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Several Questions

digitalhigh
Community Member

First - how do I clear "old" devices that had been connected to my Nest Wifi setup without having to do a factory reset?? I have a few devices now that were connected, got abruptly rebooted, and now *refuse* to connect to my wifi. One of them is an ESP8266 running WLED software, the other is a raspberry pi using networkmanager. 

Second - why can't the device list be sorted by NAME? The "sort by usage" thing wouldn't be so bad, except for it constantly updates mid-scroll, meaning half the time, the thing I'm looking for winds up popping up above the area I already scrolled to.

Third - WHY ONLY THE MOBILE APP? Seriously Google. Just put a flipping web UI on the thing already and tie it to MDNS. It's convenient at times...but more often than not, it's just annoying.

Four - Why is there no option to allow some other device to manage DHCP? I'd really like to use this with PFSense, but I don't feel like crippling half the functionality of my system because there isn't proper support for adding a separate DHCP server.

Five - and this is largely because of the glaring issues with #4...where can I get the latest recovery image for my wifi devices? Flat-out, I want to modify the image to enable SSH and other "stuff" so that I can, in fact, run my device behind PFSense, and just have a greater level of control over the device than "via a dumbed-down mobile app".

Four - Where can I get the latest factory image for my wifi devices? 

25 REPLIES 25

Ashepherdson
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Hi There, 

I will try to answer some of your questions, but some of them are outside the scope of this community, and would be best served sent directly to Google support (https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp?hl=en) . Keep in mind we are only community members trying to help!

 

1 - Old devices remain in the list unless a factory reset is done, I have not yet seen a work around to this, luckily the factory reset is not too painful these days.  My trick is I put the  QR stickers on the tops of the points so that I can easily take photos of them as required.  

2- This functionality may come in the future, but the reality is most users only have a handful of devices, where as a power user such as yourself has many times more. 

3, 4, 5 - That is just the way the product has been designed, its supposed to "Just Work", again for most users the app works well, however for a power user looking to add tweaks or customizations, this product may simply not be right for.  A power user may want to explore a more custom routing setup (such as DDWRT, Tomato, etc)

 

Sorry I could not be of more help, but I think at some point we have to admit that we are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole!

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

I just wanted to check in and follow up real fast to see if you saw Ashepherdson's reply. If you need anything, please let me know and I'll be happy to help.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

Hi Jeff, Ashepherdson,

Thanks for the replies, although I wish something more helpful were to have come from this conversation...

Regarding #1 - I was able to solve my problem myself by restarting all of my wifi points, but not having to factory-reset them. This must erase some stored "secrets" somewhere, which makes the handshaking process start over again. I'd definitely recommend someone at Google buy a few Wemos D1 minis, slap WLED on it, and look into why this happens.

Regarding the other advanced features...please consider this a feature request. Your wifi products would appeal to a lot more power users if you added these "advanced" features - even if you somehow buried them in the app settings...similar to how "developer options" are hidden in android unless you know how to get at them.

As far as factory images being unavailable...I feel compelled to point out that this is a fairly recent development. You *used* to have them available. Then, it seems as if something changed, and the public images stopped being updated, and the URLs used internally are now obfuscated/changed so they can't be easily worked out by people like me. This is just frustrating, and seems more of an intentional action on Google's part...versus "That's how the product is designed.".

So, @Jeff, yes, I do need something. I need the latest factory image for my wifi devices. Right-to-repair says I can legally modify my hardware if I want. And, if I somehow brick something and/or void my warranty...that is something I'm fully prepared to live with.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

Sorry for the frustration on this. I've gone ahead and passed your message on to an internal team and I'll let you know when I hear more on the matter.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, Dean2706.

Thanks for chiming in. I understand the frustrations you're feeling and I'm ensuring that our internal teams understand the pain points of our customers. It's a focus right now and we're really taking feedback seriously. 

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, everyone.
Just as an update, we're still looking into this issue and as of yet we don't have a solution. I just wanted to touch base so you would know that you haven't been forgotten. In the meantime if anything else changes about your situation, please feel free to update us in the thread.
Thanks!

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, @digitalhigh.

I'm just following up as it's been a few days. Have you had any success with the issue or has anything changed in your situation? I know the internal teams are aware of your situation and should have reached out. If you have yet to hear anything, let me know.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

Hey Jeff,

No, nothing has changed on my end. Still hoping "engineers" win in the battle I'm imagining in my mind between "Excecutives vs. Engineers", where some poor SW Googler is arguing how legally, we (the users) should have access to software images if desired and how it promotes community development and power-user adoption, whereas some nugget in a really expensive suit's counter-point is "Yeah, but MONEY.". 😛

And no, I have not heard anything from anybody internally. 

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Ok, digitalhigh, thanks for the update. I'll circle back with our teams and find out where we are with this and see if there's something holding up a response.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

It's been a few more days. Have you had any luck connecting with support? If not, let me know. I want to make sure you're not falling through the cracks here.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

Hi Jeff,

Nope nobody's reached out to me yet. 

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

Sorry you haven't been contacted by support. I'll follow up to see what might have happened there.

 

myros1av, we're not able to share factory images of old firmware here. Most of those updates brought a lot of security updates included and rolling those back can open up your network to vulnerabilities.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, everyone.
It's been a while and unfortunately I don't have any new updates, but I wanted to check in and see if anyone has seen any changes in their situation, either for the better or worse. If so, please let me know.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

Not trying to shoot the messenger here...but what exactly is the problem? These are factory images for hardware we paid money for, which are already hosted *somewhere* on the internet. 

The fact somebody can't just give us a URL - let alone even reach out to me to tell me "fat effing chance" is pretty frustrating.

As such, the only thing that's changed in my "situation" is that I'm strongly considering selling my Google Wifi system and buying something that is less restricted and dumbed-down than most Apple products...

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

The factory images are embedded in the hardware, as you can always roll back to a factory reset. As far as having access to the files themselves, Google does not make that available for product security reasons. You're always free to reset your devices to a factory new state, but we don't have any way to offer the actual files in a downloadable file form.

digitalhigh
Community Member

LOL, what? For "security reasons"? I can literally go to your website right now and download factory images for any Pixel device, as well as a number of other Google products...which arguably presents a much greater "security risk" than a factory image for a wifi router/access point.

Also, "we don't have any way to offer the actual files"? What? You are freaking GOOGLE. You literally have a monopoly on most things "internet". Are you seriously trying to tell me that there is not one single human being in the entirety of your organization that doesn't have the ability to upload a firmware file to the internet? 

Because you were literally doing it like a year or two ago...or whenever everything got rebranded from "Nest" to "Google". 


Last but not least...this has been what I've been asking for for two months now. I thought I was pretty clear in that when I posted in the first place. Why has it taken until now for me to get these excuses? 

Regardless, I'm calling BS on this whole thing. The images have been released in the past, you do it for plenty of other products that are much more powerful than Google Wifi, and so there's no legitimate reason why the firmware shouldn't be made available.

Honestly, it's crap like this that really makes me hate Google products sometimes. This "where'd the firmware go?" game sure seems like another instance of executive decisions overriding what the users care about or want. And if you were to have just told me that instead, versus insulting my intelligence and feeding me some canned "we can't because security" response, at least I'd feel a little better about this exchange.

And the kicker is you actually had my hopes up for a while there, pretending like someone at Google might *actually* give a crap what a user wants...

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

I don't make the policies or control what is made available, but there's a big difference between and open-source software like Android, an open platform, and something like the firmware/software that controls the Nest line of products. There will always be more access to things on the Android side than with the hardware products.

As far as what I can provide, it boils down to information or helping you navigate support channels. I can pass along you suggestions and comments, and I do, but I don't have access to the sorts of things you're asking for, and we really don't have anyone that does. I'll be happy to continue to work within available support channels with you, but I simply don't have the ability to provide access to factory images or firmware.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

I mean, if we want to grasp at straws here, the original Nest Wifi devices were based on ChromeOS with a custom layer, which was mostly open-source with the exception of the proprietary hardware bits...much like an Android device. Maybe it's based on Fuschia now, but again, that platform is mostly open-source.

Regardless, I'm not trying to shoot the messenger here. I understand you're just acting as a relay, but I still want to express my frustrations at this to whomever you take the message to.

It's silly that the firmware isn't available, for reasons I've already expressed.

If there's a missing feature set that could possibly be implemented, then it would be the inclusion of a native web UI, more fine-tuned controls over DNS/DHCP, and the ability to search or filter network devices by name/ip/mac/etc. 

I shouldn't have to hardwire my device in order to get it to work behind PFSense or with PiHole or something similar. Better yet, I shouldn't need it...but I'll take what I can get.

Either way, the point is that I shouldn't have to replace my device or break mesh functionality to get more "power user" features out of my hardware.

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

I actually get the frustration and it's actually totally cool that you're letting it be known. That's really the point of these forums in addition to support. The voices matter, so it's completely valid what you're saying and this stuff does get passed along and seen.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi again, digitalhigh.

Since we're unable to provide the software you're looking for, I wanted to see if there was another way I could help you. Functionality/usability issues aside, is there still a technical matter that you're looking to find support with here? If so, just let me know.

Thanks.

digitalhigh
Community Member

Yes. The catalyst behind all of this is that I want to use PFSense in conjunction with Nest Wifi, without needing to use Bridge mode or have a double NAT setup.

But, according to this recent community article...there still isn't a decent solution for that.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Best-firewall-appliance-compatible-with-Google-Nest...

 

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey, digitalhigh.

I can pass along your words to our feedback teams, letting them know what you're looking to do and why. They do take those feedback messages into account when planning features for future updates and fixes.

Thanks.

Jeff
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks

Dean2706
Community Member

Just want to express my interest in this as well, I have the same concerns and am very disappointed in the lack of community support on this product. Google have always been supportive of devs, especially for android but this product seems to go in the opposite direction. Any doesn't take much searching to find others with the same disappointment, especially on Reddit and GitHub.

myros1av
Community Member

Hi everyone
Lately one of my GW units got ot a bootloop after connecting to google home app on Android
Recovery USB created with the onhub utility is not resolving an issue 
Please upload an original image as 9334.41.3 is not the one to fix this