Alexa echo issues since moving to sky broadband

[JOHNATHAN66]

I am hoping some one can help? Since moving to sky broadband my Alexa echo is experiencing issues ( Various functions acting strange and intermittent ).
I had to replace  all of my smart plugs as they stopped working  remotely when my broadband moved to sky and I never made the connection with them but seems strange that the Alexa echo is affected and have been through all possibilities with Amazon to resolve without success.

Has anybody experienced this and found a resolution? Thanks in advance

[Chrisee]

@JOHNATHAN66 possible explanation of the smart plug issue is the need to split the standard dualband wifi SSID into two so you have a dedicated 2.4GHz SSID which somecsmart plugs require see Split Sky WiFi bands

Can't explain the Alexa issues assuming it has networked properly these units can be a pain to network requiring s factory reset but do check the unit is running the latest firmware.

[HPSLondon]

Hi @JOHNATHAN66 

I am having the same issues with my Echo Dot. Did you manage to find anything?

Thanks

[webwolf3000]

Same here; I've been with Sky for a few years (maybe 5), I recently upgraded to Fibre (500 or so) and everything worked fine. I've had 5 or so Alexas of various generations and models, Switchbot;Broadlink; Hue; Tado... there's a lot of smart tech in this house, and it's all worked flawlessly without delay for 5+ years through Alexa and Home Assistant and Flic button routines with IFTT, virtual buttons and scripts to run Alexa routines...

Since upgrading to SKY Gigabit, Alexa just doesn't work. Within the week of upgrading to Gigabit, Alexa is intermittent in responding to basic commands (What's the date / What's the weather), sometimes it's instant response, sometimes it's delayed by 20 seconds. Some smart kit will not work at all. Broadlink and Tado KASA smart plugs are all offline to Alexa (but they're online to the native apps and still respond to Flic / IFTT); Hue bulbs are all offline or intermittent to Alexa but work from home assistant and the Hue App; even on 4G off my WiFi.

I've connected my Alexa to my Hotspot on my phone and run it through 4G, and oddly it didn't seem to help; but then the smart kit would still have been connected through Sky.

Since I'm out of contract, I've decided to switch to Plusnet Gigabit and see if it helps. If it doesn't then I guess it's an issue with Alexa/some internet connected devices and potentially the Gigabit internet speeds or something... I can't imagine what the issue would be technically, but If you're on Gigabit, maybe worth asking them to downgrade to 500Mb and see if that resolves it. I'll be doing that with Plusnet if changing provider doesn't work. If downgrading to 500Mb doesn't work then I guess it would have to be an issue with Alexa / smart devices and internet DNS latency or something...

I suspect it's something to do with Latency and maybe DNS resolution being intermittent. I did try changing the router to use Google DNS to no avail, so I'm not sure... but I THINK since I'm having Wi-Fi calls drop, video calls for work being a little unstable and WhatsApp messages being delayed that it's an issue with Sky and maybe the speed change was just coincidental.

Furthermore, I've literally removed every single device and skill from Alexa and readded it, which also did nothing. Not only that, but I've reset the Alexas, reset the routers, connected directly to the Sky hub instead of my own Router. All with no effect. Sky suggested they'd send an engineer, then I got a message saying they could find no issue on their side, so it must be issues with my equipment (That equipment hasn't changed for several years and always worked flawlessly).

I should be switch on Friday this week (November 29th 2024); I'll try and remember to post back if there's any joy or (hopefully not; lack of joy)

[webwolf3000]

Same; and I'm guessing by the 500+ views... there's a lot of people with this issue!

[Stellavision]

Are you using the White Max hub? If so, your Amazon echo issues are likely due to WPA3 incompatibility as they do not officially support this.  There is a good chance that this may have also impacted the use of your smart devices.
In this scenario you need to change the WiFi security to WPA2 in the MySky app.

[webwolf3000]

Personally no, I'm using my own Synology router and no hardware has changed since this issue presented itself. The only change is the upgrade to gigabit. I'm still using the old sky router in DMZ mode hooked up to my Synology wan port.

It really can't be my equipment given I'm getting frequent WiFi calls dropping out, WhatsApp messages delayed and I even had to try 5 times to download a 100mb driver.

It seems like sky has some issues that need resolving but in my experience with ISP issues like this they just like to blame the consumer. Hopefully the issue spreads to all customers and they actually fix it. I'm fairly certain it's an issue with the sky infrastructure. Maybe local issues with latency and timeouts due to lack of tolerance for dropped packets or something...

[Stellavision]

@webwolf3000 I have Gigabit with Sky running though a Netgear RAXE500 with WiFi security set at WPA2. I run various smart plugs (mostly Tapo) and various Amazon Echos (Echo 4, Echo dot 5's and an Echo Studio) and have zero issues. With the exception of my Echo Studio occasionally having poor responsiveness to voice commands, but this will be due to the hardware itself. I believe the Stuios have been noted for that in the past.

You also stated that in your previous post that you tried via 4g with the same issues,

So your theory of Sky gigabit itself causing these particular issues is null and void.

I suspect that your own hardware and setup is the problem.

[webwolf3000]

It's not null and void because as I stated the smart kit was still connected via sky. So Alexa worked on the 4G but still couldn't control the kit connected to sky ...

We'll see on Friday when I get Plusnet, if it fixes it then it'll prove the issue is very much with sky.

Obviously I'm not the only one with the issue so happy you don't have it but it doesn't mean the issue is with my equipment not to mention the hundreds of others looking at this thread...

[Stellavision]

@webwolf3000 Your statement reads: "I've connected my Alexa to my Hotspot on my phone and run it through 4G, and oddly it didn't seem to help;" So at least in this scenario Sky cannot be blamed for your Alexa working?! 

There is nothing different between Sky gigafast or any other Sky broadband product which would cause the connectivity issues you describe.

Millions of people use Sky broadband, from small flats to very large homes running a multitude of devices without issue. 
The most likely customers having connectivity issues right now are customers using the Max hub due to the default WPA3 setting, the loss of Sky Q hotspots and the implementation of MAP-T.
Any other connectivity issues will be wifi related and this could be due to a number of reasons such as WiFi interference, channel congestion, poor RSSI, faulty or inadequate devices, etc.

Sky broadband shield is also another common overlooked element which causes issues.

You are using a Linksys router which are probably one of the worst third party routers you could use. I personally wouldn't touch them.

I would be happy to bet that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the connection coming in to your home. If you are moving onto a different product then I guess time will tell for you. But bare in mind that Plusnet will be using much of the same Openreach infrastructure, to the exchange at least.

[webwolf3000]

You're just being argumentative with no basis and totally ignoring the issue just to try and prove yourself right. 

The fact is I frequently have to disconnect from WiFi to use my phone for certain things. The most obvious and annoying issue is that Alexa suddenly doesn't work on WiFi after several years of having no issues whatsoever and the only different is the change to faster internet. 

I already stated I don't understand why any technical issue would cause this from sky but that's what happened. You obviously don't have constructive or useful feedback. Just like a typical ignorant layman, you want to ignore the issue and tell me it's all my fault. I also disconnected my Synology router (which has worked perfectly well for years, I don't care about your personal preferences) and connected straight to the sky router which made zero difference.

I've worked in IT for over 20 years, I'm perfectly capable of debugging strange issues and this one cannot be resolved through any action on my side. 

The last resort is to switch provider and if it doesn't work then I'll state so here for everyone's benefit. You're just muddying this thread with pointless trolling. 

If it does work however, I'll also state so and not bother responding to any more comments since I'll no longer be a sky customer and my issue will have been resolved. 

Good day to you 😉

[webwolf3000]

Small update, I've just moved over to Plusnet this morning and everything is working flawless again. All Alexa devices and smart home devices are instantly responding, Alexa can control everthing with no delay. 

All I did was unplug the sky router and plug in the Plusnet router. Again both the sky and Plusnet routers were in DMZ mode and connected to the Synology router so the only change is the ISP provider. 

I have no idea what the issue with sky is / was but for me at least the issue has been proven to be sky at fault and completely replaced resolved by switching to Plusnet. 

Do with this information as you please but imo this proves there is a problem with sky I'm some regions at least. I can't imagine why and what could possibly cause the issues for some and not others but I'm happy to have resolved the issue and proven my own network is perfectly fine as it has been for the past several years!

[Stellavision]

Hi @webwolf3000 Glad to hear things are working better for you. I'm still not 100% convinced that the issue you had was related to the Sky network. 
I'm assuming that you were using the black hub 4.2? If this is a few years old there is a good chance that a hard reset may have fixed the high latency you appear to have been experiencing. So it would make perfect sense that devices or your local network are more responsive with a brand new router. You've also suggested that the problem manifested after moving up to Gigafast from Ultrafast Plus, but the network technology or hardware would not have changed, only the speed profile, so I see no logical reason for this to have caused an issue.

I'm not being argumentative, and will put my hand up if I get things wrong. I'm human and it happens. I'm just trying to consider all the facts and possible variables based on years of experience working in the communications industry.

This thread has been hijacked somewhat from the OP , so I think we should put this to bed now. Again, I'm glad that things have worked out for you.

[mae-3]

I’m not sure if this is the solution, but I discovered that my Alexa devices were limited to operating on the 5GHz band A (channels 36, as per the manual). On the other hand, the Sky White Hub is a newer device that supports both the 5GHz bands A and B. Unfortunately, the latter band is incompatible with the Alexa devices I was using.

Unfortunately, there is no method of changing the Sky White Hub's 5Ghz channel it is all automatic, so the operation of the 5Ghz devices may work in some cases and not in others depending on what channel has been selected on the 5Ghz band.