Gadgetory

an Alexis speaker such as the Amazon echo echo dot or Amazon tap can be a great addition to any living room kitchen or even a bedroom especially in a smart home and typically after the initial setup there's not a lot of tweaking or maintenance that needs to be done but that doesn't mean that things can't go wrong here are four common problems with Alexa speakers and how to fix them if you're having trouble connecting a smart home device to your Alexa speaker first make sure it's a natively supported device while the list of compatible devices is growing many of those devices are actually only compatible through a third-party skill from the skills catalog to add a new device open the Alexa app on your smart phone and go to smart home in the left menu under your devices click discover devices if your device can't be discovered go to the skills section also in the Left menu and search for the brand of your smart home device if there is a skill available and able it and follow the on-screen instructions for connecting it through the skill instead even if your device is not natively supported or there's no skill available you're not entirely out of luck there's an if this in that channel for Alexa which connects it to many other smart home devices that would not otherwise be compatible if you're having trouble with the Alexa speaker disconnecting from your network regularly there are a few things you can try first power cycle everything unplug the router the modem and the speaker then resore power after a few minutes if that doesn't fix things try relocating the Alexa speaker closer to the router and away from other devices if that doesn't work and you have an already you may want to consider switching your Alexa speaker from a 2.4 gigahertz network to 5 gigahertz to decrease interference you may also notice that the Alexa speaker doesn't hear you quite as well as it used to this could be explained by things being added around the speaker and it being cluttered or the speaker physically moving closer to the wall to fix this try to remove obstructions from the speaker and keep it at least eight inches away from the wall also consider what's around the speaker if it's near a noisy appliance or air vent you may want to relocate it to another part of the room and finally you can try voice training which is under settings in the Alexa app voice training will have you read twenty five phrases allowed in a typical voice from a typical distance so Alexa can better understand you and finally do too increased popularity marketing and sometimes pure coincidence the television can activate your speaker if you're watching a TV show or movie that has any of the wakeboards included or anything that is audibly similar while harmless it is a nuisance and there are three things you can do to help prevent it 1 simply move the Alexus speaker further from the television so it doesn't pick up on the audio from the sound system quite as well to hit the mute switch so it stops listening to audio altogether or 3 change the wake word that is used commonly in the show or movie that you're watching be sure to check out cnn.com /how tuned for more alexa tips