Alexa echo issues since moving to sky broadband

[mae-3]

@Philm2 

Ofcom has regulations on protecting those under eighteen which may apply to Sky's filtering.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-standards/section-one-protecting-under-eig... 

[MarkyMarkMark]

Has anyone solved this issue apart from moving away from Sky? I moved to Sky in January from BT on a 2 year deal, and in the last few weeks I have had problems with Alexa and most of my IoT devices with dropouts and loss of internet connection. Everything now seems to be totally confused and needs constant babying to work.

This also has impacted my mesh network which is no longer stable and has constant intermittent dropouts (although bizarrely sometimes when it says there is no internet connection, there is...)

Also some of the older Alexa devices seem unaffected - it is the 2 newest ones that refuse to make/maintain an internet connection. As these are the ones I use most, it causes the biggest headache. I should also add that Alexa through my SONOS Beam works fine but this isn’t a long-term solution as it interrupts the TV audio when active and my wife is not happy with that.

Basically my whole home automation seems to be screwed up after working (almost) perfectly for 10 years.

My problem is that because of the layout of my house, my setup through necessity is quite Heath Robinson and has taken me a number of years to get up and running and stable so I don’t think Sky is going to be sympathetic to my complaint and will blame my setup.

However, before anyone else jumps in, as mentioned above, this setup has worked well for years with several different BT routers it is only since moving to Sky that problems have occurred.

I’m running at 75Mbps on a black Sky Router with 3 x Deco X60s acting as remote access points. Nearly everything that can be is hardwired so there are a couple of TP-Link switches in the setup. Just about all the WiFi devices are linking to the Decos - the Sky router is at the wrong end of the house to be useful for WiFi.

[JimM1]

@MarkyMarkMark One off the deco's is it not connected to the sky hub by Ethernet!?

[MarkyMarkMark]

Yes the primary Deco is linked to the Sky router via an Ethernet cable but it is not in the same room.

[JimM1]

@MarkyMarkMark Does not have to be anywhere near the hub as long as it is network connected and the hub is happy with the Ethernet connection then the Deco's are all through that wired connection! Are you lan to lan connected Deco to Hub, or Wan to Lan and having the primary Deco route!

[MarkyMarkMark]

The Deco is set up as an Access Point so I guess it's considered as LAN to LAN but it's actually functioning as a bridge in reality.

[JimM1]

@MarkyMarkMark Ok, you still have the SR203 wireless wi-fi on, that does not matter in the slightest so don't care about that fact, but last question is when you have the disconnect is the recovery shortlived and back on by itself, NO intervention by you. And if or when you catch it is the SR203 hub all Green lights across the board you may not know the answer to that unless you are at the hub when it happens....

[MarkyMarkMark]

I don't believe the hub itself is disconnecting but because of its placement and position I can't easily check.

What I see is that my Deco loses internet connection (although often when the Deco app is saying that and the main Deco is showing a red light, there is actually an internet connection - my phone has internet access - and I know its through the Deco as there is no other WiFi source available.

The Echo devices are showing as online but as soon as you ask thm to do anything they say that there is no internet connection. If I go into the Echo settings it states its online although WiFi is showing as Unknown. I can reset the Echo's and establish a WiFi and internet connection and it works for a while - sometimes for a day or so, sometimes for a few minutes. If I interrogate the WiFi setting in the Echo, they immediately state that there is no connection and the app goes into setup mode fr that Echo.

I think I've got the Deco happy again, but its only been a few hours so time will tell, but the Echo problem pre-dates the Deco problem and is ongoing.

Not sure f its connected but my PC which is coonected to the Sky Router direcly by ethernet also occasionally loses its internet connection, but works fine if I then connect it via WiFi. The PC is sitting only a few feet away from the router.

[JimM1]

@MarkyMarkMark Getting a resonable handle on what now, can you as soon as the deco's are showing just forget about them, straight on the pc and see what is going on, windows or apple device? windows, will show you network icon, as connected but NO internet, just need to know the fact's.

Black SR203 hub is a pretty solid hub been out for years now so do have a lot off trust in what it does and say's, it's NOT without it's quirks and access to seeing the lights on the Sky hub would be good!🤔

[MarkyMarkMark]

@JimM1

This is the issue: two of my Echo devices are disconnecting from the internet which is the problem I’m currently trying to solve. I have reset and factory reset the devices but although they initially connect to my WiFi and the internet, they almost immediately disconnect from the internet and ask me to setup the WiFi again. The devices show as connected in their setup page and the AP shows them as connected, but when a command is given Alexa states that they cannot access the internet.

The issues with the Deco and my PC may or may not be related to the same problem with Alexa but I am stating them in case it is relevant. These are lesser issues as I can generally fix them. The Echo devices I cannot fix.

The Sky router is not showing any issues, and the Sky app reports no broadband issues. As far as I can see there is no interruption to broadband services when the issue with the Echo occurs (I have other smart devices that usually immediately flag if the broadband is interrupted).

Having written all this, it looks like one of the Echo devices is now up and running and displaying WiFi information in its setup page which it was not doing until now. I will try setting up the other Echo to see if that has decided to play nicely. Hoever, I have had false dawns before where everything seemed to start working only to fail after a day or two.

Btw your help on trying to solve this issue are much appreciated.

[JimM1]

@MarkyMarkMark You may also be fighting Amazon with connection status and Alexia is not in that playful mood with the Echo Device.