It becomes a lot easier if you can connect your Alexa to the internet via hotspot. Not everyone has a broadband connection at home, and most people use their mobile data to connect to the internet.
If you want to make the most of your Alexa device, connecting it to the internet is a must. There are various ways in which you can connect Alexa to the internet. These are:
- Through home Wi-Fi
- Through mobile hotspot
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Why Does Alexa Need To Connect To Wi-Fi Always?
Alexa, Amazon’s voice control assistant, strictly works with the help of Wi-Fi only. It uses Wi-Fi to keep itself updated and connected to Google and everything else. It also makes it possible to answer your voice commands by gathering information from Google.
All your voice commands related to the current scenario will be answered with the help of the internet. For instance, commands like “Alexa, play my playlist from Spotify,” “Alexa, enable your skills,” “Alexa, track my order,” or “Alexa, what’s in the news,” and such.
Without connecting Alexa to Wi-Fi, Alexa won’t be able to connect to music streaming apps, other applications, and Alexa skills.
Without Wi-Fi or a hotspot, Alexa could only be used for services that don’t require fetching data from the internet, i.e., setting alarms, reminders, asking for the time, and such local tasks.
So, Wi-Fi or hotspot acts as the heart and soul of Alexa, without which you won’t be able to access more than half of Alexa’s features.
When you have home Wi-Fi, there is no hassle in connecting Alexa to the internet and voice control it with your commands, get the latest news and information, play games and quizzes on Alexa skills, and whatnot.
However, if you have an Alexa device and cannot connect to Alexa with home Wi-Fi due to being away from home or Wi-Fi network issues, here is an easy alternative.
You can still feel the presence of Alexa around you if you have a steady mobile data network. You can let Alexa connect to your mobile data network with the help of a hotspot. The procedure is super easy to follow and works for every Alexa device you own.
To connect your Alexa to a Wi-Fi hotspot, here are the following steps you should follow:
- First, go to the Settings menu of your mobile you want your Alexa to connect from.
- Open the Wi-Fi Hotspot under the Settings menu.
- Know your Hotspot configuration from the menu. You should know the name of your Wi-Fi-hotspot, i.e., network name and hotspot password you will find under the Wi-Fi hotspot settings
- Now open the Alexa app on any device you have the app downloaded.
- Go to Devices under the Alexa app
- Select Echo & Alexa thereafter and then select the Amazon device you want Alexa to connect to.
- Now, select Change next to the Wi-Fi Hotspot option. Choose your device (phone name) from the available Wi-Fi networks.
- Now scroll down to select Use this device as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
- Select Start and enter the device Wi-Fi hotspot details, i.e., the name and the hotspot password.
- Select Connect after turning on your mobile’s Wi-Fi hotspot.
- Alexa will indicate a successful connection whereby you can use it to respond to your voice commands.
When Alexa is connected to the internet, it is able to provide live information like current weather, temperature, news, traffic updates up to date.
How To Connect To Alexa Without Wi-Fi Hotspot?
If you are unable to connect to home Wi-Fi as well as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot in the worst-case scenario, you can use your Amazon device as a Bluetooth or external speaker with the help of Alexa.
To use any of your Amazon devices as an external speaker, you need to pair it with a Bluetooth enabled device; this could be with your mobile or another Bluetooth enabled speaker. For this, you will initially need a basic internet connection to pair Alexa with the Bluetooth device. Once it is set, you won’t need to again connect to the internet for further use.
You can connect to Bluetooth via the Alexa app downloaded on your phone by visiting the settings.
Once you have connected your Amazon device with a Bluetooth device, you can make use of the audio data that is available on your Bluetooth device. You will be able to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music, and other audio material available in your smartphone, iPod, or the respective Bluetooth device through Amazon device, be it Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Spot, or Amazon Tap.
However, one should avoid connecting Alexa with a public hotspot or Wi-Fi to jeopardize your privacy and security of data.