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Multiple devices responding at the same time

seknav
Community Member

Issue began week of December 20.

 

I've had multiple Google Home and Nest speakers in our home for years. Nothing has changed in the past 6 months. 2 weeks ago, multiple speakers are answering when the wake command is issued. I say 'Hey Google, what is 1+1?' and two or three speakers will respond with the information or action that has been requested. There are four speakers on the floor I'm on. One that I'm next to, and others in completely separate rooms respond. There is one in a bedroom (2nd gen Mini) and one in the bathroom (Nest Audio) which regularly go rogue. The other in another bedroom is silent.

 
I understand that upon hearing the wake command, multiple devices negotiate with each other to decide which will respond. In this case they don't seem to be following that procedure (the one in the other room or the bathroom jump in even though the one I'm standing next to is closest).
 
I've rebooted the devices and the wake sensitivity is already set to low.
 
Why is this happening and how can I resolve it?
 
I have read existing articles but this specific issue (multiple devices on the same network responding to one wake command) is not covered.
 
I asked this question in the Google Assistant community but was asked to post it here.
1 Recommended Answer

KiiFromGoogle
Community Manager (Admin)
Community Manager (Admin)

Hi everyone,

We recently worked with a Senior Product Manager on the Google Assistant team to write a blog about about what's happening when multiple devices respond to your Google Assistant requests. She shared some tips to help improve which device responds to requests overtime. Be sure to check out the blog post for all the detailsFAQs: Using Google Assistant and Multiple Devices.

 

While this thread is now closed, we started a new discussion about this topic to gather feedback. You can also submit feedback for the team through your devices at any time. 

 

Thanks! 

View Recommended Answer in original post

473 REPLIES 473

This does not work. It is not the solution. Please remove it

Nicholas Hutchings

You have to click on the three dots, then click on report it.  I reported it as...IDK, I chose something.  

I tired it. worked for a few days and now the issue is back! 

No!!!  This is NOT a solution!!!  Google community needs to stop saying that it is.   It works for a couple of days, then it starts back up again.  

This is fraudulent!!!  It's a lie!!!  Um reporting this "solution" as untrue!!!

I am sure the solution works. But I don't think this is the simplest solution. Now with pixel watch this problem has become even more pronounced since the watch tries to answer everything in it's tiny feeble voice 

Problem is it's only a temporary fix.  What happens is it starts all over again, then slowly begins to get worse again.  

I think there's some sort of software glitch they need to fix that degrades each time it goes through it's cycle. 

So, let's say you reset it.  It's fine at first.  Depending on what you tell it to do (simple things?), it may not degrade as quickly at first.  If you don't use it as much it may degrade slower.  Then, maybe a couple days later it's the weekend and you're home, relaxing.  You want to listen to a podcast or some music.  You ask it to do something more complicated (play a particular podcast on your LR Hub and kitchen nest).  It gets it wrong and you try to correct it (I use this example because it has happened), but it gets confused and plays some weird podcast on your LR Hub about kitchens.  You try to correct it, but it ignores you, so you tell it to stop playing, look it up on your phone and play there.

Throughout the weekend it gets some things right, some wrong, and as it screws up, it degrades further.  You send feedback to Google, but they're not really doing anything to correct the issue and your system, due to the glitch, is like a little child, not sure when to answer or what to do, eventually almost giving up.  

Google needs to dig in and find their software glitch and fix it.  They need to stop blaming us for having issues here.  I've reset mine several times, even to the point of uninstalling all of my software and hardware and beginning from scratch.  No matter what I do, it happens again.  My router is 2.4, I've spoken to "customer service", and these people in here they put me off with excuses until it was too late to return this faulty stuff, and now I'm just furious with Google.  

I even have a Chromebook, which I love, but I'll never buy another one when this goes out because I'm done with them until they fix this mess because I can't trust them. 

swd10a
Community Member

Google has done a TERRIBLE job of supporting this for SO many people. My problem is a combo of ALL the problems ALL the other people are having and has been going on for over 2 + years. I have invested HUNDREDS of $$'s on SO much of their equipment but NO MORE... they have NO IDEA on how to fix these issues I am sure of that. Deleting the profiles and staring ALL over only buys you a LITTLE bit of time then it starts ALL over again. (I have done this many many times) Their technology is NOT ready for the world and they need to re-do it from the ground up. Until then... we will ALL have this problem if you have more than 1 device in your home. I've heard this problem with Alexa from Amazon users as well... so changing brands doesn't get you anything.  It's very sad and we all had SO many hopes. Google, I'm sure you are NOT listening... but we ALL deserve SO MUCH BETTER than this and we WILL remember how bad this is and how you have left us all high and dry. So sad. 

GodsRaven
Community Member

Wish I could give you 100 kudos for that comment.  You're preaching to the choir here.  

Here's the problem.  They don't care and if the moderator answers you, it will just be to be condescending and patronizing.  I'm so over it.

After almost a year of the same thing everyone else has been complaining about (including me), for the last two weeks my system is working perfectly. I'm going to say it again, because this has to work for others as well.  1. Make sure all devices are using the latest (and hopefully the same) version of Android. Mine definitely improved when they were all on 13.   2. Make sure there are NO other WiFi sources in your house besides the one you want to use. I discovered that my Spectrum modem had WiFi turned on, even though I wasn't using it. When I contacted them to have it turned off, they also put that modem into Bridge mode- basically just makes it a bridge to my wired router without any extraneous signals going out. Literally minutes after doing that my system started reacting correctly and hasn't reverted back.

Good luck all.

duced
Community Member

Why put them on the 2.4 if they can see the 5? 

 

GodsRaven
Community Member

First, I don't have a 5G router, 2nd - many devices (mercury lightbulbs, etc) aren't 5G capable yet, 3rd - others have mentioned difficulties with Google and 5G, and last - I've had enough issues with Google without adding to them.

Bitz09
Community Member

How do you limit the devices to 2.4?  Is it in the configuration?  This is not a solution.  The industry standard is to push devices to 5 if they support it.  2.4 is kept in reserve for devices that have a very poor signal, or only support it (like a lot of IOT devices).

FYI - I have done this with an additional Access Point and it doesn't make a difference.  I wish we would get real solutions, not just a rehash of busy work.

GodsRaven
Community Member

Not sure if duced is responding, but yeah, I've read where a lot of people are saying they're having difficulty with their devices working with their 5G routers, including Google's own 5G.  IDK, as this isn't my issue.  Industry standard is not yet 5G as there are a lot of devices out there that don't work with it.  I have an excellent electronics friend who has given me good reasons not to switch as of yet, so I'll be staying with 2.4 as long as possible.

Bitz09
Community Member

The beauty is you don't have to switch, MESH systems combine 2.4 and 5 into a single SSID.  My TP-LInk AP's not in MESH mode allow me to do that combo.  I have two SSIDS, one Combo and one 2.4 only (for IOT devices).

GodsRaven
Community Member

Well, this isn't the issue anyway, so it doesn't matter.  The issue is their software sucks.

This only works if you can switch to 2.4 or 5ghz on the router, I've got the Google nest WiFi and separate mesh hub, for reasons unknown to anyone except Google you can't switch between or even name them separately to identify which frequently you're on.... It's been an absolute nightmare trying to connect things on 2.4ghz , I've had to walk down the garden until my phone automatically switches to the 2.4ghz band from 5ghz to get things to work...

For people as smart as they are at Google this is pretty stupid if you ask me.. At the moment there is NO workaround apart from moving away till the signal drops out and it's switched to 2.4ghz ( in my case that's 10 meters from the house down the garden) fine on a good day.. But its winter here in the UK and standing in the rain at the bottom of my garden waving my phone around till it drops the 5 GHz is a bit tiresome.

I only have 2.4 right now, on phone and router.  Frankly I'm quite happy with that.  The devices I have hooked up will only work on 2.4.   Everything was fine until about a year ago.  At that point things started getting worse slowly.  Now, my Google system barely works.  My phone sometimes answers instead of my Hub.  When I ask for an alarm, instead of just setting it on my closest one, it sets on the whole house (even if I say it quietly), but then when I hit the "snooze" or turn off the alarm, the rest of the house doesn't recognize it, so I have to shout it to the rest of the house (saying it quietly doesn't work).   Turning on lights is a hit or miss.  Sometimes it says a light is suddenly not connected (it is), sometimes it will say there was an error and to try again in a few seconds (even though it turned the light on).  This whole thing is a disaster.  

The only reason I still have this is I'm on a fixed income (disabled), I use these to help me, and can't afford to buy new ones right now.  I'm thinking if switching over to Alexa as soon as I can afford it.  Right now, I see buying the Google system as not just a huge mistake, but a disaster.  

Here's another hilarious screwup.  I tried to type the items I use in "Associated Products", but it can't find anything.  No Google Nest or Hub.  Heck, it doesn't even recognize the word "Google".  

"Google" - Where your life goes to die.

Well that’s annoying 

I’m having the same problem and I want to take all of mine and throw them in the trash.  I have Alexa too and it works much better in most all categories 

lando
Community Member

As I posted on a duplicate issue, same issue here. Hopefully going to see a response from Google. Primarily happening between new Nest Hub and new Nest Audio.

GodsRaven
Community Member

You'll never see Google do anything about it.  They've known for 9 months now.  They don't care 

surprised that the Google heads haven't figured out a way to fix this without the experts at Google doing their jobs?

Experts?  They have experts?  Coulda fooled me.

"get a pixel!"....i did

"get google wifi!"  i did

"clear your cache!"....i did

falm palm

swd10a
Community Member

I've had this problem for OVER 2 YEARS NOW. 

GodsRaven
Community Member

So annoying for these stupid "community specialists" to ask what help we need, refer us to "solutions" which were posted back in January which were proven not to work, and they obviously don't listen to what we tell them.  I think they're bots.  

Gk3
Community Member

Re some theories about geographic location/us being on same server. I'm in Ireland. My house in the west has been having this problem with multiple device for months, can't sort it out. Now, today, out of nowhere my apartment in Dublin, with just two devices, has started the same thing. Completely head wrecking

GodsRaven
Community Member

Exactly.  If you get an Echo Hub and a Google nest, no problems, but they can't speak to each other.  The problem is GOOGLE, but they won't admit t.  They have a software problem.

Muffinhead
Community Member

Same issue here, started a few weeks ago…

Kill00
Community Member

Same. Issue.

Gigabomb
Community Member

I have a Lenovo google home in my bonus room and just added a Google Hub to my computer desk for a clock/digital picture frame.  I am having the same issue that when I say "hey google" both devices respond, annoying when trying to ask the weather or play music.  I can get around the music by telling to to play "computer desk" which is the custom room I added it to.  Hopefully there is an option to fix before I return the hub.

elstie
Community Member

I started with just a Nest Audio I bought a couple weeks ago, and everything between it and my phone would respond properly (i.e. the Audio would respond, my phone would wake up, but it would go back go sleep). Within the last week, I added 2 nest hubs and a mini in various rooms in the house, and now absolutely EVERYTHING responds including my phone. All products are brand new.

I tried reinstalling the home app, but it didn't seem to do anything. Not sure factory resetting will help since they're all brand new devices.

elstie
Community Member

Never thought it would work, but I went around the house factory resetting each device after reading this thread, and the problem was gone. I was skeptical at first, and did just one that was having an issue but was also out of earshot with the door closed. Once that worked (couldn't believe it), I then went and did all the other devices, including the Nest Audio that worked fine originally less than a couple weeks ago.

Give it a shot. It's as close to a solution as we've got right now.

GodsRaven
Community Member

Except, as I'm sure you're aware, after a day or two, it start back up again.

GodsRaven
Community Member

Factory resetting doesn't help.  It will work for a day or two, then start up again.

CCP
Community Member

I'm having the same issue, even if I talk very softly near my bedroom Nest Mini, I'll hear the one in the living room respond as well even though I know it doesn't hear me.

rmassey
Community Member

I have a Google assistant in each room (built into Sonos One’s) and a HomeHub Max. All Google Assistants have started working independently w/c 10th Jan 2022. My setup worked fine before and only the nearest speaker would respond. Super annoying… how do I fix. I’ve already tried removing the assistants and re-adding them.

Pre86
Community Member

Same started happening with mine. Seems like a buggy update. Maybe they are trying to make it so you can adjust volume of speakers in a group individually without having to use the app (previously any speaker that was part of a group could not adjust volume at all because of their reaction to the patent dispute with Sonos). Would love to get this fixed as it seems like all my speakers now have hyper hearing too. 

Wdhnsn
Community Member

Same here. Sonos speakers with GA worked great before, when I say command all would listen but only one would respond. Now all respond and not in sync.

Tenorbanjocam
Community Member

Same happening here... I have Nests in every room and have had for months, as of early January they now respond simultaneously even if I whisper. I have deleted my home, factory reset all devices and started from scratch, this worked for about an hour then the problem returned. very annoying!!