Smart plugs not responding sometimes through Google Nest Hub (2nd gen)

[dano1066]

I have several Tapo smart plugs connected to my Google Home account. I am finding that when I use a voice command to turn the plug on, it fails to respond. When I ask Google to turn the plug on, it will show the plug on the screen and it will turn green but after 10 seconds or so, it will turn back to the off position to suggest it failed to turn the plug on.

I can make the request multiple times and it fails to turn on. If i load up the Tapo app on my phone, I am able to turn the plug on without any issues. I can control the plugs just fine through the Tapo app but when Google Home tries to communicate with the plugs, they randomly fail to respond.

I have been speaking with TP link about this and there is no resolution for this. Theres no obvious cause to the problem from their end, especially when the request to their cloud network works just fine from the Tapo app, it appears to be the Google Hub that is failing to work properly.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can debug this. Do the Google Hubs have any debug logs that I could check to see what is going wrong internally? I need some way to debug this to find out why it is failing.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

Thanks for reaching out.

We're sorry to hear about this experience of controlling your Tapo plugs using your Google Nest Hub. A few things I'd like to ask-- how far are these plugs from your router and Google Nest Hub? Are they all set up in the same Wi-Fi network as well as same home structure? 

Let's go ahead and try these steps first: 

1. Unlink your Tapo account from the Home app.
2. Make sure that all plugs can be controlled using the Tapo app.
3. Reboot the Google Nest Hub and router (unplug the devices for few minutes)
4. As soon as the devices are plugged in, link back your Tapp account on the Home app.

Let us know if these steps work.

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

The wifi signal is quite good. I have a mesh extender for the wifi signal which gives full signal to everything around the house. The tapo plugs are all showing strong signal indicators in the app.

I did a one up one the suggested steps. I reset a plug and setup a wifi booster that creates a separate SSID. So I have one tapo plug on its own network from the wifi booster. I set this plug up with my tapo account and relinked it to google home. After many hours of testing, the plug would occasionally fail to turn on showing that the issue was not resolved.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

Thanks for trying the steps. Can you try to setup all your devices to your main router so we can further isolate if the issue only exists when using your mesh Wi-Fi points?

Let us know how it goes.

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

I actually bought the mesh network in the hope it would fix the issue but it did not. It does still occur with just the router or with the mesh setup. Using a WiFi access point with a separate ssid did isolate the network / signal to that one single device and it remained. 

I know this is a tricky one to debug with many variables. I just need some internal logs from Google home and I'd likely find the cause but those logs are not available to me.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

We appreciate your efforts. I know how challenging it is to setup your devices. However, we would like to check further if this will show the same behavior even if you set it up using a mobile hotspot. 

Best,

Princess

[Muddi]

Hey there,

How was your device? Let us know if you still need help, and we're glad to assist you further.

Cheers,

Muddi

[dano1066]

The issue is very hard to predict. I can sometimes not happen for 48 hours and then it happens randomly. I did spend some time trying to get this to happen over a hotspot and it did not happen.

TP link sent me out and older model of their smart plugs. The older 1.2 model of the smart plug works perfectly. Never has delays, never has any issues at all. The newer 2.0 model does not seem to work correctly via google home. Any time the new model plug fails to turn on via Google Home, I can use the Tapo app to turn it on instantly. The problem is specifically turning the plugs on via Google Home.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

Thanks for the additional info. Can you check if it will exhibit the same behavior if you command your Google Assistant from your phone instead commanding Google Nest Hub?

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

This is difficult to achieve due to there being a google hub in most rooms of the house. One of the hubs will always pick up my voice. This is where my need for logs came up though. If the problem is with the google hub unable to make outbound calls or something, I would need to see some log information from this hub to find out what has gone wrong.

It doesnt look like the hub has issues communicating with the internet though. I have often been streaming a video or something when the issue happens (it does also happen when the hub is idle)

I am quite sure the google hub is picking up the command correctly though. If i ask it to turn on a socket, the screen updates with a picture of the socket which turns green. There is a "Turn off" button below this. After a few seconds of not responding, the screen updates to show the plug is off. So this confirms internet activity of some kind as it knows the request failed to turn the plug on. It just doesnt tell me what went wrong.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

We appreciate your efforts. Since you've mentioned on the previous post that you did a reset on the plugs, have you already tried a full reset on your Google Nest Hub itself?

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

Yes, I have tried this. I have three gen 2 hubs and one of the pebble speakers. It seems unlikely that all 4 of them would be broken but I did reset the primary one I use and it didnt help.

I really need to access the logs though. There could be a lot of factors at play and if there was a log i could just see what the error is and why it is failing.

[Princesss]

Hi dano1066,

Thanks for all the details you've shared. Can you please provide your device's cast firmware version?

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

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is linked to the same account as your speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Touch and hold your device's tile.
4. At the top right, tap Settings Device information.
5. Under "Technical information," find Cast firmware: X.XXX.XXXXX.

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

System Firmware: 309385

Cast firmware: 1.56.309385

[Princesss]

Hi there,

We appreciate all your efforts. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information then let me know once done.

Best,

Princess

[dano1066]

I have completed the form

[Juni]

Hi dano1066,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email anytime soon. Please continue the conversation there as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Regards,

Juni