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Nest Hub will not connect to WiFi

MHG1
Community Member

Moved into an apartment which has a universal WiFi system, thus no router or modem. My Nest cannot find the wifi even though I have a strong signal on my phone.

Have reset and done so many restarts but no joy.

@Link 

@Nest 

9 REPLIES 9

David_K
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

Is it the type of Wi-Fi system that requires you to login to access the internet?

Can your phone or computer see that Wi-Fi network?

MHG1
Community Member

Yes my phone recognizes it but Nest can’t connect to it. 

David_K
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

And how do you connect to it on your phone? See the reply by @MplsCustomer below that explains why we're asking what type of Wi-Fi network it is.

MHG1
Community Member

I log onto the building WiFi then onto an apartment log on. 

David_K
Diamond Product Expert
Diamond Product Expert

In that case, Chromecast, Google Home and Google Nest devices don't support these kind of Wifi systems, known as captive portals, that require you to login first to be able to access the internet. There are a couple of possible solutions for this:

  1. As MplsCustomer mentioned, you can check with whoever manages your Wifi if they have a process to whitelist your device. They do this by allowing the unique MAC address of the device. Not all providers will be setup do this however. In addition, even this may not work on some Wifi networks, as the administrator may have enabled a security feature called client isolation, which prevents different devices from communicating with each other (i.e. your phone communicating with your device).

  2. Although unsupported by Google, you can try to use a phone or tablet as a Wifi hotspot. However, this will then use your mobile data plan, which could be expensive for you depending on the data plan you have with your carrier. Note you will need 2 devices to set this up.
    • Turn on the Wifi hotspot feature on a phone or tablet. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the manufacturer's support website.
    • Connect a second phone or tablet to that Wifi hotspot.
    • You can then use that second phone or tablet to setup your device and connect it to the Wifi hotspot on the first phone or tablet.

  3. If you're able to use  a wired network connection instead, you could invest in your own cheap router and connect your devices to that router instead.

Muddi
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey MHG1,

 

I hope we were able to answer your question with the info provided by @David_K and @MplsCustomer. If you have additional questions, feel free to respond to this thread and we'd be happy to further assist you.

 

Cheers,

Muddi

Muddi
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

 

How's it going with your device? Let us know if you still need help and the Community will be happy to lend a hand.

 

Cheers,

Muddi

Muddi
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey MHG1,

 

Due to inactivity, I'll go ahead and lock this thread in 24 hours. Feel free to start a new thread if you need assistance with your Google speakers and we'd be glad to assist you further.
 

Cheers,

Muddi

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@MHG1 

It depends how your apartment complex's Wi-Fi network is managed. If they use a network commonly known as a Captive Portal, which routes you to an authentication page to sign and accept its terms and conditions before you can connect, it may be incompatible with Google Nest and Home devices. You MIGHT be able to connect your Nest Hub to such a Captive Portal if you provide your apartment's network administrator with the MAC address of your Nest Hub.

You'll probably need to talk to your apartment's network administrator to make this work, IF it can be done.

Here's a similar thread:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Home-Automation/Nest-mini-WiFi-connection-issue/m-p/361974