I recently aquired an Amazon Echo Dot, as I want to use for controlling my existing home automation setup with Alexa. However, I got stuck in the initial setup of the device, at the step where I connect it to WiFi, by using the smartphone app. Here is how I ended up solving this connection problem quite easily.
Connecting Amazon Echo Dot to WiFi
To do the first setup of the Amazon Echo Dot, after plugging it in for the first time, you need to download the app as stated in the quick start manual. After selecting the language of your device, you will need to choose the WiFi network you want Alexa to connect to. However, this ‘connection’ step may not work, resulting in just a white page in the Amazon Echo Dot app. This seems to be an issue mainly occurring on Samsung devices.
On my Android device (Samsung Galaxy S5), there was a very simple way to solve this connection problem, and start using my Amazon Echo Dot.
- Leave the Alexa app and go to the ‘Settings’ app in your Android phone
- Navigate to the ‘WiFi’ settings
- Un-check the ‘Smart network’ setting
By un-checking the ‘smart-network’ setting, the Amazon Alexa configuration app was instantly able to see my WiFi networks, and to let me finish the configuration process.
Has the light ring on top of your Amazon Echo has turned blue, you may need to unplug its power and reconnect it, so the ring turns yellow, in order to reboot it to prepare it for WiFi setup.
If you have already un-checked the ‘smart network’ setting, it is probably something else that is preventing you from connecting your Amazon Echo Dot to your WiFi network. Depending on the make and model of your android phone, the setting to un-tick may be in a different menu. If you are on an iPhone, there may be a similar setting, but I am not sure about if this problem only occurs on Android.
If this solved your problem, please leave a comment on what you did exactly, to get past the problem with your Amazon Echo Dot being stuck in the white connection screen.
Update: Several people have reported that if the above solution did not work, the following may solve the problem (thank you, GT):
- Navigate to the google play store, and find the list of your apps
- Locate an app named “Google Web View” or “Android System Webview”
- Make sure that this app is fully updated (or just uninstall and re-install)
It seems that the Amazon Alexa app uses the build in web browser to navigate to the configuration page for the Amazon Echo Dot, and this will only work if the build in web browser has been updated to the latest version.
Update: Yet another possible solution could be the following (thank you, Curtis):
- Navigate to the Mobile Hotspot menu in your android phone settings
- In MORE options, make sure that “WiFi sharing” is disabled.
When enabled, the Hotspot will route traffic through the WiFi. During this operation, the WiFi is actually going against the Echo WiFi Direct network, so you get a connection error when trying to connect to the Amazon Echo.
Update: One more possible solution could be the following (thank you Christina)
- Make sure to disconnect from any VPN connections, before trying to set up your Amazon Echo.
Many VPN networks have limitations on ports, and may forward online traffic in a way that conflicts with what is expected by your Echo device.
Update: Thank you for all your comments! This post is becoming increasingly popular, and perhaps Amazon will at some point notice this significant problem with the Amazon Echo.
Please keep the comments coming, so Amazon may realize the importance of this issue.
Enjoy your new and fully functional Amazon Echo!
I finally got this working by opening alexa.amazon.com in Firefox on my Mac, then Settings -> Device -> Change Network. I was only getting a blank white screen when trying to connect to the captive portal via iPhone (iOS 14.4).
If you have “blockada” installed delete it as it involves a vpn
You can also just go to the alexa.amazon.com website on your computer browser. Worked great for me. I think there are issues with the mobile browser.
Thank you for your comment. Ive got Samsung S6 edge and I spent a lot of hours to set up echo dot gen2 with my phone. When I found that site and that post I tried everythink and my problem was VPN connect.When I disconnect I fixed my problem.
Some phone adblockers will also prevent the pairing from happening and need to be disabled for it to work. Adguard is one of these. Probably the samsung specific ones that use knox as well.
HI All
Putting my date and time settings on the Samsung S8+ from manual to automatic solved this for me.
After much trial and tribulation I managed to get past this point by a combination of switching between normal WiFi connection and the echo at various points. Device seems good, just the app could do with some work.
I have a Samsung J7 and cannot get past white screen no matter what I do. An hour with amazon in am and another hour in pm of no help! Have tried everything listed in posts, still can’t get past the white screen. Can anybody help me? PLEASE,, Thank you in advance?!!
If this does not help I found that using the app was a problem. I instead went to my chrome browser and went to alexa.amazon.com. Before I logged in I clicked on the 3 dots in the upper right hand corner and checked request desktop site. I then logged in and every time it gave me the option to use the app or chrome I used chrome. This allowed for the public wi-fi page to load. I finished the set up and it worked.
Thank you!! I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone and have been battling this Disable Smart switch for 5 days!! The smart network switch has been disabled but the Alexa mobile app wouldn’t recognize this and wouldn’t let me past the disable it screen! Tried some of the other updated but they didn’t work either. My phone could see the amazon wifi device but it wouldn’t let me off that stupid Smart network switch screen. FINALLY used your http://alexa.amazon.com and set everything up there!!! Then I had to uninstall and reinstall the mobile app.
Thank you!! and AAAGGGHHH this was way harder than it should have been!
My Alexa hasn’t worked for over a month. We have tried everything, including all of the above suggestions. I am so frustrated. Any more ideas? Thank you.
Can you provide some more details on how it doesn’t work? Can you talk to it at all? What color ring does it have? Did it work before?
I couldn’t reconnect my second Echo. I tried for an hour before I found your page. My problem was I had a VPN running on my S8+. Once I deactivated this it connected straight away. Many thanks!
This Fix really worked like charm, I am facing an issue fixing amazon echo show as this device is not streaming amazon prime videos anymore, I already did try all the fixes listed above what it does not work .Maybe its just for Echo Dot, IF you know any fix for the same echo look please share with me
Got stuck with Echo Dot saying ‘connected’, but app failling (for an hour) to connect.
Got past it by (I think) switching back and forth a couple of times (on phone) between real network and Dot’s network.
Only then could I get to the screen that asked for WiFi password.
Got similarly stuck with Alexa. Tried a whole bunch but finally worked by 1) wipe data from alexa app on phone, 2) forget amazon-XXX wifi network on phone, 3) restart Alexa, 4) log into Alexa app on phone using amazon account, 5) connect to amazon-XXX wifi network on phone, 6) setup device to connect to wifi and follow prompts. Issue for me seemed to be leaving the alexa app to manually connect to amazon-XXX wifi during device setup – when I returned to the app as instructed I got white connecting screen of death which never connected.
You are right, Rick James
Don’t see a “smart network” setting on Android 6.
Thanks a lot.. I was pulling my hair when I saw your post. Helped me solved my hair loss problem. For the benefit of others, I was using OnePlus 2. Disable Smart Wi-Fi Switcher under Settings>Wifi>Advanced.
For me what worked was using my LTE connection temporarily and getting past the spinner. After getting past the screen that was stuck, I switched back to WiFi and all worked again normally.
Updating the Android Web Viewer work for me too.. Thanks!!
Thank you. Resolved my issue immediately on a S7. Wish this were mentioned in the app help or documentation!
Worked immediately (your first solution). I could have spent hours on this. Thank you!
I have been trying to fix this issue for about two hours, found this page and it was working in ten minutes. YOU ARE AWESOME!!! Thank you!!!!!
I turned off the Smart Network on my Galaxy S6 Active. Worked perfectly.
You are amazing!!!
Thank you!!!!!!!!! I’m a pretty tech savvy person and I couldn’t figure this sh!t out for the life of me. I tried for about 4 hours trying to get it reconnected. Factory reset my echo dot, restarted my phone, turned phone on and off (separate from previous step), restarted my router, restarted my modem, unplugged everything about 5 more times, called tech support at Amazon (who couldn’t help, BTW), and a lot more technical things. I can’t say thanks enough, and guess what, I have a Samsung galaxy s7. It immediately started to connect the second that I disabled that part in my phones settings. Thanks again my friend!
A million thanks! I wasted an hour of my life trying to figure this one out.
You fixed my problem. I have a Samsung 5. You are the only site that helped me. Thank you so much!
This fixed the Alexa white screen on my Samsung S7 Edge. It was frustrating because this problem and your solution is not found in the Amazon help. Once I went to Settings / Wifi and then got into the Advanced Settings I was able to turn off Smart Network and the Alexa app immediately came to life. Thankfully Google has indexed this solution so others can find it.
Thank you! Thank you! Turning off the the smart network switch worked!
I’m trying to setup the Echo dot using my Alexa App on a Nexus 6 phone with Android version 7.0. The echo dot announces that it has connected to the internet and I should finish the setup on the app but the app is stuck at the “attempting to setup” screen and does not move forward. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the help. It worked!
Notes that the Android v7 does not need/use Webview anymore.
FYI – I restarted the app (closed it, restarted) and the 2nd time it worked find.
Updating the website in app store corrected the issue on my s5 active
Thanks
I was having the same problem on my Motorola phone. Finally figured out I had to disconnect from my VPN service.
Thanks Christina ! That was my issue too.
Thank you. Updated android webview fixed the problem for me. I never would have figured this out.
Thanks for the info man! I have a Samsung Galaxy S7. Spent a hour on the phone with Amazon customer support last night and never did successfully get Alexa going. Your blog was supper helpful. Had to update “Android System Webview” but started working instantly after that. Thanks again.
I too have a Galaxy 7 and cannot get my Echo to connect to my Wifi. I even tried using my PC. Please tell me what
you did to get it working? The Android System Webview says “ENABLE” on my found, but nothing happens when I hit
the button.
Came here to ask the same question as you and just figured it out. Go to wifi/advanced/auto network switch and turn it OFF.
I had to update Webview, but fixed the Problem, Thank you!!!
Thank you VERY much for this article. I was in the middle of updating wifi settings on Alexa with my Samsung Galaxy s6. After it connected to Alexa – the app froze. I shut it down and it pretty much killed the app… starting the Alexa app on the phone resulted in a white screen.
I uninstalled the app, reset network settings, cleared the app cache/data, rebooted the phone, etc. and nothing fixed it.
For me – updating Android System WebView from the Play Store took care of it.
This is my new favorite article on the Internet 🙂 Thanks for your time in putting together great notes on this!!!
Glad to hear you got your problem solved! Have fun with Alexa =D
Curtis, you are a super genius !!
Updating Android System Webview worked! Thanks!
On my Note 4, I uninstalled the updates for Android System Webview in the app manager, reinstalled them from the app store and it works now. Thanks!
One more fix for you.
I have a Galaxy S7 Edge. In the Mobile Hotspot MORE options, ensure that `Wi-Fi sharing` is disabled.
When enabled, the HotSpot will route traffic through the WiFi. During this operation, the WiFi is actually going against the Echo WiFi Direct network, so I got a connection error.
Thank you, Curtis.
This potential solution has been added to the post.
I have had my echo dot since christmas and have not been able to get it to work. Echo dot connects to Wifi and then go into to set up up against my mobile hotspot and the orange spins until it times out. I cant get it to connect. I have a samsung S7 edge and have tried the other possible fixes and nothing has worked. Very frustrated.
Katie, as Curtis suggests, you may have a problem if you are using your phone as a hotspot while trying to connect to your Amazon Echo. Only way is to turn off the mobile hotspot while doing the initial configuration. Hope this helps!
Set it up from your PC.
I tried the fix listed but they didn’t work for my phone so I uninstalled Alexa again and I also uninstalled Amazon Underground Amazon Prime video and tried again. When I reinstalled Alexa it still didn’t work- nothing but a white screen so I uninstalled it again and tried to install Amazon Prime video but to install Amazon Prime video, you have to install Amazon Underground. When I did that it scanned my Google web View and saw that it was out of date. I downloaded the update for the Google web View app. After that was installed I installed Amazon Prime video and reinstalled Amazon Alexa and it works. So the problem with my Galaxy S5 phone was not the internet settings but the fact that the Google webview app was out of date and needed to be updated.
I hope this helps someone else. Good luck.
Thanks this solve my problem. My phone is Samsung S6 edge and the Google Web View is actually called Android System Webview in Google Play under my Apps.
Thank you for this great alternative solution! I have updated the main post to explain the possible fix.
I really wished this would help me so frustrating. Did not work for my Samsung j6. Still getting the white blank page. ?
Hope you will find a solution in the end. If you do, please let everyone know what you did to fix it.
This does not work for me with my S7. If anyone finds another fix, please post.
Another fix – If you have a dual band network, you must connect to the 2.4ghz wifi not your 5ghz. Once I switched my phone from the 5ghz to 2.4 it saw it without a problem.
My galaxy s5 active had the same problem and you solved it. Thank you.
ECHO is connected to wifi and responsive. BUT I still can only get white screen on app (Samsung s7) so can’t use app (ex. I want to connect Pandora acct).
Smart network switch in WiFi settings is OFF (was never on). Have tried forced stop, uninstall and reinstall, but still, only white screen. BTW, had to set up ECHO on laptop due to app not opening (+ totally frustrating me). PLEASE help?!
Hi Kate,
I have not tried this myself, so I am not sure how to solve your problem.
My best guess is to do a factory reset of your Amazon echo, and set it up from your phone.
There may be different approaches to how to factory reset, depending on your model and if it is 1st or 2nd generation.
Here is how to factory reset a 2nd gen. Amazon Echo Dot: http://tomstek.us/resetting-amazon-alexa-echo-dot-2nd-gen-factory-default/
I’m having a similar issue with a Galaxy S5 Mini and Echo Dot, but the checkbox was never checked (though I tried checking and unchecking) and I’m connected on the 2.4ghz network. I setup the Echo through the website out of frustration, but I doubt resetting the Echo will do anything since I hooked up a second phone (Galaxy J3 6) to the Echo Dot after it was already setup and it worked perfectly.
So there’s something up with newer / more advanced Galaxy Phones and their network settings, I guess. But I’ve messed with just about every setting in there and I’m getting nowhere. I wish this thing at least had a message explaining the problem.
Great. The only other issue I had was that it did not work when the Dot blue light ring was on. I had to unplug and plug back and the ring light changed to orange and then it worked. Thanks.
Thank you. I updated the post to mention this tip.
Thank you for this info galaxy 6+ had the same problem, came across this, think amazon should sort this though.
Again thanks!
This worked in my Samsung S6. I was looking for the menu on the alexa app at first and that was a little frustrating. Once I realized it was the phone settings – it worked like a charm!
Thank you for the feedback!
The post is now updated, to clearly indicate that you need to leave the Alexa app, to find the WiFi setting and fix the connection problem.
Thanks ! Galaxy S5
worked for me as well on a S6. Thank you!!!
After a frustrating 1.5 hours, I came upon your blog and it worked instantly. Apparently this issue is more Samsung related. Good work Mivia!
Thank you SO much. Worked immediate after following instructions. I should have googled this and found your site immediately rather than spending 20 minutes exiting the alexa app, trying again, etc. to no avail.
I was getting very frustrated, but after following your fix everything immediately worked correctly. Thank you! (On a Samsung Note)
Thanks, I had the white screen and got very frustrated. This worked straight away. Cheers 🙂
I had this problem with my new echo dot. I followed your instructions to the letter and it resolved immediately. Thank you for posting solution.
This article is amazing. I had the same issue with the Echo. I was SO frustrated. watched 4 different youtube videos and nothing. then saw this and thought… lets give it a go. Genus.
NOTE TO AMAZON: Add this set to your ridiculous directions.
Thank you.
Worked on my Samsung Note, Thank you for publishing this!!!
did what it says to do … i was already on the blank screen just went to wifi settings and unticked the smart wifi crap and the app did the rest thanks you’re a life saver , NOTE i watched about 6 youtube videos and messed around for about 45min with this never being mentioned b4 i came here
You are a life saver. Was stuck with exact same issue on my Edge. Never would have thought to change that setting! THANK YOU!!
Thank you!! just got the dot and was stuck in white for 1/2 hour! This fixed it! Amazon should tell us about this
OMFG, thanks. No mention of this issue on the Amazon website. Glad I was finally able to put in the right search words to find this page. Had the exact same issue with Samsung S7 Edge on Verizon in USA.
Thank you! Worked a charm.
Brilliant fixed my toooooooooo
Solved the problem! Thanks a lot for your help.
Fixed my problem as well – thank you!