Google Home FAQ

OldMrBrennan83

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BattlingCheese

Must be Oreo, thanks for the info

BailMeOut

thecivvie wrote: »

Can work fine by itself. I don't have a larger one at the moment and my mini does all i need

thank you.

OU812

Just picked up a mini for £32 in Dixon’s in gatwick. Didn’t intend to get one but felt it was worth the punt to test it out

flangemeistro

Hey guys can I change hue scenes settings with Google home and Google mini, I'm ready to throw my echo out the window since the last update because all it will do now if turn on and off my lights and dim them.

I'm wondering because I have Google Assistant on my pixel linked to my hue and it won't do scenes either just on off and dim.

Thanks.

setanta1984

flangemeistro wrote: »

Hey guys can I change hue scenes settings with Google home and Google mini, I'm ready to throw my echo out the window since the last update because all it will do now if turn on and off my lights and dim them.

I'm wondering because I have Google Assistant on my pixel linked to my hue and it won't do scenes either just on off and dim.

Thanks.

You need to use something like IFTTT for the scenes with Google Home. Takes a while to set it up if you have a lot of scenes but works fine once done.
It's handy to be able to set your own trigger words having to do it this way too - I hated having to say "turn on Relax in the Bedroom" when doing scenes with the Echo - felt very unnatural.

thecivvie

I am having issues with my Tp Link smart plug. 90% of the time Google Assistant returns unknown error. I am using a B315 4G modem

flangemeistro

setanta1984 wrote: »

You need to use something like IFTTT for the scenes with Google Home. Takes a while to set it up if you have a lot of scenes but works fine once done.
It's handy to be able to set your own trigger words having to do it this way too - I hated having to say "turn on Relax in the Bedroom" when doing scenes with the Echo - felt very unnatural.

Will IFTTT work with Google Assistant because I set up a load of triggers last night for my scenes and none of them work, if I say "ok Google turn on movie time" or "ok Google turn on movie time in sitting room" it just plays a YouTube video on my phone?

setanta1984

flangemeistro wrote: »

Will IFTTT work with Google Assistant because I set up a load of triggers last night for my scenes and none of them work, if I say "ok Google turn on movie time" or "ok Google turn on movie time in sitting room" it just plays a YouTube video on my phone?

They work fine for me on the Homes and Assistant on my phone/watch.

Maybe there is a conflict between your IFTTT trigger word and a built in Assistant command? Might be worth turning on notifications for the IFTTT applet to see if it is being triggered at all?

flangemeistro

setanta1984 wrote: »

They work fine for me on the Homes and Assistant on my phone/watch.

Maybe there is a conflict between your IFTTT trigger word and a built in Assistant command? Might be worth turning on notifications for the IFTTT applet to see if it is being triggered at all?

I have the notifications turned on and even when I activate them manually through the IFTTT app I get the notification as if it's happened but my lights don't change.

BattlingCheese

thecivvie wrote: »

I am having issues with my Tp Link smart plug. 90% of the time Google Assistant returns unknown error. I am using a B315 4G modem

Make sure the TP plug has the latest firmware. There should be an option to check and update in the Kasa app.

thecivvie

BattlingCheese wrote: »

Make sure the TP plug has the latest firmware. There should be an option to check and update in the Kasa app.

I did and I think it is. To be honest I have a feeling it is the 3G modem. I may try a Pi with a dongle and 4 way switch

bk

thecivvie wrote: »

I did and I think it is. To be honest I have a feeling it is the 3G modem. I may try a Pi with a dongle and 4 way switch

To be honest, I think you will have a tough time using some of this home automation tech on a 3g/4g modem. A lot of it requires a good solid wired broadband connection.

Now this might not be an issue, but 3g/4g isn't really designed for this sort of thing.

OU812

Does anyone use a market-upon email address for theirs or just your own? Google marketing obviously going to be going full steam through it

thecivvie

bk wrote: »

To be honest, I think you will have a tough time using some of this home automation tech on a 3g/4g modem. A lot of it requires a good solid wired broadband connection.

Now this might not be an issue, but 3g/4g isn't really designed for this sort of thing.

living in a remote area so no other choice. My Hues all work flawlessly. It is just TP Link plug which works fine with the app

Shlippery

@bk - do we still need to setup region to US on the home? Or has this changed since your original post? I set it up as Irish first - didnt notice anything different when I did the region change.

bk

thecivvie wrote: »

living in a remote area so no other choice. My Hues all work flawlessly. It is just TP Link plug which works fine with the app

Yes, the thing with Hue is everything is happening locally on the hub, the app on your phone is talking straight to the hub, it doesn't go out on the internet at all (unless you are out of course).

Wifi only devices like the TP Link plugs, etc. are likely less dependable as they have to go out over the internet. If I was you I'd try and stick to hub based devices, rather then wifi only ones.

BTW You should check about the National Broadband Scheme over on the Broadband forum, you might be in line to get Fiber to the Home broadband soon under the scheme. Worth checking.

Shlippery wrote: »

@bk - do we still need to setup region to US on the home? Or has this changed since your original post? I set it up as Irish first - didnt notice anything different when I did the region change.

It might have changed now, but I tried setting my phone back to Ireland a few weeks ago and the Google Home app kept crashing on me, so I set it back to US and it fixed the crashes. So I'm not sure, if it all works for you under Ireland, then great, stick with that.

Shlippery

bk wrote: »

Yes, the thing with Hue is everything is happening locally on the hub, the app on your phone is talking straight to the hub, it doesn't go out on the internet at all (unless you are out of course).

Wifi only devices like the TP Link plugs, etc. are likely less dependable as they have to go out over the internet. If I was you I'd try and stick to hub based devices, rather then wifi only ones.

BTW You should check about the National Broadband Scheme over on the Broadband forum, you might be in line to get Fiber to the Home broadband soon under the scheme. Worth checking.



It might have changed now, but I tried setting my phone back to Ireland a few weeks ago and the Google Home app kept crashing on me, so I set it back to US and it fixed the crashes. So I'm not sure, if it all works for you under Ireland, then great, stick with that.

Perfect - sounds good. Might move the mini to the bedroom as I've a Nvidia Shield on the way and don't want the two interrupting each other- would I be right in saying the Shield should function the same as the mini w/ google assistant built in? The Shield should also be classed as a "chromecast" device too right?

Wouldn't mind a full size Google Home, but unsure if I can justify it just yet..the mini sound filled the living room easily and my kitchen is fairly small!

thecivvie

bk wrote: »

Yes, the thing with Hue is everything is happening locally on the hub, the app on your phone is talking straight to the hub, it doesn't go out on the internet at all (unless you are out of course).

Wifi only devices like the TP Link plugs, etc. are likely less dependable as they have to go out over the internet. If I was you I'd try and stick to hub based devices, rather then wifi only ones.

BTW You should check about the National Broadband Scheme over on the Broadband forum, you might be in line to get Fiber to the Home broadband soon under the scheme. Worth checking.



It might have changed now, but I tried setting my phone back to Ireland a few weeks ago and the Google Home app kept crashing on me, so I set it back to US and it fixed the crashes. So I'm not sure, if it all works for you under Ireland, then great, stick with that.

Moving to Russia so trying to get all the gear I need. Will get Hub based sockets. But may keep the TP Link anyway

bk

Shlippery wrote: »

would I be right in saying the Shield should function the same as the mini w/ google assistant built in? The Shield should also be classed as a "chromecast" device too right?

To be honest, I haven't tried the assistant on my shield TV. I use a harmony remote with it, which doesn't have a mic. Plus I've already have GHome in the same room, so no need for it. To be honest, with the mini's being so cheap, I don't think I'd bother, the far field mics are just too handy.

But on your second question, yes the Shield is classed has Chromecast built in and get be set as the default place to play video like youtube or from security cameras.

thecivvie wrote: »

Moving to Russia so trying to get all the gear I need. Will get Hub based sockets. But may keep the TP Link anyway

One warning on hub based switches, I've MiHome switches that use a hub, but due to IMO bad programming, the hub needs an internet connection to work. I'm not impressed with them. The LightwaveRF gear might be better, it would want to be given the cost, but I haven't tried it.

Of course I've no idea what plug types, power, etc. they use in Russia, so watch out for that.

BTW Russia, very cool

thecivvie

bk wrote: »

One warning on hub based switches, I've MiHome switches that use a hub, but due to IMO bad programming, the hub needs an internet connection to work. I'm not impressed with them. The LightwaveRF gear might be better, it would want to be given the cost, but I haven't tried it.

Of course I've no idea what plug types, power, etc. they use in Russia, so watch out for that.

BTW Russia, very cool

Oddly, just got home and it worked perfectly Plug type is the European ones, And E27 light fittings. I have a special lead made up ready for my Irish plugs if needed

EagererBeaver

OU812 wrote: »

Does anyone use a market-upon email address for theirs or just your own? Google marketing obviously going to be going full steam through it

Well the idea is that it ties in with your Google account/wider ecosystem so I imagine the vast majority simply use their Google account.

adox

Have to say I’m mightily impressed with the Google Home. First of all the speaker on it is excellent for what it is. Being able to adjust the bass and treble is a great feature too. The only thing I would like to be able to do is adjust the volume of the assistants voice. It seems quite low compared to the other platforms that it outputs and therefore constantly too low compared to whatever else is coming out if it.

I’ve had the echo dot for a few months and well the GH is just like a much better version of it in nearly every way. Even when checking the traffic in the morning before leaving for work(something I do religiously) with the echo dot it just gave me a time estimate. If it was longer than the norm I knew there was a pr9blem somewhere and could check on twitter. With GH it gives me the time and if there is a delay, tells me where the problem is, the junction on the motorway where the traffic is backed up to and suggests an alternative route.

I’m very happy with it.

OldMrBrennan83

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OldBean

adox wrote: »

Have to say I’m mightily impressed with the Google Home. First of all the speaker on it is excellent for what it is. Being able to adjust the bass and treble is a great feature too. The only thing I would like to be able to do is adjust the volume of the assistants voice. It seems quite low compared to the other platforms that it outputs and therefore constantly too low compared to whatever else is coming out if it.

There's an option in there to automatically turn the volume down on whatever it's playing/casting too which is handy.

Patww79 wrote: »

It does what? Jaysus mine tells me less detail about the traffic than your Echo does.

Do you have your location on the app set to US and your home address added fully? Works perfect here!

OldMrBrennan83

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Ludo

Just tried it there and it told me traffic was light, the estimated time it would take and the suggested route...and also sent it to my phone. My location is set to US on the GH device in the Home app alright.

OldMrBrennan83

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adox

Another thing as well. Tunein works flawlessly for me so far too. Has worked every time for me. Also the mics seem to be better on the GH. It picks my voice up very easily.

Shortcuts is another excellent feature that I’m using with my Hue Lights.

Shlippery

Yea, was impressed I just had to say "Hey Google, play 2fm" or "play today fm" and it knew to look at tunein!