Yesterday, I woke up to the apocalypse. I’m being dramatic, of course, but when your Wi-Fi goes out and your entire smart home is knocked off the grid, it certainly feels like this generation’s version of losing electricity (first-world problems). After noticing that my Nest Detect, smart lights, Google Nest Hub and minis, and practically everything else was offline, I spent the better part of the day troubleshooting with my ISP and Google over the phone.
I even went so far as to get a new modem. In the end, the problem was that my 2016 Google Wifi (yes, I was still rocking the original!) had broken. Anyway, while I was on the phone with Google support, the representative showed me a trick that doesn’t show up in the company’s documentation for troubleshooting the device.
Don’t forget to troubleshoot with your ISP first
You may be familiar with performing a factory reset on the original Wifi, but did you know that they also have a workaround for when that doesn’t do the trick? Internally, they call this “powerwashing”, and anyone familiar with ChromeOS will also have heard this term before. Today, I’m going to tell you how to “powerwash” your Google Wifi if you’re having trouble with it and want it to last you until the new Nest Wifi Pro arrives later this month!
Before we get started, I want to reiterate that you should test all connections, reboot your modem and even ask your ISP to send a ping and reset it remotely. Oftentimes, the connection issue is on their end, not yours. Okay, so you have probably attempted to press and hold the button on the back of the Google Wifi before and know that if you wait until the light starts blinking blue, you let go and wait ten minutes before attempting to set it up again through the Google Home app.
Google’s secret workaround is different than a factory reset!
However, what Google Nest Support documentation doesn’t tell you is that you can actually keep holding the factory reset button until it starts blinking orange. To perform a powerwash though, you’ll want to unplug the Wifi, hold the button, and then plug it back in, being certain to not let go of the button during that process.
After it begins blinking orange, just let go and set a five-minute timer. Once this is complete, you’ve effectively performed a powerwash. After that, unplug the Google Wifi, press and hold the button once again, and plug it back in. This time around, you’ll simply let go of the button when the light begins blinking or pulsating blue. Now, you’re back on to your standard factory reset!
Google may stop supporting the original Google Wifi as Nest Wifi Pro arrives
I have no doubt that this will help someone who’s hoping their 6-year-old device hasn’t given up the ghost, but I still do recommend upgrading sooner rather than later. While I was on the phone with Google, I asked if they had plans to stop supporting the 2016 unit, and instead of saying no, the rep seemed taken a bit off guard and said “we have nothing to share at this time regarding that”. This leads me to believe that just like the OnHub, which got about 6-7 years of support, the original Google Wifi may soon be on its way out as the Nest Wifi Pro arrives.
I just want the steps!
1. Try troubleshooting with your ISP first and rebooting your modem
2. Unplug Google Wifi
3. Press and hold the factory reset button on the back while plugging the power cable back in
4. Don’t let go of the button until the light starts blinking or pulsating orange!
5. Set a five minute timer and wait
6. Unplug the Google Wifi
7. Press and hold the factory reset button while plugging the unit back in again
8. Don’t let go of the button during this process until the light starts blinking blue!
9. Set a 10 minute timer and wait
10. Continue with Google Home app device setup.
