The goal of smart home devices is to make our lives easier. When your virtual assistant can’t understand you, it goes from being helpful to being annoying very quickly.
Doesn’t your Alexa do what you tell it? Don’t press the “reset” button yet.
These quick fixes and troubleshooting steps will help you figure out what’s wrong with your Echo device and fix it. Let’s see if we can get you back to your normal life before you can say, “Alexa, I’m done with your nonsense.”
Fast Amazon Echo Fixes
These are the most common and quickest ways to get Alexa to work again when she won’t. I put them in order of how easy they are to do, so try them all until you find one that works.
Restart Alexa
This fix is very simple and quick, and there’s no reason not to try it.
- Unplug your Alexa. Likewise, take out the batteries if it has them.
- Hold on for 10 seconds.
- Plug it back in.
Reset Your Router And Modem
First, make sure no one else is on your home network, as this could cut off your internet for up to five minutes.
- Unplug the router and modem. If they have batteries, take them out as well.
- Wait thirty seconds.
- Both should be plugged back in.
- You may have to wait up to five minutes for your Wi-Fi to reconnect.
Update Your Router Firmware
Your Wi-Fi network can sometimes have trouble when you have old firmware on your router. For security reasons, you should always keep the firmware on your router up to date.
Follow this guide. The exact steps will depend on the type and brand of router you have.
Make Sure Alexa Can Hear You
The Alexa app keeps track of all of the voice commands your devices have heard. You can look at these records to find out if your Echo heard you at all and if it understood you correctly.
To see your history:
- Open up the Alexa app.
- Move to More > Activity > Voice History.
- If you have more than one Alexa device, use the dropdown by Displaying to limit the history to just the Echo you are having trouble with.
If you don’t see any commands at all, try the other solutions below. But sometimes, when Alexa doesn’t understand you right, it just ignores the command.
If the voice history entries for the commands you gave are wrong or just say “Audio could not be understood,” try again while standing closer to the Echo and speaking as clearly as possible.
Alexa is getting better at understanding, so this is happening less and less often. But you can fix it for now by moving Echo to a place with more space, getting rid of background noise (including Alexa’s own music), and talking loudly and clearly to it.
You should also make sure that each Echo user has their own voice profile, which will help Alexa recognize and understand their speech.
Try Another Wake Word
When you have more than one Alexa device, they can get mixed up with each other. In that case, your best bet is to give each device its own unique wake word.
There are currently five wake words to choose from. If you have more than five devices, just make sure that each one has a different wake word than the ones around it.
To change the word of wake:
- Open the app for Alexa.
- Go to “Devices” and then “Echo & Alexa.”
- Choose the device you want from the list.
- To open Settings, press the gear icon in the upper right corner.
- Click the word Wake.
- Choose the wake word that you want to use.
Factory Reset Alexa
This is probably the most drastic step we’ll take without spending extra money. Before you start, make sure you have the setup instructions for your Echo device on hand, including how to connect Alexa to Wi-Fi.
Factory resetting won’t change your general settings, but it will delete any device settings or history. I do recommend saving this for a last-ditch effort.
- Open up the Alexa app.
- Go to Devices > Echo and Alexa.
- Pick your device from the list.
- Press the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.
- Click on either Factory Reset or Deregister near the bottom of the menu. These do the same thing, but the exact wording changes depending on the model and generation of your device.
- Do the same steps you did the first time you set up your Alexa device.
Upgrade Your Router
Router technology changes quickly, so if you bought yours more than 3–4 years ago, it might be time to upgrade for speed, reliability, and security. This is especially true if you are starting to use a lot of Wi-Fi devices, like smart speakers and smart hubs.
If your internet provider gave you a router, you should definitely get rid of it and get a better one.
The TP-Link AX1800 Smart Wi-Fi Router is a low-cost option that most people can get by with. Instead, you might want to think about the TP-Link AX6600 Router if you want to set up a lot of smart home devices.
Common Echo Hardware Problems
Microphone Is Muted
What Causes It
There is a mute button (also called a microphone button) on every Echo device, and it’s pretty easy to press it by accident.
How To Detect It
A muted Echo will always have a ring of red light around it. The button for mute will also light up red.
How To Fix It
Just press the button to silence it. The red light should be turned off right away.
Loose Cables
What Causes It
When you move your Alexa around or accidentally pull on the cable, it is easy for the cord to come loose. A slightly loose cord can cause problems that come and go and look like many of the other problems we’ve talked about.
How To Detect It
Don’t bother with trying to find out. A cord that is just a bit loose feels the same as a cord that is tight. When you plug in the power adapter, it will light up if it is completely loose.
How To Fix It
Just plug the cord into the Echo’s power jack. Then, try the commands again to see if they work better now.
Alexa Wi-Fi Issues
If the problem isn’t with the Alexa device itself, it’s usually your Wi-Fi. Every command Echo hears has to be sent to the cloud to be processed. This means that if your internet connection is slow, your Amazon device may not work very well.
Dropped Or Slow Wi-Fi Connection
What Causes It
Slow Wi-Fi is a pretty wide-ranging issue. Next, I’ll talk about some specific Wi-Fi problems, but the truth is that most Wi-Fi problems aren’t worth spending a lot of time on. We’ll start by trying a couple of general fixes, since these should solve most of your Wi-Fi problems.
Here are a few examples of the kinds of big problems we’ll be talking about:
- Your router or modem is giving you trouble (or gateway)
- A slow connection to the internet.
- Too many devices on your network at the same time
How To Detect It
If the connection drops, a purple light will flash and Alexa will tell you she can’t connect when you tell her to do something. In some cases, you may also see an orange light that spins or a red light that pulses. This means that Wi-Fi is trying to connect (general connection issue). Most of the time, these are all caused by lost Wi-Fi connections.
If your connection is slow, it will take longer than usual for your commands to be processed (the blue light will spin), which could cause your commands to fail.
I’m putting these two things together because many of their causes are the same, and a slow connection will often drop every now and then.
How To Fix It
This one will need some bug fixing and some trial and error.
- Try rebooting your router, modem, and Alexa. You’d be surprised at how many issues that solves. If you need to know how to restart these devices, you can find instructions above in the section about how to fix general Amazon Echo problems.
- Check your internet speed on speedtest.net. Alexa only works if your upload and download speeds are at least 0.5 Mbps. In real life, though, you need speeds that are much faster. Also check the ping, which shouldn’t take more than 100 ms (Alexa times out after about 8 seconds).
- Try testing your internet speeds when they are the fastest, write down the results, and then compare them to the speeds when your Alexa isn’t working. If your internet speed is always slow, you might want to switch to a faster plan or use less of your network’s devices.
- Change the firmware on your router.
- Think about getting a new router.
If restarting didn’t fix the problem (or the problem keeps coming back), your internet speed is fine, and your router is new and up-to-date, it’s time to try some more specific fixes.
Wi-Fi Signal Interference
What Causes It
There are two kinds of interference that can make your Wi-Fi signal weaker or less reliable.
- Other Wi-Fi signals, microwaves, baby monitors, and other electronics can cause electronic interference.
- There are things in the way of your router and your Echo. External walls are especially hard to deal with, but even a bookcase or a cardboard box can make a difference.
How To Detect It
Move your Echo closer to the router to see if the problems go away. If they do, the problem is either distance or interference. If there is interference, try the fixes below. I’ll talk about connection problems caused by distance in the next step.
How To Fix It
The antenna on your router should always be facing up and out in the open. Try to get rid of anything that gets in the way of your router and the devices it connects to. Make sure your router isn’t hidden under a table or behind some other piece of furniture.
You can also put your router in the middle of your house. So, even devices in other rooms will get a better signal because there will be less walls in the way.
If you want to get rid of electronic interference, you should look for an open Wi-Fi channel. Here is a great guide on how to do that. The process is mostly done by itself, and there’s no real reason not to use a less busy channel.
Echo Too Far From The Router
What Causes It
Even when interference is taken care of, a router’s range is still limited. Newer router technology can reach farther, but it still has its limits.
The bigger your home, the more likely it is that you will grow past what your router can handle. If you want to set up Echo devices in your yard, distance will probably be a factor.
How To Detect It
You should have already tried moving your Echo closer to the router in the last section.
If your smart home devices work near your router but not in other rooms, it’s probably because your Echo is too far away from your router. That is, if you have already fixed any problems with signal interference.
How To Fix It
There isn’t a great way to make your router reach farther. If your router is getting old, now might be a good time to look at the newer routers I suggested in the quick fixes section.
Even the best regular Wi-Fi router can’t connect all the devices in a large home to the internet at the same time. If you need good Wi-Fi signals in all the rooms of your house or in your yard, it’s probably time to think about a Wi-Fi mesh network.
Check out the Google Nest Mesh Wi-Fi System, which is what I would suggest. It’s easy to set up and has a lot of different parts, so it’s the best choice for Echo users who are far from their normal router and have spotty Wi-Fi.
Wrapping Up
Most problems with connecting to Alexa should be fixed by following these simple steps. If none of these fixes work and Alexa still won’t talk to you, it could be a problem with the device itself. If that’s the case, you should contact Amazon support, especially if your Alexa device is still under warranty.
Even if you don’t have Wi-Fi and are waiting for it to come back online, you can still use Alexa as a Bluetooth speaker.