Nest thermostats connect to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz and go offline often or very delayed responding

[blake85willard]

@MichaelP I saw in a previous post that you said to get them to connect to 2.4ghz and it would make them work appropriately. I reset both of mine (a 3rd gen Nest Learning and a Nest Thermostat E) and when coming online, they are connected to 2.4ghz and worked instantaneously. However, after not a long period of time, they started being super delayed to voice commands and/or going offline for 20 or so mins at a time in the app. I checked and saw that they had switched back to 5.0ghz. I cannot seem to find the silver bullet to get them on and keep them on 2.4ghz with the Google Wifi mesh system. They’re amazing on that band but unusable with voice and apps on the 5.0ghz band even when I’ve put a google wifi right near the thermostat to see if that would help the 5ghz function better. Unsure how both products made by Google aren’t just seamlessly compatible. Thanks for any help!

[MichaelP]

Hello @blake85willard 

I am not an expert on Nest thermostats, but what I can say is that WiFi devices decide which band to connect to and when (if ever) to switch between bands. Most fixed devices make this decision on startup and only change if they encounter signal quality issues. It is possible they re-evaluate occasionally, but a signal quality change is really the most common cause. The WiFi network does not make this decision, and does not have any controls to override that behavior.

So, my guess is that they connect to 2.4GHz to start with, and then some source of 2.4GHz interference (most likely a microwave oven) causes them to switch to 5GHz, and then they stay there until restarted. If that's what is happening, it may be difficult to fix. But, I would check on the microwave oven angle, first. If it's older, near either the WiFi access point or the thermostats, then that would strengthen my suspicions.

[blake85willard]

Sorry for the delay in seeing this, we’re doing a renovation and it’s been wild over here, lol. Thank you for your knowledge and ideas. We currently don’t have a microwave so it can’t be that. Could you think of any other kind of interference? Also, do you know if there is a way with Google wifi to choose a band for specific devices to only be able to connect to? If I could choose for it to only have access to 2.4ghz band, it’d be flawless. If not with Google wifi, do they make mesh routers that allow you to separate bands and choose which one a specific device can connect to? Thank you!

[Jeff]

Hi blake85willard,

I just wanted to jump in real fast to see if you saw MichaleP's reply and to see if you still needed some help on this or if you were able to get it sorted out. If you are still needing some help, just let us know and we'll be happy to continue helping.

Thanks,
Jeff

[blake85willard]

Thanks Jeff! Just replied to him. Still having troubles with my nest thermostats connecting to my google wifi’s 5ghz band and not working well. If they would stay connected to 2.4ghz like they do when I reset them, they work flawlessly. 

[Jhonleanmel]

Hey folks,
 

@Jeff, thanks for the help.
@blake85willard, we appreciate your interest however, we don't have any news to share about a way to manually connect to the 2.4Ghz or 5.0Ghz bands for Google Wifi networks. We're always looking for ways to improve and we'll take it as feedback.

I also suggest that you send feedback by following this link. Let me know if you have other questions or concerns, otherwise I’ll be locking this thread after 24 hours. 

Best,