You may see WiFi connection errors when booting your Google Mini smart speaker. Or, your speaker may not show up in the Home app. Both problems occur when the Google Mini no longer connects to your WiFi network. To see the speaker and to use it too, the Mini must be online. That is, it must be connected to your internet. These situations can occur if you’ve changed your WiFi network name (SSID) or the network password, but have not yet updated your speaker settings to match. This post details how to change Google Mini WiFi Network, to account for new WiFi routers or other network changes.
With your iOS or Android based mobile device and Google’s Home app, changing your Mini to a different WiFi network is a breeze, and is done as follows.
We assume here that you have the Home app installed and linked to your Google account, as ours has in the following demo.
We took the screenshots below from an Apple iPad Air. But a similar Home app for Android is also available from the Google Play store.
Now, to the routine.
How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
1. Connect your Mini Speaker to AC Power
If not already operating, plug your speaker into a power source, as you’ll need to access the network parameters stored in its memory, as described below. You won’t be able to change these settings without AC power, as they are inaccessible in the Google Home app unless the speaker is powered on. The next picture shows the Google Home Mini speaker connected to AC power via the included AC adapter.
Wait until your speaker finishes booting before proceeding to the next step.
2. Turn On Bluetooth
Avoid being further than fifteen to twenty feet away, for maximum setup speed and minimum errors. The app and your speaker require Bluetooth on your mobile device be enabled, so that settings that you establish in the app prior to when the speaker connects to WiFi are communicated to the speaker.
3. Connect your Mobile Device to the Same WiFi Network that you’re Changing your Google Mini Speaker To
Follow the instructions for your particular mobile device to accomplish this. This is necessary for the Home app to successfully change your speaker to the new WiFi network. For example, if you’re planning to connect your speaker to the AABBCC network, then you should change your mobile device to that same WiFi network (AABBCC).
Note that the Google Mini supports dual band WiFi. So you can change it to either a 2.4 or 5 GHz network.
4. Run the Google Home App on Tablet or Phone to Continue with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
This app gives you access to your current Google devices and settings, and allows you to change them as needed.
The app is located somewhere on the home screen pages, depending on where you might have moved it. On this iPad Air, the app is on home page three, as shown next, pointed at by the purple arrow.
We got the following screen at Home app startup.
After a short period, you get the app’s home screen. Ours displayed as follows.
5. Tap the Hamburger Menu on the App’s Home Screen
This item (the three horizontal stacked lines) is located at top left corner of the Home screen, as displayed in the previous picture. The app’s main menu then displays as shown in the next picture.
6. Tap the Devices Menu Item
In the main (hamburger) menu, find the Devices item, as pointed at by the purple arrow in the previous screenshot. You may have to swipe up in the menu area in order to scroll the Devices item into view.
Depending on whether or not your speaker is connected currently to a WiFi network, different screens will appear at this point. We address each of the possible scenarios as follows.
If your speaker is currently connected and functioning correctly to an access point in your home network, you’ll then see a screen similar to the screenshot in step 6. Go there for further instructions in this case.
If your speaker is powered up but not connected to any WiFi network, then you’ll see a screen like the one seen at the top of step 8. Go there for instructions that address this case. But, if it is powered up and connected successfully to a WiFi network, continue with step 7.
7. Speaker Online and Connected
This shows that your speaker is online and can accept voice commands and questions. This would be the case if you have multiple WiFi networks in your home, and you wish to disconnect your speaker from the one that it’s currently connected to, and connect it instead to another of them. Maybe you moved the speaker from the first to the second floor, and would like to connect it to the second floor access point if you have one, because its WiFi signal is stronger and more reliable up there. In short, you’re moving your Google Mini from one working WiFi network to another.
7a. Tap the Device’s Ellipses Menu to Continue with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
We pointed at the ellipses with the purple arrow in the last picture. This brings up the speaker’s control menu, as shown in the next picture.
7b. Tap the Google Mini Speaker’s Settings Menu Item
Your speaker’s Settings screen then appears. Then, scroll down the screen until you find the Device Settings section in this menu. We’ve done that as shown in the next screen shot.
The WiFi setting here displays the wireless network to which the speaker is currently connected, as circled.
7c. Tap the WiFi setting on the Device Settings screen
The WiFi setting is circled in the last picture.
This then brings up the Forget This Network prompt screen, as shown next.
In this scenario, we wish to disconnect from the 937T681J4059H_2G_Guest network, and connect to the 937T681J4059H_5G network. Both are in range and available to the Google Mini speaker we’re testing out here.
7d. Tap the Forget This Network Bar
As shown next, our speaker is currently connected to the 937T681J4059H_2G_Guest network. We want to forget that network. So we do so by tapping the red bar.
7e. Confirm Current WiFi Network Forgetting to Continue with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
The Forget Network Confirmation screen then appears, as displayed next.
Then, tap the Forget This WiFi Network blue link. as pointed at by the arrow in the previous picture. The app then displays the Forgetting WiFi network screen, as shown next.
Executing this step disconnects your speaker from its current WiFi network, as well as forces it to forget the settings it retains in its memory for that network (SSID, security type, and password et al).
After a short pause, you are returned to the Home screen in the Home app, as shown next.
7f. Again, Tap the Hamburger Menu Item
Find the hamburger control on the app Home screen, near the top left corner.
The main menu then displays as shown in the next picture.
7g. Tap the Devices Menu Item
In the main (hamburger) menu, find the Devices item, as pointed at by the purple arrow in the previous screenshot. You’ll now get the same screenshot as covered in step 7.
8. Speaker Offline or Disconnected from WiFi
If your Google Mini is offline (i.e. not able to connect to any in-range WiFi networks), or if you previously disconnected it from WiFi as described in step 6, then you’ll see something like the next screen.
Your speaker may not be able to connect to a wireless network for example, if you have just replaced the WiFi router / access point that your speaker had been connecting to previously, but you used a different network name (SSID). In that case, the old WiFi network is no longer “on the air.” But the speaker cannot yet change to the new one, as it does not yet have valid network SSID and password for it.
The screen above shows no WiFi because it flags your speaker as needing setup. Without a WiFi connection, the Home app knows about your Google Mini via Bluetooth only. This is why, when you change WiFi on Google Mini, you must have your mobile device within Bluetooth range of the speaker.
Further, with the speaker not connected to any WiFi, Google Mini will not respond to any questions / commands asked of it, except to say, “I can’t find your WiFi network. You can reconnect to WiFi from your Google Home app, under Devices, then Setup.” This audio message from the speaker is a sure sign that it is not linked to any networks currently.
9. Press the SET UP Link on the Devices Screen to Continue with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
Reminder: Be sure your tablet is within several feet of the speaker. Otherwise, setup may fail.
If all goes well, the Home app will search for your speaker and attempt to link to it, as shown in the next screen.
When a Bluetooth connection is made successfully, the app then plays a short chord sound on the Mini that it connected to, and it then displays the following screen.
10. Tap the YES > Link
The app then asks you where you’re placing this device in your home. Here you have many pre-defined choices, as well as the option to “write in” your own location name choice. In this demo, we’re going simple, and picking “Office” as our speaker location, as shown in the following screens.
11. Tap the Location Name that Best Suits your Intended Room for your Home Mini Speaker
Here, we tapped “Office,” and the screen then changes to display the “Office” selection checked, as shown next.
12. Tap the NEXT > Link
You’re then taken to the Choose your WiFi network screen, as shown next. In our case, we’re going to pick the 937T681J4059H_5G network, as pointed at by the purple arrow in the picture that immediately follows.
13. Tap the Desired Network to Continue with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
We did so, and then the screen in the next picture appears, showing our choice has changed color from black to blue.
14. Tap the NEXT > Link
This brings up the “Enter WiFi Password” prompt for the chosen WiFi network above, as shown next.
15. Enter the WiFi Password for your Chosen Network
We entered ours, as shown next.
You may also choose to check the Use This WiFi Network To Set Up Future Devices option, if you want the system to remember this network’s password for the next time you set up a Google device. This eliminates the need to type in the password again.
16. Tap the CONNECT > Link
The Home app then attempts to connect to the chosen WiFi network, and it display this activity as shown in the next screen shot.
After a short pause, the Google Mini connects to your chosen WiFi network, and the Home app displays the following screen to let you know that the speaker connected successfully.
After a short pause, the app again displays its home screen, as follows.
17. Done with How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network !
You have now managed to change WiFi on your Google Mini. That is, your speaker now connects to a working WiFi network. To check it out, ask it the time or weather. If the assistant answers, then you know that the new connection is okay.
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Other Posts About the Google Mini Smart Speaker
- Google Mini Reset Button, Where Is It
- How to Reset Google Mini Speaker
- Google Mini Charger Specs for Mini Google Speaker
- How to Connect Google Mini to Bluetooth Speaker
- Factory Reset Google Mini Speaker Instructions
References for How to Change Google Mini WiFi Network
Revision History
- 2021-08-20: Shortened the internal links and tags lists.
- 2020-05-17: First published.