but if there's any other factors you can think of, please let me know. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks.

[AaronB]

Hi Jeff, thanks for responding, here are some answers to your inquiries:

• Did you have any setup going before introducing the switch? If so, did you experience any disconnects at that time?
  I had the switch for almost a year and it was working fine, but it was wired directly from my old modem instead of through the nest router. Once I got a new switch and modem, I changed the configuration to go from the modem to the nest router, then to the switch. That's when the network failures started.
• Does the network reconnect after a time, or does it stay offline until you do a reset?
  The network fails until I do a factory reset on the Nest router, remove it from Google Home, and set it all up from scratch
• Is the entire network down, or is it only on a specific point?
  The entire network goes down, wireless and wired. 

It's been stable since the last time I removed and re-added everything. I saw on reddit that someone had a similar issue to mine, and they narrowed it down to the USB to ethernet adapter they were using. I was using a similar adapter from my laptop, so I removed that and am now using the wired connection on my laptop docking station. Hopefully this has resolved the issue. We'll see next time we go out of town. Thanks!

•  

[Jeff]

Thanks, AaronB.

I'll get that passed along to our internal teams.

[Jeff]

Hi, AaronB.

It's been a while since we touched on this, and I wanted to check in to see if you were still having issues here. If so, let's pick this back up. Let me know if you are still seeing the same issue.

Thanks.

[AaronB]

I haven't had a network failure that required a re-setup of the network since then. Thanks for your help!

[Jeff]

Good to hear, AaronB!

I'm happy to find out it's working properly now. If there's anything else you need, let me know.

Thanks.

[RobertoP]

I've had multiple units sent out that keep failing (network will remain active but will not have internet). I've spent hours with my ISP, Nest support, online, etc and nothing seems to have fixed this. I was getting my network down sometimes every day or sometimes every couple weeks. This has been 6 months of frustration and support is out of ideas. Just on a whim I disconnected my switch and I haven't had an issue for over a month now. 

Is it possible that this is a coincidence? I've had stretches where it's gone well for a while then it starts happening again so I am not 100% convinced that this is "solved" - and even if it is, not being able to wire anything in my house is a ridiculous compromise that I should not have to make. Is there a "Google approved" switch or wired setup?

[Tgika26]

Every time I'm leaving my house for >8hours, my Nest disconnects from the wifi. The Wifi does seem to be going out each time that happens but I'm concerned there's some connectivity issue with the nest system that's impacting the wifi. When I'm home, I never have any issues. It's only when I leave for an extended period of time (full day, vacations..) which is exactly the time I want the Nest to be active. I live in the northeast so ensuring that the temperature is accurate and my Nest Camera is working is very important. Has anyone come across this issue where Wifi is failing after being absent for a period of time 

[Jhonleanmel]

Hi folks,

Tgika26, how long are you usually not home?

Best,

Mel

[Tgika26]

It's whenever I leave my house for 24hrs. The system goes offline for no reason. Whenever I'm home, I rarely have an issue. It defeats a lot of the purpose of my Nest equipment if it goes offline when I leave my house. 

[AbigailF]

Hey Tgika26,

A few questions: do you have a Google Wifi network or is it a third-party router that you're using for your Wi-Fi? Aside from the Nest Camera, do you have other devices that also disconnect from your network?

We'll wait for your update.

Regards,
Abi

[Tgika26]

Hey Abigail - I use a Google router, and no other devices disconnect from the network. 

Thanks,

Chris 

[AbigailF]

Hey Tgika26,

Are you using a modem/router combo from your Internet Service Provider (ISP)? 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.

Cheers,
Abi

[AbigailF]

Hi Tgika26,

We’d like to check in again in case you have any further questions or concerns. Feel free to reply to this thread and we’ll help you out.

Best, 
Abi

[AbigailF]

Hello Tgika26,

We haven't heard from you in a while so we'll be locking this thread if there is no update within 24 hours. If you have any new issues, updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the Community.

Regards, 
Abi