HS 300 no longer consistently working with Alexa
Have several devices (HS-300, EP-40) that are no longer working consistently with Alexa.
Other devices seem fine (KP-303, HS-103)
A restart of the EP 40 seemed to get it working again.
Not the case for the HS 300.
The Kasa app seems to work fine.
The devices had been working great. Then one day several device were getting the error in the Alexa App "Device is unresponsive"
Not sure if this is an Amazon or KASA TP-Link issue or it's an issue with both.
Many recent comments on the TP-LINK Alexa app have customers complaining about this issue (was working fine but now "Device is unresponsive"), looks like it started around Oct.
The only thing I have recently changed when this became an issue for me is that I upgraded my Apple devices OS to the latest release.
This would seem to coincide with the customer comments beginning in October which is around the same time Apple released it OS upgrade for devices.
Just me taking a wild guess.
Anyone have any insights?
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First, what router are you attempting to connect the devices to?
You may be right, though; Apple Updates have caused unexpected or seemingly unrelated problems in the past.
If you want to try and find where the origin of the behavior is, I would first try and see if the behavior is:
1) Limited to The App and Phone: by trying to control the devices from a fresh Alexa app install or via another device entirely (preferably non-Apple); does the error still appear? (If you do not have another device, try uninstalling the Alexa App, Rebooting your Phone, and reinstalling the app after.
2) Limited to Local Control over your Wi-Fi: Does the Behavior occur when your phone is connected to your cell network, as compared to the same Wi-Fi as the plugs?
3) Limited to Control via the App: If you use a Voice Assistant, try controlling the device via Voice - as this is more often than not, a cloud-sourced command, rather than local app control.
For Troubleshooting:
The first thing you should do is unlink and relink your Kasa account. While it may be less than ideal - it is not uncommon to have to force the Alexa servers to refresh the data associated with the connection - and serves as a fix for most cases.
Since the behavior is limited to one/few devices, you may try changing the name in both the Kasa and Alexa apps so that it will refresh its settings for the one device, however this is only usually a fix for cases where the Alexa app confuses the type of device. (If you have a plug named Bedroom Fan, it may try to automatically change the type of device in the Alexa app to a fan)
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Riley_S wrote
First, what router are you attempting to connect the devices to?
Response -> I've been using an eero 6 pro for the past year, my service bandwidth is 1GB
You may be right, though; Apple Updates have caused unexpected or seemingly unrelated problems in the past.
If you want to try and find where the origin of the behavior is, I would first try and see if the behavior is:
1) Limited to The App and Phone: by trying to control the devices from a fresh Alexa app install or via another device entirely (preferably non-Apple); does the error still appear? (If you do not have another device, try uninstalling the Alexa App, Rebooting your Phone, and reinstalling the app after.
Response -> Limited to Alexa Phone App and all Alexa home devices do not work (The Kasa IPhone app has NO problems communicating with the devices, they work)
2) Limited to Local Control over your Wi-Fi: Does the Behavior occur when your phone is connected to your cell network, as compared to the same Wi-Fi as the plugs?
Response -> Both the Alexa app an Alexa home devices fail to communicate consistently with the devices that have issues. (The Kasa IPhone app has NO problems communicating with the same devices)
3) Limited to Control via the App: If you use a Voice Assistant, try controlling the device via Voice - as this is more often than not, a cloud-sourced command, rather than local app control.
Response -> Both the Alexa app and the Alexa home devices fail to communicating with the Kasa devices. The Kasa IPhone app has NO problems communicating with the same devices. I concur it seems to be Home Alex Device or Phone Alexa App -> Alexa Cloud - > Kasa Cloud Link App -> Home Alexa App or Device -> Home Kasa Device issue )
For Troubleshooting:
The first thing you should do is unlink and relink your Kasa account. While it may be less than ideal - it is not uncommon to have to force the Alexa servers to refresh the data associated with the connection - and serves as a fix for most cases.
Response -> Done. No noticable improvement
Since the behavior is limited to one/few devices, you may try changing the name in both the Kasa and Alexa apps so that it will refresh its settings for the one device, however this is only usually a fix for cases where the Alexa app confuses the type of device. (If you have a plug named Bedroom Fan, it may try to automatically change the type of device in the Alexa app to a fan)
Response -> Done. No noticable improvement
The device that is the main Problem is the KP300 a muli-plug device,
KP300 (Hardware 2.0, Firmware 1.0.12)
This multi-plug device works perfectly
KP303 (Hardware 2.0, Firmware 1.0.8)
** Notice ** the one that runs perfectly is running an older firmware version.
Maybe this helps?
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Not sure what changed things seem to back to normal.
Appreciate your time thanks for all the help!
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@robdbirch Spoke too soon :(
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It almost sounds like a local network issue: like the commands, are getting caught inside of your network and cannot talk with the internet. All the steps that you have taken would help heal the connection between Alexa and Kasa, so the last thing to check would be that your home network is properly configured, and that the device can communicate through the internet and not just your home Wi-fi.
The Kasa App can control the device in two ways:
1- While your phone is connected to the same wi-fi network as the plug, it will communicate with the plug and send commands over your home wi-fi network; without having to go through the internet. You are likely using this method as it is much more stable and doesn't depend on the cloud. When rebooting the plug, your plug will automatically try to reconnect to the cloud.
2- While connected to your mobile carrier or another network, your Kasa app will attempt to communicate with the device over the internet. Try controlling the device this way to see if the device 'traffic' can leave your local network.
I Highly recommend that you make sure that you only have a modem in front of your eero and not a gateway(modem/router combo device). Having two routers on your network may be causing the device to periodically lose its network connection and connect differently to your network - causing the Alexa service to have difficulties connecting. While your network may appear to function fine with two routers, there is a lot happening in the backend that could cause odd behaviors or periodic disconnects.
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Riley_S wrote
It almost sounds like a local network issue: like the commands, are getting caught inside of your network and cannot talk with the internet. All the steps that you have taken would help heal the connection between Alexa and Kasa, so the last thing to check would be that your home network is properly configured, and that the device can communicate through the internet and not just your home Wi-fi.
The Kasa App can control the device in two ways:
1- While your phone is connected to the same wi-fi network as the plug, it will communicate with the plug and send commands over your home wi-fi network; without having to go through the internet. You are likely using this method as it is much more stable and doesn't depend on the cloud. When rebooting the plug, your plug will automatically try to reconnect to the cloud.
Response> KAS Devices work with KASA app on local wifi network perfectly fine
2- While connected to your mobile carrier or another network, your Kasa app will attempt to communicate with the device over the internet. Try controlling the device this way to see if the device 'traffic' can leave your local network.
Response> KAS Devices work with KASA app on phone carriers 5G network perfectly fine
I Highly recommend that you make sure that you only have a modem in front of your eero and not a gateway(modem/router combo device). Having two routers on your network may be causing the device to periodically lose its network connection and connect differently to your network - causing the Alexa service to have difficulties connecting. While your network may appear to function fine with two routers, there is a lot happening in the backend that could cause odd behaviors or periodic disconnects.
Response> My service provider's modem has no wifi capability and is always in Bridge/Pass through mode
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