Nest only allows 3 devices connected via a switch?

[sddreiter]

So I am having an issue with my points going from "Great" connection to "Weak" and then offline. I have tried chatting with google support. The first two times they had my set DNS to google (They said it was required to be google, even though the app defaults to whatever the ISP is providing) This time since DNS seems to be set the way they want the support person zeroes in on my switch and tells me I need to remove it since it has fast devices on it and will degrade performance. I ask him how many devices can be attached and he says "3". Has anyone seen any sort of documentation saying you can only have 3 devices connected via a switch and the LAN port? I showed him the support article about attaching a switch to the google router and he was adamant that I just remove it to see if that would fix the AP going offline constantly, and even if I added it back have no more than 3 devices on it. I seriously asked him if he was joking....

I'd love to figure out why my points keep going offline and to see any sort of official document saying you can only have 3 devices via a switch.....

[MichaelP]

I've escalated this in hopes of getting to the bottom of your interaction with support here. I don't see any justification for making these changes to deal with point connection quality. I'd be investigating possible sources of wireless interference instead (e.g., wireless surround sound speakers/subwoofer, maybe even cordless phone systems, etc.).

[sddreiter]

Yeah to me it seems they just don't know what the issue is and are grasping at straws. Every time a point goes to Weak or offline recently I have brought out my WiFi Analyzer app and gone to the point that is offline and I can see the signal strength from the main router is still good/green. Earlier today when the point went to offline both the 2.4 and 5Ghz radios from the main router where showing up at about 60Dbms, solid green in the app. So it doesn't appear that it is a signal issue to me. 

At this point I am about to just go get a different system and return the bundle to Costco since nobody can seem to tell me why the system is so flaky or has any sort of constructive advice on how to troubleshoot.

[MichaelP]

So, measuring WiFi signal strength may not be sufficient, since it only shows WiFi compatible signals. Things like wireless surround sound systems / sound bars use the same spectrum, but don't use WiFi (and this is compliant with the regulations while still resulting in interference). That's why I was asking about other wireless devices that may be in use in your home, perhaps devices that are only active intermittently. If there isn't anything like that, then you may need to work with support (but hopefully someone more willing to investigate the situation more deeply rather than asking you to make changes that won't have any significant impact on this issue).

[sddreiter]

No sound bars in the house. The only thing I can think of is the home phone has some wireless handsets. But what is odd is it wont go back to online until I power cycle the point. I just restarted the entire network and the point is still "offline" as soon as I reboot it then it will be back to "Great" connection. If it is something else causing a disruption then I don't know how I got so lucky as to always time the reboot of the point with whatever other device it is stopping its interference.

I do thank you Michael though for having provided a better suggestion than 3 interactions with the support chat. I am going to go power cycle the dead point and see if it magically just comes back yet again....

[MichaelP]

Wireless phone systems can cause issues, but only when they are very close to a WiFi system (like within a few feet).

[olavrb]

What exact switch? Could be STP related maybe?

I have an unmanaged Netgear GS108 switch with 5-6 devices wired to it, no problems. 1 Nest Wifi router as main, 1 Nest Wifi router as secondary with wireless backhaul. No problems 

[MichaelP]

Yeah, I thought about STP, but that would only cause problems for wired secondaries, and it sounds like these are all wireless secondaries. That said, I still recommend using unmanaged switches if only to save some money and avoid any future problems.

[sddreiter]

Yup all the switches I have are unmanaged, and so far I have had 0 problems with anything connected via ethernet/cat5. The older point is cat5e backhaul and except for 1 time it has been fine, no issues. The issues I seem to have are with the newer nest Wifi points.  And sure enough the downstairs "offline" point was that way for 1.5 hours. As soon as I pulled the power from it and it came back now it is magically back to "Great". In the middle of it being down I did try to restart the network via the home app and it didn't come back until I power cycled it. Same thing happened one time while chatting with support, it would not come back until physical power cycle of it.

I almost want to say it is just a bad point but the other point upstairs does the same thing going from Great to Weak to offline as well (but it seems like the downstairs one does it slightly more frequently)

[MichaelP]

So, your network is fairly complex (relative to most), but I don't see any issues with it. A large switched network with one or more wired access points should be fine as long as all the switches are unmanaged (as yours are). Hybrid networks like this (where some points are wired and some are mesh connected) can be tricky, but I'm not seeing anything about how yours is set up that should be causing problems. I guess I'm not too surprised the front line support staff is intimidated by it, though. If you work with them again, you may need to push them to escalate you to higher tier support staff. All of that said, I get the impression the Nest WiFi Point units may not be as reliable as some of the other hardware, and they may be having more issues in general right now. If a reboot fixes those units, that may be your best workaround until the issues can be properly diagnosed and resolved by the engineering team.

[sddreiter]

My main network closet has a Netgear GS116 switch where most of the rooms in the house cat5e outlets connect to. The office has a GS108 that plugs into the office cat5 outlet. Here

is a quick picture of my setup.

Att Fiber -> Fiber modem -> Google router Wan port

                                                        Google router Lan port -> Office GS 108 switch 

Office GS 108 switch has desktops and printers connected along with google router.

Office GS 108 switch -> Network closet GS116 switch. That switch has various other devices connected (TVs, ooma phone, smarthome hub, etc)

Main google router is in center of house on 2nd floor.  Have one nest point at end of hallway on 2nd floor ~ 15 feet away.  Have another point downstairs on first floor ~25 feet away. Have final old google wifi connected via cat5 backhaul (the GS116 switch) which is downstairs in the garage which is the other end of house than the other 2 points. I only had issues 1 time with the older wifi point and had to reboot it. Every other time that the nest points go to Weak or offline it continues to show a "Great" connection which indicates to me the ethernet/backhaul/switches are all working fine.

[Face_Rollan]

I had a very similar issue when first setting up the Google Nest Wifi. The issue was that I had a modem/router combo causing double NATing even with the "Router Mode" being disabled. None of the ports on the combo would work for more than a few hours and then devices would intermittently drop and regain connectivity. Switching to a bridged mode did not resolve either.  I ended up just turning off the WiFi broadcasting signal on the combo which seems to have resolved my issues.  Hopefully there is some info in this that may help you as these issues are more than frustrating to track down the root cause.

[Bam3au]

The equipment is crap I have nothing connected in my house only cell phones are the other signal. I am on the hook for about $800 worth of paper weights.  Same problems no stability at all. I bought this garbage because I trusted the google brand and liked the idea of smart speakers built in. I will not buy more google products, you shouldn’t either. Unfortunately I am pat the point of return. Restarting my network and rebuilding it is not something that should be required every other day. The isp signal is solid and stable but the nest wifi is useless. I have swapped touters since I bought multiple sets and still exact same problems.

[Krutsch]

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I'd love to figure out why my points keep going offline and to see any sort of official document saying you can only have 3 devices via a switch.....

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My experience was similar, but different. I had 2 routers and 2 points. The primary router had a switch on the LAN port with 2 PCs, 2 printers, and a small NAS box. Seemed to be okay. Then, I added a second router as a point, with a switch hanging off the LAN port with a Mac Mini and an Apple TV. Adding that second router as point + switch was a problem. After a few hours, the entire network would crash and go off-line. Even rebooting the routers and points would not bring the network back up. I had to factory reset the entire network, re-add one at a time, and had the same result: after a few hours the entire network would go offline and require factory reset.

After doing this three times, I started looking online and that's when I started reading (Reddit?) that you can't have more than one device on the LAN ports.

Who knows...  I had other problems, as well, like the mesh connections going from Great to Weak, no matter the physical location. In the end, my collection of Google Nest WiFi nodules are sitting in a cabinet drawer.

[sddreiter]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions they were more reasonable than the help I got from official support. Unfortunately nothing seemed to work so I have returned the setup back to Costco and have replaced it with an Eero system that so far seems more stable than the nest setup ever was. 

[Jeff]

Hi, sddreiter.

Sorry to see that we weren't able to work this out for you, but I understand why you went with another option for your situation. Before I close up this thread, is there anything else you might need?

Thanks,

- Jeff

[sddreiter]

Thanks for checking Jeff. The forums were very helpful in things I could try but unfortunately nothing worked.  I returned the setup to Costco yesterday so please feel free to close this thread

[Jeff]

No worries, sddreiter. Sorry it wasn't a more successful troubleshooting attempt. Hopefully the new solutions works out well for you.

Thanks,

- Jeff

[Bam3au]

Lucky you could return it, I just spent 200 on a new modem, Got more stability but still not happy. If I bought ubiquiti equipment I am sure it would have been fine out of the box.