https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072490?hl=en

“We’ve identified a fix for the issue impacting Google Home users and it will be automatically rolled out over the next 6 hours. If you would like an immediate fix please follow the directions to reboot your device. If you're still experiencing an issue after rebooting, contact us at Google Home Support. We are really sorry for the inconvenience and are taking steps to prevent this issue from happening in the future.

LennonNZ:

https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072490?hl=en

“We’ve identified a fix for the issue impacting Google Home users and it will be automatically rolled out over the next 6 hours. If you would like an immediate fix please follow the directions to reboot your device. If you're still experiencing an issue after rebooting, contact us at Google Home Support. We are really sorry for the inconvenience and are taking steps to prevent this issue from happening in the future.

At least everything seems to be working now.

I think they need to put a notification feature into the Google Home app so that they can tell us when they have a known fault of this type. Judging from the hundreds of comments in other fora, it would appear that (like me) many people wasted countless hours trying to fix what they assumed to be a problem with their own setup. As well as enduring the ire of spouses and kids who assumed that somehow we had broken the network by tinkering with it.

For a company the size of Google, the number of channels they have (email, twitter, the Google Home app etc) to push out messaging, and the scale of the issue given the sheer number of affected devices in service, I do find the lack of timely communication from them to be perplexing.

The webpage https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072490?hl=en ( https://support.google.com/googlehome) did have the information on it and its the main support page for the Google Home and most support pages link to it (even when you search for it in Google it's easily found)

That webpage gives Phone Numbers for Support as well now. (There is no NZ Support Number as the Google Home is not a supported device in NZ)

Yes there was a delay but do you expect Google to give out incorrect information before an investigation of what the actual issue is.

As you are using the Google Home in an unsupported country maybe use the Google Product Forums (https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/googlehome)

lchiu7: I received this apology this morning

Except my problem was the Chromecasts not Google Home

Chrome casts are part of Google Home's device range, hence why you use the Google Home app to configure them. The thing that surprises me the most in the aftermath of the actual problem is that the outage was well over 15 hours (6pm-9am NZST). Not a good sign for the IoT revolution going on. However, it is the first time I recall having an outage of my Chromecast.

LennonNZ:

 

The webpage https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072490?hl=en ( https://support.google.com/googlehome) did have the information on it and its the main support page for the Google Home and most support pages link to it (even when you search for it in Google it's easily found)

 

It eventually had the information on it, late and if you hunted to find it. With nothing about what was causing it or the expected resolution.

The Google Home App is what is used to control , setup and reconfigure Google home devices, including the Chromecast. Which is why it would be good to have push notifications to it.

I'm not alone in this. The many related forums are awash with complaints from hundreds/thousands of users who wasted hours each trying to fix the problem, when the problem wasn't at their end.

JimmyH:

LennonNZ:

The webpage https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7072490?hl=en ( https://support.google.com/googlehome) did have the information on it and its the main support page for the Google Home and most support pages link to it (even when you search for it in Google it's easily found)

It eventually had the information on it, late and if you hunted to find it. With nothing about what was causing it or the expected resolution.

The Google Home App is what is used to control , setup and reconfigure Google home devices, including the Chromecast. Which is why it would be good to have push notifications to it.

I'm not alone in this. The many related forums are awash with complaints from hundreds/thousands of users who wasted hours each trying to fix the problem, when the problem wasn't at their end.