Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

bk

frash wrote: »

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/jan/09/alexa-amazon-echo-goes-rogue-accidental-shopping-dolls-house

The ability to order by voice is set be default.

You can (and I highly recommend it) disable it completely or set a PIN you have to give when ordering. It will thus avoid such incidents.

fionny

I've started saying Good Morning to Alexa each day now as the little nugget of info is interesting each day... today was that the London Underground opened this day 1863... and here's Ireland all these years later with a pretty poor transport system :P

giftgrub

Quick question, if I get one as a gift for someone (who has an amazon account) do I have to deregister it from my account?
The only reason I ask is the wife got me one and it set up without any change of registration

givecredit

Alexa ordered this item this evening at 6.47. I spotted it at 11pm. Hopefully in time to cancel. £183 I have now turned off voice purchases. I didn't know it was enabled.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016OFERVC/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

Just a warning for others. Must have picked it up from TV.

chasm

giftgrub wrote: »

Quick question, if I get one as a gift for someone (who has an amazon account) do I have to deregister it from my account?
The only reason I ask is the wife got me one and it set up without any change of registration

I'm think the process is the same for all amazon devices in that you tick the "this is a gift" box at time of purchase and then the device will not be registered to your account.
If you forget to tick the box or just want to ensure that it isn't registered to your account go to "Manage Your Content and Devices" and click the "Your Devices" tab. If the device is still listed, select the device and then click "Deregister" under the device name.

2nd Row Donkey

Set up my echo dot last weekend and last night I set up a couple of tp-link smart plugs via the Kasa App and linked to Alexa.

One of plugs I named "stick the kettle" and last night before I went to bed I filled the kettle and put the kettle switch into the 'on' position with the device deactivated.

When I woke first thing this morning I said "Alexa, stick the kettle ON" .
Well, you wanna see my happy little face when 5-6 seconds later I could hear the kettle begin to boil downstairs in the kitchen before I had left the comfort of my duvet.

My wife said she hadn't seen me grin and so full of pride since our then 2 y.o. daughter said 'Da-da' for the first time 4 years ago.

This is my life now.

wexfordman2

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

Set up my echo dot last weekend and last night I set up a couple of tp-link smart plugs via the Kasa App and linked to Alexa.

One of plugs I named "stick the kettle" and last night before I went to bed I filled the kettle and put the kettle switch into the 'on' position with the device deactivated.

When I woke first thing this morning I said "Alexa, stick the kettle ON" .
Well, you wanna see my happy little face when 5-6 seconds later I could hear the kettle begin to boil downstairs in the kitchen before I had left the comfort of my duvet.

My wife said she hadn't seen me grin and so full of pride since our then 2 y.o. daughter said 'Da-da' for the first time 4 years ago.

This is my life now.

Congrats on the arrival of your new little bundle of joy :-)

d31b0y

I've been having trouble with one of those tp-link plugs. Only sometimes responds. It's as if one of the devices is going into sleep mode. e.g. If I activate the tp-link from my phone or manually then alexa can control it. If I restart the echo, alexa can control it. But, if it's been a while since alexa has controlled it (not sure the exact time frame but has definitely happened after 4 ish hours), it just doesn't respond... except, sometimes it does. It's so frustrating. I've readded the plug in the alexa app but it's still the same.

I have it connected to my TV and rpi with a double adaptor. You should hear me begging with alexa to turn the telly on. And yet, sometimes, she still forces me to do it manually.

Anyone else experience any issues like that with the tp-link plugs?
For info, it was the same when it was just connected to my christmas tree lights.

I've followed the steps laid out on the tp-link faq (http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-944.html)

mossym

dodgy plug? return it and get a new one?

Jaden

d31b0y wrote: »

Anyone else experience any issues like that with the tp-link plugs?
For info, it was the same when it was just connected to my christmas tree lights.

I've followed the steps laid out on the tp-link faq (http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-944.html)

Yep. I have 4 of them, and 3 work fine. 1 is the ginger step-child of the family.

Irish Gunner

I have 2 thinking of getting the third between these and Alexa BH thinks I am having an affair with technology like the AI Samantha in Her

Have two Dots. So far, I've just been playing with on Spotify, but want to start expanding what I can do

Where is the best place to get good value wifi plugs?

mossym

D.I.D. if they still have them for 24 euros. the TPLink ones

I want to sign up for Amazon Music to upload my 250 songs of my own stuff (not the new Music Unlimited service). It said my store was based in the US and when I went to transfer it to the UK it wanted a UK card and billing address. Is the Revolut card the solution everyone is using?

Irish Gunner

Have Hue lights installed and have them grouped but lately when I ask to turn lights off I get the response 'item not responding' then a pause and then the relevant lights go out?
More annoying as your left waiting to see if the lights go out
Anyone else experiencing this?

mrcheez

Deleted User wrote: »

I want to sign up for Amazon Music to upload my 250 songs of my own stuff (not the new Music Unlimited service). It said my store was based in the US and when I went to transfer it to the UK it wanted a UK card and billing address. Is the Revolut card the solution everyone is using?

That would work. The Revolut card is handy to have anyway for purchasing on Amazon.co.uk.

clintondaly

mossym wrote: »

D.I.D. if they still have them for 24 euros. the TPLink ones

Be careful as to which plug you actually purchase

the Tp HS100 I believe will not communicate with Alexa whereas the HS110 will

Doodah7

clintondaly wrote: »

Be careful as to which plug you actually purchase

the Tp HS100 I believe will not communicate with Alexa whereas the HS110 will

Absolute rubbish. If you are not sure of something, you are better off saying nothing.

I have both and both work equally well.

setanta1984

clintondaly wrote: »

Be careful as to which plug you actually purchase

the Tp HS100 I believe will not communicate with Alexa whereas the HS110 will

Not true at all. HS100 works perfectly with Alexa.

Only difference is HS110 has energy monitoring built in. HS100 does not. Otherwise identical.

clintondaly

clintondaly wrote: »

Be careful as to which plug you actually purchase

the Tp HS100 I believe will not communicate with Alexa whereas the HS110 will

Thanks, I ordered two of the HS1100

mossym

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks, I ordered two of the HS1100

unless you need the energy monitoring, the 100 are cheaper, and work perfectly with alexa. i have 3 of them. there is no issue

clintondaly

tallpaul wrote: »

Absolute rubbish. If you are not sure of something, you are better off saying nothing.

I have both and both work equally well.

Who got out of the wrong side of bed today,I merely expressed an opinion with a caveat.

mossym

clintondaly wrote: »

Who got out of the wrong side of bed today,I merely expressed an opinion with a caveat.

hardly an opinion. an opinion is i don't like it, or there are better alternatives out there.

saying it does or doesn't do something isn't an opinion, it's a statement of fact. and it can be right or wrong, but it's not an opinion

clintondaly

mossym wrote: »

hardly an opinion. an opinion is i don't like it, or there are better alternatives out there.

saying it does or doesn't do something isn't an opinion, it's a statement of fact. and it can be right or wrong, but it's not an opinion

Opinion-a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
I used the word believe.

mossym

clintondaly wrote: »

Opinion-a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
I used the word believe.

probably best not to tell people not to buy something when you have insufficient grounds then?

only joking with you really, the forum is full of people already using the HS100's, there has never been an issue with using them with alexa, so there has never been a suggestion they don't work with it.

some people have gotten the odd duff unit. but that's happened with the hs110's as well.

mossym

posting this to have a go at myself, as apologies for making it look like i was having a go

Is there a simple wifi bulb that would work with Alexa? I don't want hubs or bridges just a bulb on its own that Alexa can turn on and off. I found a TP-Link one on the Amazon USA site but unfortunately it's not a bayonet type.

mossym

mossym wrote: »

unless you need the energy monitoring, the 1000 are cheaper, and work perfectly with alexa. i have 3 of them. there is no issue

I think the 1100 were a few euro more expensive. Nothing major. Probably wont get any extra benefit from them, but sure they're ordered and paid for now.

At least if I like these, I can order a few of the 1000s seeing as they work just as well with Alexa

Thanks everyone

davo2001

Incase anyone is interested, got alexa working well with Kodi, very little buffering and response time seem pretty good so far.

degsie

Where did 1000/1100 come from? They are HS100/110, no?