We have not yet received our Google Home Max voice activated speaker. But it appears that the routine for how to change WiFi network on Google Home Max, is the same as for the other Google Home smart speakers, such as the Home and the Mini. So, here, we’ll rewrite the procedure for the Mini, substituting most mentions of the word Max for the word Mini, assuming that the Max will work the same way. Then, when we eventually receive our Max speaker, we’ll update this and the pictures to account for any differences. In the meantime, while you’re reading this, replace any mentions of the word Mini with the word Max, to get the correct procedure for the Google Home Max smart speaker.
Now, on to the procedure…
How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: Step by Step
You may experience Wi-Fi connection errors when booting your Google Home Max smart speaker. Or, you may notice that your speaker is not listed in the Google Home app. Both problems occur when the Max is no longer linked to your Wi-Fi network, unless it is online (i.e. connected successfully to your network with internet access). These situations can occur if you’ve changed your Wi-Fi network name (SSID) or the network password, but have not yet updated your Google Home Max device accordingly. This post details how to update the speaker’s Wi-Fi settings to account for new Wi-Fi router additions or replacements.
With your iOS or Android based mobile device and the Google Home app, connecting your Max intelligent speaker to a different Wi-Fi network is quite simple, and is done as follows.
We assume here that the Google Home App has previously been installed and linked to your Google account, as ours has in the following demonstration.
The screenshots below were taken from an Apple iPad Air. However, a similar Google Home app for Android is also available from the Google Play store.
Now, to the procedure.
1. Connect your Google Home Max 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 Max speaker connected to AC power via the included AC adapter.
Wait until your speaker finishes booting before proceeding to the next step.
2. Move your Tablet Close to the Max Speaker and Turn On Bluetooth
Avoid being further than fifteen to twenty feet away, for maximum setup speed and minimum errors. You must enable Bluetooth so that the app and your speaker. This lets the app transmit the settings that you establish to the speaker.
3. Connect your Mobile Device to the same Wi-Fi Network that you’re Connecting your Speaker To
Follow the instructions for your particular mobile device to accomplish this. This is necessary in order for the Google Home app to successfully connect your speaker to the new Wi-Fi network.
4. How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: Run the Google Home app on that Tablet or Phone
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 our iPad Air, it’s on home page three, as shown next, as pointed at by the purple arrow.
We got the following screen at Google Home App startup.
After a short period, you’re taken to the home screen. Ours displayed as follows.
5. Tap the Hamburger Menu Item
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 Google Max speaker is connected currently to a Wi-Fi network, different screens will appear at this point.
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 7. Go there for further instructions in this case.
If your speaker is powered up but not connected to any Wi-Fi network, then you’ll see a screen like the one pictured at the top of step 8. Go there for specific instructions that address this case.
7.How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: 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 Wi-Fi 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 Wi-Fi signal is stronger and more reliable up there. In short, you’re moving your speaker from one working Wi-Fi network to another.
7a. Tap the Device’s Ellipses Menu
This is pointed to by the purple arrow in the previous picture. This brings up the speaker’s control menu, as shown in the next picture.
7b. Tap the Max 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 WI-FI setting here displays the wireless network to which the speaker is currently connected, as circled.
7c. Tap the Wi-Fi Setting on the Device Settings Screen to Continue with How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max
The Wi-Fi setting option is circled in the last picture.
Tapping that brings up the Forget This Network 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 Home Max speaker.
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 Wi-Fi Network Forgetting
The Forget Network Confirmation screen then appears, as displayed next.
Then, tap the Forget This Wi-Fi Network blue link. as pointed at by the arrow in the previous picture. The app then displays the Forgetting Wi-Fi network screen, as shown next.
Executing this step disconnects your Max speaker from its current Wi-Fi network, and 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 Google Home app, as shown next.
7f. Again, tap the Hamburger Menu Item
on the Google Home App Home screen. 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. How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: Speaker Offline or Disconnected from Wi-Fi
If your speaker is offline (i.e. not able to connect to any in-range Wi-Fi networks), or if you previously disconnected it from Wi-Fi as described in step 6, then you’ll see something like the next screen.
Your Google Max speaker may not be able to connect to a wireless network for example, if you have just replaced the Wi-Fi router / access point that your speaker had been connecting to previously, but you used a different network name (SSID). In that case, the old Wi-Fi network is no longer “on the air.” But the Google speaker cannot yet connect to the new one, as it does not yet have valid network SSID and password for it.
The screen above indicates no Wi-Fi connectivity by flagging your speaker as needing setup. Without a Wi-Fi connection, the Google Home app knows about your speaker via Bluetooth communications, which is why, when setting up a speaker, your mobile device must be in Bluetooth range of it.
Further, with the speaker not connected to any internet network, Google Home Max cannot respond to questions / commands directed at your speaker, except to say, “I can’t find your Wi-Fi network. You can reconnect to Wi-Fi from your Google Home app, under Devices, then Setup.” This audio message from the speaker is a sure sign that it is not connected to any Wi-Fi networks currently.
9. Press the SET UP Link on Devices Screen
Reminder: Be sure your tablet is within several feet of the speaker. Otherwise, setup may fail.
If all goes well, the Google Home app will search for your speaker and attempt to connect to it, as shown in the next screen.
When you make a Bluetooth connection successfully, the Google Home app then plays a short chord sound on the Max that it connected to, and it then displays the following screen.
10. How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: Tap the YES > Link
The app then asks you where you’re placing this device in your home. Here you have numerous pre-defined choices, as well as the option to “write in” your own location name choice. In this demo however, we’re going simple, and specifying “Office” as our speaker location, as shown in the following screens.
11. Tap the Location Where you Place your Google Max Speaker
Here, we tapped “Office,” and the screen then changes to display the “Office” selection checked, as shown next.
12. Tap the NEXT > Link
The app then takes you to the Choose your Wi-Fi 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. How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max: Tap the Desired Wi-Fi 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
Then, this brings up the “Enter Wi-Fi Password” prompt for the chosen Wi-Fi network above, as shown next. Note however that the system may not prompt for a password, if you’ve previously connected a Google Home device to the same Wi-Fi network. In fact, Google remembers the credentials for previously-connected wireless networks. If this is the case, then the system will connect to the network with no further prompts. For this scenario, skip ahead to step 17.
15. Enter the Wi-Fi Password for your Chosen Network
We entered ours, as shown next.
You may also choose to check the -Use This Wi-Fi Network To Set Up Future Devices- option, if you want this network’s password to be remembered the next time you set up a Google Home device. This eliminates the need to type in the password again.
16. Tap the CONNECT > Link
The Google Home app then attempts to connect to the selected Wi-Fi network, and it display this activity as shown in the next screen shot.
After a short pause, the Max speaker connects to your chosen Wi-Fi network, and the Google Home app displays the following screen to indicate that the speaker connected successfully.
Then, after a short pause, the Google Home app again displays its home screen, as follows.
17. Done with How to Change WiFi Network on Google Home Max
Finally, your Google Home Max smart speaker now links to a different Wi-Fi network. So, ask it the time or weather, and you’ll know the connection is good if the speaker responds with the correct answer.
Changing the Wi-Fi network in this way, rather than doing a full factory default reset of the speaker, retains the speaker preferences you’ve previously established. These include accessibility sounds settings, speaker street address, and so on.