Echo dot hook up
Pocket-lint is supported by its readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn uo. Pocket-lint - The Amazon Echo got off to a flying start, establishing itself as one of the hottest smart home devices, assisted by the smaller Echo Dot, a capable sidekick that brings its connected skills in ecno smaller package. Amazon hasn't slowed, expanding its range of speakers - as well click here the functions they offer. We're diving into scho it's like living with Alexa on numerous devices, with multiple Echo or multiple Dots spread around your home and whether there's any great benefit, especially with Black Friday deals offering tempting prices on all Amazon's echo dot hook up. Adding a new Echo or Dot to your home is straightforward, following the same steps as when you setup your first device.
Getting an Amazon Echo is an exciting first step for smart device lovers, but it needs to connect to the internet to function. Fortunately, doing so is a lot easier than you may think. Alexa is simply the name of the Echo's voice-based service. As eccho, when you connect your Echo to the internet, Alexa comes along for the ride. This is because the Echo is a dit, so it requires the assistance of an external device to connect to the internet. Go ahead here download the app.
How to Connect Echo and Alexa to Wi-Fi
This article explains how to connect Alexa to Wi-Fi for the first u;, plus how to change Wi-Fi networks for an existing device. You should have already downloaded and installed the Doh app by now. If this is your first Alexa-enabled device, you may not need to take steps below. Instead, you will be prompted to begin setup once the app has been launched. Enter your Amazon account credentials and press Here In. If prompted, tap the Get Started button. Select the name associated with your Amazon account from the list provided, or choose I'm someone else and enter the correct name.
Despite its small size, it delivers great audio if you want a small smart speaker for your bedroom, study, or kitchen. But before you start using the Echo Dot and all of the best Alexa skillsyou'll need to set it up first. Fortunately, the entire process only takes a few minutes, even if you're new to the world of smart home devices. Here's how to set up your Amazon Echo Dot. Did you purchase the Amazon Echo Dot with Clock? We have a dedicated guide showing you how to set up the Echo Dot with Clockwhich is similar, but has a couple more steps.
Once paired, however, you have much better music system - and with the option to include the Echo Sub in the mixture , a 2. Adding the Sub is via the same process as above. This will allow you to create a sound system that will work with your Fire TV. We've detailed how this works and what devices are compatible here. This is a great way to use your Echo devices to boost the sound of your TV, but it only works with audio coming from your Fire TV device - it won't apply to content from other sources a tuner or cable box for example , so this setup might only work if you're a heavy streamer.
This is one area where the Echo isn't so good. Because all the devices are signed into the same Amazon account, they all try to play music from the same account, as it thinks everyone is the same user.
That means you can't play different music on devices from the same source. For example, if Spotify is playing in the kitchen, if someone asks to play Spotify in the bedroom, it will switch from one location to the other.
However, some family accounts support multiple streams - both Apple Music and Amazon Music do - which means signing up for a family account with those services will let you stream different music on your Echo devices around the house. There's the added advantage that if all the family members want music on their phones out of the house then they get that too. If you don't have a family account, your Echo will most likely switch the stream from one device to another, so it's only playing through one.
Bluetooth connections are treated separately and not common between your Echo devices, which makes sense as you might not want the devices interfering with each other or connecting to a Bluetooth speaker in a different room. We've found Bluetooth connectivity on the Echo Dot to be seamless and once it's initially set up it is easy to tell Alexa to "connect to my speaker" to re-establish the connection - although as we said, it doesn't support multi-room in that guise. The energy revolution is here!
Some things are synced to your Alexa account and those are therefore accessible on the various Echo devices you might have scattered around the house. Add something to your to-do list or shopping list and it's immediately available elsewhere too.
The shopping list is handy because it's stored within the app, so you can verbally add things to your list through any Echo device to check on your phone when you're next out shopping. Of course, things like synced calendars or information from Skills you have setup are available on all your Echo devices. The Echo is great for setting timers and alarms, whether that's for waking you up in the morning or as a reminder for when food will be finished cooking or the washing machine needs emptying.
Timers and alarms should only sound on the device they are set on. However, Alexa knows what timers you have set, so you can ask how long is left and you'll get a run down of all the timers you have set on any of your Echo devices.
You can also cancel a timer from any other device - so if you hear the timer sounding and you're in a different room, you can just ask the local Echo to cancel the timer. Within the Alexa app, you can add another Amazon user to your Household Profile. This is beneficial in several ways, first and foremost in that it gives that person access to their own content music, audio books and Google Calendar. It's also worth doing if you have an Amazon Prime account but the other person doesn't, as adding them to the Household Profile allows them to take advantages of Prime benefits too.
You can find out more about the benefits here and manage yours here. You can also use this to choose who sets up the Echo devices and which account they are assigned to.
You need to get the other people in the house to download the Alexa app and sign the terms of agreement, then once accounts are connected you can tell Alexa to switch between the profiles which is handy for managing content, placing orders and more. What you can do with a profile, however, is ensure that an Echo Show on one side of the bed is customised to the person who sleeps closest to it, for example, showing their calendar details.
Individual profiles are becoming more important and you can now train Alexa to recognise individual voices - called Alexa Voice Profiles - so you Alexa knows who is asking and can show details relevant to that user. With the launch of the Echo Show 15, this will expand to Visual ID too, so that the user can be recognised by the camera, and visual content changed to suit them.
Having multiple Amazon Echo devices in your home also gives you the ability to use them as intercoms around the house. If you go into settings in the browser or Alexa App, you can name your devices according to the room they're in to make it simple to call that room. You can say "Alexa, call my Echo Show" on another Echo elsewhere in the house and it will call the Echo Show so you can speak to whomever is in that room. You can also do this from your phone by opening the app and clicking the "drop in" button then selecting the relevant Echo you want to talk to.
This then essentially calls that device from your phone. You can already see the possibilities with this system - whether it's buzzing the kitchen to ask if dinner is ready or calling up to your children without having to shout up the stairs. It works really well too - just make sure you name the devices logically.
It's worth noting that you can also place calls to Echo owners in your contact list using your Echo device. This will allow you to place calls for free to people in other households, which is handy too. There's also a broadcast function: say "Alexa announce" or "Alexa broadcast" and you can send a message across the entire network in your house. It's ideal for getting people to the table for dinner, with Alexa recognising certain messages and adding extra sounds.
Alexa has a ability to recognise different voice profiles, so it knows who it is talking to. This can make the results more precise, tailoring the responses to the person talking to it. As of September , you've been able to setup voice profiles for both adults and children, meaning that Alexa will know who is asking and can provide a better response. Here's a full guide to setting up voice profiles on Alexa.
A list of available Wi-Fi networks will now be shown within the app itself. Select the network that you wish to pair with your Alexa-enabled device and enter a password if prompted. The app screen may now read Preparing Your [device name], accompanied by a progress bar. If the Wi-Fi connection is successfully established you should now see a message stating Your [device name] is now online. If you have an Alexa device that had already been set up in the past but now needs to be connected to a new Wi-Fi network or an existing network with a changed password, follow these steps.
Tap the menu icon, then the Settings option. Tap Device Settings , then choose the device you want to change the Wi-Fi network for.
Tap Change , next to Wi-Fi Network. The setup is now the same as above, starting at Step If you've carefully followed the above instructions and still can't seem to connect your Alexa-enabled device to your Wi-Fi network then you may want to consider trying some of these tips. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies.
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You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings , which can also be found in the footer of the site. By Scott Orgera. Scott Orgera. Scott Orgera is a former Lifewire writer covering tech since Reviewed by Michael Barton Heine Jr. Tweet Share Email. You'll need to have your Wi-Fi network's name and password handy to connect your Alexa-enabled device to Wi-Fi.
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