So you’ve set up your Ring, Amazon Cloud, Blink, Nest or other smart home camera to stream video to your Amazon Echo Show ($230 at Amazon) or Echo Spot ($130 at Amazon), and everything seems to be in order.
But what do you do if your Echo’s screen won’t display the video feed? Here are some easy ways to troubleshoot the problem.
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The basics
OK, these will seem like stupid things to check, but bear with me. Sometimes the easiest solution is one you’ve overlooked.
First, make sure the camera and your Alexa device are getting power. Are they both plugged in and turned on? I’m serious, check. I once worked as a customer service rep for a large satellite television service provider. You’d be shocked how many customers forgot to check the plug on their receiver boxes before calling tech support.
If that’s not the problem, unplug each device from its power source for 30 seconds and then plug them back in. Sometimes this will reset devices when they’re being glitchy.
Next, make sure your internet connection is working properly. Unplug your router for 30 seconds and plug it back in. Give your devices time to reconnect to the Wi-Fi and see if the problem is fixed.
The commands aren’t right
Another reason the camera stream may not be appearing on your Echo is because your commands are wrong. This is one of those situations where you need to get very specific with Alexa. Specifically, you need to use the camera’s correct name in the command.
Go to the Alexa app, tap the Devices icon at the bottom of the home screen and check to see what your camera’s name is in the device list. Then, use it.
Here are some correct commands:
- “Alexa, show the [camera name].”
- “Alexa, show [camera name) feed].”
- “Alexa, show feed from the [camera name].”
If you want to change the camera name to something that’s easier to remember, tap the Devices icon in the Alexa app. Then, tap on your camera, select Edit Name, type in the new name and tap Done.
Relink
If none of the above works, something probably went wrong when you were connecting the two devices in the first place. You’ll need to unlink and then relink camera to your Echo to fix the problem.
To unlink, tap on the Devices icon in the Alexa app. Tap on your camera’s name then tap Deregister. You may also need to go to the camera’s app and disconnect the link there, as well.
Once that’s done, you can relink the devices. Tap on the Devices icon again in the Alexa app, tap on the + icon > Add Device > Camera and follow the onscreen instructions to finish reconnecting the two devices. Now you should be able to stream using the commands above.
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