Google Nest Mini 2nd Gen dropping Bluetooth after hours of loop play.

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi,

Prior I would be able to play a continuous music playlist on loop for days upon days (playing from old iPad to nest speaker via Bluetooth). Recently, the connection started to drop about once a day on average. The speaker had been in use non-stop for 2 years without issue. I switched to an iPhone (instead of iPad) to see if it was the iPad and the same issue is happening. I thought maybe it was the Nest Mini (perhaps it was losing power or had Bluetooth antenna hardware issue), so replaced it with exact same model. Now, on NEW speaker the problem persists. It might play 6 hours or 28 hours… but it no longer plays for days as it used to. Did something update on nest OS that could be making this happen? I’m using VLC media player and have not changed it or iOS since before problem. Any sincere thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

[Dan_A]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

Thank you for posting in the Community forum.

That certainly hasn't been easy for you ― let’s check this out. Are you only having it play music via bluetooth with your iPhone or iPad?

I need you to try this instead: say “Hey, Google! Play music”, once it plays, let it keep playing and let’s see the difference. The reason we need to do this is because your speaker is a new one, and its connection to your phone via bluetooth is also new. We need to narrow things down for us to know what the next steps would be.

Another thing you should do is to have your Nest Mini near your router since all these devices are Wi-Fi dependent.

Tell me how it goes.

Best,

Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the main purpose is to play music from iPad to speaker and I was doing this with Bluetooth connection. It’s a loop of ambiance music that normally (prior) would play for weeks with this same setup without issue. When disconnects started occurring, I tried with a different device (iPhone instead of iPad) and issue still happened. I bought a new nest mini Gen 2 thinking maybe the origiginal Gen 2 mini I was using was having an issue. The issue is still happening.

I have had Google play music via YouTube music or linked SiriusXM. So I can confirm that works.

If I just say “google play some music” will it play nonstop for 48+ hours? I realize this type of music would be streaming over wifi. It definitely plays music from streaming sources over wifi, but I’ve not tried it for 48+ hours and am not sure if it would auto-stop or if it would keep playing random wifi streaming music?

My issue has been a Bluetooth disconnect that seems to happen within 48 hours of connection. Prior, this disconnect wouldn’t happen and my room ambiance music would pretty much play nonstop for weeks.

The current Bluetooth disconnect is a nuisance issue. I randomly walk into room and notice it’s not playing.. and when I look on my device’s Bluetooth connections it will say “not connected.” I simply select it, and it reconnects and I can start up the music again. It’s just annoying that it is now disconnecting about once a day now but prior would play non stop for weeks.

Thanks!

[Dan_A]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

I really appreciate the information you provided and thank you for your patience. Let's try this: we'll do a sequential reboot by unplugging the power of your router followed by your Nest Mini. Re-plug those devices starting with your router. Restarting your phone might also help then connect to bluetooth.

If the behavior persists, we need to do a factory reset to revert it back to its default and original settings to have a clean and fresh connection when you set it back up. Check the behavior of the bluetooth connection.

Keep me posted.

Best regards,

Dan

[Dan_A]

Hello there,

I wanted to follow up and see if you still need help. Please let me know if you are still having any concerns or questions from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Thanks,

Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

I have tried the sequential reboot (unplugging the power of my router followed by my Nest Mini. Then Re-plug those devices starting with your router). I also rebooted iPad.

Problem still occurred. Now I will log each thing I try. It seems to last 24 hours and then disconnects. I hope to confirm if it’s exactly 24 hours.

Now I’ve reset nest mini gen 2 doing factory reset. I connected it to my guest wifi network (instead of my main) and also have the iPad on that guest network. I reconnected Bluetooth and am playing the loop. I logged today’s start time as 4:42pm and hope to be home to see if it’s still on tomorrow just before that time. I feel that it will fail again but will know more tomorrow (or sooner if it happens sooner). I really feel like maybe a nest mini 2 software update changed things for me and no longer allow it to play for days as it could before. I may have to switch to a “dumb” Bluetooth speaker if this issue continues as I just need my ambiance music to play round the clock.

i appreciate your help. If this doesn’t correct, I am hoping you can bring this up to the developers and that they may try setting up my situation for themselves and verify the issue that is happening with the two minis I have (original gen 2: and then replacement to verify it is not hardware issue— both gen 2 minis are behaving the same which makes me think it could be software). Thanks

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

Today I can confirm that at exactly 24 hours, the Bluetooth connection disconnected. I logged the start time yesterday and just now, exactly 24 hours later it disconnected. I checked on it 5 mins prior to 24 hours and it was still playing. I will try repeating this to make sure it’s not a wild coincidence. Now that I believe it’s exactly 24 hours, that should be good information to provide developers. I believe something probably changed in a software update as the two years prior to this issue it would play for weeks without disconnecting. Can you take this new info and look into it further?

-Casey

[Tesla_Coil]

Update:

I repeated my last finding and yesterday (Friday) disconnect appeared to happen right around the 24 hour mark again…. But today (Saturday) when trying to replicate again it lasted less than 24 hours. I happened to enter the room 1hr and 10m before 24 hours and the Bluetooth connection was disconnected. So, I’m afraid I may be back to square one. it may have just been a wild coincidence that the last two “tests” seemed to last 24 hours. I will continue to log and see if I can get a longer data set to see what seems to be happening. I will also try streaming to a non smart speaker from same iPad and see if it will stay connected longer than 24 hours. It’s a difficult problem to assess because it takes hours for disconnect to happen. I just know that prior it would play for weeks without disconnecting. I will keep people posted and update.

[Dan_A]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

I really appreciate your effort recording the hours and minutes on when bluetooth disconnects. Hats off to you. I also wanted to confirm, aside from the 10 mins early disconnection, it's all within the 24 hour range where bluetooth disconnects, right? Have you also confirmed it on other devices? I know it's asking a lot but it would really help a lot narrowing things down. In the meantime, let me get more info about this so that we could move forward.

Cheers,

Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

Yes, since I’ve been logging, it’s always been within 24 hours that Bluetooth disconnects from the Nest Mini Gen 2. I’ve had same results with trying other device with the Nest. Review my first post for more info on that.

I was leaving town for longer than 24 hours so set up another experiment. At 4pm on Sat 12/3/2022 I decided to try streaming the loop from the same iPad ( the same iPad that I used for 2+ years with my first Nest Mini Gen 2) to a larger Bose Soundlink III Bluetooth speaker (not a “smart” speaker). As of today, 46+ hours later, it is still connected and streaming the loop music to the Bose. I will let this continue and update you tomorrow too. Assuming it stays connected, this tells me that it’s likely something happening with the Google Nest. Do you agree?

Thanks,

-Casey

[Dan_A]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

I understand! Thank you for bearing with us. I'll be waiting for your update.

Cheers,

Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

I want to add this to the record. My device is on firmware version 1.56.313652. On November 13th, after experiencing this issue for a 2-3 weeks, I ordered a brand new Nest Mini Gen 2. I was hoping it was a hardware issue that would resolve with a new speaker. As we know now, it didn’t fix my issue. I am strongly suspecting a firmware update in maybe late October/early November is what triggered this new bug. Does the roll out of version 1.56.313652 correspond to this time frame? Any thoughts on trying the “preview program firmware” —?

Thanks,

-Casey

[Dan_A]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

Note added. Also, I highly recommend that you check the guides below first before deciding on the preview program. It could be a big help in the deciding factor.

• Preview Program overview
• Public Preview for Google Home app

We’re still waiting for an update if the Bluetooth connection is now more than 46 hours.

Best regards,
Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

Yes Bluetooth from same iPad to Bose (playing my music loop) is still going strong. It has now been 66 hours. It is performing the way my Google Nest Mini Gen 2 used to. Are you able to let me know when firmware 1.56.313652 was released? I am now highly suspecting my issue started with this firmware. The date of its release would be good information for this troubleshooting. Let me know if you can provide this?

Thanks,

-Casey

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

Apologies but for Nest speakers, we are not able to fully determine when the firmware update last took place but, you can click this link for you to know what the current firmware versions of your Nest devices should be and some other info.

Cheers,

Dan

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Dan,

As stated, my device was on 1.56.313652. I see now that 1.56.324896 was just rolled out as it’s now listed as “current production firmware.”

Just a few days ago, “current production firmware” was 1.56.313652 (version my device has) and  “current preview program firmware” was 1.56.324896… so it now appears that the preview firmware and current firmware are now both 1.56.324896. 

Since current firmware is now 1.56.324896 I will unplug the Nest Mini from power source, wait one minute, then plug it back in, to force the firmware upgrade.

I suppose I will have to start from square one with my logs to see if Bluetooth connection will last beyond 24 hours with this latest firmware.

I can confirm that the music loop from iPad to Bose soundlink iii has remained connected since 4pm Pacific Time, on Sat Dec 3, 2022. That’s 92+ hours of continuous connectivity. This tells me the device (my iPad), and it’s Bluetooth connection is not the problem. The Nest Mini Gen 2 firmware 1.56.313652  is the most likely suspect based on my testing. 

I will now force update the firmware and try Bluetooth to Nest streaming from same iPad again. I will update my findings. 

-Casey

-Casey

[Tesla_Coil]

Update: After trying to force an update with unplugging, waiting a minute, and plugging back in it still has the same firmware (not the latest). I expect firmware updates may roll out by region and perhaps it has not reached me yet. I guess I will be in a holding pattern.

[Tesla_Coil]

Update: I tried a factory restore of my original Nest Mini Gen 2, thinking this might make it grab the just released 1.56.324896 firmware but even after factory reset of the device, it remains on the prior 1.56.313652. So, while the link showing latest “current production firmware” says “1.56.324896” I am not able to get that firmware onto my device yet. Perhaps it’s a slow roll out and my region doesn’t have it yet? If you have any tips beyond the unplug and reboot or the factory restore, to get the latest firmware installed, let me know. 

[Tesla_Coil]

My nests have yet to grab the “current production firmware” which the link provided says is “1.56.324896” — I have tried unplugging, waiting 30 seconds, and letting it reboot and I’ve also tried a factory restore. Thus far it has not grabbed the latest firmware.

Dan, do you ave any ideas on how to get it to update the firmware? 

Also, music has been playing non stop to by Bose Soundlink III since 4pm on Dec, 3rd. It is still playing right now (238 hours straight without a single disconnect). So, I am confident this is a Google Nest Firmware issue. It came on when I believe 1.56.313652 was installed. 

[Muddi]

Hey Tesla_Coil,

We appreciate your efforts. What country are you located in? Have you check if there's an option to enroll your device in the Preview Program? Click here for the steps.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Tesla_Coil]

I am in the USA. I am familiar with the Preview Program… but since the Production Firmware is now the same version as preview, I was hoping to skip the step of joining the preview program. Perhaps trying that will help my device grab that firmware. This week is a bit busy so it’s less of a priority but I would like to get a solution to this annoyance issue. I will hold off on any further logging until I’ve the new firmware on my device(s). 

-Casey

[Tesla_Coil]

Update: Tonight when I checked, I had the current production firmware. So I started my music loop stream at 10:28pm pacific. I am logging again to see if it will play beyond 24 hours as it had prior to the last firmware update. I am hoping the issue was fixed. I will update my findings. 

[Tesla_Coil]

As mentioned I am now on the latest (just released) firmware. I connected to my nest at 10:28 pacific time last night and today at 3:04pm pacific it disconnected. I was in the room when it happened. So, from one trial it appears the issue has not been fixed. I just reconnected and will log this again to make sure it continues to disconnect. If this continues, I am confident it is an issue with the nest software. I have eliminated other possibilities. Can anything be done to let the developers know about this issue or will I have to buy a Bluetooth speaker that is not a nest? Any thoughts?

[Tesla_Coil]

Update: Yesterday at 4:24pm pacific I connected Bluetooth and becan playing the music loop. I checked it at 4:20pm today and it was no longer connected. I am repeating this one more time, but it seems that the new firmware did nothing to fix the issue. I believe This issue never existed prior to firmware 1.56.313652 (I used it for a few years straight without this disconnect issue— I was very happy with this little speaker… until….). Now I can confirm that it still is happening with 1.56.324896. Buying a new Nest has not solved the issue (so I feel safe eliminating hardware as the issue). If I switch to a non nest Bluetooth speaker (like my Bose Soundlink III) keeping everything else the same, it works flawlessly and does not disconnect (I went beyond a week in my test without any disconnects). To my mind this all points to Nest software (firmware) issue. 

Can you confirm if this can be brought up to developers? Will anyone care to fix this issue? Or would you suggest ditching the Nest for another Bluetooth speaker? If you read the entire discussion, you can see I’ve been at this for months now and have no solution. I have done the work on my end… and it seems it’s in Google’s hands now. 

-Casey

[Muddi]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

Chiming in, just an added questions: how far is your Nest Mini from your router? Does the same issue happen when you connect your Nest Mini to a different device via bluetooth? Also, what is the specific model of your iPad?

Looking forward to your response.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Muddi]

Hi there,

It's been some time since this thread was updated. Does anyone here need assistance?

Cheers,

Muddi

[Tesla_Coil]

Also, please be patient. It can take a full 24 hours before the device disconnects. I was out of town this weekend. It’s normal for a day or more to pass before I have any results to report from any test. I appreciate your help. Have you been able to read the entire thread to get up to speed on everything I’ve tried? This would help us not rehash things that have already been mentioned in prior posts. 

[Tesla_Coil]

Also, I asked the other specialists this question: “Can you confirm if this can be brought up to developers? Will anyone care to fix this issue? Or would you suggest ditching the Nest for another Bluetooth speaker? If you read the entire discussion, you can see I’ve been at this for months now and have no solution. I have done the work on my end… and it seems it’s in Google’s hands now.” 

Nobody answered.

[Muddi]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

Thanks for all the information. For the team to further investigate the issue, please send feedback using the keywords: "GHT3 Bluetooth keeps on disconnecting." It is best if you could send feedback after you experience the issue, and make sure that crash report is enabled. Visit this link or follow the steps below to know-how:

Turn on device reports:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as your speakers.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Touch and hold your device's tile.
4. At the top right corner of the screen, tap Settings Recognition & sharing.
5. Turn on Send [device model] device usage and crash reports to Google. (Example: Send Google Home device usage and crash reports to Google.)

Let us know once done.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Tesla_Coil]

As you can imagine things will be pretty busy this holiday weekend. I will follow up and confirm those latest steps have been done after the weekend. I hope to stay with this until there is a solution. Thanks!

[Muddi]

Hey Tesla_Coil,

No problem! I'll keep the thread open and wait for an update from you.

Happy Holidays!

Cheers,

Muddi

[Muddi]

Hi Tesla_Coil,

How was your device? Let us know if you still need help, and we're glad to further assist you.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Muddi]

Hey Tesla_Coil,

Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need assistance, feel free to start a new thread in the community and we’ll be happy to help.
 

Cheers,

Muddi

[Tesla_Coil]

Hi Muddi,

The nest mini is about 17 feet from my router. 

Yes, as mentioned in original post: “I switched to an iPhone (instead of iPad) to see if it was the iPad and the same issue is happening.” The same issue is happening when I connect nest mini to a different device. 

The iPad is an older Gen 3 iPad and playing my loop music is it’s only purpose. Please note that recently did a test where I did play from same iPad to a Bose Bluetooth speaker and it played over a week. It stayed connected until I called off the test. This is how my Nest Mini behaved for the first two years I owned it. 

-Casey