Nest thermostat with Actiontec Rev. I router

[Seems2]

Is anyone using the Nest with the the Actiontec M142WR Rev. I router? I noticed the Rev. E is on Nest's list of incompatible routers, and folks using the Nest with it apparently get a lot of disconnects. I have the Rev. I, but would hate to get the Nest only to find the two don't work well together.

Thanks in advance!

[Chris2G]

I haven't seen any issues with my Nest with the new Verizon router, but again, I haven't really tried changing it remotely in a couple weeks.  I'll let you know

[JTCullins]

I have a NEST thermostat that I am trying to get to connect to my MI424WWR REV 1 Actiontec ROUTER.

It sees the router and I select it, enter the KEy but it will actually connect to the network. I have entered it several times.

have reset the NEST and started from scratch, same results.

Any suggestions?

[OffToWork]

Mine worked at first but somehow interferes with the battery charging of the NEST.  The thermostat still works but only manually.

[smith6612]

I have a Nest thermostat here paired with a Rev. D ActionTec MI424WR with no problems except for a few nitpicks of mine. To note, my ActionTec had DD-WRT loaded onto it rather than the stock Verizon firmware.

Regarding the disconnections and issues with the battery charging, with the thermostat it is strongly suggested to have a C Wire connected, especially if your HVAC unit is not putting out enough power to allow the thermostat to run properly. Both voltage and amperage matters, especially amperage with a digital thermostat. This is no different from a computer or a smartphone with an undersized charger. The C wire will provide additinal power to the thermostat and is tied right into the HVAC system.

Second, I have noticed that there is a software bug with the Nest where it will fail to renew it's IP address after the lease is halfway expired, but the thermostat still holds the IP it was assigned. This could cause problems in a sense where the thermostat is hitting against an IP conflict with another device. I avoided this after noticing this problem in DD-WRT's administration pages, where the thermostat's radio was still associated but the lease had expired, and the device was still pinging. I simply set a DHCP reservation for the Nest and all has been well.

Lastly, if the thermostat is disassociating, make sure it has enough power going to it. The wireless radio will power down to save power if the unit is idle, and turn back on when the thermostat reports back to Nest's servers every once a while.

 As far as associating the unit, type your key in very fast. Mine gave me some trouble because my key is so long. Authentication during pairing was timing out before I could finish entering the key. A speed run got the unit connected with no problem.

[anirokani]

I have been trying for months, on and off, to get these two pieces of equipment to work together. They don't! Has anyone else found the way?

[MacBoxford1]

I purchased 3 Nest Thermostats about 3 weeks ago.  I love them, but periodically they will go "offline" - which is annoying when you have paid $250 per thermostat.  They typically will go back online within an hour, but that still is a pain.

When I called Nest support they pointed out that the actiontec routers were on their "naughty" list - so I called Verizon and upped my plan so I could get their latest and greatest router.  When it arrived I was disappointed to see that my new router was also an actiontec - this time Rev I (my old one was Rev E).

I installed the new router - updated all of my devices (which was a pain in the you-know-what) and...  Same problem with the new router - occasionally one or more will go offline for 10 to 15 minutes.

I called Nest again - and scoured the internet for answers.  Unfortunately Nest just won't recommend a router to buy.  They will tell you which ones not to buy/use (the actiontec is one) but they won't tell you which one to buy.  I think an answer might be to buy a new router - hook it to my Verizon router - and then disable wireless on the Verizon router - but honestly I am more confused as ever as to if that will actually help.  It may just be a waste of time and money if the problem persists.

Some of the recommendations that Nest makes are:

• Avoid the new AC routers
• Make sure your router supports Power Saving Mode
• Avoid routers that use open source firmware like DD-WRT, OpenWRT, and Tornado
• If you have a dual band router - dedicate a 2.4GHz signal to avoid interference/confusion with 5 GHz.

And yet they say all this, and when I go to the Nest forums I see postings from people that have AC routers and routers on the "naughty" list - and they are able to get the Nest to work without issue?

Very confusing and frustrating to say the least.  So much for the "ease" of home automation!

If anyone eventually solves the Actiontec/Nest dilemma - I know there will be a bunch of happy Verizon customers - and I will be one of them!

Thanks.

[knj1 · Accepted solution]

For what it's worth, I just had an issue where our Nest thermostat (about 5 years old) was offline for 24 days.  We went through a bunch of troubleshooting with Nest and in the end it was the simplest thing that fixed the issue - rebooting the router.

If I had to repeat the steps, since I'm not exactly sure which step fixed it, I'd do these things:

1. Settings>Reset>Network>reset network settings/forget network
2. Reboot Actiontec router (for me this was unplugging everything for about a minute, then reconnecting, CATV, then power followed by other cables)
3. Next get back to Settings>Network>choose/enter wifi network and password

That's what worked for me.  Hope it can work for others since I didn't want to be on the phone with Verizon support about an Actiontec issue.

[LawrenceC]

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