Unstable Windows Desktop Connection to Amazon Alexa devices

[Radian]

Picking up from the last post (in June) for this forum topic - playback using Spotify Connect is still randomly stopping when connected to Amazon Alexa devices like Dot and Echo and has been doing so since (at least) the beginning of 2017.

During playback the green "Listening on..." banner at the bottom of the Spotify window frequently dissapears and (if gone for long enough) playback halts. The play triangle then switches from pause to play and the transport bar either freezes (as if pause was clicked) or sometimes jumps to the end of the track.

If left halted like this, the connection tends to restore itself with playback recommencing from where it left off after a minute or so and if the transport bar jumped to the end of the track, it goes back to the correct place where playback was resumed.

While the connection is down, asking Alexa what's playing produces the correct answer and saying "next" usually results in an immediate reconnection with playback commencing at the start of the next track. 

Steps taken to investigate/remedy this issue involve logging into account and "signing out everywhere", ensuring PC and Alexa devices have solid WiFi connections and using Spotify Connect on an Android to test the ability to connect to the same Alexa devices. Note that it is only the Windows client that drops connections. The Android app is fine.

[Jemi]

Hey @Radian, help's here. 

Glad to hear you've already taken certain measures. Let's try with some more things:

• Switch off your router by unplugging it, wait 30 seconds and then plug it back. 
• Try restarting all your devices (and speakers).
• Make sure your Spotify app is up-to-date.
• The device's software is up-to-date. If you don't know, check with your device's manufacturers for how to update the version software.
• If possible, try switching between different networks and see if that helps.

If this doesn't help, can you tell us if this happens when something else happens on the computer, like getting a notification or going to a program/website?

A screenshot would also be helpful.

Let us know how it goes 🙂

[Radian]

Hello Jemi,

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@Jemi

• Switch off your router by unplugging it, wait 30 seconds and then plug it back.

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I tried rebooting the router during one of the longer disconnections but it didn't magically reconnect when the router came back up. Bear in mind that during the disconnection Alexa can be interrogated about the track playing and also make an instant reconnection by saying "play the next track".

This shows that there is no issue with either local or remote network connectivity and the Windows Spotify client remains operable - e.g. I can select "This computer" from the connect menu and continue listening without interruption.

• Try restarting all your devices (and speakers).

 If I reboot the Alexa device it will, of course, disconnect and disapear from the Spotify list of connectable devices. On rebooting the Alexa device it will reappear in the list and can be "Spotify Connected" straight away. Random disconnections will then resume after some variable amount of time. The soonest disconnection experienced is within the first track played since conecting. Other times it may remain connected for several hours (not usually though).

Typical time for it to reconnect on its own is around 10 seconds but it can take minutes. I can't recall it ever remaining disconnected without intervention i.e. it always reconnects on its own eventually.

• Make sure your Spotify app is up-to-date.
• The device's software is up-to-date. If you don't know, check with your device's manufacturers for how to update the version software.

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@Radian

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Naturally there have been numerous Spotify client updates since this started over a year ago and likewse the Amazon devices have automatically updated as new software features have appeared over this time. (late edit. Spotify just updated to 1.0.89.313.g34a58dea as I was typing in this post!)

• If possible, try switching between different networks and see if that helps.

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I have actually had two new routers in this time and regularly updated the firmware on both. I'm currently running LEDE (openWrt) and have a 70Mbs Fibre broadband. The Echo device is WiFi only so I cannot change network other than switch between 2.4 & 5Ghz. This makes no difference.

If this doesn't help, can you tell us if this happens when something else happens on the computer, like getting a notification or going to a program/website?

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The only "notification" is that the music stops playing and the green Spotify Connect banner disapears from the bottom of the client window. No other interaction with the PC has to take place - I can be in a different room when it happens.

I am waiting for another disconnection to grab a screen shot if you think it will help.

[Radian]

I didn't have to wait long. This first shot shows how I had left the connect menu up while listening to Djrum on "Studio Dot". Note that the menu shows that it has reverted to "Listening On > This Computer". The play button is present and the music has indeed paused:

 

Then after around 10 seconds playback resumed on its own as usual:

 

Studio Dot is further down the Connect menu but is connected as you can see from the green banner.

If it was always like this where it reconnects and resumes playback within 10 seconds it would be highly annoying but might not be enough to stop me using the feature which otherwise is super-useful (voice control of playback while being able to see and select what's playing on a big monior).

it's when the playback stalls for minutes at a time that I generally give up and reach for my Android which connects perfectly. I could use the desktop PC but it has no audio path as it's only the Amazon Dot that's connected directly to the studio Monitors.

[Radian]

Something I've now noticed is that this problem has a habit of kicking-in shortly after 6PM (BST). Since I noticed it, I've been listening for over a week at around this time and it's highly predictable. To recap, I can listen over Spotify Connect all day (today from around 9AM for example) no pauses - except for at 6:09PM when it would go stop/start. It's now 6:28 and still doing it.

I'm pretty certain that this is the same kind of problem being reported on reddit and also in the sonos community