Scores of BT broadband users who purchased an Amazon Echo intelligent voice-controlled speaker have run into frustrating setup issues, and vented their anger on social media at both Amazon and BT.
The Echo was released in the UK on Wednesday, bringing Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant into the home and allowing users to have conversations, ask questions, play music, control lights and other smart home devices, and even listen to the headlines read out from the Guardian.
For some users not using BT broadband, the setup process – performed through Amazon’s Alexa app for Android and iOS or a web browser – was a two-minute job. Others reported spending hours fighting with it, following the instructions and ending with stalled, inoperable devices.
FFS, I’m going to bed, this has been hugely disappointing.
— Stuart Dredge (@stuartdredge) September 28, 2016
Can't get my #Amazon #Echo to connect to my #BT HomeHub wifi. Seems I'm not alone & was known issue months ago. #fail @AmazonUK @BTCare
— Matthew Vining (@mattvining) September 29, 2016
.@amazonecho @alexadevs Amazon Echo onboarding is shonky: unable to connect to my wifi network. How can you expect civilians to set this up?
— reyhan (@reyhan) September 28, 2016
@AmazonHelp how do I get by brand new #amazon #Echo to work with #BT Home Hub Infinity 2? Setup process freezes halfway & wont register
— Chris Walker (@DrChris_Walker) September 29, 2016
Great start with my @AmazonUK echo then. Can't play music, give me news etc nor connect to my hue bridge, It can tell me the weather though
— Jonathan Oakden (@jonoakden) September 28, 2016
There appears to be several issues between the Echo and BT’s Home Hub. Some users found that by going into settings and separating the two 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, which are usually combined into one with the same network names, they could get their Echo speakers to connect properly.
To get @AmazonUK Echo to work, I had to separate my @bt_uk 2.4 & 5 GHz Wireless networks, and give Echo the 2.4 by itself. Major hassle!
— Andrew McGarry (@beyondcontent) September 28, 2016
Others, that managed to get them to connect but could not complete setup, stalling after connecting to Wi-Fi, found that the problem required manual changes to be made to the Echo’s Wi-Fi connection setup.
These are the manual settings for Echo Set-Up with BT home hub for anyone struggling. Courtesy of @HenwickCharlie pic.twitter.com/TsmMYWlzXH
— Ben Wood (@benwood) September 28, 2016
Users had to input BT’s default DNS server addresses (62.6.40.178 and either 62.6.40.162 or 62.6.40.163) as well as fix the IP address given to the Echo avoiding any address that has already been allocated to something else on their home Wi-Fi network.
Had Echo set up issues with my BT Home Hub 3... this is how I fixed it (thank you various forums!!) #alexa #amazonecho #echo #setup #homehub pic.twitter.com/yVVUQGdWRC
— Alex Deung (@AlexDeung) September 28, 2016
Some users also had trouble connecting their Spotify accounts to the Echo, which is also done through the app or Alexa site, leaving Amazon’s big push into the home assistant space with a rocky start in the UK.
Can't connect Spotify to the Amazon echo. What a joke
— paul (@fwosh) September 28, 2016
An Amazon spokesperson said: “We are aware that a small number of customers are currently experiencing issues connecting their Amazon Echo to some BT routers. We are working with BT to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
BT did not reply to request for comment.
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