Gadgetory

the first step to having a smart home centered around Alexa is simple buy an Alexa the $50 echo dot is the most affordable option but if you rather not spend anything at all you can just download the free Amazon app tap the microphone on the top right corner and boom you have Alexa access on your phone next decide where you want to set up your echo device you can set it up in your bedroom if you want to use Alexa's alarm clock or you can set it up in your living room to turn on your TV just make sure you set it up in an area where you'll get the most use out of it now in order to use the smart capabilities of Alexa you need a smart home device a good starting point would be the Belkin Wemo mini smart plug which cost us 35 bucks plug it into your wall socket then plug in a lamp or any device you want to turn on and off using alexa as you follow your device's setup instructions be sure to choose a name that's natural and easy to remember Alexa will use whatever name you pick so keep it simple something like bedroom lamp or desk fan once all your devices are up and running you'll need to sync them up of Alexa in most cases you'll just say Alexa discover new devices for other times you may need to use the Alexa app and punch in your login info to get everything linked up if you've got a lot of devices consider putting them into groups to activate multiple gadgets simultaneously another option is to create a scene scenes or pre-established settings that allow you to group different devices to achieve certain effects these connected lands for example have a scene called July 4th which turns the lights red and blue so when I say Alexa turn on July 4th okay it activates the scene so start simple take your time and don't feel like you have to automate everything in your house at once