Google has posted on its website that it will release a patch today for the Wifi problems caused by the Chromecast and Google Home. The update will be distributed through Google Play services and will be automatically installed on most devices.
The update fixes a confirmed bug in Google's Cast software on Android devices that sends a large amount of network traffic when the device comes out of sleep mode. The flood of network traffic slows down Wifi networks or disconnects the router from the internet and/or devices connected to it. Users are only affected if the Android device and Chromecast/Home device is on the same Wifi network.
The issue was discovered by an engineer from router vendor TP-Link after which the company released a firmware update for its Archer C1200 router but according to user reports, other router models of the vendor were affected. Also Netgear and Linksys released firmware updates, but the root of the cause was not resolved yet.
The actual problem should be fixed with today's update from Google. It should make sure that Android devices running Google's Cast software play nice together with connected Chromecast or Google Home devices.
It was about time the issue got fixed, the first reports about the issue appeared in October 2017. Not only TP-Link, Netgear and Linksys routers were affected, but we also received many reports from Asus, MikroTik and Synology router owners.
