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Google to fix Wi-Fi-slaying Chromecast bug on Thursday

An Android update should keep your home network from succumbing to potentially crippling data bursts.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland
Google headquarters in Mountain View, California

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California

Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google plans to update Android phones on Thursday so an interaction with Chromecast video-streaming devices and Google Home smart speakers won't whack your Wi-Fi.

Google acknowledged the problem in a customer support post and said the update to Android's Google Play Services software will arrive Thursday to fix it.

"In certain situations, a bug in the Cast software on Android phones may incorrectly send a large amount of network traffic which can slow down or temporarily impact Wi-Fi networks," Google said of the problem. "People with an Android phone and a Chromecast built-in device (such as a Chromecast or Google Home device) on the same Wi-Fi network may experience this issue."

Watch this: Google Home speaker crashing routers