Google Wifi Mesh router won't connect to Internet

[vbug12Cha]

I have a Huawei Gigacube 5G which connects via a cable to a Google Wifi mesh network. This has been working fine with a Vodafone Simcard, 

I wanted to switch to EE, and so got a EE sim card and placed it in the Gigacube. That works fine and if I connect directly to the Gigacube Wifi network all is well. The Google Wifi device, however, will no longer connect to the Internet. The only change I've made is the sim card. I've tried putting the Vodafone sim card back in the Gigacube; when I do this the Google Wifi device can connect to the Internet. 

I've spoken to Google who have suggested the Google Wifi device needs to be whitelisted by EE and Google assure me their device is compatible with EE. When I contact EE however I was told that they need an IMEI number to whitelist the device (only phones have IMEI numbers, the Google device has a MAC address and a serial number). When I tried to explain this, I was told EE cannot support this device despite what Google have said. 

Can anyone suggest anything to help here?

[Chris_B]

@vbug12Cha  Have you read THIS  and it’s a Google device issue not an EE network issues as the router is working and your using a Ethernet cable to the Google device.    

 What you’ve been told about a device on a whitelist is correct it’s needs a IMEI number to do that.    It’s blacklisted (been blocked by the network) or whitelisted ( it’ll work via the network ). This is all done with IMEI number. 

[vbug12Cha]

Thanks Chris - I don't understand why it works when I use a Vodafone SIM but not an EE SIM. 

The Google device is not a mobile nor uses a SIM (it gets the internet via the Gigacube) so it doesn't have an IMEI number. Google support assure me it should be able to be whitelisted via the MAC address. 

I hadn't seen the above article but have done all the steps it refers to. 

[Chris_B]

@vbug12Cha  Have you tried factory resetting the Google device? 

[vbug12Cha]

i have, same things happens. Also, if i put the Vodafone SIM back into the Gigacube, Internet via the Google device works fine. 

[WS1995]

I take it when using these SIMs you don't have to manually enter account settings? 

Like you would for PPPoE internet where you have to enter a username and password provided by your ISP.

I haven't used data sims for this type of setup in a long time.. the last time I used one was possibly 2015 when I had a small MiFi router and used to pop an EE Sim into it and use it until the data expired or was used up and buy another. I don't recall having to enter any settings into that but this is an entirely different device that I'm not familiar with.

When you use the EE SIM card, do the ethernet ports have the "link" flashing light activity (green rapidly blinking light) on both the Huwaei 5G and the Google Mesh? 

[vbug12Cha]

On the Huawei device, yes - blinking away. On the Google device there is no light to blink so no. 

Interestingly, If I try and connect to the Huawei device directly with my Samsung s21 phone, it also can't connect to the internet. 

It definitely seems like the EE service is somehow blocking internet access to certain devices. 

[WS1995]

Either that or it's a DHCP issue.... sounds like the connected devices aren't successfully obtaining an IP address and therefore cannot connect to the internet.

Does the Huawei device have an ethernet port, that you could connect a laptop to with an ethernet cable?

I would suggest attempting that with both the Vodafone and EE sim cards, if that works then it appears to be a wireless connection issue and not the EE Sim. If you can successfully obtain an IP address and browse the net when directly connected then it appears to be a WiFi issue. If this works on the Huawei device then try connecting directly to the Mesh system if it has any ethernet ports. If that doesn't work then you know for a fact there's an issue between them. If they both don't work it suggests it's an EE issue or settings related problem.

If that doesn't work with the EE sim, but works with the Vodafone sim, then it's definitely an EE related issue, it might be that you need to alter the configuration of the Huawei device to use new API settings from the EE sim.

Does your Google mesh device have router capability? If so it might be best setting the Huawei device into "bridge mode" where essentially it just acts as a modem, if they are directly connected the Google device will then essentially act as the controller for the network, assigning IP addresses, resolving DNS, etc.

I had a setup which used a virgin media hub directly connected via ethernet to a Netgear Orbi Mesh router, which had two wireless downlinks to two satellites in other rooms. I didn't use bridge mode on the Virgin Media hub but disabled WiFi on it to prevent interference and stop clashes. Sometimes you can end up with two devices both using DHCP on the same network, both attempting to assign IP addresses to the same devices, and invariably you end up with an IP conflict when one device assigns an IP to, for example, a phone, but the other router/mesh router assigns that same IP to perhaps a printer. 

Did you have to enter any settings when you first used the Vodafone sim? In the same way that when you put a different sim into your phone you usually get a text message telling you to download the latest cellular network settings so that you can connect to the internet. Essentially this is the same but the phone is replaced by the Huawei device. 

Might be worth posting some screenshots of the settings/config page with both the Vodafone sim and the EE sim here. I'll have a look at them.

[aido91]

Yes, when I change the sims everything works. I have tried to share EE internet from my phone but still some devices can't connect. I found many people complaining about same issue with EE sims. Thanks.

[James_B]

Hi @aido91,

Our Technical Support Team will be happy to look into this issue if your get in touch.

Thanks

James