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Spotify and alexa echo. song stop and start again

Spotify and alexa echo. song stop and start again

Hi, I have problem listening spotify in my amazon echo. When I'm listening, per exemple, a playlist, some songs cut while playing and start from the beggining again, it's random but and is't a little annoyning

 

Any help will be apreciated. thanks in advance.

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60 Replies

Changing back to the included amazon usb power adapter seemed to help mine A+!!!

nevermind, even worse again now 😞

Actually it has to do with interference from something. At the same time my Turtle Beach ps4 headset started crapping too

I’m guessing your Echo has a different issue than what this thread is referring to. Try moving both devices to another room but I doubt there is any correlation between the two acting up. How electronic devices handle interference and more importantly what interference they put into an environment is highly regulated and for a basic consumer device. It isn’t like you don’t understand why you can’t get 10G over Cat5 which you stapled to a 240V dryer cord. There isn’t much that is going to happen with interference to a speaker some LEDs and a small computer (in layman’s terms).

Well I am pretty sure it has to do with Bluetooth interference..Headset is BT and so is my ECHO Dot speaker.  It cleared up again before I could disconnect the BT spkr and just use the internal DOT speaker or I will wire it direct if I happen to find a cable.. .. Just like on my first floor, my microwave destorys BT reception. At the same time my Logitech wireless mouse was glitchy too LOL

I do in fact know that home routers are so **bleep** inconsistent. I am on my 3rd since my longtime DLINK DGL4100 died 😞 after 10 years)

And yes it could be a different issue, but a search brought me here so that is why i am here 😉

The Cat5 thing was a hypothetical example where a lot of interference would occur. Also Cat5 isn’t certified for 10G only 10/100BASE-T. 

 

Not sure where Cat5 pertains to the unreliability of home routers but... I am not sure why you would need a dedicated router in a home network. Was this before wireless was common? I don’t see it being useful in a home environment.

 

Could you elaborate?

To begin with, for the sake of full disclosure, I'm a network engineer for a very large communications company, so I do speak with some authority here.

I'm starting to believe that the issue has to do with the way the streaming negotiation between Echo and Spotify is implemented.  I don't think it is an intentional crippling on Amazon's part - it seems to have more to do with the way the stream is negotiated and maintained.

 

As to issues like the AC Adapter or Ethernet cable type, etc., these are not likely causes.  As to one of the comments about Category 5 cable only being capable of 10/100, when we speak of Category 5 what we are talking about today is almost always Category 5e.  The original Category 5 was deprecated over 15 years ago.  Category 5e cable is certified for gigabit speed up to 100m under the IEEE 802.3ab standards.

 

All of that being said, streaming audio doesn't require anywhere near these speeds, and it is unlikley that most people even have 100mb/s internet in their homes today.  What I am experiencing is a breakdown in negotiation between Echo and Spotify, whether that is initiated by packet loss or some defficiency in the way the API is implemented I don't know for sure.

 

But it sure is annoying.

I understand Network connectivity and I did not mention cat5 at all. Though in a pinch I have run 1Gb over Cat5 easy, and also Cat3 (short run).... And sure you can have dropped packets and even interference issues but it can and will work.

     I was on the topic of network latency which was discussed previously with people pointing fingers to the Wireless (Wi-Fi) connectivity and needing to move closer to the unit (WAP or Router).  Well that wireless connectivity has to still be controlled by a home network router especially when most home users have it built in to the router that shares their (WAN) Modem connection. The router still does all the natting and firewall/QoS possibly. Whether it be a wired router connected to WAP(s) it all comes back to the router no matter what the connection in order to get to the big 'ol WWW (Layer3). So I threw it in there that I had home router issues and it took me buying/returning/swapping of "Home Routers" before I was able to get a rather stable unit. (I had streaming issues)  We all know Spotify reached out to the Spotify servers out in the WWW  🙂

My point being there are so many things that could effect these connection issues but yes I would also assume that the OP wasn't really having "Streaming" issues.

 (my reply was to lockwoodg)

Anyway, sorry for going a bit off topic

Not you still don't get it... The thing about Cat5 has nothing to do with Spotify, you, me, my knowledge, your knowledge, Amazon Echo units, data transmission rates capable with Cat5, whether Cat5 is Cat5 or Cat5e, or anything else...at all...that should concern you...zip...zada...zero. Phew!

 

1) The thing about Cat5 was a situation where interference would be expected to have an effect on performance to offer juxtaposition to your implementation of an Echo Dot in an assumed residential home where the EM interference would likely be so minimal it would not have any effect on the electronics within said household.

 

2) I was not attempting to question your understanding of the basic fundamentals of a network. I was simply wondering the function of a wired only router in your home network since you most likely had wireless connectivity where a unified AP(the "W" is redundant)/Router/Switch would be common. I still do not understand why you have/had that godawful TP-Link router, but I really don't care

 

3) Yes I agree with you that it most likely isn't an issue with connectivity.

 

4) Why would you ever want to run gigabit over Cat3? Or what would put you in that situation?

One of the issues with this forum (like many others) is that conversations take side-journies, and because these excursions don't create separate threads we end up with confusion and misunderstanding.   To the extend that I contributed to any of this confusion with my earlier comment, not realizing that I was actually responding to one of these sub-threads, I apologize.

2. I never bought a TP-Link, I had a rock solid D-LINK with GameFuel which I bought used, and I used it for 10 years, Rock solid connected to multiple AP(s).

Todays router, again I had to go through 3, and I went back to the original Netgear (blah) but it works decent now so I had a bad apple apparently.

4. When I had to move cubicals at work (up to a total of 5 times now going on 14 years, a cat 3 patch cable happened to be there from an old 10Mb or a phone and I used it to get connected.  Well it worked and stayed there until I moved cubicals again, though I may have used it for an HP jet direct towards the end. Idk it has been a while

Yep, back to the OP question. As i said earlier, I was sorry for my tangent but I was having (similar) issues which turned out to be a different issue apparently 🙂

Enjoy!

Jeff,

 

Good to know you have background experience/knowledge on this topic. (Networking not Echo Dots).

 

Contrary to what you may seem I am not some keyboard warrior who knows nothing. While I am not a full-time professional in the IT/Telco industry I am a part-time private consultant for SMBs and residential clients in my area specializing in high-bandwidth applications, wireless solutions, and (funny enough) structured cabling. This is mainly due to the fact that I am still a high school student.

 

I fully agree with what you believe is the issue since this seems to only be an issue with third party streaming services and not Amazon's in-house Prime music. I have contacted Amazon about this and I made it up to Tier 3 where they informed me that they knew of the issue and then hinted that they were not inclined to do much of anything to fix the issue. 

 

I also agree with you that wireless connectivity or power are unlikely causes.

 

Cat5:

 

I assume you too misunderstood my post. That was not an actual or probable application. Yes I was talking about Cat5, not Cat5e. I do have to disgaree with you as most other I know in the field refer to Cat5e as Cat5e, as the extra syllable doesn't add much length or required effort while being, in theory, more correct. I do know Cat5e is capable of gigabit speeds however Cat5 is not.

 

I personally am kind of fed up with Alexa and I am looking to switch to a Google Home Mini as it seems to be a better and more well-rounded product.

 

P.S. Saw your second posting. No apology warranted and your comment did not add confusion. While I agree sub-conversations are sometimes distracting and confusing I they are inevitable and in some cases interesting.

 

Thanks,

glockwood

 

Sorry, D-LINK. I didn't know you were using APs and I didn't know it was purchased 10 years ago.

 

I don't know if you are still in the market for a new network (using this as a general term even though the nomenclature is incorrect). If you are look at Ubiquiti, specifically their UniFi line which covers basic home labs, to full-fledged enterprise setups which I might not use Ubiquiti for, and everything in between. For basic I would go with the basic security gateway (serves as a router and super basic firewall policies (super)), and whichever AP fits you. I deploy only UniFi in most of my clients unless they request otherwise and I deployed it in my own home. 

Thanks I will look into it. I have no experience with those. At work of course everything is CISCO (which I would love to afford but cannot) and the time to setup with the interfaces I just don't want to spend at home.

ReAp

I think I found the solution! It's not a network problem, at least not for me. 

 

First of all, I had the same problem that playback with Spotify randomly paused and resumed while playing.

 

At first, I figured out that it only stops when my phone was connected via Bluetooth.

Finally, I found that, even when Alexa plays music, it's still a Bluetooth speaker for my phone. So when I used my phone and it did some UI sound, these sounds would be also played via Alexa. This caused it to interrupt the music for a second.

So I just disabled all my UI sounds and there are no random stops anymore 🙂

However, other sounds like Whatsapp notifications still will interrupt playback. The only full solution I know is to mute the phone while connected to Alexa or to disconnect Bluetooth. 

This post pertains to the use of Spotify Connect on Alexa. Not the use of Alexa as a Bluetooth speaker. If you are using an Echo device as a Bluetooth speaker then yes it will pause for notifications. To fix that just put your phone on vibrate or mute and the music will not be interrupted. The issue attempting to be resolved in this thread is music outright stopping in the middle of a stream when using Spotify Connect to use an Echo device as an Connect speaker.

 

However, you are correct in saying that this issue is not network related. 

I have the same issue. When listening to Amazon Music it never cuts when I listen to spotify it stops playing. 

Hi!

 

Same problem here. I've tried everything and Spotify after a few songs (never more than 10, sometimes after the first song) just stops playing in my Echo (always after the end of a song).

 

I've tried resetting all my devices, close session in all devices except Echo, checked my wifi signal quality and channel and nothing. Spotify cannot reliably play music in my Echo.

 

With Amazon Music never happens, only with Spotify.

 

I hope this issue is solved soon because my continuity in Spotify depends on it, and it will be a real shame...

 

 

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