Google nest hubs stay magically connected during outage. How come?

[Ugnbugn]

All our nest hubs are connected to our home wifi. When the Optus network crashed across Australia yesterday we lost all connectivity - broadband, mobile phone, 5G - everything! Yet our hubs remained fully connected to the internet, and I can't figure out why. Any suggestions?

[Princesss]

Hello Ugnbugn,

Thanks for posting in the Community.

That incident is pretty weird. If connection is lost, Google Nest speakers automatically disconnects from the network. Do you still remember how long the outage is? What is the status of the speakers now, are they working properly?

We'd love to know more details about it.

Best,

Princess

[Ugnbugn]

Hi Princess. Yes, weird is the word for it. In the past whenever we've lost internet connectivity the hubs are usually our first indication. This was the worst network outage in Australia's history, Optus is the country's second largest provider behind Telstra. Over 12,000 people, businesses, government departments etc lost all connectivity - both internet and mobile, and the outage took over 12 hours to rectify. It was actually scary because even the emergency number which normally uses any available network was not working. Has been blamed on a software upgrade gone wrong. Our Federal government has commenced an inquiry into the outage. We have 5 nest hubs throughout the house, and every one of them stayed online and all have continued to work perfectly. I posted the query not as a problem but as a conundrum that I just can't fathom! If you or anyone has any suggestions we would love to hear them. Cheers!

[Ugnbugn]

I meant over 12 million...🙄

[Princesss]

Hello there,

Thanks for the additional details you've shared. Let's try performing a complete reset to your device and see if this would change its behavior. Here's the steps to perform a complete reset: Factory reset Google Nest or Home speakers or displays

Once done, set it up and let's observe its behavior. Lastly, kindly provide your speaker's cast firmware version.

Check the firmware version of your speaker or display

To check which firmware version you're on, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap your device's tile.
3. Tap Settings Device information.
4. Under "Technical information," check for Cast firmware: "X.XXX.XXXXX." If the device is on Fuchsia, check for System firmware version: "X.XXXXXXXX.X.XXXXXXX".

Check the version on your Nest display

1.  Swipe up from the bottom of the display screen.
2. Tap Settings About device. You should find your "Cast firmware version."
   • For Nest Hub (1st gen) and Nest Hub Max: If “Fuchsia Version” is also listed, this means your device runs Fuchsia.

Looking forward to your response.

Best,

Princess

[PABD]

Princesses why do a system check. The nest worked when the Optus NBN and mobile network was down completely. So answer the question why and how did the Nest continue to play?.. Note we had the same result its how we were able to stay upto date with the Optus issue.

[Ugnbugn]

Hi PABD. Thanks for your input. You are quite right, no reset is required, the hubs appear to be working perfectly. I'm glad to hear that we weren't the only ones to experience this rather inexplicable, but favorable, behavior. Princess, thanks for your input but I'm not intending to interfere with the system while it is operating properly, even if we have no immediate answer to the mystery.

[Juni]

Hi folks, 

We are glad that it’s working now. If you need help, you know where to find us.

Regards,

Juni