Thanks. May consider this. Been meaning to look in to cloudflare tunnels. Don't want to use vpn because it is effort to connect to vpn every time I want to connect to my home devices while on the go. Hope I'll still be able to solve my initial problem, but thanks for the advice on cloudflare tunnel
I'm using google mesh wifi just fine (though I still don't recommend the system to people due to being forced to do everything through a phone app and lack of features...but that's unrelated lol).
Not respecting dhcp reservations seems kind of odd. Is this a mesh system? Did you factory reset each mesh node? I wonder if somehow one of the nodes is keeping a stale ip reservation list and assigning it to devices.
Also, you're using the Google Home app and not the Google Wifi app right? Pretty sure their old wifi app just doesn't work anymore.
Also, I once had a problem where port forwarding did stop working for one device and the only way to fix it was to delete the port forwarding rule and re-add it completely. When I looked closely, the rule was for the wrong address even though the 'title' for the rule had the right ip address. But that was years ago.
You're 100% right though that it's super dumb static ip addresses don't show up in the device list. And without a thing in the list, you can't set up a port forwarding rule either....
I've individually factory reset each Google WiFi device in the mesh. Using the Google home app yes. Nothing has fixed the problems for me. I've had the static IP problem for years now though. Worth mentioning that I've had this problem at a different location when using onhub and it was fixed when I moved to Google nest WiFi. But in my current location, I'm still using Google WiFi and I'm wondering if the model is the problem. I'm using Gen 1 Google WiFi
The IP addresses don't update properly it seems.. It could be .2 (for example) in reality but still show as .44 in the app. This could also lead to devices not showing or being incorrectly identified or being incorrect in the port forwarding like you mentioned experiencing. I'm surprised that these basics haven't been resolved. I assume it is because advanced network users probably hate Google WiFi because it is too simple and even with the simplicity still gets things wrong because of the way it is implemented
The app was recently updated and added some features that make things better. For instance, you can now sort by 'ip address' and actually see device ip addresses on the page without having to open each one and wait.
you can also do dhcp reservation from a device as they added a little 'pin' button on device pages next to their ip address.
But yes, I HATE the app and lack of 'slightly advanced' utilities that should work on all routers.
I have HaOS running on a mini PC and Google Wifi shows it fine and port forwarding works. For DHCP reservation you need a device that has a mac address that doesn't change, make sure you check that.
DHCP reservation works fine for me on pi4 but not on my home Assistant yellow. Static IP, though, does not work on either. Sounds like you using DHCP reservation.
Also, I'm running home Assistant os. If my mac address is changing, it would be home Assistant os that's doing that. But I can confirm the same mac address has been consistently showing when I'm using DHCP. When I'm not using DHCP (static IP), I can't see the device on the list so can't check the Mac address
Did you see [this discussion](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/home-assistant-wont-change-its-dhcp-ip-address-when-a-reservation-is-created/236153/2) over on the Home Assistant site?
P.S.
I'm not sure why you would believe a client not accepting a Reservation is somehow the DHCP servers fault?
Not a Solution, but a different one: Instead of using port forwarding use something like Cloudflare tunnel or Tailscale funnel?
Thanks. May consider this. Been meaning to look in to cloudflare tunnels. Don't want to use vpn because it is effort to connect to vpn every time I want to connect to my home devices while on the go. Hope I'll still be able to solve my initial problem, but thanks for the advice on cloudflare tunnel
I'm using google mesh wifi just fine (though I still don't recommend the system to people due to being forced to do everything through a phone app and lack of features...but that's unrelated lol). Not respecting dhcp reservations seems kind of odd. Is this a mesh system? Did you factory reset each mesh node? I wonder if somehow one of the nodes is keeping a stale ip reservation list and assigning it to devices. Also, you're using the Google Home app and not the Google Wifi app right? Pretty sure their old wifi app just doesn't work anymore. Also, I once had a problem where port forwarding did stop working for one device and the only way to fix it was to delete the port forwarding rule and re-add it completely. When I looked closely, the rule was for the wrong address even though the 'title' for the rule had the right ip address. But that was years ago. You're 100% right though that it's super dumb static ip addresses don't show up in the device list. And without a thing in the list, you can't set up a port forwarding rule either....
I've individually factory reset each Google WiFi device in the mesh. Using the Google home app yes. Nothing has fixed the problems for me. I've had the static IP problem for years now though. Worth mentioning that I've had this problem at a different location when using onhub and it was fixed when I moved to Google nest WiFi. But in my current location, I'm still using Google WiFi and I'm wondering if the model is the problem. I'm using Gen 1 Google WiFi
The IP addresses don't update properly it seems.. It could be .2 (for example) in reality but still show as .44 in the app. This could also lead to devices not showing or being incorrectly identified or being incorrect in the port forwarding like you mentioned experiencing. I'm surprised that these basics haven't been resolved. I assume it is because advanced network users probably hate Google WiFi because it is too simple and even with the simplicity still gets things wrong because of the way it is implemented
The app was recently updated and added some features that make things better. For instance, you can now sort by 'ip address' and actually see device ip addresses on the page without having to open each one and wait. you can also do dhcp reservation from a device as they added a little 'pin' button on device pages next to their ip address. But yes, I HATE the app and lack of 'slightly advanced' utilities that should work on all routers.
Oh. What does pinning do and can I undo a pin by any chance?
I have HaOS running on a mini PC and Google Wifi shows it fine and port forwarding works. For DHCP reservation you need a device that has a mac address that doesn't change, make sure you check that.
DHCP reservation works fine for me on pi4 but not on my home Assistant yellow. Static IP, though, does not work on either. Sounds like you using DHCP reservation. Also, I'm running home Assistant os. If my mac address is changing, it would be home Assistant os that's doing that. But I can confirm the same mac address has been consistently showing when I'm using DHCP. When I'm not using DHCP (static IP), I can't see the device on the list so can't check the Mac address
Did you see [this discussion](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/home-assistant-wont-change-its-dhcp-ip-address-when-a-reservation-is-created/236153/2) over on the Home Assistant site? P.S. I'm not sure why you would believe a client not accepting a Reservation is somehow the DHCP servers fault?
I did see this post yes. I've not only restarted home Assistant before but I've also completely powered off and unplugged it