My nest mini keeps disconnecting from wifi due to my vpn

[MizMish]

After using the process of elimination, I figured out that my nest mini really doesn't like my vpn. I have to turn it off to connect the nest to my wifi, then I turn the vpn again. It'll stay on for a while, sometimes hours, sometimes 30 minutes, then it'll kick itself off until I do it again. I'm really perplexed because in the last month I've hooked up a doorbell, hub, and camera on the same wifi with the same vpn with no issues, but the nest mini is the picky one.

Is there any way to resolve this without ceasing use of my vpn?

[WebNurse]

Maybe I can help, maybe not. Maybe someone else. It's quite doable and I'm reasonably confident the issue is router based. You don't need the latest, greatest, most expensive gizmos for it to work.

I have four Nest Minis; 30+ WiFi bulbs, switches, outlets; thermostat; and a couple other things. Garage and some outside lights and maybe one mini go through a cheap Amped REC22P range extender. Everything comes together in the laundry room on a less than $70 Linksys E8450 flashed with Openwrt 22.03.2 using Wireguard protocol. That router is plugged into my 8+ year old Verizon FIOS G1100 gateway. ISP is Frontier; VPN provider is Surfshark. I have the gateway give the router a fixed IP address and set that address as DMZ on the gateway.

So, what exactly is the error? What does the mini say? Is the message that it can't reach the internet or hold on while it connects to WIFI? Something else?

Correction could be as simple as making sure the router is pushing signal at full power or using a different channel. But right now trying to help is like throwing darts blindfolded after a six pack. First thing is a get a free Android app like WiFi Analyzer (olgor.com). See what the signal strength and channel congestion is at the mini. Then if full power and channel change don't get the job done...maybe frequency.

My minis hiccup on 5 GHz and seem to like the router on Ch. 11,  2.4 GHz, N only, 40 MHz. With the exception of two ROKUs, my printer plus all my "smart" stuff is on the 2.4 GHz. Computer, tablet, etc. go 5 GHz, 80MHz, AX. More help needs more information about your setup, but there are a couple more hints below like lowering MTU. And your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz should have different SSID.

Other than turning off / on the VPN, what else has been tried? Process of elimination? What did you eliminate? You mention a hub; what kind of hub? Is the mini going through the hub or direct to router?

Do you have a combined modem & router? Or modem from ISP and your own router connected to it? (I disabled ISP gateway DNS in favor of router DNS from VPN provider). What's your router? Are you at its RAM limit? Are you at its storage limit? What firmware did you flash it with? How many simultaneous connections does the router support and are you over that number?

Which VPN protocol? Single point or multi-hop? Have you changed endpoint? Is the endpoint domain name or IP address? What router settings did you adjust and what are they? What's your MTU on the VPN tunnel? I had to get down to 1360 for peaceful coexistence on my E8450.

Regards.

[Alex_S · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,
 

MizMish, Google Nest and Home devices cannot communicate with the router if any VPN or proxy servers are turned on. There’s no workaround we can try for this, but you can always send feedback, as the team is always looking for ways to improve our product. Let me know if I can help you with anything else on Google Home.

Thanks for the input, WebNurse.

Regards,
Alex

[MizMish]

Thank you, Alex, for the sad fact thats not at all surprising. I just sent feedback. Here's to hoping Google comes around to the idea.

[Alex_S]

Hello MizMish,
 

I understand how you feel, and we appreciate you sending the feedback. It is really helpful for us that you are providing feedback on things we should improve for a better user experience. We’re always here to help in case you have other concerns.

Warmly,
Alex

[WebNurse]

Hi,

I beg to differ with Alex, particularly the word "cannot" which may be interpreted "impossible." Since I am running four Nest Minis via WiFi through the router VPN, the task is not impossible and can be done. My minis are set to auto-update firmware so the assumption is they have the most recent.

I'm sure it's frustrating for MizMish being told the minis are incompatible with personal home security. Perhaps the original question is more suited to a networking forum for the particular router hardware or firmware with which it was flashed. Google seems to do a decent job supporting their devices in standard use. Once we go flashing routers with non-factory firmware, we're wandering into the unsupported forest.

There is an option two if you just can't get the mini happy with the router WiFi VPN...bypass WiFi on the VPN router and go hardwired through the VPN. Again we're back to a networking issue, but perhaps less complicated. This takes a second WiFi router...almost any cheap one that gets a decent N signal to your smart things will do. Connect your smart things to the no VPN cheap WiFi. Get a network cable and plug one end to the WAN / Internet port of that second router. Plug the other end to one of the LAN ports on the router with the VPN. You can disable DNS on the cheapie WiFi as that would be provided through the LAN connection.

Regards.