A few clients of Nest thermostats can no longer control the gadgets remotely, and the issue is constraining Google to supplant the gadgets totally if in any case standard troubleshooting falls flat. The issue, which started springing up on Nest forums as ahead of schedule as last November and racking up in excess of 200 reactions, is known as the “w5 error,” and it disables remote control of the organization’s thermostats.

Controlling the temperature of your home with your cell phone when you’re out of the house or away from the physical gadget is essentially the sole selling purpose of the Nest thermostat. With the goal that makes this an entirely difficult issue, regardless of whether you despite everything can manually change the temperature on the gadget itself. Google says it’s mindful of the issue and that it’s presently offering substitutions to proprietors of the gadget who can’t understand the issue through standard reset methodology.

“A very small number of Nest thermostat users are experiencing a known issue with the Wi-Fi chip that causes remote connectivity issues. This does not affect the thermostat’s ability to control the customer’s heating and cooling system in the home, but does impact the user’s ability to manage the thermostat remotely,” a Google spokesperson tells The Verge. “If a user sees this error and it can’t be resolved through troubleshooting, they are prompted to contact customer support for assistance and will be issued a replacement device.”

It’s as yet not so much clear where the issue originates from. A few clients in the forum threads have said Google’s support channel is pointing the figure at an recent update that disabled the gadget’s Wi-Fi chip, yet Google itself isn’t stating. In any case, the organization is downplaying the severity of the w5 mistake by proposing standard troubleshooting can tackle it, when in actuality it seems as though a few gadgets are just plain broken now and would longer be able to make utilize one of Nest’s hallmark highlights. The way that Google needs to outright supplant some of these thermostats is a piece concerning, considering a thermostat isn’t something you typically want malfunctioning.