WiFi and Google Home

[rrich]

I was wondering if any of you are experiencing something similar.

I'm on the third WiFi router. All from Frontier FiOS, the successor to Verizon FiOS.

The first two were of the GreenWave persuasion while the third is Arris. The Arris requires a MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) box to extract the IP from the cable signal. Not a big deal. If you are a geek or nerd, the Arris runs the local network as an IP-v6 network. All of the GreenWave and previous Verizon routers were IP-v4.

The problem with the Google Home Mini (GHM) has a variety of problem descriptions from all over the planet. The observable symptoms on the GreenWave router are that first the WiFi 5G network isolates itself from the internet side of the router. I don't use the WiFi network for anything other than to save data charges on the smart phones so I don't know if device connections through the 5G fail. Our 100BaseT (wired) network remains functional.

With the GHM connected and operating after 6 or so hours the 2.4 Gig network starts to exhibit the same symptoms as the 5G.

One would think that unplugging the GHM and uninstalling the GHM App on the smart phone would stop the network problems. Like me you would be thinking wrong. The GHM seems to leave something in the GreenWave router that causes the problem to continue. The frequency of the WiFi failure gradually subsides and seems to level off to a failure every couple of days.

Generally, to recover, albeit temporarily, the router is power cycled, button reset and / or doing both. It does not seem to make much difference which of the reload / reset options are done as the problem continues.

The fix that Google released today (January 18, 2018) gives me the impression that it is a fix to an Android or Apple phone. It doesn't seen logical to me but I'll wait a week or so to see what happens after the fog clears. Further chatter on the Google forum pages indicate that the fix does nothing to help the WiFi.

There is something that I've noticed immediately. The connection setup for the smart phone on the 5G WiFi is MUCH quicker on the Arris router. I don't think that it takes 3 seconds to establish connection to the Arris router. The connection to the GreenWave router seemed to take as much as 10 seconds. Does this mean anything? I don't have a clue.

[Chris Parks]

Hmmm, interesting, my son was given one of these for Christmas and has yet to hook it up. If and when he does it had better not interfere with the WiFi or there will be trouble, his mother will kill him or it!

[Mr Brush]

An unfortunate Catch 22....if the Google Home unit isn't working, you can't ask "OK Google, why isn't Google Home working".....clearly they didn't think of that

[Mr Brush]

I think I read somewhere that the problem lay with the Google Home unit sending to many rapid bursts of data, which basically hogs the wi-fi network? This was mentioned specifically in connection with TP-LINK wireless routers (which I happen to own.....)?

[Mr Brush]

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/01/y...up-your-wi-fi/

[Chris Parks]

I think I read somewhere that the problem lay with the Google Home unit sending to many rapid bursts of data, which basically hogs the wi-fi network? This was mentioned specifically in connection with TP-LINK wireless routers (which I happen to own.....)?

Explained here https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2696369 and a software update should have happened on the 18TH January.

[rrich]

Explained here https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2696369 and a software update should have happened on the 18TH January.

From what I've heard is that the software update is for Android and Apple smart phones. Initially the fix sounds to be illogical as the phone isn't the problem but rather the Google Home Mini. I delayed installing the update in our smart phones. The Google Home Mini is still in the box and users that have installed the update are reporting that the update does nothing to solve the problem.