Computer geeks-- question about Alexa

[Snapdragon]

We have three Echo Show 5 units. One in the computer room, one in the family room, and one in my bedroom. I bought them mostly to receive notifications and monitor activity on our Blink cameras.

The Echo in my bedroom has been acting strangely. A couple of weeks ago I set an alarm, and it didn't go off. I didn't think much of it until I stopped receiving camera notifications on just that unit. Turns out the unit in my bedroom was in 'do not disturb' mode, which can only be changed from within the Alexa app, which I never use. I changed that setting back a couple of days ago.

Last night at 2 am when I was in a dead sleep, Alexa suddenly said "Who would you like me to send it to?" I told her to quit, and a minute later she said it again. "Who would you like me to send it to?" She has also randomly started playing music a couple of times.

Here is my question. I know how sometimes two people's garage door openers can be on the same frequency and weird things happen if they are in close proximity. Is it possible that my Echo is on the same frequency as a neighbor's and is receiving commands from them?

 

[Mr. Habib]

Call a priest, NOW.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I don't trust all that Alexa stuff. Too many stories about it being hacked, along with people's security cameras, etc.. My cell phone is about the most potentially intrusive thing I own.

 

[Snapdragon]

I don't trust all that Alexa stuff. Too many stories about it being hacked, along with people's security cameras, etc.. My cell phone is about the most potentially intrusive thing I own.

I would care if I actually had anything interesting enough going on to worry about. The cameras on all three units are turned off. About the most interesting thing at my house that Alexa actually hears (if she is listening) is a rousing game of Yahtzee or an episode of This is Us.

 

[gregkl]

I haven't really had any issues like that, but sometimes when I talk to my Echo in the kitchen, my dot in the bedroom responds.

And when we have a power outage, when the power comes back on, the lights I have linked to Alexa all come on.

 

[Backyardace]

The light issue. Always know when the power has been out.

 

[larcat]

Ok Google, please ask Alexa to tell @Snapdragon why her Echo Show 5 units are acting up, and tell Bezos he's doing a great job.

 

[TheGrumpyGuy]

I'm wondering if there was an update that somehow glitched. A couple weeks ago when the timer I had set on my kitchen dot went off, I gave the command for it to stop, which it did, but then a few seconds later the timer alarm went off on my bedroom dot, and a few seconds after giving the command for it to end, the living room dot went off...

 

[KLB]

Here is my question. I know how sometimes two people's garage door openers can be on the same frequency and weird things happen if they are in close proximity. Is it possible that my Echo is on the same frequency as a neighbor's and is receiving commands from them?

Nope.

Have you changed your password for your account yet?

 

[WebSnyper]

You should be able to go to activity in the app and see voice and other activity history. That may tell you something.

Curious, have you powered it down and back on and if so did the behavior continue?

I can't say that I've experienced this issue or the light issue (I have some lights setup direct through Alexa that are on Amazon smart plugs with Alexa routines, but most of the lighting setup via Z-wave brokered through my Alarm system and it's scheduling interface).

I have had a skill or 2 need to be deleted and re-added or the account that the skill uses needed to be reauthenticated in the past for some reason, but that's really only happened once or twice, and if I recall that may have been due to a multi factor authentication requirement but I don't 100% remember.

We have had the occasional issue with another Echo device than the intended one responding to a voice command ... mostly my wife and I've told her that her voice carries across rooms, but she doesn't believe me ;-)

 

[Hoosierdood]

Change your password NOW!

 

[WebSnyper]

I don't trust all that Alexa stuff. Too many stories about it being hacked, along with people's security cameras, etc.. My cell phone is about the most potentially intrusive thing I own.

Not to say this can't happen as it can, especially easy via a password spray attack with anything that is not Multi Factor Authentication protected, but at least one of the big recent "camera hacks" was due to people either not using a password at all on the account or not changing a default password. If people are going to set these things up, they do need to perform a little bit of due diligence.

Anything with just a password (no matter how complex really) can be hacked, but again some of these "hacks" that have made big news are really caused by the user.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Not to say this can't happen as it can, especially easy via a password spray attack with anything that is not Multi Factor Authentication protected, but at least one of the big recent "camera hacks" was due to people either not using a password at all on the account or not changing a default password. If people are going to set these things up, they do need to perform a little bit of due diligence.

Anything with just a password (no matter how complex really) can be hacked, but again some of these "hacks" that have made big news are really caused by the user.

Understood. Not sure I'd want two-factor authentication for turning on a lamp though.

 

[WebSnyper]

Understood. Not sure I'd want two-factor authentication for turning on a lamp though.

Agreed, and I don't use the Alexa app for a lot, as most of my smart home items are configured elsewhere, but generally the 2 factor would be for the first login on a new device (think new phone where the app was installed or on a browser/device where you had not logged into the device before, and not for each command, etc).

In the case of some of these hacks, it has been someone accessed their account through a browser, app or even through an API and the account was not multi factored or even the password set/changed from default. Then it's pretty simple to get into the account from anywhere and then control all the devices/view camera footage/even be able to speak through the device if it's capable.

 

[printcraft]

 

[Snapdragon]

Nope.

Have you changed your password for your account yet?

On it now. Done.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

 

[Snapdragon]

You should be able to go to activity in the app and see voice and other activity history. That may tell you something.

Curious, have you powered it down and back on and if so did the behavior continue?

I can't say that I've experienced this issue or the light issue (I have some lights setup direct through Alexa that are on Amazon smart plugs with Alexa routines, but most of the lighting setup via Z-wave brokered through my Alarm system and it's scheduling interface).

I have had a skill or 2 need to be deleted and re-added or the account that the skill uses needed to be reauthenticated in the past for some reason, but that's really only happened once or twice, and if I recall that may have been due to a multi factor authentication requirement but I don't 100% remember.

We have had the occasional issue with another Echo device than the intended one responding to a voice command ... mostly my wife and I've told her that her voice carries across rooms, but she doesn't believe me ;-)

I tried to find the place in the app where it has a history of all of the commands used, but I couldn't find it.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

 

[WebSnyper]

I tried to find the place in the app where it has a history of all of the commands used, but I couldn't find it.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

Go to "more" at the bottom right of the app. Then should be activity. At least on the ios version of the app.

The info there can be a bit lacking from what I see but still the first place to see if you can tell what happened.

It doesn't seem to provide time stamps at least on most of the history. The voice history seems to give some time stamp info.

 

[Snapdragon]

Go to "more" at the bottom right of the app. Then should be activity. At least on the ios version of the app.

The info there can be a bit lacking from what I see but still the first place to see if you can tell what happened.

It doesn't seem to provide time stamps at least on most of the history. The voice history seems to give some time stamp info.

Ok I found it. Easier to find on my phone than on my PC.

There is nothing there to indicate what caused Alexa to start randomly talking. The first voice command from today was me telling her to quit.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

 

[WebSnyper]

Ok I found it. Easier to find on my phone than on my PC.

There is nothing there to indicate what caused Alexa to start randomly talking. The first voice command from today was me telling her to quit.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

Gotcha, as I was looking at it didn't really think it was overly useful on the history, but figured it might show if it at least thought it received some voice input.

I'd personally unplug and replug the device in and see if it continues the strange behavior in the next couple of days.