Question

When connect to radio by Alexa keeps dropping out

  • 6 November 2017
  • 5 replies
  • 28762 views

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When using my One I ask Alexa to play BBC Radio 2 and it plays it using Tunein radio, it keeps dropping out. if I listen using My Sonos it does not, why?

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5 replies

Userlevel 7
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You need to report tis to Amazon. It happens on our Kitchen Echo too, after about 15 mins, have reported it but no update yet. Evidently Amazon BBC streams are a known problem.`
Userlevel 5
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Also, you might find it connects to a "different" Radio 2 through Alexa. For instance she connects to "BBC Radio 2 - Cardiff" when i ask her. Ryan, the Sonos guy didn't really have a solution to it and suggested these other stations might be of lesser quality hence the dropouts. And as already mentioned the TuneIn stream from Amazon directly is really unstable.
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I contacted Amazon and this is the reply, it seems to work fine
My name is Allan, from the Echo Customer Support Department. I've picked up your e-mail today and I'll do my very best to help you with your query.

We are currently experiencing a technical issue that may prevent you from getting the radio stations playing well from the TuneIn service.

We apologize for the inconvenience this causes. Our engineers are aware of this issue and are diligently working to resolve it. At this time, we are unable to provide an estimated time of resolution. We appreciate your patience while we correct this issue.

As an alternative solution, you can try enabling the "Radioplayer" Skill in Alexa, which allows you to have access to all the radio stations in the UK. BBC teamed up with Amazon to produce a radio Skill to make every British radio station in the country available, via their Radioplayer project. It took them months of hard work to ensure Alexa recognises every radio station in all the various British accents but they have confirmed it will be available on release day and the BBC are very excited about it.

To find a skill in the Alexa app:

1. Open the Alexa app.
2. Open the left navigation panel and select "Skills".
3. Select "Categories" to browse by different categories or enter keywords in the search bar.

Use "Sort by" at the top of the page to sort results by relevance, average customer rating and release date.

As for this case you know the exact name of the skill you want to use, say "Enable Radioplayer skill". Once enabled, you can just ask: "Alexa, ask Radiplayer to play (RADIO STATION NAME)".
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I have tried this and so far it works much better than TuneIn - BUT I can't get Alexa to play it through Sonos, only on the Echo itself. Anyone made it work?
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When asking Alexa to play using radioplayer play bbc radio two, the reply is that radio two is playing, and now sound is coming out. The only way it works is selecting it in the sonos app, so Alexa is redundant ? Waste of money