Mesh WiFi and Amazon Echo

[IslaView]

Hi,

Firstly, I'm new to the forum, so I hope I am posting in the correct place!

I have the Tenda Nova MW3 mesh network set up in my house, but I'm having problems with one of our Alazon Alexa speakers on the network. It constantly drops signal when playing music, goes silent for maybe 20 seconds then resumes. I can only think that it is due to the roaming function and it is sometimes switching between different nodes. This doesn't happen with the other speakers in the house, and it is the only one which is remotely close to more than one node.

I've seen the fast roaming function in the Tenda App, but switching it off will mean not being able to roam around the house with mobiles and tablets. This is the main reason we have the mesh network, so I don't want to do this.

Can anyone recommend if there is a way of switching this off per attached device, or should I be thinking of an alternative? I have a spare Netgear AC1200 I can use, but I'm unsure if all speakers need to be on the same network.

Any ideas are much appreciated!

 

[wellibob]

I run a deco mesh network. I Also run the WiFi routers 5ghz network (different name and channel). No issues with devices not talking to each other on a different WiFi iP on the same home network. Use your AC1200 and see if it solves your problem. The decos are set the access points only and are fed via a hard wire cat5e gigabit from main router.

 

[WJA96]

I assume you’ve swapped the speaker device to another location to ensure it’s the WLAN and not the Echo that’s the problem?

I wouldn’t normally expect signal drop-outs from having two potentially competing base stations. WLAN chipsets tend to pick one signal and not flip between two.

Fast roaming is only really useful if you’re using WLAN voice over iP phones. It just makes sure you don’t lose the connection momentarily when you swap between access points. It’s a buffer, basically. You can turn it off and you’ll still only have one SSID across the whole house. But given that it’s a buffer to prevent any loss of signal when switching access points, it should be more of a help than an issue in this example.

 

[Habile]

I have the same issue after moving to mesh (Tenda Nova MW12 x 3) - I have the issue only with my 1st generation Echo exactly as you describe, all the other devices (Echo dot, 1st gen Show, Echo flex and Show 5) all work fine. I did read somewhere (can't find it now!) that some early generation Alexa devices did have trouble with mesh... I'm really quite tired of all this 'disposable' technology. Not sure whether to throw out mesh or throw out Amazon..

C.

 

[Suckerpunch]

I have the same issue after moving to mesh (Tenda Nova MW12 x 3) - I have the issue only with my 1st generation Echo exactly as you describe, all the other devices (Echo dot, 1st gen Show, Echo flex and Show 5) all work fine. I did read somewhere (can't find it now!) that some early generation Alexa devices did have trouble with mesh... I'm really quite tired of all this 'disposable' technology. Not sure whether to throw out mesh or throw out Amazon..
C.

This does seem to be a common problem with the Tenda Novas. The reviews on Amazon as well as internet forums are full of people saying the same thing - that their Amazon Echo drops when playing music. I did come close to buying a set of MW3s but this was a deal breaker for me.

Instead I paid a little more and bought a set of TP-Link Deco M5 and all 4 of my Echos are working without any issues.

 

[Habile]

Ugh! I'm so torn - I hate sending things back because I'm soooo lazy.. plus it likely means leaving the house!

Sorry to take this thread off at a tangent but I'm curious as to what latency you are seeing on the TP-Links? I was considering them..

My pings are poor now at ~25ms but throughput and coverage is good but it messes with VoIP somewhat - plus the fact that the Tenda app is cr@p and I've had two trips to the loft to reset the Nova there... hmm... maybe cheap and cheerful ain't the way to go after all.

All of this because I bought a poxy Ring doorbell and it was the only device that couldn't connect to my existing WiFi properly... oh plus I wanted to do away with all the RF interference I was creating with my powerline adapters.

C.

 

[Suckerpunch]

Ugh! I'm so torn - I hate sending things back because I'm soooo lazy.. plus it likely means leaving the house!

Sorry to take this thread off at a tangent but I'm curious as to what latency you are seeing on the TP-Links? I was considering them..

My pings are poor now at ~25ms but throughput and coverage is good but it messes with VoIP somewhat - plus the fact that the Tenda app is cr@p and I've had two trips to the loft to reset the Nova there... hmm... maybe cheap and cheerful ain't the way to go after all.

All of this because I bought a poxy Ring doorbell and it was the only device that couldn't connect to my existing WiFi properly... oh plus I wanted to do away with all the RF interference I was creating with my powerline adapters.

C.

My latency wasn't great anyway, due to interleaving and being in the north of Scotland, etc and since I'm not a gamer it's not something I've ever been too concerned about. I've got them working in access point mode, with the router doing all the erm... routing, so not sure if this makes much of a difference or not.

However I can say that the wife is working from home and uses VoIP quite extensively, and hasn't complained of any issues with it. Also I've had the Deco M5's for a month now and never had reason to reset them.

I got mine for a good price on Amazon £149.99 just before Christmas but they seem to have bumped the price up since then.

 

[Habile]

My latency wasn't great anyway, due to interleaving and being in the north of Scotland, etc and since I'm not a gamer it's not something I've ever been too concerned about. I've got them working in access point mode, with the router doing all the erm... routing, so not sure if this makes much of a difference or not.

However I can say that the wife is working from home and uses VoIP quite extensively, and hasn't complained of any issues with it. Also I've had the Deco M5's for a month now and never had reason to reset them.

I got mine for a good price on Amazon £149.99 just before Christmas but they seem to have bumped the price up since then.

Thanks - I might give them a go if I decide to return the Novas - meanwhile I bought a new Echo as they're as cheap as chips.

C.