Alexa connecting issues

[Jbowen]

Update: I finally got on the phone again w/ Amazon support, & right before they replaced my Echo Dot, they wanted to go through the steps again to see if we could get it to recognize my Hopper3. So for others that are still experiencing these issues I wanted to provide my steps.

1). I logged into the Alexas web-based app.

2). Navigate to the "Music, Video & Books" & select the "Dish TV" then if enabled, simply disable it.

3). Go to Skills, & in the search input "Dish" & this will bring up the Dish Skill Set. & Enable, then you will be prompted with a pop-up window from there insert your Authorization code from your Alexas supported Hopper2 or Hopper3 (excluding Hopper1, as this one isn't supported). Then once you have inserted this Auth. code & linked your Dish account w/ Amazon. You will see a "green" check mark letting you know its successfully connected - you will hit "next" this will then tell you Dish TV has successfully linked. Close this window.

4). Now you should be back over in the Alexas web-based app which should automatically open the searching for devices & then your device will appear.


These are the steps I was given & I had this issue for days & after those steps above, the issue was rectified.

[peggyrh]

There was a software update to Hoppers and Joey's in the past few days which also might have helped to fix your issues.

[Jbowen]

peggyrh wrote:
There was a software update to Hoppers and Joey's in the past few days which also might have helped to fix your issues.

I have never thought of that, but you made a good point there, thanks for bringing that up! But none the less there is a few steps to try never hurts, right?

[TexMcFaden]

My Alexa Dot worked fine with my Hopper with Sling (HwS), after making sure my HwS software was updated. The limitations of what she can do are frustrating, but at least she would turn to ESPN without any complaints.

The Hopper 3 (H3) arrived today. I connected Alexa. Some odd issues arose asking this journey.

First, she connected, and she responded to Tune to ESPN with her usual response, which included the correct name of the show that was currently airing on ESPN.

HOWEVER, the H3 failed to respond and Alexa informed me of the same.

So I disabled the DISH Skill, re-enabled and tried again. This time, no devices were found.

So, I disabled the DISH Skill AND closed out the Alexa App. Why? Because it occurred to me that when you apply changes to network adapter settings on your laptop, you still MUST close out those windows in order for the changes to the effect.

Open the Alexa App and enable the DISH Skill. This time the devices are found.

Everything is connected... Alexa, tune to ESPN...

["I am unable to perform that operation on this device."]

That's either verbatim or a very close paraphrase of what she continues to say.

Everything is saying it's linked and connected... But no joy in Alexaville with DISH Skill commands.

I checked to make sure my H3 software was updated and it said it was... And then it promptly went through a ton of downtime and reboots.

I'll check the H3 response to Alexa again after it's decided it's ready to work.

If failure is still an option, then I'll try the Online Computer Browser setup of the Alexa-to-DISH connection.

If that works, then based on the HwS working fine with Alexa but not the H3, I would have to say that there's a linking issue in the part of the H3 within the DISH Skill coding.

I'm not sure which company is responsible for that, but since DISH issues reportedly ONLY arise more recently after a recent H3 update, then I'm going with it being a DISH issue.

My guess is lazy coding by use of copy & paste and failure to properly test... As in, they did not actually issue a command to Alexa, or test EVERY means of setup, to include cell and computer.

[peggyrh]

your Hopper 3 needs at least one overnight update before everything is operational, give it a little time before you start trying to "fix" things, should get better in a day or two.

[Jhenderson413]

Using the “Alexa Web Based App” worked for me. 

Some helpful details:

 - You have to use a browser on a PC or another device that doesn’t support the mobile app.  If you attempt to login to the web-based app from an iPad or iPhone, you get forced to a link to download the regular app.  Btw, the url is https://alexa.amazon.com/

- You’ll want to make sure that you have named your Hopper and Joeys appropriately BEFORE you finally get the Alexa app to discover your devices.  My Hopper was named “Living Room 1”, but all 5 of my Joeys were named “Bedroom 1” which made them impossible to tell apart.  To rename them:  Navigate to “Menu”, “Settings”, “Diagnosics”, “Whole Home”, “Change Name”

I finally had success when I accessed the web-based Alexa app from Internet Explorer on my Windows 10 PC.  I disabled the Dish TV skill.  Then I enabled the Dish TV skill and entered a new activation code from my Hopper.  Of course the account link was successful, but this time the device discovery was successful.  I was finally able to select and pair devices.  And how sweet it is...

[latn]

Well the application is evolving as some of the complaints I see posted in this thread like no access to DVR are now available. The biggest problem I have seen/had is when for whatever reason Alexa cannot contact Dish Network like Dish Network is experiencing an outage.

When I first went to set this up even though the Hopper 2 with sling and both Joeys were connected to the internet (verified with Netflix) I could never get an activation code number and a message to try back later. I gave up after a few days and just again 2 weeks later tried yesterday.

Got a setup code and activation was pretty simple. Assigned main echo to Living Room 1, echo dot 2nd gen to Bedroom 1, echo dot 1 gen to Basement and all were working after setup. This morning early even though I had internet and hopper was showing connected when I asked a command to Alexa she could not connect to Dish Network. I reset network on the hopper even though it showed connected but still Alexa could not contact Dish Network. Later in the day without doing anything else it all started working again. So my thoughts are sometimes it is a Dish Network server problem not the Alexa application. 

I wish Dish Network on their website would list all the exact verbage for Alexa commands. They show some examples but not a list of all commands unless I am just missing it.

[latn]

I forgot to mention I did not have to name my echo devices to the same name as hopper and joeys and it still works. I know earlier in this thread some stated you had to name them the same as one another. Obviously that is no longer necessary.