Trying to connect 2 Nest Wifi Pro by ethernet cable (not wirelessly)

[Luke12]

Hi,

I've had these devices a few months now but I've just realised that one of them has a slow connection. Upon further investigation it seems that one Nest was not connected by Ethernet as I had previously thought but instead had a weak signal via mesh. 

Both are connected to my modem via Ethernet using the Globe port on on the devices. I've tried lots of different methods but it seems to suggest I can't connect to the 2nd device wired, only via Mesh.

I would like to be able to have both devices connected by ethernet, is this possible?

Thanks in advance. 

[MichaelP]

Hello @Luke12 

One of those is the "primary" or "router" unit, which creates a new network, available via WiFi as well as through its LAN Ethernet port. The other one is a "secondary" or "point" unit. It connects to the primary through a hidden WiFi network, but it can also connect to the primary through Ethernet – it just needs to be connected into the primary unit's LAN Ethernet port. It can't be connected to the same "outer" network that the primary unit's WAN Ethernet port is connected to.

[Luke12]

Hi Michael, thank you for the reply. I can't connect the devices by Ethernet unfortunately, they are too far from each other.

My phone line comes through in the cellar where it's connected to our modem, from there I have one cable going up to the ground level and plugged into a Nest, I have another cable going up to the upper level plugging into another Nest. I didn't realise this wouldn't be possible.

Could I buy a device like another Nest Wifi Pro, place that in the cellar plugged into the modem, from that Nest device I plug in a switch into the LAN ethernet port and then the 2 original cables are plugged into the switch. Would that work or do you have a better idea? Ideally I don't want to have to buy another Nest especially to give signal in a cellar but if that's the only way that will have to do. 

[MichaelP]

If I'm understanding your situation, yes - you could buy another Nest WiFi Pro unit. What you'd do is take the one you currently have wired to the modem (the ground level unit, I think?) and move it to the cellar, so it's the only thing directly connected to your modem. Then, pick up an inexpensive, unmanaged Ethernet switch and connect it to the LAN Ethernet port on that primary/router Nest WiFi Pro unit. At that point, connecting the cable that goes to the upper level to that switch, and to the Nest WiFi Pro unit you have there now should work. The last step is firing up that new Nest WiFi Pro unit and getting it added to the existing system, then connecting it to the Ethernet cable in the ground level after moving that cable to connect to the new Ethernet switch as well in the cellar. That should result in the primary/router unit in the cellar feeding both ground level and upper level secondary/point units via Ethernet through the new switch connected to the LAN port. Hopefully this all made sense. 

What you don't want to do is try to leave the current primary/router unit on the ground level and try to add a new secondary/point unit in the cellar - that's where the router unit has to be.

[Luke12]

Thanks Michael, what you're saying makes sense. I wasn't planning on having wifi signal in my cellar but I guess that's the only way to get my other floors with wired signal. I wish I had originally purchased a set of 3, need to find another now. Thanks again for your help. 

[Luke12]

Sorry Michael, it's me again. I've purchased a new Nest Wifi Pro point but I am still having issues.

I moved the master router to the cellar. Our new setup goes as follows:

Modem ---> Nest Wifi Pro in basement using globe WAN port (this is now router and master)

Nest Wifi Pro ----> Switch using the LAN port on Nest

Switch ----> 2 cables taking it to first and second floors where they are plugged into the WAN globe port.

Internet speeds dropped when I done this to barely anything on the points, it says "weak signal" so I guess they are still trying to connect wirelessly. I tried to reset the entire network and while the points seems to initially find the router the setup gets stuck on "Adding Wifi point to your Wifi Network" and doesn't go any further.

What am I doing wrong?

[MichaelP]

Hello @Luke12 

This sounds like the correct configuration. I would not have done a reset, but now that you have, you may need to get the two points configured as part of the system again before solving the wired connection issue. You may need to move them into the same room as the primary in the cellar just long enough to get them added to the system and working properly. After that, you can move them back to where you want them.

Once you have the points working again, focus on the wired backhaul issue. I'd start by asking what brand and model of Ethernet switch you have. If it is a "smart" or "managed" switch, it is likely to have "loop detection" enabled, which will cause problems. You can usually disable that to get around that issue.

If it's already an inexpensive, unmanaged switch, I'd focus on the Ethernet cables themselves. I'd probably have one of those secondaries in the cellar and connect it directly to the LAN port on the primary/router unit using a short, known-good Ethernet cable (disconnect the switch entirely for the moment). Then, I'd open up the information page for that secondary in the Google Home app and make sure the connection type shows as "wired".

Next, move it into the room you want to use it in and connect it through Ethernet there, but directly – leave the switch out again for now. What we're trying to do here is ensure the ports all work and then test the long Ethernet run compared to a short one in the same room. If it doesn't show as "wired" in the Google Home app, you know there's an issue with that cable run.

Repeat for the other secondary point.

Once you've tested all that in isolation, introduce the switch again. Assuming you connect the switch to the primary's LAN port using the same short, known-good Ethernet cable you used before, everything should work. If it doesn't then we know the only component remaining in question is the switch itself.

One more note on cables – try to use flexible Cat 5E cables, not the stiffer Cat 6 or 6E cables. The extra stiffness in Cat 6 cables can cause issues with connecting to ports when a bend is required close to the port. The ports are all 1Gbps, so Cat 5E is plenty – Cat 6 would only be needed for 10Gbps ports.

I hope some of this helps!

[Luke12]

You know that famous thing in IT, where someone is having issues and they speak to a professional and the professional says something like "have you checked to see it's turned on?" and then the IT noob says "of course it's turned on" so the IT professional drives for a for a few hours to go and turn something on...that's basically what has happened here.

Everything is now working perfectly, pretty much full speeds throughout the house.

Thanks again for everything.

FYI, I went for Cat 6a cables throughout the house. I probably don't need anything like that for my needs but wanted to future proof. It's all laid in concrete etc now so no chance of changing it around.
I spent hours last night troubleshooting from your tips to try and get it to work, it seemed to work but as soon as I introduced the unmanaged switch it would only connect wirelessly. I tried lots of combinations but still couldn't get it to work. That's when I realised that for some reason my switch got unplugged! What an idiot.

[MichaelP]

Yay! So glad you got it working!