Unable to setup original Google Home speaker

[smontanaro]

We "inherited" a first gen Google Home speaker from my mother-in-law. I have so far been unable to set it up on our network. Here are the moving parts:

• Google Home speaker (factory reset)
• Google Pixel 3 running Android 12
• Google Home App
• Google mesh wifi (again, original stuff, works flawlessly)

Here's what I do:

1. Open Home app on my phone
2. Poke the "+" button (upper left)
3. Poke "Set up device"
4. Tap "New device"
5. Tap "Next" (our "Home" is already selected)
6. The app finds the Google Home ("Google Home found"), I tap yes
7. The app says "Connecting to Google Home..." and does some block gymnastics. Once connected, the speaker chimes to notify me of the connection. I tap Yes.
8. I agree to binding arbitration. :rolleyes:
9. I decline to help improve Google Home
10. In response to "Where is this device?" I select "Kitchen" then tape Next
11. In response to the various wi-fi netowkr choices I make sure ours is selected, then tape Next.
12. I enter the password manually (using the saved password doesn't work either) and tap Connect.
13. A dialog box is displayed which reads "Could not communicate with your Google Home." Around this time the speaker also notifies me that it can't connect to my wi-fi network.

I've gotten to step 13 probably a half dozen times at this point. I've never gotten farther and have never crashed and burned earlier. Any advice about how to get past this barrier would be appreciated.

[Ashepherdson]

It's possible it's a router issue, what kind of router do you have?  Have you tried a router reboot before starting the setup? 

[smontanaro]

As I indicated, I have a Google mesh Wi-Fi setup (three nodes) that works fine. Are you asking about that or my RCN cable modem?

[Ashepherdson]

Yes about your Google wifi, it may just need a regular reboot(not a full factory reset) as something may be "stuck" from the initial setup fail.  Worst case this doesn't work and we try more steps 🙂 

[smontanaro]

I don't know if I failed to properly factory reset the speaker or if my Wi-Fi network needed rebooting. I did both and made it successfully through setup. Thanks for your help.

[Ashepherdson]

Awesome news!  

[frances]

Hi All,

First, thank you Ashepherdson for your help on this thread! 

Hello smontanaro, thanks for your update. I am glad to hear that your device is working again. Since this issue has been resolved, I will go ahead and lock this thread. As always, if you have any new questions or concerns, feel free to make a new post. Have a nice day!