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Nest wifi randomly going offline

Sydtriman
Community Member

For the past week my Google nest Wi-Fi go randomly off-line. There have been absolutely no other changes in my network or environment that could cause this. I’ve had no issues prior to this. 

I can see a couple of posts in the forum of a similar vein, has anybody been able to solve this issue? Is it a firmware problem?

I’ve done a full factory reset which hasn’t helped, and in fact seems to have made it worse. 

Setup: Router (firmware 13729.57.27) and 2 points (firmware 1.54.267572)

any ideas?

 

 

 

 

1,464 REPLIES 1,464

p_giguere1
Community Member

After hours of unsuccessful troubleshooting attempts with Google support, I concluded this issue likely couldn't be fixed without a firmware update from Google, which as we know, might be months or even years away, if it even comes out at all.

 

It appears Google has kind of given up on their original Nest Wifi router. Google giving up on things isn't exactly exceptional, but at least, they usually have the decency to not make their customers pay for their constant pivoting. For example, they refunded all Stadia hardware and games when they gave up on that platform.

 

So I have to ask: What's Google's plan here? The right thing to do if they aren't able to fix their defective product is obvious: They do a voluntary recall. Either they do a full refund, accompanied by an apology for the trouble the situation causes, or they replace the devices for a new revision that doesn't exhibit the defect, like the new Nest Wifi Pro.

 

So I asked Google if they were willing to do that. As expected, they refused.

 

Being a resident of Quebec, which has strong consumer protection laws, I knew I could use Quebec's legal warranty as a last resort in case Google was not being collaborative.

 

Quebec's legal warranty entitle you to demand that any goods you purchase:

  • are usable for the purpose for which they are ordinarily used;
  • have reasonable durability, based on the price paid, the terms of the contract and the conditions of use;
  • are free of any hidden defects, i.e. significant defects that were present before the sale, but that were not mentioned to you and of which you could not have had any knowledge, despite exercising due caution;
  • match their description in the contract, advertisements and statements made by the representative.

Source: https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/en/consumer/topic/warranties/applying-warranty/application-legal-warranti...

 

I contacted Google to apply my legal warranty. They were confidently incorrect in stating that Quebec's law doesn't apply because Google has its own sales terms and conditions. In reality, Quebec's law supersedes Google's sales terms, and manufacturers like Google are actually supposed to educate Quebec customers about their legal rights in order to sell stuff here. The support agent clearly had no idea what the Quebec law was, yet insisted that it didn't apply.

 

Seeing as I was losing my time with this person, I asked to talk to a manager, or someone from their legal department, or basically anybody familiar with Quebec law. He took my number and said I'd get a call back. That was over a month ago. I never got a call back.

 

My next step will be to file a formal complain with Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur. They side with customers pretty much 100% of the time when you have a valid case like this one. Not only am I almost guaranteed to win my case, but Google will also likely be fined not not respecting local consumer law.

 

What is Google thinking?

PredatorRanger
Community Member

Adding my name to the list. I had the problem with one of my routers going offline last year - Google refused to help, and I gave up. A bit later, out of the blue, they sent me an email stating they noticed problems with the unit and offered a replacement. All was good...until two days ago.

Once again, one of my routers is going offline. The white light remains on, but everything connected to it starts to complain that there's no internet. I unplug it, it came back online, but mesh test was weak (where is used to be great). Minutes later, it's offline again.

Marreroinmaine
Community Member

I went ahead and filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau.  Figured maybe if enough people complain, Google will have to do something.

Great idea!  We should all do that.

Mc5no4stp
Community Member

BTW, successfully returned to Costco with no issue and purchased the new Nest Wifi Pro, which is working very well (for now). Basically cost me net $50 to upgrade to the new 4 piece system.

TUR7L3
Community Member

Basically cost you an extra $50 to get a system working that should have already been working. 

I might do the same! What did you say when you returned it? Did you still have your receipt? How long have you had the Nest Wifi system?

No receipt needed as it was purchased against your costco account...they can look it up. I did have the original boxes but that's not technically necessary. Just returned, purchased first half of 2020. 

dresdner353
Community Member

But fear not, apparently the new pro routers have some surprises up their sleeves also:

https://9to5google.com/2022/10/31/nest-wifi-pro-speed-issue

People reporting speed limits down to 50Mbps. But you have to love the workarounds and optimism of a fix due any day now... 

Quote:

Those affected have taken a few approaches to solve their issue and are getting faster download speeds from the Nest Wifi Pro – those approaches range from practical to clever. Some have found luck with simply putting another router — whether an old Google Wifi or any other device they had handy — ahead of the Nest Wifi Pro, but this solution hasn’t worked for everyone. Others are either returning the Nest Wifi Pro system altogether or giving Google a few days to work things out before returning it.

We reached out to Google for a comment but the company was not immediately available.

With any luck, this should be easily resolvable with a firmware update from Google, especially as other Nest Wifi routers handle the same networks without issue. Until such an update, though, it’s a shame to see early adopters of Nest Wifi Pro not able to use the router to its full potential.

Yes solutions are easily resolvable if the vendor actually makes an effort to try and resolve them instead of blaming other things and requesting people to factory reset. 

Imagine calling a plumber to fix a leaking bathtub and his suggestion is to disconnect all plumbing fittings in the entire house and put them back together again. 

What's that, Google releases a new version of hardware's without fixing the old one? Oh and the new one has the same issues as the old one as well? Oh and they're trying to blame everything but their hardware? I'm shocked! SHOCKED! Well, not that shocked. 

Time to forget everytihing that is made by Google, Old Nest wifi has problem, new one too, google speakers... what a hell!!!!

kevin3218
Community Member

Router goes offline. Power cycle router back online. This happened every couple of days when I first got the mesh setup several years ago but then went to every month or 2. It started happening about once a week last month or so. power cycling the router so far has always caused it to start working.

Shun57
Community Member

Was there a fix for this? Mine started this week and shows weak at first and then drops completely. Only on the one access point, I unplug and plug it back in and that fixes things for a few hours, but then gets weaker and drops again.

There's not and Google don't wanna solve this. This week my points are getting offline everyday!!! Ridiculous!

TUR7L3
Community Member

No, and they recently released new hardware so don't expect a resolution for the old stuff. 

Pakdude
Community Member

Please give a thumbs up to this response so that more people find it. I have read all the previous comments and wanted to share my experience with Google Nest WiFi.

I use Google Nest WiFi a lot. I support WiFi for 16 sites of a non-profit organization in Ontario, Canada. In addition I am a manager for 5 families with Google Nest WiFi. So that's over 60 Google Nest APs worldwide.

The 16 sites in Ontario, Canada are spread over a 200 km radius.

Some (less than 10%) of the sites have the old hockey-puck shaped AC-1304 models (original Google WiFi). The first of these were installed in 2019.

But most (more than 90%) are the Google Mesh AP/speaker combo. For these, the router is AC2200 (shows up as H2D in Settings) and the Points are AC1200 (shows up as H2E in Settings).

I have never had an issue with the older AC-1304 models. But over half of the sites with AC2200 have APs that go Offline within a week of rebooting. Reports of APs going offline have increased in 2022. It wasn't so bad in 2020 and 2021.

Troubleshooting steps, based on numerous sessions with Google Nest WiFi Support, include:

  • Restart router from Google Home app --> Does not help. Obviously, network is offline for the duration of the reboot, but offline APs remain offline.
  • Restart AP from Google Home app --> Does not help. Makes no immediate difference.
  • Physical reboot (unplug/replug) of offline AP --> Everything looks good for a few days. But then after a few days, the problem resurfaces and APs go offline. This is something I coordinate with remote people at those sites. I tell them where the AP is and ask them to physically reboot the AP. They typically do not have access to the Gmail account for the Google Home app. Moreover, some of these APs are in ceilings that require ladder access, which is inconvenient. Rebooting them every few days is not an option.
  • Factory reset AP or router --> Not attempted. This is not an option. This is a complex operation that would have to be done by me. I cannot ask the remote volunteers to do this. Because of the sheer number of APs that go offline and their distance from where I live (I have a day job), it is not practical to drive hundreds of kilometers out to do this myself when I did the initial install just months earlier.
  • HW exchange --> Not an option for the same reason.
  • Disabling Bridge mode on the ISP modem --> Does not help.

I have worked in technical roles at Cisco, Juniper, and HPE, and know a thing or two about networking. Google Nest WiFi is obviously not an enterprise-grade solution. It is a home-grade solution. You get what you pay for. Nobody is debating that. However, stable reliable performance is what every consumer demands. It should not require a physical reboot every few days. These are not supposed to be Windows 95-like devices. One should be able to expect a reasonable level of quality from these devices.

It is pretty clear to me that Alpha (of Killed By Google infamy) has diverted Engineering investment away from Nest WiFi, leaving their customers with bricks.

I challenge Google Nest WiFi Product Management to come to this forum and address this comment with a roadmap for software support of these devices.

Kiboko
Community Member

Just to add to @Pakdude comments. Even putting the mesh APs on a timer based power plugs that would nightly power cycle the APs did not help provide a reliable active time network.

This has a one of the most disappointing hardware/software execution from Google for as long as I can recall. 

Saddest thing is this all escalated after the forced firmware update after Google was lost the case with Sonos, so clearly a software issue

NotherMan
Community Member

After dealing with tech support for a few months, I decided to initiate the warranty and replace the router and one point I have. Meanwhile, a friend of mine who had an extra Google Wi-Fi mesh router and point let me borrow  his so I could run the test to see if it was actually a hardware issue with the one I had. While I was borrowing his I only setup the router, not the point for the sake of convenience for when I returned everything back to him and the entire two weeks I had it worked perfectly; completely stable. 

 

Just received my replacement router and point a couple days ago and I initially set up the router only. Everything seemed to be working smoothly. Then a few hours later I set the point and within a couple of hours the Wi-Fi went down though anything connected to the switch stayed up. I did a factor reset of the point and while I did that the WiFi was fine, the moment I reconnected the point it went offline. I think tried moving it around to other spots but still nothing. When I unplugged the point the problem persisted until I went into the home app and removed the point from there, my Wi-Fi immediately shot up to full speed. 

 

I recommend everyone else give this a test of removing all points and see what happens

Nhhkrf
Community Member

I'm assuming there's not a fix since I have had ZERO problems with mine until about a week ago and now every day I have to unplug it and plug back in my upstairs router. I went from ridiculous fast speed (800+ MB) to being lucky if I can pull 60 MB speed... Is Google pulling an Apple, trying to force us to upgrade, or deal with crap tech??? 

SickOfGoog
Community Member

Joining the party, this is ridiculous from one of the biggest companies on the planet! Just like Amazon it seems thT Google is so big they don't have to care about faulty products because the customer base is so large that losing a few million customers doesn't matter. Fix your crap Google. 

dresdner353
Community Member

 

The Verge: Google's rolling out a Nest Wifi Pro update being rolled out to fix slow internet speeds.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/12/23454915/google-nest-wifi-pro-update-fix-slow-internet-speeds

Have to be honest, I was hoping to see a reference to a Google contact called "Jeff" in that article.

Who cares about the still available and sold Google WiFi though ...

Need a software fix for the Offline APs though

JWick
Community Member

Definitely a ton of people still needing a fix from Google

gmrfish
Community Member

My main router and point routinely go offline for no apparent reason. It is frustrating. Been happening for this first year we've owned them. I have to unplug and plug the cord back in and then it works. This is getting ridiculous.

Marreroinmaine
Community Member

I am not sure if there was an update done, but I have, knock on wood, not had any problems the past few weeks. Now my google home app shows the wifi points being online on the main screen. It used to show offline even when they were online.

Folks, there is no fix yet.

Some of my APs are still reporting Offline. Their firmware version is still 1.56.315675. Router (Hub) version is still 14150.376.32. This hasn't changed since I reported the issue 2 weeks ago.

My Home app software shows version 2.60.118 (on ios) my Hub and points have the 14150.376.32 version as well.

p_giguere1
Community Member

After months of tolerating this issue and waiting for a fix, I've officially given up and purchased a Netgear Orbi Pro mesh system.

They are currently significantly discounted on Amazon for Black Friday, in case anybody's interested.

  • SXK60 2-pack: $200, down from $450
  • SXK60 3-pack: $300, down from $650
  • SXK80 2-pack: $350, down from $800
  • SXK80 3-pack: $520, down from $1,150

gengeset
Community Member

Has anyone started experiencing slower speeds recently as well?

NotherMan
Community Member

I give up. I'm done going back n forth with google on this. I've jump through all their troubleshooting hoops, I've had a replacement sent to me which has the exact same issues of wi-fi randomly dying even through hardline connections work perfectly, I'm tired of rebooting or reformatting the mesh, I'm over having to access it remotely because being on the same network doesn't work, and finally they've refused my request for a refund. Today I'm getting a TP-Link AX3000 which should be just fine for my apartment. I'll be posting that router & point for sale online shortly after thanksgiving. Google has truly let me down on this

CodeMan
Community Member

I'm starting to wonder if there's a device cap on these things of somewhere around the 30+ mark. We have a smart home and a lot of devices connecting. Aside from the random issue where the mesh units go weak signal out of nowhere for no reason, I've noticed that at times a family member will leave in the morning, more devices get turned on during the day, and the member will return and when their devices jump back on the network in the driveway, the entire google wifi network goes down, requiring a complete reboot. The first time it happened I thought it was a coincidence, but it has happened a few times now in the exact same fashion, the last time taking the whole google wifi network down right at the last minute of a close football game (that was NOT fun) and I'm starting to wonder if that's when mine always goes down, when it gets overloaded with devices. As in something gets turned on and is the last straw and down it goes. I've been playing around with this and it seems to get dicey once I go somewhere above 30 devices online simultaneously. I believe I read that it's supposed to support 100+? But I'm starting to think maybe that's not accurate. Just keep coming back here with thoughts to try to help us all out.

dkyle1960
Community Member

I too am done after 15 months and still not one bit of help from Google. Today I purchased the NETGEAR Orbi RBK753 system. I would advise you all to find something else other than Google because they don't really care about you or your problems with their worthless equipment.

JonS74
Community Member

Over a year later and the issue is still unfixed. Disappointing

TomGAMA
Community Member

It's been 2 years and no resolution. I spent hours trying to fix this and many hundreds of dollars. Over Thanksgiving it got so bad we couldn't even stream TV for longer than 30 minutes without the whole system going down. I broke down and bought the Orbi 850 series. No issues, very easy setup. Life changing. Goodbye Google/Nest pods. Good riddance.

Google is going worst everyday in all aspects. Not only WiFi Mesh has problems, but the speakers is losing configuration and getting slowly to do tasks and answers. It's clear that Google don't care about the customers.

MattH34
Community Member

I've previously responded on here about my frustrations with this same issue. While I am not home to complete this process and test it, Google Support today noted that I have a double NAT since even though I disabled my ISP's modem/gateway's wifi broadcast, I did NOT fully set it in "Bridge Mode." I am going to try to adjust my gateway's settings later today and see if that helps.

That's the same bill of goods they sold me. It took a GREAT deal of trouble but when I finally got it properly in bridge mode if failed just the same as before. If you search for postings by me in this community earlier this year you'll see that I documented this in detail including the pitfalls. I hope it works for you, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.

Yup - did that as well, worked well for a day or so, then the problems came back. So glad I also went with the Netgear as well last December!

You did the right thing. On my side bridge mode and routed mode are equally having troubles...