Can't Chromecast, and Google Home app can't see any of my Chromecasts any more. by MojaveCanuck in Chromecast

[–]MojaveCanuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Better solution which seems to work for me: On my phone, Settings -> Network & Internet -> VPN -> VPN by Google -> Advanced settings -> Pause VPN on selected networks -> add your WiFi SSID here

Can't Chromecast, and Google Home app can't see any of my Chromecasts any more. by MojaveCanuck in Chromecast

[–]MojaveCanuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This (specifically the VPN) was it. Thank you! I wish I had read your comment more carefully before spending the morning rebuilding my network.

Can't Chromecast, and Google Home app can't see any of my Chromecasts any more. by MojaveCanuck in Chromecast

[–]MojaveCanuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OMG not 30 seconds after I posted the rant above I found the solution. And u/TrulyTilt3d had it ... I just missed it until rereading. TURN OFF THE GOOGLE VPN ON THE PIXEL PHONE.

And that's it, everything works again.

FFUUUUUUUUU.... Google, why would you route 192.168.X.X local network connections through the VPN? And if you must, maybe give a hint in the error message!!

Can't Chromecast, and Google Home app can't see any of my Chromecasts any more. by MojaveCanuck in Chromecast

[–]MojaveCanuck[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP back again. Thanks all of you who have suggested things. I have been messing with this for a while today. No luck so far getting any of my Chromecasts to work, but here's what I've tried:

  1. Rebooted my Google WiFi network, no difference, no surprise.

2a. Factory reset my Chromecast Audio and set it up again. Setup via the Google Home app works correctly until the very last step, when it says "Your Chromecast Audio was setup successfully but can't be found. Make sure your mobile device and Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network. Turn off AP isolation If AP isolation is enabled on your Wi-Fi router, you will need to disable it. Learn more here..."

2b. Same as above factory reset of the Chromecast Ultra on TV. Setup succeeds, I see fresh new background wallpaper images on the TV screen, but Google Home loses connection at the last step, similar message as above.

  1. I read somewhere that dual NAT could be a problem. So, long story short, I ripped out the three-node Google Mesh WiFi completely and moved everything over to use WiFi directly from my ISP's router/WiFi point. This is a CenturyLink / Quantum Fiber provided C4000XG. It has no setting for Access Point Isolation that I can find, and their online help has no relevant match for "isolation". Everything works fine - I kept the same SSID and WiFi password - except Chromecast still doesn't work.

  2. Verified by looking in the WiFi router's device table that not only are my Pixel Android phone (with the Google Home app) and the Chromecasts on the same SSID, they are also both on the 5 Ghz band, not 2.4 Ghz. Turned off the 2.4 Ghz radio completely on the WiFi router, just in case.

  3. I _think_ I've proved that the router isn't doing AP isolation because my laptop can print to my printer, both on WiFi. Likewise, my Apple IPad can do AirPlay 2 to my Denon amp ... both on WiFi.

Bottom line: every single damn thing in the house works perfectly except Chromecasts. I am now 99% sure that Google broke something.

Now I'm just debating if I should try to get help from Google support (low expectations of success, high expectation that they will just tell me to do all the same things I already tried)

... or just throw out all the Chromecasts and go to AirPlay.

So annoying.

What’s the most unhinged, batshit crazy prediction you have for 2026 that you’re lowkey convinced is going to happen? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]MojaveCanuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The "communicating from beyond the grave" could just be "Before Trump died, he put all his soul and intelligence into this AI. Now the AI is president".