3 Ways To Fix Alexa Not Discovering Nest

Smart homes really aren’t all that smart unless you have managed to get all of your units and appliances working in unison.

In addition to that, the whole point in using them is that they are supposed to make life easier, not more difficult.

So, if you are having to spend much time at all trying to get things working semi-automatically, you can often end up wondering why you bothered in the first place.

In terms of devices designed to make all of this possible, the Google Nest stands out to us as one of the very best out there. It’s generally quite easy to integrate with your various devices, and normally quite reliable too.

It also has quite a broad range of uses. For example, it can be used to control Nest Audio, Nest Thermostat, and many others using only the sound of your voice.

When all of this works as it should, it really feels like taking a step into the future. However, we all know that you wouldn’t be here reading this unless something wasn’t working, now would you?

Having trawled the internet to see the issues that users of the Google Nest are facing, a few issues stood out to us. Among these, the most pressing was the problem of Alexa not being able to discover Nest.

Naturally, these kinds of tech glitches can be maddening, especially when you have paid good money for something.

So, in order to help you get everything back up and running again, we decided to put together this little guide to help you out. So, if this is the kind of information you have been looking for, you have come to the right place!

Alexa Not Discovering Nest

First things first, considering that Alexa and Nest are made by two different companies, you might be worried that the two simply cannot ever communicate. Well, the good news is that this isn’t the case at all.

They are fully compatible. So, no need to go returning anything to the store just yet. But, that doesn’t exactly resolve the problem. They still aren’t communicating.

This can happen for any number of reasons, most of which aren’t that serious. Below, we will go through a list of causes and fixes for this problem to help get you back up and running again.

Before we begin, it is important to state that none of these fixes are all that complicated. Even if you are really at novice level with technologies such as these, you won’t have much trouble with these tips.

At no point will we be suggesting that you take anything apart or doing anything that will risk the integrity of your equipment. With that being said, it’s time to get into it!

1. Connect Your Alexa to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Band

The most common reason for this issue is a rather basic one. This is a good thing, because it means that it will also be really easy to fix.

Though in recent years, more and more routers are beginning to operate on the 5.0GHz Wi-Fi band, this may not be the best for your smart home equipment.

Unfortunately, though this band decreases interference from Bluetooth devices, smart home devices favor the traditional 2.4GHz band.

So, the first thing that you will need to do is to check and see what band your router is operating on. You will then need to switch Alexa over to a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi band.

After that, you will then need to check that your other devices are working on the same frequency. If they are not, they simply can’t communicate properly.

This may well explain exactly what is happening in your case. Try this first and check to see if anything has changed. If not, don’t worry about it just yet. We still have a few more tips to go.

2. Install and Enable the Nest Skill on Alexa

If you have been using Alexa for a while, you will know all about the idea behind teaching it “skills”. Well, the beauty of it is that there is no teaching involved. Instead, all you need to do is install the skill.

The purpose of these skills are essentially to allow Alexa to work with devices that aren’t normally available to you. It’s a pretty nifty thing to get into, and one that will open up a whole world of functionality to you.

So, what’s the catch? Well, it isn’t a big one, but you will have to install these skills manually.

For operating the Nest, there is a skill that you can install to ensure that everything actually works as it should. So, if you haven’t enabled this skill yet, there is no better time to do it than now.

Before we finish up on this tip, there is one thing that we should warn you about. If you are operating an older model Google Nest, the news is not all that good, we’re afraid.

No matter what you do, Alexa just will not work with older models.

3. Is Alexa Added to Your Nest Account?

If the previous two tips haven’t worked for you, there is still one last thing to check on before you give it up for dead. It is absolutely vital that your Alexa has been added onto your Nest account.

Now, if you have just finished up the second tip here, you probably haven’t done this yet. Setting the connection up isn’t all that taxing. Generally, it can be done through the Nest App.

In some cases, you may have to enter in a code, but that’s about it. After you have it set up so that both devices can recognize each other, they should then work in unison without any further complications.

The Last Word

We’re sorry to say that these are the only tips that we could come up with that have any real effect on the situation.

Though there are some advanced tricks out there, these all require a higher skill level and all will risk compromising the integrity of your devices.

Therefore, we can’t in good conscience recommend them. Because of this, the only logical course of action is to get in touch with customer support or a decent technician.

That being said, we are always aware that some of you out there will have come up with some interesting fixes of your own.

If you are reading this and are one of the innovators out there, we would love to hear all about it in the comments section below.

That way, we can share the info with our readers and save a few more people some valuable time. Thanks!