Having multiple Alexa devices across two locations is really nice.
@RyanAtSense, you would really enjoy the music quality out of two echos in the same room.
What other 'smart' tech are you using in your homes?
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I haven’t had great luck with any of the wireless speaker options out there that I’ve tried. I have a single Echo Dot near my TV that I use for Spotify occasionally, but it’s hooked up to some wired bookshelf speakers. Eventually, I want to give Sonos a shot, but I just worry about getting weird phasing or latency effects from multiple BT speakers.
Sonos doesn’t use Bluetooth.
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I haven’t tried any of the products that are supposed to be Alexa compatible because I’ve read about the problems you mentioned. I’m using two first generation echos in my living room and also using the same setup at my wife’s retail store, both setups mainly for Spotify. We started with one in each location and it was pretty good, two is a huge difference with zero problems. I’ve been able to pick up the first generation echo for $25 each on ebay.
I also have a couple echo dots that I use just for communication with Alexa. I don’t have Spotify play through the dots because if the volume is up too high, Alexa won’t hear me as well. So I have as many as three Alexa devices in the same room or area without any trouble
I started back in 2013 with a Nexia Thermostat for my new Trane AC/Heater. Ingersol Rand was really bad back then and wanted you to buy their z wave products with their z wave bridge for a monthly fee. Without their paid service, I cannot link via z wave. This first experience got me looking into what was out there. I found a lot of protocols (z wave, ecobee, zigbee, etc) with little or no interoperability. I settled with z wave. It had the best plan and track record. I did not want to get stuck with a Betamax! There is a Z wave business alliance that sets the z wave standards and help insure device compatibility. Z wave is a lower frequency than wifi and will not compete with other wifi users. With the lower frequency, it is better penetrating walls but does not transmit as far. Z wave devices daisy chain or relay data to over come the distance. Not transmitting as far different home systems will not interfere with each other.
My home system I chose a Fibaro Home Center 2. It is a Linux based z wave hub. It is expensive ~$700 but there are no monthly fees. The main reason I went with Fibaro is that it has the capability of writing your own code to control your z wave devices. It uses the LUA language. Fibaro has a few downsides. With no monthly fees tech support and troubleshooting is limited and updates are not that frequent. Its an European company. Most compatible cameras, heating systems, and TVs are European.
Fibaro has some good devices. Their motion, temperature, light sensor works very well on a battery. I am sampling temperature every 15 minutes and the battery lasts about a year. They have just released their Smart Implant. With the Smart Implant, you can make your own smart z wave devices from an analog or digital device.
For lighting I went with the wall z wave switch route. It didn’t make sense spend the money on a light bulb when a switch makes everything z wave. I am using both GE (Jasco) Smart Switch and Leviton Smart Switch. The GE wires easier like a regular switch. But both will require a fourth wire feeding power constant power to the switch electronics. These switches will also serve as a signal repeater for the Z wave system.
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