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C by GE lights stop working with Google home

BrettDuvall
Community Member

I have a nest hub, 2nd generation and two home minis. I also have 5 lights, C by Ge. I have intermittent issues controlling the lights. When the problem occurs, none of the lights can be controlled by any of the speakers. Power cycling the lights has no affect. Power cycling an individual mini or hub has no affect. The only thing that seems to work every time is to unplug all the Google speakers simultaneously, wait a few seconds, and plug one or more of them back in. A few seconds after the first speaker has reconnected, the lights can be controlled again - for a day or two. This issue has existed for years now and I watch the threads in hope that a fix may be found. During this time, I have updated the firmware on the lights twice (which involves factory reset and setup as new devices) but the problem still recurs (note: the firmware update did resolve the message: "something went wrong" issues, but the main problem continues).

Here's why I believe this is a Google Home issue: The nest hub CAN see the lights even while it cannot control them. It knows which lights are on and which are off and what their brightness setting. I can even switch them on and off and watch the status change on the hub's display. I can ask a Google mini which lights are on and it will respond correctly. When I send a command to change the status of a light or lights ("turn on bedroom light"), the hub acknowledges the command. I also see the status of the bedroom light on the hub's display changing briefly as it thinks it is working. However, the light never comes on and the status on the hub's display reverts to the actual status of the light. The only thing that works every time is to unplug ALL of the Google speakers, then plug one of them back in, and wait until it restarts/reconnects to the light(s).

1 Recommended Answer

kiltguy2112
Silver Product Expert
Silver Product Expert

If it stops working "Hey google sync my devices". It may reconnect and be ok. The bottom line is the C by GE line is junk. If you can get a refund on them, do it. If you ave to use smart bulbs, Philliphs Hue, Tp-Link Kasa, Wyze, Sengled, Lifx. will all give you much less heartburn.

View Recommended Answer in original post

9 REPLIES 9

kiltguy2112
Silver Product Expert
Silver Product Expert

If it stops working "Hey google sync my devices". It may reconnect and be ok. The bottom line is the C by GE line is junk. If you can get a refund on them, do it. If you ave to use smart bulbs, Philliphs Hue, Tp-Link Kasa, Wyze, Sengled, Lifx. will all give you much less heartburn.

twittel
Community Member

I gave up on CbyGE.  I use Kasa switches for my lamps, using regular light bulbs.  Kasa syncs beautifully with Google Home.  I've never looked back since dumping CbyGE.

MJSomerville
Community Member

I've had exact same issue for years. Sometimes I can reboot my Android phone and it fixes it, but mostly I have to Restart network in Google Home settings. It works, unfortunately I have to do it EVERY SINGLE DAY, sometimes twice in a day!

GarrettDS
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there, 

Sorry to hear about the troubles you’re having with your lights connecting with the Google Home app, I’m sure it’s confusing, but I’m happy to provide some clarity. 

I have sent this information over to our engineering team and they ask that you provide them feedback through the Google Home app to them. They suggest including the keywords, "#Lights" along with the name brand of the lights and a short description of what you're encountering.

 

Have a great day. 

Garrett DS

Cync bulbs are useless. They don’t work with anything.

GarrettDS
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,
Just wanted to see if you still needed help. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Best regards,
Garrett DS

GarrettDS
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,
Just checking in to make sure that you saw our response. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours.

Have a great day.
Garrett DS
 

Thanks Garrett,
I talked to Cync, it seems that the device definitions must only exist in Google Home and not in Cync.

So that was an inaccurate assumption to have the definitions exist in both systems.
Once I got it only on Google only it started working as expected. You can close this ticket. Thanks for checking in.

GarrettDS
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey folks,
It looks like we have come to a solution so I'm going to be locking this thread. If you have any other concerns or questions, please feel free to create a new thread.

Have a great day.
Garrett DS