Yesterday I woke up in the apocalypse. Sure, I’m being dramatic, but when your Wi-Fi goes down and your entire smart home goes offline, it really feels like this generation’s version of a power outage (a first world problem). Noticing that my Nest Detect, smart lights, Google Nest Hub and minis, and just about everything else were offline, I spent most of the day troubleshooting my ISP and Google over the phone.
I even went and bought a new modem. The problem ended up being that my 2016 Google Wifi (yes, I still use the original one!) broke. Anyway, when I called Google support, the rep showed me a way to troubleshoot the device that wasn’t in the company’s documentation.
You’re probably familiar with factory reset on raw Wi-Fi, but did you know they also have a workaround for when that doesn’t work? Internally, they call it “power flushing,” a term that everyone familiar with ChromeOS has heard of. Today I’m going to show you how to “clear” your Google Wifi if you’re having trouble and want it to last until the new Nest Wifi Pro arrives later this month!
Before we start, I want to reiterate that you should check all connections, reset your modem, or even ask your ISP to send a ping and reset it remotely. Often, connection problems are theirs, not yours. So, you’ve probably tried holding the button on the back of Google Wifi before and know that if you wait until the light starts flashing blue, you’ll let go and wait ten minutes before trying to get through the Google Home app.
However, the Google Nest support documentation doesn’t tell you that you can actually hold down the factory reset button until it starts flashing orange. However, in order to flush, you need to turn off Wi-Fi, hold the button, and reconnect, being careful not to release the button in the process.
After it starts blinking orange, release and set the five minute timer. Once you do this, you have effectively completed the Powerwash. After that, disconnect Google Wifi, hold the button again and reconnect. This time, all you have to do is release the button light starts flashing or pulsing blue.. You are now back to a standard factory reset!
I have no doubt that this will help those who want their 6-year-old device not yet abandoned the Specter, but I still recommend updating it beforehand. When I got on the phone with Google and asked if they were planning to end support for the division in 2016, instead of saying no, the rep seemed to be a little taken aback and said, “We don’t have anything to say about this at the conference.” moment”. This makes me think that, like OnHub, which has been supported for about 6-7 years, with the advent of Nest Wifi Pro, the original Google Wifi may soon disappear from the market.
1. First try troubleshooting your ISP and restart your modem2. Turn off Google Wi-Fi3. Press and hold the reset button on the rear panel while reconnecting the power cord to 4. Do not release the button until the indicator light flashes or flashes orange! 5. Set a timer for five minutes and wait 6. Turn off Google Wi-Fi7. Press and hold the reset button 8 while reconnecting the device. Do not release the button during this process until the indicator starts blinking blue! 9. Set the timer for 10 minutes and wait 10. Proceed to setting up the Google Home app device.
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