Introducing the Amazon Echo (Smart Speaker) (1 Viewer)

[Otis]

I actually looked on the Ring support site last night and they say you should have at least 2Mbps upload and download.  I ran the http://ring.com/speed test on my front porch with the door closed and got 53 Mbps down and 11 Mbps up with 30ms ping.  Definitely let me know if the Chime extender solves the delay for you.

And since this is the Echo thread, I should mention that I got my Dad an Echo Dot for Father's Day and he loves it so far.  He mainly uses it for streaming music.  He loves using the timer on it while he's cooking too.

The chime actually made the signal worse, so I nixed it. The signal actually had been good enough that it's working well without it. 

I liked the Ring so much I also bought the ring floodlight for my garage, which covers my driveway and side and back doors. It's totally awesome. Even better than the doorbell. The combination of the two gives me eyes on all comes and goings to my house whenever I want it, and recordings of all motion events. Works flawlessly. Worth every penny. 

 

[Ned]

We have now dipped our toe into the home automation after we recently got recessed lighting in our living room.  My brother helped me install a Z wave dimmer switch and a smart hub.  With the light switch an agonizingly 15' away from my seat, it's pretty damn sweet telling Alexa to turn off the lights when we're on the sofa about to watch a movie.

 

[Otis]

We have now dipped our toe into the home automation after we recently got recessed lighting in our living room.  My brother helped me install a Z wave dimmer switch and a smart hub.  With the light switch an agonizingly 15' away from my seat, it's pretty damn sweet telling Alexa to turn off the lights when we're on the sofa about to watch a movie.

"Alexa, turn off the living room lights" is a staple in my house. 

 

 

[Chaka]

The chime actually made the signal worse, so I nixed it. The signal actually had been good enough that it's working well without it. 

I liked the Ring so much I also bought the ring floodlight for my garage, which covers my driveway and side and back doors. It's totally awesome. Even better than the doorbell. The combination of the two gives me eyes on all comes and goings to my house whenever I want it, and recordings of all motion events. Works flawlessly. Worth every penny. 

Does anyone have experience with the August doorbell and camera system?

Is the consensus that Ring is superior?

Never mind, they're not quite comparable as Ring doesn't seem to have a door lock and August doesn't have the camera/flood lights (which I have been specifically looking for).

 

[Otis]

Does anyone have experience with the August doorbell and camera system?

Is the consensus that Ring is superior?

Never mind, they're not quite comparable as Ring doesn't seem to have a door lock and August doesn't have the camera/flood lights (which I have been specifically looking for).

No experience with August but absolutely love my Ring setup. 

 

[Chaka]

So do all Alexa enabled devices in your house communicate with each other seamlessly?

I.E. if I have an Echo, a Show, a Kindle and Alexa enabled on my Android phone will they all have the same functionality to communicate and control all Alexa enabled devices in my home (Hue, Wink, Ring etc.)?

 

[psychobillies]

I love the Echo but get more use out of the Tap.  Beach, Pool, Camping, Garage/Yard, Bedroom, Bathroom - I take it all over the place.  Great speaker.

I completely agree with this.  Good battery too.

 

[AcerFC]

I love the Echo but get more use out of the Tap.  Beach, Pool, Camping, Garage/Yard, Bedroom, Bathroom - I take it all over the place.  Great speaker.

I don't get it. Why not just bring the echo with you all those places. It's not like it's so cumbersome. I have both and would never grab the tap over the echo 

 

[leftcoastguy7]

You can get $10 off a $20 order of select items today if you use your Echo to order.

 

[Buckychudd]

I don't get it. Why not just bring the echo with you all those places. It's not like it's so cumbersome. I have both and would never grab the tap over the echo 

Because you have to plug it in.

 

[AcerFC]

Because you have to plug it in.

Ah, I messed up. I don't have the tap. I have the other little thing that also needs to be plugged in

 

[Buckychudd]

Ah, I messed up. I don't have the tap. I have the other little thing that also needs to be plugged in

The Dot.

If you like the Echo and Dot, the Tap is very nice for portability.  Speaker is better than the Dot, but probably not quite as good as the Echo.

 

[Chaka]

For those of you trying to integrate Alexa enabled devices into a whole home control system (Hub, IFTTT etc), how are you securing your network to protect your wi-fi enabled devices?

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Has anyone had any experience with any of the after market batteries for the Echo?  There are a handful of them out there right now:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_11?k=echo+battery&sprefix=echo+batter

 

[Mister CIA]

 My new Echo arrives tomorrow. 

Imagine it is white.

 

[AAABatteries]

Ah, I messed up. I don't have the tap. I have the other little thing that also needs to be plugged in

The Tap can pair with the Echo and do all the same commands as the Echo and is portable.  When out of range of your wifi you can use Bluetooth like any other speaker and pair it to your phone or other devices.  We keep the Echo in the kitchen and I keep the Tap on my nightstand.  When I get up in the morning I that it with me to the bathroom to get ready.  Check the weather, news and sports scores while I shave and then listen to music while I shower.  We go to the pool a lot and I just throw it in the bag and have it for tunes while we swim/sunbathe.  

I have taken the Echo with me on vacation and it's a nice device but I LOVE the Tap - use it pretty much every day.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Has anyone had any experience with any of the after market batteries for the Echo?  There are a handful of them out there right now:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_11?k=echo+battery&sprefix=echo+batter

This is the one I got. I haven't used it much and never to test the battery life, but it seems to work fine. The biggest issue I have with it is the way it fits on the base. It can be really tough to remove.

Link

 

[Righetti]

We've been using the Echo calling feature.  It's a bit clunky and not seamless but as we don't have a house phone, it serves a purpose.

 I use the drop-innthing to send messages to my daughters all the time 

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

For those of you trying to integrate Alexa enabled devices into a whole home control system (Hub, IFTTT etc), how are you securing your network to protect your wi-fi enabled devices?

Cujo

 

[Chaka]

Cujo

Thanks.  I saw this on Indidgogo awhile back.  I love the idea but am always a little hesitant to go with first generation crowdfunded solutions.  Gets solid reviews on Amazon though.

What kind of router are you using?  I think I see mention of TP link a lot in here, is that because they offer additional security? Or because they are IFTTT friendly?

 

[MattFancy]

Just found out there's a baseball reference skill to enable for Alexa now. My wife and kids will be tired of hearing baseball stats by the time this weekend is over haha

 

[Chaka]

Is there a dedicated "I'm converting my home to a Smart Home thread"?

I think this one the "Whole house wifi" and the "Cutting the cable" threads are the closest we have to a dedicated thread on what is likely going to be a more common topic.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Thanks.  I saw this on Indidgogo awhile back.  I love the idea but am always a little hesitant to go with first generation crowdfunded solutions.  Gets solid reviews on Amazon though.

What kind of router are you using?  I think I see mention of TP link a lot in here, is that because they offer additional security? Or because they are IFTTT friendly?

I am using a nighthawk. I haven't upgraded that in quite a few years. 

 

[Wooderson]

Got my echo dot last night. Very easy to get it setup. Haven't got into the home automation yet. But it's be fun to play with so far.

For the past 10 years I had dedicated myself to be an all Apple home. I think this is start of that coming apart. For me besides my iMac and iPhone I don't see anything else Apple does better for me. 

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Got my echo dot last night. Very easy to get it setup. Haven't got into the home automation yet. But it's be fun to play with so far.

For the past 10 years I had dedicated myself to be an all Apple home. I think this is start of that coming apart. For me besides my iMac and iPhone I don't see anything else Apple does better for me. 

Left apple a while ago... there's nothing they do better at this point. 

 

[Mister CIA]

Me: "Alexa, play that funky music."

Alexa: "Play that funky music, right!"

 

[AAABatteries]

Got my echo dot last night.

Echo dot - is that where you yodel in to her ######?

Now that we have a politics sub-forum threads like the dot thread should be brought back.

 

[Otis]

Cujo

I never even considered this. Do I need something like this to secure my network?  

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

I never even considered this. Do I need something like this to secure my network?  

Depends how paranoid you are. Do I think someone is going to try and hack my home network? Probably not. But for $250 I can have a secure network and believe that I made it more difficult. 

 

[Chaka]

I never even considered this. Do I need something like this to secure my network?  

I think you know where I fall on this.  Cujo is still a relatively new product but it seems solid, judging by the reviews and if you don't like it there are other options out there and more coming out every day.

 

[jhib]

Got my echo dot today.  I've had the regular echo since early on but never sprung for the dot before because I thought you needed to hook it up to a speaker and I figured that would limit my use of it too much to bother.  Why didn't I realize it has a built in speaker, too?  Sure, it's not a great speaker, but good enough to work in a small space like my bathroom and/or bedroom.

Seems like poor marketing... or I just wasn't paying enough attention.

Anyway, I guess I saved a bit by waiting since I bought it on sale on prime day plus got a $10 credit by ordering it on my echo. 

 

[East Coast Bias]

Smart home activated. Echo, dot and hue lights set up.

 

[Righetti]

Got my echo dot today.  I've had the regular echo since early on but never sprung for the dot before because I thought you needed to hook it up to a speaker and I figured that would limit my use of it too much to bother.  Why didn't I realize it has a built in speaker, too?  Sure, it's not a great speaker, but good enough to work in a small space like my bathroom and/or bedroom.

Seems like poor marketing... or I just wasn't paying enough attention.

Anyway, I guess I saved a bit by waiting since I bought it on sale on prime day plus got a $10 credit by ordering it on my echo. 

The dot is ok but I'd much prefer another echo if you are using it for the speaker

anybody get that echo thing with the video attachment? 

 

[jhib]

The dot is ok but I'd much prefer another echo if you are using it for the speaker

Well, yeah, but I didn't really need either, so I couldn't justify buying another echo, even at the $90 sale price. $25 on the other hand...

 

[prosopis]

Is there a master list of commands somewhere or is it trial and error. it took me a while to get my dot to tune into a baseball game on siriusxm. I had to find the exact channel to tell Alexa. Seems like I should be able to just give a team and xmsirius for her to find it.

 

[Hawks64]

I never even considered this. Do I need something like this to secure my network?  

I think you know where I fall on this.  Cujo is still a relatively new product but it seems solid, judging by the reviews and if you don't like it there are other options out there and more coming out every day.

IMO home networks very susceptible to phishing, which is what you have to worry about more than someone trying to hit you through your network.

 

[shifty]

Anyone have the "Echo Show"?  

 

[Otis]

Anyone have the "Echo Show"?  

I don't but friend was over last night and telling me he has one and loves it. Sound quality apparently not as good as the original, and unidirectional. 

Ive been traveling a bunch lately and have been regularly doing the "drop in" on the various Alexas in the house. Including on my wife in the bathroom.  

 

[Courtjester]

Love messing with the remote features while I am work.

My girls jump out of their skin when I randomly play music or just drop in to say "Helllooooo, this is a ghost!!"

There also is a perverse satisfaction in playing the Narwhal song over and over and over and torturing my wife.