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Alexa / BBC Radio Issue

B
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We have several Amazon Echo Dots in the house, a pair of Sonos One in stereo and a Beam Mk 2, everything working fine until a couple of days ago. We have the beam in the lounge and the Alexa side is done through a Echo Dot, only reason we did this was the mike on the beam didn't pick up commands without shouting them loudly. Its worked faultlessly until the last couple of days when for some reason when you ask it to play a BBC Radio Station it goes through the motion but the station never starts. I even tried disconnecting the Echo dot and using the Beam mike, same thing happened. I reset the beam and the Dot and it didn't sort it. Its a random issue and has been hit and miss for the last few days. All the other echo dots work fine and so do the Sonos One paired speakers. I have tried to contact Amazon but they are not easy to contact. Its a real puzzle and i just have no idea what the issue is. Wi Fi signal is strong in the lounge, TV streaming works with no issues, router is only just in hall next to lounge. Would appreciate any help or advice on this please. Its difficult to understand as its been OK for years and this random issue is puzzling

Commands we have always given is Alexa play Radio 2 /  Radio 4 / Radio 6. I’ve tried same with play Radio 2 on BBC Sounds as someone said this command could be needed,it made no difference

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Best answer by Corry P 30 May 2022, 17:39

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5 replies

B
Userlevel 1
Badge +6

We have several Amazon Echo Dots in the house, a pair of Sonos One in stereo and a Beam Mk 2, everything working fine until a couple of days ago. We have the beam in the lounge and the Alexa side is done through a Echo Dot, only reason we did this was the mike on the beam didn't pick up commands without shouting them loudly. Its worked faultlessly until the last couple of days when for some reason when you ask it to play a BBC Radio Station it goes through the motion but the station never starts. I even tried disconnecting the Echo dot and using the Beam mike, same thing happened. I reset the beam and the Dot and it didn't sort it. Its a random issue and has been hit and miss for the last few days. All the other echo dots work fine and so do the Sonos One paired speakers. I have tried to contact Amazon but they are not easy to contact. Its a real puzzle and i just have no idea what the issue is. Wi Fi signal is strong in the lounge, TV streaming works with no issues, router is only just in hall next to lounge. Would appreciate any help or advice on this please. Its difficult to understand as its been OK for years and this random issue is puzzling

Commands we have always given is Alexa play Radio 2 /  Radio 4 / Radio 6. I’ve tried same with play Radio 2 on BBC Sounds as someone said this command could be needed,it made no difference

Whats puzzling is it works ok sometimes and then not.

J

All my Echo Dot / Sonos speaker combinations are working fine

You presumably have an Alexa group set up in which the Dot is the control device and the Beam is the designated speaker?  If so then I would delete the  group and set it up again.

You might also delete Alexa from the Beam’s settings in the Sonos app, the re-add it.

Edit:  I always say ‘Play BBC radio 4’ etc, but I don’t think that is the issue in this case.

B
Userlevel 1
Badge +6

All my Echo Dot / Sonos speaker combinations are working fine

You presumably have an Alexa group set up in which the Dot is the control device and the Beam is the designated speaker?  If so then I would delete the  group and set it up again.

You might also delete Alexa from the Beam’s settings in the Sonos app, the re-add it.

Edit:  I always say ‘Play BBC radio 4’ etc, but I don’t think that is the issue in this case.

I cant get the Sonos app to show the Beam up at all on the network. It looks like its dropped off completely.i have tried unplugging it from the power and reconnecting with no luck. It looks like i am going to try a hard reset, not looking forward to this, i had a real struggle setting it up when i bought it. Thanks for the help

J

Factory resets rarely cure anything. If you do reset then make it the Beam only, not everything

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @bluesman 

Thanks for your post!

It looks like i am going to try a hard reset, not looking forward to this, i had a real struggle setting it up when i bought it.

This may be related - whatever caused your issues with setup may also be influencing the Beam’s ability to connect to the BBC servers. I wouldn’t expect a reset to help with anything, though I suspect I am too late in saying so.

I recommend looking into reducing wireless interference - the classic mistake is to have a unit too close to the WiFi router.

Are other sources affected? For example, does asking Alexa to play Amazon Music or Spotify give similar results?

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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