Groups on Nest Hubs stopped working

[gtext]

I have two Nest Hubs and three Mini Speakers. I have a group consisting of the Nest Hubs and one of the mini speakers. Asking to play a radio station for example on  any of the Mini Speakers starts the radio on the whole group. If I do the same on either of the nest Hubs they just search on Google without playing anything. This has worked ok for a couple of years but has now suddenly stopped working.

The problem seems to only be with the Nest Hubs.

[StanTheMan]

Similar issue, as of yesterday my google devices refuse to recognize speaker groups to play music on...  
"Play music on the main floor" results in a "Sorry I didnt understand" when its worked for the last two years

Rebooted, checked firmware versions, everything but no luck.
This is one of my favorite things about these things and if its not working any more well, that just sucks.  
11 speakers, 8 nest mini version 2, one google mini version 1, one google nest display, and a sony waterproof one and two days not working  😞

[gtext]

Yes looking at various posts there are similar issues to mine. The problem is not with me I think and up to Google to sort out.

[Dan_A]

Hi folks,

@@gtext, @StanTheMan, this is not the experience we wanted you to have, let us help you. A few things: which Nest speakers are we working with? When did your issue begin? Were there any recent changes made?

It would help a lot if you could do a sequential reboot first: 

1. Unplug the power cord of your router followed by your Nest speakers.
2. Plug them back in after 3 minutes tops.
3. Restarting your phone might also help.

Once done, change the speaker group name. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the Google Home app.
2. Tap the speaker or speaker group that you wish to change the name.
3. Tap on the gear icon at the top-right corner to open the Device settings page for the speaker.
4. Tap on the Name option.
5. Customize your speaker's name and tap SAVE to continue.
6. Do the same on individual speakers and try the command to play music.

For more information, see this guide.

Tell us how it goes.

Best,

Dan

[gtext]

Hi Dan, It fixed itself over the weekend. I suspect Google may have fixed it at their end. Anyway all good now.

[Muddi]

Hey gtext,

Perfect! We're happy to hear that your issue was resolved! It looks like we can consider this one complete, so I will lock the thread shortly unless I can help out with anything else. 
 

Cheers,

Muddi

[gtext]

Hi Muddi, Well I spoke too soon. The problem has returned. 

[Muddi]

Hey gtext,

Oh no! Could you tell us what radio station you are having an issue with. Have you tried other stations? Also, does the same issue happen when you use a song to play on your speaker group?

Cheers,

Muddi

[gtext]

Hi Maddi, Went through your suggestion restarting the router and speakers and renamed the group. What I've discovered is the Nest Hubs refuse to recognise a group name with "Group" in the name. ie. music group, radio group, speaker group etc. Works ok if the group is called music, radio, speaker etc. The Mini speakers don't care what the name is and work ok using the name "group".

[Muddi]

Hi gtext,

To confirm, are you able to play the station on your speaker group after renaming it?

Cheers,

Muddi

[gtext]

Hi Muddi, Yes working ok after renaming. Used to be "Music Group" for the last couple of years and worked well. I renamed "Music" which fixed it. As far as I can see you can rename it anything as long as "Group" isn't in the name. Weird as it only effects Nest Hubs not Mini speakers.

Thanks for your help.

[Muddi]

Hey gtext,

Got it! I'm happy to hear that renaming your group fixed the issue. We are constantly updating the system of the Google Home/Nest devices, and it is best if you could use a unique name on your speaker group for the device to easily recognize your command.

@StanTheMan : How was your device? You might want to try the steps provided by @gtext.

Cheers,

Muddi

[StanTheMan]

Nope, my speaker groups are "All Speakers" and "Main floor".  It started working again for 2 days about 4 days ago, but the last two days are a lot more "Sorry, I didnt understand"

[StanTheMan]

Also spotted this thread with many other users having the same issue
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Speaker-Groups-no-longer-responding-to-...

[gtext]

Hi Muddi,

Spoke too soon. None of the speakers are working with the group now. Tried recreating the group didn't help. Giving up for the moment and let Google sort it out. Something that has worked well in the past is now broken. Not waisting any more time on it. Thanks for your help.

[Muddi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the update. Do you get the same message when playing music for other speakers? Try asking one of your Google Home/Nest devices to play music to other speakers like "Hey Google, play music on <name of speaker>"

Let us know the result.

Cheers,

Muddi

[gtext]

Seems to be working ok for me now for the last couple of days. Not sure for how long though. Reverted back to the original group name also that I've used for the past couple of years. Looks like Google found the cause. Hoping it stays that way now. 

[LovelyM]

Hey everyone, 

@gtext, thanks for keeping us posted. Glad to know your Google Nest devices are now up and running. Let's continue to observe your devices for three more days and let me know if the issue reoccurs.

Kind regards, 
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hello gtext, 

I want to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having trouble, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Best,
Lovely

[gtext]

Hi, No issues now. The issue I had hasn't returned. Thanks for following it up.

[LovelyM]

Hey gtext, 

Awesome — glad to hear that the issue no longer persists. I will lock the thread within 24 hours. Feel free to create a new post if you have other concerns or questions in the future.

Cheers,
Lovely