Why is the Google Home app so garbage at setting up PPPoE? Getting stuck in an endless setup loop.
I need to vent, and hopefully, someone has a workaround because I am losing my mind with this Google "smart" bullshit.
My ISP uses a wireless antenna on my roof, which requires a PPPoE connection (username and password) to get internet. Setting up my old Linksys router took two seconds because it explicitly asked for PPPoE right out of the box. Google, however, is a complete nightmare.
When I plug the internet Ethernet cable into the Google router and try to set it up in the Google Home app, the wizard just tries to search for a connection, fails, and says "Connect Ethernet." It completely refuses to move past this screen. It seems like the app defaults entirely to DHCP, and because it doesn't detect immediate internet, it just panics and crashes the wizard instead of offering a manual PPPoE setup page.
If I unplug the Ethernet cable to try and force the app into "offline/manual" mode, it lets me type in my PPPoE username and password, but when I click the Save icon, NOTHING HAPPENS. The button is completely unresponsive because the Google Home app requires a live internet connection to its cloud servers just to save a local setting to the router.
How does a tech giant design a router that can't save PPPoE settings without an internet connection, but can't get an internet connection until you save the PPPoE settings? It’s a total chicken-and-egg design flaw.
Has anyone with a fixed wireless/antenna ISP successfully bypassed this loop without throwing the router out the window?