
Google Chromecast and Google Home Causes Wi-Fi Drops - MrCzar
https://www.myce.com/news/confirmed-issue-google-cast-causes-temporarily-wifi-drops-around-world-83428/
======
chubot
ChromeCast is such a frustrating product. It does exactly what I want in
theory. In practice I have to wait 10 to 60 seconds to get it to connect, or
reboot my phone. I've started giving up and just using the computer attached
to my TV.

I don't think I've been having the particular Wi-Fi issue described in the
article, but ChromeCast has been just slow and flaky in my experience. I've
had both v1 and v2. It seems to have problems with older phones, but that's
not the only problem.

mDNS on Linux with Avahi doesn't seem particularly reliable either (e.g.
pinging a Linux box from a Mac.)

Computers barely work :-( I guess this is why Apple insists on owning the
whole stack. The compatibility matrix becomes tractable.

~~~
jordanthoms
I have a similar experience, though I think a lot of the issues are actually
with the apps - e.g. Netflix and Spotify will consistently not show my cast
devices unless I quit the app and relaunch it, while other apps work ok.

Google needs to get far more vigilant about ensuring the third parties are
implementing it properly though - even if the bug is actually with a third
party, it reflects badly on their product.

~~~
neeleshs
Yes, Netflix is pretty bad when it comes to connecting to Chromecast

~~~
dingo_bat
Well Netflix's android app is pretty bad period.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
If you want to help make it better
[https://jobs.netflix.com/jobs/367](https://jobs.netflix.com/jobs/367)

~~~
clhodapp
The implication of this comment is that the poor quality of Netflix's Android
app is due to Netflix having been unable to access sufficient engineering
talent to produce a better quality app. As an outsider that has experience
developing software, I'm extremely doubtful that this is the case and am apt
to blame it on executive-level prioritization almost out of hand.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
Oh I didn't mean to imply that at all, I am sorry if that is how it came
across. All software is imperfect. If there is software that you care about
and want to make better and get paid to do so, that sounds like a potentially
good fit.

------
27182818284
Lots of anecdotal experience in this thread about how bad Chromecast is so I'd
like to offer my opposite:

Chromecast has been one of the nicest additions per dollar for my home. It has
been working well for me for a year or so. I even used it today (for the first
time in a week or more) while cooking and it worked like a charm first try.

The only _real_ problems I've had with it, I switched hardware, but used the
same SSID and it was confused as all heck. To its credit, though, so was my
"Smart" TV. I gave up and just used a new SSID and everything worked again
without all of the weird-ass problems.

~~~
rkangel
I agree. I also regularly say that it's the best value money I have ever
spent.

The only unreliability I have is with certain apps that don't appear to have
implemented the functionality that well. The "NFL Game Pass Europe" app for
instance sometimes forgets that it's attached to the TV and you can no longer
pause/stop (there are workarounds). Other apps like Netflix have been
extremely solid.

------
77ko
Got a pixel 2, Chromecast and a Google home and now have lots of wifi woes.
The timing being exactly after the pixel 2 (turned in cast and home before,
didn't have problems).

Edit: turning of guest mode on all cast devices makes things better (less wifi
dropouts) but still bad. Turning of wifi on both the android phones in my
house has cleared up the wifi problem (which was really annoying as even
spotify kept failing to stream with phones on wifi).

I wonder if Google employees need to test their consumer devices outside the
googleplex where the internet is super fast and the industrial grade
networking gear deals with such issues automagically.

~~~
londons_explore
In the Googleplex they have networks designed to be slow and crappy to test
exactly this.

All people working on consumer facing apps and sites are encouraged to use
these crappy networks on a day to day basis.

~~~
nmstoker
I wish there was more evidence that they used them. Far too often their
software seems to assume a superb connection.

Personal "favourite" is their Newsstand - it will ditch cached stories whilst
out and about because it briefly got a connection on the Underground, only for
the content to not download (precisely because you're on flakey Tube WiFi) and
boom the best use case for that software is ruined!

~~~
stefco_
I was in Costa Rica last week with a slow wifi connection and had a similar
experience with a 5MB offline PDF file in Google Drive. For some reason, drive
decided to redownload it, but after only a minute it timed out and gave up. I
just ended up going for two more days without the file, but I found it pretty
ridiculous that Drive failed so miserably on such a simple use case.

I had a nearly seamless (albeit slightly slower) experience browsing Instagram
on that slow connection despite the fact that all of the content was
photo/video media, so I know the connection was not completely useless. It
seems that Google engineers can't even fathom the possibility that someone
would have a slow enough connection that a 5MB file might need more than a
minute to download. This is frustrating.

------
sofaofthedamned
It's blamed on MDNS packets being spaffed out at high speed. I've got 3
Chromecasts of various flavours in the house and have never seen this
behaviour. Has anybody else had the problem?

~~~
bshep
I have been having wifi issues for the last 3 months and I have 2 Chromecast's
Ive had them for much longer but after reading this I'm going to segregate
them to a different wifi network and see if the wifi gets better but my
understanding of the issue makes me think it won't get better without a
Chromecast update

~~~
londons_explore
This specifically needs an android update.

Androids the fault here not the Chromecast

~~~
dragonwriter
Specifically, it sounds like Play Services Cast support has fairly
pathological behavior in common circumstances.

------
mosselman
"...If your router vendor has not released an update for the issue..."

Ah good, I feared Google needed to update their devices to stop DDOS-ing my
home network, luckily for them they don't get blamed and we think that the
router vendors should add more robust DDOS-protection.

------
regnerba
Interesting. I have 2 Google Homes (1 regular and 1 mini), a Chromecast and a
Chromecast Audio, and a Pixel 2. I haven't noticed any particular network
issues.

My network is all Ubiquiti gear. A USG, switch, and AP AC Lite. I have the
private WiFi on the same network as my desktop PC and Steam Link. My home lab
is on separate VLANs. Other then that its a pretty default configuration.

Not home right now but when I get home I shall look into it a bit more.
Curious if whatever update thats causing this hasn't rolled out to Canada or
if the Unifi products are handling it better/some special way.

~~~
Consultant32452
This is unrelated but could you explain what the Chromecast Audio offers over
just playing audio on a regular Chromecast?

~~~
regnerba
The Chromecast Audio allows me to plug it into any standard stereo. Bang for
the buck I can get much better speakers for the dollar when buying just normal
speakers instead of "smart" speakers. I then plug the Chromecast Audio into it
and get the same ability to Cast to it, and include it into groups. The
ability to add it to Cast groups is one of the key reasons I like it over just
a Bluetooth connection.

So to sum up: * Bang for the buck get better audio quality * Still get all of
the same Cast features (WiFi casting, group casting, etc.)

Hope that helps! :)

~~~
bsimpson
I just got the Google Home Max. It sounds better than the Google Home, but not
as good as I'd expected. I'm tempted to send it back and replace it with a
Home Mini and a regular set of home stereo speakers.

------
gkfasdfasdf
I haven't noticed this problem. I've got a Chromecast v1, Chromecast Ultra,
Home Mini, Pixel phone, and Google onhub + WiFi mesh, plus a bunch of other
non-google devices. Perhaps the Google routers are able to handle the burst? I
do wish that Chromecast was in general a little faster at connecting / playing
etc.

~~~
innagadadavida
Oh me either, but then I just have Apple TV and iPhone.

------
toast0
Well, this certainly explains why my wifi has been feeling pretty iffy for the
last couple of weeks.

There was an awful lot of mDNS traffic coming from the (new to me) Google
Home, and the two android phones, and mythtv (0.27) was sending every couple
of seconds too. Running this tcpdump helped me track it down.

    
    
        tcpdump -n host 224.0.0.251 and port 5353
    

For the google home, I just turned it off; does anybody know of an offline
voice activated clock/timer? That's the most compelling use for me. (yo clock,
what time is it and/or you clock set a timer for 3 minutes / set an alarm for
5:30)

For the phones, in settings / google / cast media controls, you can turn that
off, I also turned off 'nearby links' in the google menu, in case that was
related.

------
habosa
I've got a pretty good ($100) TPLink router and a 100Mbps Comcast connection
in my 1BR apartment. I can almost never find the 5Ghz channel and get constant
drops on my laptop, particularly the Linux one.

I've got a 1st Gen Chromecast, a Google Home Mini, and a Pixel XL.

Sounds like this is my culprit. Finally.

~~~
Pxtl
I have the same router I bet (Archer c7) and I'm convinced it just hates
Android devices in general.

Every time my phone has a connection hiccup it takes several minutes to
renegotiate DHCP... But if I turn off WiFi and count to 15 and turn it on, it
reconnects in 3 seconds flat.

I'm tempted to throw out my wifi gear but I'm having trouble who in the
industry isn't total garbage, because I have an Asus AP that sure isn't
helping.

~~~
SyneRyder
Hmm. I got my parents an Archer C7 based on it being the Wirecutter's pick for
Best Wireless Router. It has been having a lot of problems with WiFi dropping
out, like you describe. But I now see the Wirecutter have updated their
comments [1] on the Archer C7:

 _" This is the single biggest reason we’re no longer recommending our former
pick, the Archer C7. Though the C7 has great range and good single-device
performance, it doesn’t have band steering, which means that it stumbles when
several devices are connected and there’s a lot going on. The problem is
compounded by the router’s relatively weak single-core CPU."_

 _...our former pick, the Archer C7, leap all the way off the top of the chart
into “oh, this is horrible” territory shortly past the 75th percentile — which
means that roughly one out of every four page loads will leave you wondering
if you should hit reload._

[1] [https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-
router/](https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/)

~~~
mgcross
Well, I'm somewhat relieved to read that, in that I purchased one for the same
reason but have been rebooting it at least once a day for a while now. I was
initially relieved to see it may have been the Chromecast. Now I suppose it's
both!

------
wnevets
I thought it was the fios router just being shitty but I believe that I've
been experiencing this issue aswell.

------
tlog333
Sounds like this issue affected my household as well. Been having wifi issues
after bringing Pixel and Pixel 2 on to network with Google Home. Initially
thought dropouts were due to so many neighbors in proximity.

------
Yhippa
I have a Google Home and a Pixel 2. I didn't have problems until we added two
Google Home Minis. It's knocked out 5G on the Verizon Quantum Gateway router
and 2.4G drops out every now and then.

~~~
hn2017
I'm having the same issue. Just bought a Google Home in December and my
Verizon quantum router has been dropping repeatedly. I've had a Chromecast and
Nexus 6P for years and never had any issues with it. I'm glad I finally
discovered the issue, thanks to this article!

------
rogy
Interesting, my wifis been terrible since christmas, ive had casts and a
google home for a while but my partner got a pixel 2, the first android device
in the house. Could be it!

------
DanCarvajal
Weird, I have a Chromecast and Google Home but have had no problems, though I
do have Google Wifi...

~~~
nathanm412
I have an Onhub with four chromecasts and five google homes and have
experienced the issues described. I noticed that sometimes if I wake my galaxy
s7, other devices in the room might lose connectivity for a few seconds. I
couldn't place why it would happen sometimes but not others, but this makes
sense. I wonder if it might also explain why if a media app is casting and
goes to sleep, it forgets that it's casting when it wakes up.

------
rcarmo
I was doing some home automation stuff with Node-RED and spotted that when I
tried to figure out when a Chromecast was online - mDNS using ZeroConf would
blow up Node-RED for no apparent reason, using SSDP worked OK. Now I know
why...

------
colemickens
1\. My Chromecast is far less reliable than it was a mere 3-4 months ago. I
regularly am unable to cast from my desktop and have to resort to my phone.
YouTube, especially with multiple tabs, on desktop is a nightmare to use with
the Chromecast.

2\. I'm basically desperate to find something to take it's place. I'm tired of
the Apple-ification of Google, and I resent having to boot up Chrome just to
be able to cast a video (they have it locked down to where they effectively
control both sides of the infra, such that Firefox can't implement Chromecast
support).

------
ce4
Not sure if it's the Chromecast.

> Normally the device should send a couple of packets every 20 seconds, but in
> recent Android versions the apps sometimes send large bursts [...]. The
> longer the device has been in sleep mode, the more packets are send.

I wonder if it's a side effect of aggressive battery optimization in the
newest Android version (Deep sleep/Doze, etc) where packets are withheld
intentionally to only be delivered in bursts and have the wifi/radio sleep in
between. Naturally, Pixel get updated first.

edit: typos

------
hn2017
Does anyone know if Google is aware of this and is working on a fix?

------
xrd
Has anyone found a good way to troubleshoot and confirm these suspicions? This
aligns with our experiences as well since adding more Chromecast devices and
Google Home devices.

~~~
toast0
This tcpdump should show mDNS packets -- if you're getting hundreds per second
(in some seconds), like I was, that's probably a good indication that
something is misbehaving (or that you have a _really_ big network). If
googlecast shows up in the name, it's probably Google Cast misbehaving.

    
    
        tcpdump -n host 224.0.0.251 and port 5353

------
kachurovskiy
I love Chromecast but a few issues keep making me sad.

1\. Casting a photo from Photos app, pressing Android back button makes the TV
screen go black. Have to remember to swipe left or right instead, or use in-
app back button.

2\. Photos on 4k Cast-enabled TV are shown in horrendous quality. It's
definitely not 4k and compressed as hell with contrast loss. Same for videos.

There used to be a ton of race conditions in YouTube TV app but those are
thankfully fixed.

------
cptskippy
I use to have my Chromecast plugged into my TV so people could stream videos
and photos easily to share with people during gatherings. We use Roku for
streaming. Then we took it on vacation and forgot to plug it back in. I
realized the reason our WiFi was so awful in that room when I eventually
plugged it back in and everyone started complaining.

Now it is only ever used for vacation.

------
go_jonny_go
I am also having issues with chromecast and WiFi, weird slowdowns that never
happened in the past. Casting pandora to the audio’s and mini’s always has
problems. The phone will eventually start playing different songs than the
cast, and at this point you are unable to control or reconnect to the cast.
Like others I assumed this was a app issue.

------
kwijibob
I use DD-WRT so there won't be a router update to fix this.

I love my three chromecasts, however I can't really put up with this bug.

What to do?

~~~
imhoguy
Maybe some QoS rule on MDNS could help.

------
bla2
Got a chromecast, and my phone has a lot more trouble connecting to it than it
used to have. Sounds like this might be the issue. Hopefully now that it's
been identified, it'll be fixed.

------
sghiassy
I set all my chromecast/ home devices (9 devices) to have an assigned IP from
my DHCP router (ASUS). Situation has definitely improved. But still not
perfect

------
clhodapp
It would certainly seem like both the Chromecasts and the routers are
misbehaving in this case, no?

------
tomrod
I'm fairly certain a similar issue is being caused by the Wii U.

------
mgalgs
I have 7 Google home minis, 2 Chromecast Audios, 3 Chromecasts. Everything has
worked fine up until a month or so ago. I've been using Chromecast since its
initial launch and have never had these issues until now.

Google severely broke something recently, that's for sure. We had a Christmas
party and I gave up playing music because it kept dropping off every few
minutes. It seems like it has improved the past few weeks, but still pretty
shoddy.

------
pvtmert
imho, routers either handle this somehow or drop packeta. because mdns is
higher level protocol than wifi and mac, router should not deal with those.

also, with same hardware what happens there is whatsapp/hangouts video call?
its about firmware

~~~
drdaeman
Routers deal with IP traffic (and even have to mess with TCP, e.g. clamp MSS),
not just the 802.1 and 802.11. For SOHO routers, high PPS multicast UDP may be
something hardware-accelerated routing doesn't particularly account for. And
if software routing kicks in, high packet rate can very easily overload poor
device's CPU.

~~~
X-Istence
It's due to the way multicast packets are transmitted on Wifi...

[https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-mcbride-mboned-wifi-mcast-
pr...](https://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-mcbride-mboned-wifi-mcast-problem-
statement-01.html)

------
oceanghost
I've done a LOT of chromecast development/hacking. They are to put it
politely, unreliable.

------
ggm
Google employ a small number of people to write TCP/IP core stack
functionality. This is not a 'twenty hundred fiddy' people problem, its a six
rising ten people problem.

The core issue is: how do we get the team in question to acknowledge and
respond, with a timely code change?

~~~
dragonwriter
It doesn't sound like it's a core TCP/IP stack problem, it sounds like it's a
Google Cast support in Play Services problem.

~~~
ggm
The packet explosion in multicast had me thinking some upper layer call is
being made, which the stack interprets to mean "keep going" in ways which then
bomb the link layer out of existence. Its not TCP/IP I agree. I mis-
characterized that. But I think the essential quality is the same: this heads
to a single, or small number of people. Google chooses modes of operation
which isolates those people from the feedback channels. I have had experience
of this: go into a room, present on observed behaviour of a google service,
zero outcome. Go into another room, repeat, the guy who can fix it walks to
the microphone and says "thanks, I fixed that"

There is no strong git, or feedback-driven path which determines success or
failure notifying google about code problems. Some work, some which used to
work don't work now, some which didn't work then work now. Its unstable. Its
unpredictable.

(for example, feedback inside bug reporting channels for Android, where the
most common response from google staff is "this is the wrong channel to
provide that feedback" including things which are bugs)

