Multiple devices responding at the same time

[seknav]

Issue began week of December 20.

I've had multiple Google Home and Nest speakers in our home for years. Nothing has changed in the past 6 months. 2 weeks ago, multiple speakers are answering when the wake command is issued. I say 'Hey Google, what is 1+1?' and two or three speakers will respond with the information or action that has been requested. There are four speakers on the floor I'm on. One that I'm next to, and others in completely separate rooms respond. There is one in a bedroom (2nd gen Mini) and one in the bathroom (Nest Audio) which regularly go rogue. The other in another bedroom is silent.

I understand that upon hearing the wake command, multiple devices negotiate with each other to decide which will respond. In this case they don't seem to be following that procedure (the one in the other room or the bathroom jump in even though the one I'm standing next to is closest).

I've rebooted the devices and the wake sensitivity is already set to low.

Why is this happening and how can I resolve it?

I have read existing articles but this specific issue (multiple devices on the same network responding to one wake command) is not covered.

I asked this question in the Google Assistant community but was asked to post it here.

[GodsRaven]

It has nothing to do with your particular phone or Android 13.  It's a Google issue.  We've addressed their sync issues over the last 8-9 months, trying to get them to fix them, but they're basically ignoring us, don't care enough to spend time on this issue, or they've so far found the issue unfixable.  I doubt it's the third option.  

So, yeah, most of us are having this issue and so far there isn't a way to fix it.  You can reset your hub, but it will only fix the problem temporarily (1 hour - a couple days), and then it starts back up again.

[Princesss]

Hi everyone, 

Thank you for posting.

We're sorry to hear about this experience. Let's sort this out by trying some steps on this link: https://goo.gle/3LbtmYg

Also, please make sure that both speakers and Google Assistant devices are using the same Google account.

Let me know how it goes.

Best,

Princess

[peterjmahan]

Hello, I have an issue with which Google device responds when I access Google Assist.  So, if I were in my bedroom and want my phone to respond but I hear that my Google Hub that's located in the kitchen responding.  How can I dictate which device responds and when?  I don't believe that my Hub can actually here me, and my phone is definitely activating Google Assist on the home screen. Thanks for any help you can provide

[Acongalton]

I am having the same issue.   I am in a 1200 sq foot house and the wrong device always responds. 

I have:

• Google Hub Max and Google Home Max in living room.
• Two Google Nest audio paired in stereo in living room.
• One Nest mini in bathroom.
• One Nest Hub Gen2 in bedroom.

Here are the steps I tried to get my Hub Max to respond to setting a stopwatch.

1. If I am in the kitchen and say "Hey Google set the Kitchen Display Stopwatch" the Google Home Max responds instead of the Google Hub Max display I asked for.  I will turn the sensitivity on Home Max to -2 and Hub Max to +2 and it still sets the stopwatch on the Home Max. 
   
   1. It is frustrating since the Google Hub Max will clearly type out the words on the display as I am asking but instead will set the stopwatch on the Google Home Max not Hub Max.
2. I then turned the mic off on my Home Max hoping the Hub Max would respond.  This time my living speakers respond and set the stopwatch. This does not make sense since I am physically in the kitchen and my Hub Max is recording my voice.  Why would the living room speakers in the next room respond?
3. Again I turn off the mic in living room Nest Audio and ask Google to start stopwatch in kitchen.  This time my bathroom speaker starts the timer and not the Hub Max.
4. I try turning off the mic to all speakers in the house besides the Hub Max.  When I do this, the Hub Max finally listens to me and starts the stopwatch on correct device.

How do I get the correct device to respond without turning off the mics on all the other devices in the house?  I tried the sensitivity and it did not work.  I do not understand how my Hub Max is recognizing my voice and command but will then set the stopwatch on a different device.  I would expect saying something like "Hey Google start stopwatch on device xxxx" would actually set the stopwatch on device xxxx vs a random Nest device.   

[peterjmahan]

Perfect explanation 

[Jake]

Hey all,

Sorry for the late reply. I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help? Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further. 

Best regards,
Jake

[peterjmahan]

Yes. Acongalton explained it perfectly.  When I'm in my bedroom (which is pretty close to the kitchen) and I want my Pixel 6 to do something, the words I am saying type out on my phone but then I hear Google Hub Max in the kitchen respond and performs whatever action I requested

[RichDav]

Yes, it is still an issue. Why would you imagine it wasn't? There has been no response with a fix and afaik no software update to fix the problem

[skunkapekiller]

exactly..................still an issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Google???????

[Acongalton]

Yes this is still an issue, read my detailed explanation above. 

[Acongalton]

This is still an issue. I wrote about it in January and you are just responding. I responded on Wednesday and still waiting to hear from you. What is the point of these forums if no help for a Google specialist?

[Jovan37]

Yes I am definitely having this issue I hate having your speaker and I'm going to get rid of it if you can't fix it somehow I have to physically unplug it every time I want my phone to do something when I want to ask Google.

[skunkapekiller]

Any fixes Jake....or just deal with it?

Asking for numerous frustrated google friends.

[Princesss]

Hi everyone, 

Thanks for posting.

I can see that this topic is similar to one of our threads. Let's follow this main thread and let's continue our conversation there so others can also chime in.

Best,

Princess

[HalfWayThere]

I'm also having this issue, and it is frustrating.  I often ask for a timer from my Google display in the kitchen, but I get a response on my Google speaker upstairs, which I can barely hear from the kitchen.  Later, when I ask how much time is left on the timer, the kitchen responds with "you don't have any timers set."   Once the time is up, the upstairs speaker plays the alarm. Is Google planning on fixing this anytime soon?

[GodsRaven]

Right?  I set my alarm for the next morning in my bedroom and my living room answered.  I tried to change the time later and got, "you don't have any alarms set".  Guess I would have missed my appointment the next morning.  I've gone back to using a regular  alarm clock because Google is unreliable.

[DCIAndy]

Let me join the rest and say I'm having the same problem. I have Google Home (bedroom), Nest Hub (kitchen), Nest Mini (master bath), Nest Mini (other bathroom), and Google Mini (office). I also own a Pixel 6. Sensitivity adjustments have not had an impact. 

[BrianBing]

I have the same exact problem. I will literally whisper "hey Google, connect" to the Nest Hub in my kitchen, but then the Nest Mini in my living room tries (and fails) to connect to Bluetooth devices. Sometime I have to repeat 2 or 3 times before the kitchen one finally responds.

[shawnmek]

Yes, this is a huge problem and crazy that there is no response. I feel like one time I said 'hey Google you responded on the wrong device' and it actually acknowledged that, but it wasn't those words (I can't remember how I worded it), those words actually had the words pop up saying it responded on a different device (kind of slapping me in the face 😊)

[JayJayTG]

I understand that you are trying to help but is this a joke? Can you please read this thread and contact one of Google's tech specialists with the flaw/bug we have reported for the last year. This issue compromises the whole purpose of the product and the smart home dream. Many thanks. 

[GodsRaven]

I don't think she's trying to help.  I think Google heard there's a big commotion on here and tried sending in reinforcements.  She's just making it worse though.  

[jcolson]

Please review this entire thread.  All of those troubleshooting steps have been followed by many of us, to no avail.  We even can fix the problem for a day or two (by resetting EVERY device).  But then the same problem rears its ugly head again.

If you have any way to escalate this, please do so for us!

[Mobile_KJ]

Same network, same account, multiple Google Home / Google Nest devices other than the phone. So in a word...  NEXT!!!!

[GodsRaven]

Have you read our responses?  Do you really think we haven't done this stuff?  We've called Google.  Many of us have literally done EVERYTHING to try to fix this.  GOOGLE needs to fix this.  Stop trying to blame us.  

I personally have:

1) Called Google and gone through this with them.

2) Uninstalled and reinstalled Google Home and updated it, taking every single thing attached off of my Home app beforehand, clearing it back to nothing.  I basically started from scratch as if I never had it before.  It was fine for a day or two, then started up again.

So, I went beyond what even Google suggested.  

I only have one Google account and I live alone, so that's not the issue.

The problem is GOOGLE not fixing their mess.  Stop trying to blame us for their disaster.  Go tell them to fix it!!!!

[Chubaka]

Is there any help with this issue or no help google?

[GodsRaven]

No help at all.  They don't seem to care.

[Chubaka]

Miss with all due respect it is not yhe solution. If you had a chance to read the thread all those steps have been followed multiple times without any positive results or improvements. So could you make google aknowledge this issue for us?

[Wolflingdaddy18]

You are joking, right? Those basic steps have been tried by everyone here and probably a ton of other people who didn't want to waste their time with useless answers. They don't work, at least not permanently. The most frustrating thing is that this doesn't happen to everyone- my  brother has a complex network setup and when I go to his house, this crap never happens.  We need Google to provide a serious solution to make these devices usable- I have two hubs along with three other phone/tablet devices that SHOULD  be able to function in harmony. I can't even get any of them to function consistently on their own (except for my Galaxy S21Ultra when not connected to a network with any other devices on it).

[GodsRaven]

Hey, you're preaching to the choir.  Every thread I go to and complain that their "solutions" don't work, but are just a temporary fix which just immediately starts breaking down again, they refuse to acknowledge it's not a solution and close the thread.  They hate that I'm pointing out the truth.

[Tareq1]

Classic solution for any troubleshooting. Reset or restart. I am wondering how that will solve the root cause of the problem. Google need to find a better/ root cause solution for this. It is too annoying for too long.

[WhitePine]

Your response does not resolve the issue.

[Chubaka]

Nothing to do with android 13. Im on 13 still and it started doing same thing.

[Chubaka]

Correction. Im on 12 still.

[Princesss]

Hi everyone, 

Apologies for the late response and the inconvenience that this has caused you. Others had confirmed that the fix is connecting their devices to 2.4GHz network instead of using 5GHz. Can anyone confirm here if they have tried this workaround?

I'll make sure to raise this to our team so we can investigate it further.

Keep us posted.

Best,

Princess

[swd10a]

Have tried this MULTIPLE times as has MANY others.... it does not work. It SHOULD, but does not. 

[Bitz09]

No difference...at least for me

[Eieia]

I had all Google devices on 2.4ghz. Switched to 5ghz, problem still here.

[GodsRaven]

Mine is 2.4, so yeah.  That's not the problem.  Others have also said they have 2.4.

The problem is GOOGLE.

[PPJW]

Does "Community Specialist" indicate you are an employee of Google?

I thought there was a setting, possibly eradicated by updates, that was to allow only one device to respond to "Hey Google" and, yes, I have the same issue.

[nlwclark]

 Same issue, multiple devices responding indiscriminately, started happening around spring of 2022. Additionally every few days our devices fail to recognize our voices and as a result won't give us personal results