Terrible Support after Google Home Mini (1st Gen) Bricked

[slowtort8]

CaseID: 9-9715000038583

1. Updated the Google Home app on my main phone to the newest version - no change; the speaker still wouldn’t appear.

2. Attempted setup on two different Android handsets (one with Android 9, one with Android 14). Neither detected the Google Home Mini.

3. Factory-reset the speaker 4–5 times (held the reset button ~15 s until the Assistant chime). Each reset finished, but the device remained undiscoverable.

4. Moved the unit to multiple spots in the house to rule out Wi-Fi dead zones - no improvement.

5. Confirmed proper power and no physical damage (original adapter, solid LED).

6. Listened to the voice prompts after every power-up:

   • “Welcome to Google Home. To get started, download the Google Home app…”

   • When I said “Hey Google,” it replied: “Your Google Home isn’t set up yet…”
     -- So the speaker never exits first-boot mode.

7. Noticed the speaker’s setup hotspot is no longer broadcast (it used to show up).

8. Power-cycled the speaker (unplugged 2 min, plugged back in). Still invisible.

9. Rebooted the Wi-Fi router (unplug 2 min, wait for full reconnect) and retried—same result.

10. Tried a third phone just in case; still no discovery.

11. Granted Google Support 90-minute viewing access to my Home app; they couldn’t see the speaker either.

12. Sent two screenshots of the Home app, perpetually stuck on “Looking for devices.”

13. Verified Location Services were already ON and set to “Allow all the time” for Google Home.

14. Uninstalled and re-installed the Google Home app, then force-closed and relaunched - it changed nothing.

15. Performed one more factory reset and immediate setup attempt from a different phone - still invisible.

16. Left the speaker unplugged for 1–2 weeks - issue persisted.

17. Completed all account-verification steps with support: supplied the serial # (8C26LWMRZ1), verified email/phone, read back multiple SMS codes, etc.

I have tried all the above steps, and the issue persists. I am not at all happy with the support received, especially after spending 2+ hours. I was expecting a replacement, given that just out of the blue (probably due to an OTA update), the Google Home device stopped working.

What prevents Google from pushing a software update that bricks our device, forcing us to buy a new one?

[slowtort8]

Tried the following additional steps as asked by the support team:

1. Bluetooth: I confirmed that Bluetooth is enabled on my phone/tablet, but the device was still not discoverable in the Google Home app.

2. Same Wi-Fi Network: My phone/tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi network that I intend to use for the Google Home Mini, but the issue persisted.

3. Separate Wi-Fi Bands: I separated my router’s 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks into different SSIDs and connected my phone/tablet to the 2.4 GHz network.

4. Tried Setup on 2.4 GHz: After connecting to the 2.4 GHz network, I attempted setup again, but the Google Home Mini was still not found.

5. Merging SSIDs: I kept the SSIDs separate as suggested to ensure device stability, but this did not resolve the issue.

6. UPnP: I checked my router settings and made sure that UPnP is enabled, but the device remained undiscoverable.

7. Multicast Support: I ensured that multicast is enabled on my router, and also tried temporarily disabling IGMP Snooping, but it did not help.

8. Firewall Settings: I lowered the firewall security level and checked to make sure the relevant ports (1900, 5353, 8008, 8009, 80, 443) were not blocked, but there was no change.

9. Mobile Hotspot Test: I used two mobile devices to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot as described, and tried to set up the Google Home Mini using the second device connected to the hotspot. Even in this setup, the Mini was still not discoverable in the Google Home app.

Unfortunately, after performing all of these troubleshooting steps, the Google Home Mini is still not showing up in the Google Home app for setup.