Nest thermostat Wi-Fi problem

[Schwartz]

So I have been wondering why my central air has been running more than usual and cooling below my set temperature. It finally occurred to me that this has been going on since I got my Almond + earlier this week and have been using it as my Wi-Fi router.

When I check the Nest thermostat it is showing a temp that is higher than it actually is inside. I did some searching on the Nest forums and found this, "You also need to understand that your wireless router needs to support the Wi-Fi sleep standard.  If not the radio will run more which increases the internal heat of the unit.". This would explain my Nest being warmer since putting the Almond+ into use as my Wi-Fi router.

Does the Almond+ currently support this or it is broken with the current firmware? Is there a setting I need to set to enable this or something I can check?

[The19th]

I found this article on Nest's website that lists wi-fi access points they don't support.

http://support.nest.com/article/Unsupported-Wi-Fi-Access-Points

Notably, they state "Open-source firmware such as DD-WRT, OpenWRT and Tomato are not supported by the Nest Thermostat. While some versions may work well with the Nest Thermostat, compatibility may vary from release to release."

Since the A+ uses OpenWRT, it falls in that category–although there are some big name brand access points on the list too.

[Schwartz]

I still have hope that things will work out with it, especially since they say it varies from release to release. I am guessing it probably has more to do with the Wi-Fi driver than anything. I did find another tip to reset the Nest in order to get it to reestablish a new connection that may be better negotiated. I did that and it seems back to normal right now. When I put my Almond+ in I just removed my old router and put the Almond+ into the network with the same name and IP as my old router. Maybe the Nest needed the reset to properly connect to the new router. I still would like to know if the Almond+ currently properly supports the Wi-Fi sleep standard for sure or not. It would probably help to know if I start seeing the condition again in the next day or so. I also suppose that I could use my old router as an access point just for the Nest to connect to but I'd rather not do that unless I really had to.

[LGNilsson]

I've reported this issue to the software team and we'll be looking into it.

[Schwartz]

So the Nest seemed OK for about a day right after a reset but it has gone back to being generally 2 to 4 degrees above normal about a day after. It is now a few days and it still is running warm. I did not have this problem with the Asus RT-N66U. This weekend I will remove the Almond+ from my network and switch back to the Asus to verify that it goes back to normal.

[Schwartz]

What I decided to do for now was to set the Asus RT-N66U to access point mode and wire it back to the Almond+. I then connected the Nest Wi-Fi to the Asus. It has been just over a day now and my Nest is back to the correct temperature and matches my other thermometers.

[jjoepaulines]

Is there any active user on this thread who are facing the same issue ?

[Schwartz]

If you need me to gather any data just let me know. Otherwise I understand not looking into this if there are no other complaints, you probably have other more immediate problems to work on. I can live with the Nest running off my Asus configured as an access point for now. I figure if there is a real problem more complaints will bubble up as the router becomes more widespread.

[Juan]

So I was one of the not believers.
But then I changed my router and started using my Almond+
Indeed, it seems like the Nest Thermostat is not "sleeping", but on the other side it seems to keep a more accurate temperature! (oddly enough)

There's an article on nest about the behavior - https://support.nest.com/ca/fr/article/Some-Wi-Fi-routers-can-cause-Nest-to-restart-frequently-or-unexpectedly
(And I need to say that it never looses the connectivity, pretty stable)
Also looked for the commented unsupported Firmware, but it's not definite - https://support.nest.com/ca/fr/article/Unsupported-Wi-Fi-Access-Points

Open-source firmware such as DD-WRT, OpenWRT and Tomato are not supported by the Nest Thermostat. While some versions may work well with the Nest Thermostat, compatibility may vary from release to release.

So you are not alone, but it's not bothering me... will check back in a few days to make sure if it's working more hours than before or about the same.

Thanks!

[LGNilsson]

Guys, please get in touch with Joe as per above, he'd like to take a look at what's going on to try to find a fix for this problem.

[thepeel]

I have two nests (ver1 and ver2) and I honestly have no clue as to whether or not it's affecting mine.as I've never tested the temperature. I guess I'm just one of those "let's just do it and assume it all goes to plan" types.

So what would you recommend as the best method for testing? Just drop a thermometer next to each one and see if they're off?

I'm happy to help however possible.

-peel

[RGloverii]

I have not noticed this behavior.  I have 3 Nest Thermostats in my home.  But will pay attention now that the issue has been brought up.

[blwebb]

Is there any active user on this thread who are facing the same issue ?

Not the exact same issue, but I noticed an issue where I would try to open the app on my android phone to control my nest and it would say it was offline.  It usually would come back on the network, or if I would restart the Almond + it would re-connect, but I ended up taking the Almond offline until I had more time to look into it.  Just loaded the new firmware to the Almond today, so I will try again and report back! 

[jjoepaulines]

@blwebb : The issue that you had mention described in the Nest site. This happen due to the Ps-poll handling in the AP's.

Wi-Fi -Power Save Mode - This is a feature which help client to save the energy utilization ,like Ap will buffer client's data and then depend on the client request AP will send the buffer data to those client during that power save period.


@thepeel:

So what would you recommend as the best method for testing?

So you can use the method that nest described for verifying this problem existence.

From Nest website:

How can I verify that this is the problem?

Not all restarts mean there is a problem. The Nest Thermostat will restart automatically when installing an automatic software update, for example. However, if your Nest Thermostat is offline more than a few times a week when you access your Nest Account, your Wi-Fi router may not be fully conforming with the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) standards and specifications.

@Schwartz : I am investigating on your problem ,it's more or less related to PS-poll feature. I will reach you again after further investigation. Thanks for helping us to solve the problem.

@ALL : I need more information to understand this problem. So Please update the compatibility status of Nest thermostat with almond plus in this same thread . We will solve this ASAP.

FYI :
1. Almond plus has "Wi-Fi -Power Save Mode " Feature enabled in the driver and it's enabled in the firmware version R65,R66 .. .So if you faced this issue make sure that you are having latest firmware.

[blwebb]

@Joe sorry for the delay I just realized there is a notify button at the bottom for new post...    noob mistake sorry!! 
I have updated my A+ to the current version of firmware and connected my nest to it.  It has dropped connection once so far.  You mentioned the power save feature was on by default correct?  Not something I need to go looking for?  ( I looked briefly but didn't see anything)  Since my issue seems to be related to the Ps-poll issue did you want more info from me?  I'd be happy to provide logging or at least attempt to get more details about how often it happens and when.  Just let me know what if any info I can provide and what is the most helpful!  Happy to try my best to help!!   

Update - I believe this is the longest its gone connected.  So far about a day and a half with out a drop from the nest.  I'll keep reporting back.