Unable to factory reset Google WiFi

[haircut23]

Hello!

My Google WiFi device is unable to factory reset and I'm unable to connect to the device via the Home App. 

Google WiFi is currently able to broadcast my wireless network, and my devices are able to connect to it. However, I am unable to reset it to factory conditions after following the reset routine:

 - Unplug the device, wait for 2 minutes

 - Hold reset button and plug in power, while continuing to hold reset button

 - Lights flash white, then flash blue, at which point I let go of the reset button

After about 3 minutes it begins to broadcast my old network again, not the setup network, and I'm still unable to connect to the device via the Home App.

I've contacted Google Support, but the issue is still unresolved. The device is out of warranty so I'm not eligible for a replacement. 

Has anybody else had this issue? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you!

[David_K]

Does the light turn solid blue at any point? It can take up to 10 minutes to reset during that part. Once complete, it should then start pulsing blue to show its ready to setup?

[haircut23]

Thanks for the reply!  It never turns solid blue. It starts flashing white, then flashing blue (which is when I take my finger off the button), then goes off completely and stays off, at which point it starts broadcasting my old network again. I think the light shuts off completely because I turned off the light in the settings when I was initially setting it up. 
I’ve let it sit this way for hours, but never noticed the setup network or the solid blue light. 

[Jeff]

Hey, haircut23.

Sorry about the issues you're having trying to get your devices reset. That sounds quite frustrating. Let's look at another possible way to get this to work.

Before you do the factory reset with the physical buttons, have you tried using the Home app to initiate the reset? You can use Home to do a factory reset on your devices, and that might work a bit better for you. If that's unsuccessful, try removing the network from your Home account before doing the physical button reset. This will ensure that your settings are cleared out properly.

If this still isn't working for you, please come back and let me know. Thanks!

[haircut23]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply! The Home app does not find the router for some reason, even though I’m connected to the network that it’s broadcasting.
The old Google Wifi app was able to connect, but now the Google

Wifi app has been changed to view-only mode. 
Is there anyway to connect to the router and reset it directly via Ethernet?

Thanks!

[Jeff]

Hi, haircut23.

There's no way to connect your app to your device via ethernet. It's all designed to be handled over the network. The best way to get the factory restart to work would be to remove the network from your Home app account and then try the physical button reset once more. Removing the network from Home will keep it from applying those settings and allow you to set it up as if it was a new network after the restart. Give that a try and let me know how it goes.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, haircut23.
I just wanted to check in real fast to see if you saw my reply and to find out if you still needed any help on this. If you're still needing assistance, please just let me know and I'll be happy to continue helping.
Thanks.

[haircut23]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for checking in, I missed that last reply. 

The weird thing about the Home App is that it says I don’t have any devices or networks. I only have two Google Accounts, one of which had to have been the one I used to set up the router with originally, but neither account has any device or network associated with it. At least from I can see under my account settings in the Home App. 
This technical support representative that I was working with a while back checked my accounts for this device but couldn’t find anything either.

Please let me know what you think! Thanks again for the help!

[Jeff]

Hey, haircut23.

Ok, sorry this is still an ongoing issue. I was wondering with all the resets and such, did you ever try deleting the home account (not the Home app) before doing the factory reset? It's possible that Home app is reapplying some old settings. Try this.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Switch to the home you want to delete.
3. Tap Settings   Delete this home  Delete.

Once the home has been deleted, try the reset process once more and see if setup runs differently for you. You will need to set your home up again, but this could bypass some of the hanging issues here. Let me know if this works out or if we need to look at more steps beyond this.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, haircut23.

I just wanted to check in to see if you tried deleting the home from the settings to see if that worked out for you. If not, let me know and we can try other steps.

Thanks.

[haircut23]

Hi Jeff,

I deleted my home from the Home App following your guidance from your message last Thursday, but still no luck.  
After deleting my home from the Home App I tried manually reseting the router again, but it enters into its old network and settings (still no setup network). I tried adding a new home anyways on the Home App, but it is unable to find any devices (even when connected to the network it’s broadcasting). 
Thanks again for the help, and please let me know if you have any other suggestions!

[Jeff]

Hi, haircut23.

Thanks for trying that. I'm sorry that didn't work out, but I'm going to go ahead and escalate your issue to an internal team. You've definitely gone through all the steps necessary, so we'll get their help on this. Be on the look out for an email to the address you used to sign up for the forums. In the meantime, I'll check in to see if you are able to make any progress with them.

Thanks.

[haircut23]

Thank you, Jeff! I’ll keep an eye out for an email. I really appreciate your help with getting this resolved. It would be great to be able to use it again, it’s a really handy router!

[Jeff]

@haircut23.

No problem. And if you get things working with support, feel free to share the fix in here as well. Thanks!

[Jeff]

Hey, haircut23.

I just wanted to follow up to see if you were able to connect with support and have any luck resolving your issue there. Let me know if you still need help on this.

Thanks.

[haircut23]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for checking in! I haven't received any correspondence from Google support yet, but I've been keeping an eye on my inbox. How long does it usually take for them to get in touch?

Thanks!

[Jeff]

Hi, haircut23.

Generally it's only a day or two before support contacts you, but that can vary based on volume of incoming support requests. You can always reach out youself too to see if you can get someone immediately. You can contact support here: https://bit.ly/3o1aRK5.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, haircut23.

Just curious to see if you tried using the contact form and if you had any success finding support there. If not, let me know.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

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, or to contact support directly at: https://bit.ly/323ojql;
Thanks