In order to use Google Home, you need an active internet connection such as WiFi before you can connect it to wireless devices, play music, give directions, check the weather or make calls and more. If Google Home won’t connect to WiFi, or devices connected to it aren’t responding to its commands, there are several reasons for this.
Among the reasons why the connection would be disrupted include:
- Inability to broadcast messages to other Home devices
- The device creates static
- Google Home says “something went wrong, try again” many times
- YouTube or Netflix won’t open when you ask them to
- Music playback is rough or freezes once it starts
- Online lookups hardly work
The good thing is you can find possible solutions why Google Home isn’t connecting to WiFi in several ways and here are some possible troubleshooting steps to try.
What to do when Google Home won’t connect to WiFi
Check the connection
Without an internet connection, Google Home won’t know how to reach the WiFi connection until you tell it how to. This means nothing will work until you set it up from Google Home app, which you can download for Android or iOS.
If Google Home connected to WiFi but you changed your password, reconfigure the device and update your password. To do this:
- Go to Google Home app
- Tap the device you want to reconfigure
- Now tap the device you want to update the WiFi password for
- Select WiFi>Forget network
- Tap Add on the app’s main screen and select Setup device>New devices
- Pick where to add Google Home and tap Next
- Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the process
Turn off network devices
When many devices are connecting to your internet service on one network, bandwidth can be a problem as it brings about buffering, songs not starting or stop randomly, and delays in Google Home responses.
Pause any activities on Google Home like downloading movies, playing games or streaming music and do them later when not using Google Home. This way, you won’t max out your available bandwidth, otherwise you’d have to upgrade your internet to a higher bandwidth plan or limit devices on the network.
Restart Google Home and Router
If Google Home won’t connect to WiFi, restart it and restart your router too to clear any temporary issues causing the problems in connection. Reboot the device by unplugging the power cord and wait for one minute before reconnecting it. you can also use Google Home app by doing this:
- Tap the device you want to restart
- Select Settings
- Tap the three dot menu icon
- Select Reboot
You can also move the router or Google Home device closer to each other and see if it helps.
Reset router or Google Home
Resetting Google Home will erase the software permanently and restore it to original or default settings when you first bought the device. It’s a last attempt solution if the others don’t help.
Elsier is an avid tech writer, who loves mobile apps, games, music, and cars. When she’s not catching up on the latest in tech, she’s binging on reruns of her favorite series.
