Second google WiFi router offline suddenly

[sarahess]

I set up my pair of routers yesterday and they were both online, mesh test passed, LED indicators all happy. This morning, my second router (the one I set up second during install yesterday) had a red indicator and I cannot get it to work anymore. It stays offline.

I have power cycled both routers, and I do not see a way in the Google Home app to reset just one device. I have to nuke the pair or nothing?

In case it matters, I am in a residential hotel/apartment situation, so I have Ethernet cables from two points in the wall that I have connected to each of the routers. The Ethernet connections work with the unsecured routers the hotel provided. The app also shows anywhere from 35-60 devices as accessing my network at any given time, which is weird, right?

Happy to provide more information as needed, and thank you for any ideas. 

[MichaelP · Accepted solution]

Hello @sarahess 

The two Google WiFi units you have are not doing the same thing as each other. One is a "primary" – acting as a router + firewall, intended to sit between your network and the rest of the world. The other is a "secondary" – acting as a bridge, intended to sit inside the network created by the primary. It should not be directly connected to the same network as the primary's WAN Ethernet port. It sounds like you've done that, though, which is bridging that outer network into your inner network, making your primary claim to be "the" router for that outer network, too. Disconnect the secondary Google WiFi unit from the wall Ethernet jack as soon as you can. Then, reboot the primary/router unit, and power up the secondary, but not connected via Ethernet. Make sure it's close enough to the primary to get a strong wireless connection to it, and from there it will provide extended coverage. But, do not connect that secondary to a wall-jack Ethernet. If you want to connect it to the primary via Ethernet, it must be connected to the primary's LAN Ethernet port (with the "<->" icon), not to the WAN Ethernet port (with the globe icon). I hope this is clear – those other devices accessing your network are other people in your building, so how you have this connected right now is causing problems for you as well as others.