If you have an internet connection and the right app, setting up Amazon Echo smart speakers is a breeze. In no time, you’ll be asking Alexa to do your bidding.
There are plenty of digital assistants to chat to—Siri, Cortana, Bixby, the Google Assistant—but Alexa, the hardware inside Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV products, as well as other third-party speakers and accessories, is the audio assistant of choice.
The orb-like Echo Dot, which stands alone but rocks with an external speaker, the high-end Echo Studio for true acoustic snobs, and now an entire line of touch-screen Echo Show devices are all available. They all have their own quirks, but the setup is practically the same.
Download the Alexa App
It’s available for free on Amazon’s own tablets running iOS, Android, or Fire OS. While first- and second-generation Fire tablets are not enabled, newer Fire tablets should already have it.
Set up
To use Alexa, you’ll need an Amazon account, but not Amazon Prime. Use the software to log in. Then, on the lower right, click and pick. You can connect as many Alexa-enabled devices as you want to your account, from smart lights to smart plugs. But because we’re talking about Echo devices, tap Amazon Echo; then tap the Echo system you want to set up on the next screen. You’ll find a list of every Echo model released since 2014, including discontinued models like the Echo Tap and Echo Input.
Setup
The light ring on the Echo will be when you reach setup mode. Click and if you don’t see orange. Alexa will eventually wake up and inform you that she is “now in setup mode.”
Connect you PC or Smartphones
You’ll be guided to close the Alexa app and go to the Wi-Fi settings on your tablet. Link your phone or tablet to an Amazon-branded network (something like “Amazon-L39”). To complete the setup, go back to the Alexa app.
Set up the WiFi
Back in the Alexa app, choose your favourite Wi-Fi network from a list of available Wi-Fi networks as seen by your phone or tablet. If you have a Wi-Fi password, enter it when prompted. (The Wi-Fi should be secured with a password.) Alexa will say “Your Echo is ready” until all of the information has been sent to the unit, and the orange lights will turn off.
You could have already saved the Wi-Fi password for Amazon if you set up an Amazon device at home. The Wi-Fi password-saving feature is also available on Amazon’s Fire tablets and Kindle ebook readers.
If you change the Wi-Fi password on your router, you must also change the password on your computer.
Call Alexa
You can now tell Alexa to do whatever you want. You can change Alexa’s wake word to, or change it in the mobile app via. Link your Echo to music apps, external speakers, and other Echo devices around the house (for multi-room music playback).
Note for Echo Show devices of Amazon
The setup is simpler with the Echo Show line of devices since they have a screen—no phone app is needed. Link to Wi-Fi (including entering the Wi-Fi password on the screen), log in to your Amazon account, and you’re ready to go.
Leave a Reply