Nest wifi randomly going offline

[Sydtriman]

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?

[Robert1480]

Wow - I did the factory reset a couple of times, restart the network 5-10 times a day, but have never had it brick. I've got a replacement on the way, a Netgear Orbi. I'll log on here after I get it set up next week.

Still trying to figure out how to return these essentially useless pieces of plastic and electronics.

[Junoonx]

I resolved this issue after trying multiple configurations. 

what worked was that on my AT&T router, I enabled the Nest WiFi Router as a passthrough device.  Look in your modem’s Firewall configuration for a pass through config option, and set it to the IP/Mac Address of the Nest WiFi. The way to verify if the device is setup in through config is when you see a WAN IP on the Nest Router. 

this problem was happening multiple times a day, I haven’t seen it in days since the change. 

[peterbwf]

I tried this too yesterday (ip passthrough) and hoped it was going to be the magic bullet, but it just happened again. All access points went offline for approximately 30 to 60 minutes (during which I found this thread :)) but they're back now without intervention.

@Jeff what is the latest from your team? Why hasn't a firmware rollback or a forward moving regression to the previous code been attempted if a rollback isn't possible?

At this point, I think we all need to message Amazon (and wherever else people bought them from other retailers) and send them a link to this thread so at least we can get them removed from sale since they are inherently defective devices that should be not on sale. It seems this has been going on for months and if Google really wanted to solve it they could have thrown the necessary engineering resources behind it to make sure that happened.

[Ebinicoo]

Same here, exactly happened to me, I'm waiting for replacement nest Router, I don't think if that helps. 

[Ebinicoo]

Didn't help for me, still same issue after replacement. 

Couple days ago I called them again, they asked me to change some configuration on Router IPs , it is working fine so far, but still too soon to say : it is working fine. 

[PastorBryan]

Adding my voice here. Running a Nest "main" with 4 points (3 Google 1 Nest). Internet just drops.  Was running like a champ until 3 or 4 weeks ago.  

[CE]

I'm also running into this same issue. My WiFi point went out and before finding this thread I unplugged to do a reset. I also noticed our devices that connected to the point defaulted to the main router when I shut the point down. I was thinking it was a hardware issue but found this thread and it's sounds like firmware. I currently have Nest WiFi as the main router and Google WiFi as an access point. My Nest is doing fine it's just the access point that goes offline which then affects any devices connected to the point. I'll submit feedback hopefully that will help towards the cause. 

[Ebinicoo]

Same here. 

[gwinegarden]

In my case, the network went out once.  My current and very annoying issue seems to be with the Home App and the cloud.  One day, the app will say a point is down (it is not).  The next day, it say another point is down.  Today, it says I have no connection to the internet and all our devices are offline.  So, I am lucky in that the network (so far) is staying up but the problem is that you I cannot rely upon the app for anything.

Previously, a factory reset resolved the issue for a few days.  Latest from support is that they cannot determine why this is still happening.  They want me to do another factory reset then remove my home from the app and start over.  Oh well.  We will plod on.

[manmak]

In my case, WiFi and devices are up but twice or three times an hour I cannot navigate and I receive the error DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN in the browser. That happens for all my devices connected to the WiFi. I've already tried different DNS servers such as my ISP, Google DNS or CloudFlare but no luck. 

The problem is automagically solved after waiting ############ minutes or every time I reset the network. I can also navigate connecting through ethernet or using a VPN.

It all started a pair of weeks ago after a power outage. Until now, I've been using Nest WiFi for a year with no issues at all. This problem is quite frustrating!

[Robert1480]

I don't think it is related to the power outage - there are dozens of us on this forum with the same issue - the router and/or nest points lose connectivity to each other and the internet. It resolves after 5-20 minutes on its own or after resetting the network. Most of us think it was a flawed firmware upgrade that we can't roll back.

To see how often it is failing, I ran my dog's wireless collar tracker (it reports to me over the internet if he gets close to the boundary fence) through the Nest devices instead of my Comcast router last week. It notifies me with an email if it loses network connectivity:

No Communication from DogWatch Portal
Inbox

######### via sendgrid.me
Fri, Dec 31, 2021, 1:57 PM (3 days ago)
to me

Hi Robert, there have been no recent updates from your DogWatch portal at Home. Please make sure your portal is turned on and working properly. Give XX Pet Fence Company a call at XXXXX if you need assistance or have questions.

That was on NYE - there were 46 other notifications last week that the device couldn't connect to the internet.

Just FYI, I posted last week about giving up on Nest/Google and bought a Netgear Orbi router and access point. The downside is that the range isn't as good. The upside is that I'm getting about 100 MB/second about 60 feet away and it hasn't gone down once in 5 days!

[Kitokatlin]

Just happened again to me on Sunday.  My phone was suddenly not working at all even though it showed connected to my network.  I disconnected from WiFi and went to mobile data and pulled up the Google Home App and Clicked on the network to find that one of my access points had indeed gone offline randomly from a "great connection".  I rebooted that access point individually which fixed it for about an hour.  After that another access point went offline.  I then restarted the entire network again and now it is working again for now. But given my history each time I do a full network restart it lasts at the most 3-5 days.

[derekross]

A short update. I have done some testing here. Before the Nest WiFi router drops the connection to the point, WiFi in general gets slow or drops packets. I tested by pinging 4 devices that I know are connected to the point as well as the point itself and all suffer major packet loss. I've done this now 4 times. As soon as I see WiFi getting wonky, I bring up 5 terminal windows and start pinging away. Every single time I'm seeing massive packet loss. To fix it, I restart the Nest WiFi router - NOT the point. Once it reboots the point reconnects and there's no more packet loss.

[Robert1480]

That makes sense given the likely cause of a flawed firmware update. 

Happily, not a problem for me. Netgear router solved the issue. 

[atsang4279]

My family thinks the Google Nest Wifi router is fine, but when I play Overwatch on my laptop, there are  disconnects without warning which destroy my gaming experience. I finally figured that the M89 update might be the main problem thanks to my research.

[Robert1480]

I can see that. I had to ditch my Nest wifi for Netgear router because of the disconnects. For me, it was dropping during Zoom calls with clients. My family did see how bad it was, though because it would regularly disconnect them from Netflix or Hulu in the middle of a show. Really obvious for them when it was happening multiple times per day.

As for the firmware update, I agree. My system was great. Then it wasn't and regularly disconnected multiple times per day. This thread is four months old. I don't think they plan on fixing it. And not my problem. Son wants my devices, but I won't even give them to him until/unless this addressed, though I've lost faith in Google at this point.

[atsang4279]

In my case, my Overwatch gaming is gravely affected by the disconnection glitch that affects the Google Nest Wifi router although other devices and applications are working fine.

[Wibbsy]

Perhaps related but also some of the APs would randomly factory reset themselves. It's happened 3 times on 3 different APs in the network since October. The last occurred today (see attached) - no changes were made to the network.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FAkVsv8DVkxfgb2x9 

Temporary measure I'm using for work is run Teams audio over 4G on the phone and use video on the WiFi. It's far from ideal but losing video is better than losing voice on work calls.

[Robert1480]

I didn't think of that...would have saved me embarrassment last month. The fact that you do that is a testament to how bad these devices are...

I replaced mine with Netgear about a week ago. Zero drops since then.

[Jimmy3]

@Jeff

3 months on and Google appear to have done f**k all. You repeatedly state you are hoping for a fix soon. We've been "hoping" for a strong WiFi connection throughout our homes and not getting it. And despite the fact the product is not fit for purpose, Google are still selling it. 

What specifically have you and your colleagues been doing to get this issue sorted. I know we'd all appreciate a bit more context on how this has been progressing, just how far up you have been escalating it and what the priority is on fixing it. Each update you have said for several months has been "they" are "working on it". 

Please can you also let us know why we haven't been offered a rollback in firmware?

Thanks

Jimmy

[gwinegarden]

So far, my issues have been with the app saying things are offline when they are not.  But, I am monitoring this in case I start to have the same issues.  My return window is about 2 more weeks, so, I am seriously thinking that I may just send them back before it ends.  Now, what next?  I had the Tp-Link M4's are they were much worse, constantly locking up. 

[Robert1480]

It's weird because they gradually got worse for me over the period of a few months, from a few times a week in October to several times per day in December until I pulled the plug and gave up. 

Bought the Netgear Orbi system - zero issues so far. If I could have returned mine, I would have. As others here have noted, Google has been "working on a fix" for more than 4 months with zero updates on their progress. 

[Vtown21]

I am having the same issue. Been happening for the last week..... 

[atsang4279]

I also had the disconnection glitch which occasionally destroy my Overwatch gaming. Today, I had one disconnection glitch which kicked me out of the Overwatch game server without warning.

[Bwit]

New to community.  Having same issue since Jan 5.

Model: H2D


Software version: 13729.57.27

[MicahMac]

I was curious if anybody has tried to see if turning off / disabling the guest network makes any difference?

[MicahMac]

No luck.  Still having problems with the guest network turned off.

[Kitokatlin]

Same here

[sanmiguelmalo]

I actually went for a "good" stretch of about a week before noticing any drops just this past week, but of course, tonight the wifi dropped at least partially (at least as far as I could tell it only affected a few random devices) - one old Nest Hub and two of my nest indoor cameras.  Unplugging and plugging back in the hub got it back onto the system but not the cameras.  As an admittedly separate gripe, why can't Nest cameras remember network information?  Every single time I've had to restart my Wifi network, I've had to go around and individually re-install the Wifi settings for each of the nest cameras.  It's annoying at best and when the cameras I need to get back onto the system are ones in my sleeping 1 year old's room, having to go back in there and manually re-add the cameras to the Wifi system is wildly frustrating.

[CE]

Update: it's been about 6 days and I haven't ran into any outages. I'll keep everyone updated if it does go out again but the hard reset (unplugging the device for 30 sec) is working. I will say this my printer (HP) keeps disconnecting from the WiFi. Not sure if this situation is correlated with the meshing but my printer sits in between my router location and my wifi point location. Could be a separate issue but just wanted to throw that out there. All other devices seem to be fine but the printer can't stay on wifi. 

[bpdamas]

Just another person chiming in having the same issue. I have had nest wifi for over two years with no issues and then for the last 2-3 months I have been having the random network failures. Nest wifi with 5 mesh pucks (3 of them hardwired). Getting a little ridiculous that Google is aware and can't fix this. 

[Nestregrets]

2 nest routers

1 nest point

3 Google points

And one **bleep**ty unreliable network. Thanks Google.

[michaeltucci]

Hey all!  I don't know if this is the same for everyone else, but I was experiencing a session count overload on my modem.  I discovered (through a lot of plug and play) that as soon as I disconnected my desktop from a 4 port switch I have (switch is running straight from the nest router), my connection was restored.  Is it possible that it is a simple NAT issue and that it can't resolve between wireless and wired connections properly?  It seems to be the issue for me, I haven't had any real issues since I disconnected all LAN devices.  Regardless, it's a stupid issue to have, this late in the game.  Do better google.

[Robert1480]

Interesting, but I had nothing plugged into it.

[CE]

Update (2): Just want to report my access point did go out again after the 7th day. It appears to be happening every week. I did another unplug, wait, plug in for a reset. Again it's working fine but I'm guessing next Monday I'll run into this same issue. 

[heflerbj]

I've had my google mesh setup (gen 1 ... 1 main 2 access points) for over 3 years and it was bulletproof.  could be just coincidental but i didn't see any issues until the control software migrated from google mesh to google home

[Robert1480]

Wow - lucky guy, sort of. You at least got value out of it. Many of us just set money on fire, ending up with hundreds of dollars in unusable equipment.

[heflerbj]

Model - AC-1304    Software version:  13729.57.27

[heflerbj]

i have multiple disconnects/internet disconnected throughout the day for seconds.. then it clears itself with no action necessary on my part

[Robert1480]

That was my pattern as well. The problem for me was that I work from home and do Zoom calls with clients. Every day the first few weeks in December I was losing the connection during the middle of calls, several times per day. Waited until the end of December to see if Google would fix it before junking my system.