Virtual assistants aren’t flawless, including Alexa.
However, the problems you encounter are subject to the brands and types of smart devices you connect with Alexa.
One of the prevalent issues many users experience is Alexa turning on lights too slowly, but how to speed it up?
If Alexa is turning on lights too slowly, you can speed it up by slowly decluttering your Wi-Fi network and connected smart devices. Additionally, remove physical obstacles and prevent frequency interferences for the smart speaker. Finally, reboot or reset Alexa and the smart lights.
One or more issues can affect Alexa’s performance. In addition, the virtual assistant or your speaker may not be at fault if the problem is with the smart lights, whether hardware or software.
In this blog post, I explain the reasons for Alexa turning on lights too slowly and how to speed it up.
Why Is Alexa Turning On Lights Too Slowly?
If Alexa isn’t functioning the way you want it to, it can be frustrating.
You might expect a smart technology like this to function fast, but certain issues might make it more difficult for Alexa to do things quickly.
Alexa is turning on lights too slowly due to slow Wi-Fi speed or limited available bandwidth, network connection issues, and frequency interferences. Your Alexa smart speaker, the lights, and host devices may also have software or hardware glitches.
You may be using Alexa on an Echo Dot or another device.
Your smart lights may be connected to a Philips Hue bridge, or they could be of other brands, such as Ring, Geeni, Feit, Kasa, Cync, or Govee.
Home automation and smart lighting systems rely on the host devices and your Wi-Fi network to function, including Alexa.
Hence, your first checkpoint should be the network and these host devices when Alexa is turning on lights too slowly.
Wi-Fi Speed and Bandwidth
Wi-Fi speed and bandwidth aren’t the same specs, albeit they are related.
Your Wi-Fi bandwidth is fixed, i.e., 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps, etc.
The available bandwidth in real-time affects the speed of devices trying to communicate through the internet.
Connecting too many devices to your Wi-Fi network reduces the available bandwidth for each.
In effect, the Wi-Fi speed plummets if many smart devices communicate simultaneously.
Additionally, your real-time data usage may already be high while streaming, working, or downloading.
Thus, Alexa may fail to instantly communicate with the lights and vice versa in such cases.
Wi-Fi Connection Issues
Poor Wi-Fi connection affects Alexa’s performance.
Weak or fluctuating Wi-Fi impairs the responsiveness of your smart lights.
Furthermore, you may have obstructions around the smart speaker, preventing the virtual assistant from accessing the network as it usually should.
Frequency Interferences
Most home automation systems and smart devices, including lights, use 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
Any Wi-Fi network using 2.4 GHz is vulnerable to interferences due to other home appliances and security devices that could be working on the same frequency.
For example, a microwave oven uses 2.45 GHz.
Software Glitches
Both Alexa and the Amazon smart speaker can have software glitches.
Likewise, a smart light turning on too slowly may be due to a bug in its hub or application.
You may have to review the software settings, check for updates, and consider uninstalling and reinstalling the applications.
Hardware Problems
Like software glitches, you may have hardware issues in the Amazon smart speaker or the lights, their integrated chips, and other accessories facilitating remote or wireless access.
It’s almost impossible to generalize hardware issues in such systems, so consider contacting the Alexa support team in this case.
How To Speed Up Alexa Turning On Lights Too Slowly
There are a few practical ways to speed up Alexa turning on lights too slowly.
However, you can choose one solution over the others only if you know the causal problem.
Otherwise, you need to consider all the following remedies and see what works in your case.
Remove and Reconnect the Lights
Here are the simple steps to remove and reconnect smart lights from Alexa:
- Go to the Devices menu in your Alexa app.
- Look for the smart light you want to remove and select Settings.
- Choose the Trash option, and Alexa will unpair the device.
- Now, use the Discover feature to detect the smart light.
- Reconnect the light by pairing it with Alexa.
Power Cycle Alexa and Smart Lights
You may reboot Alexa and the smart lights as a standalone troubleshooting method.
Power cycling is essentially unplugging the smart speaker and lights, waiting for up to a minute, and then reconnecting them.
You may also combine this power cycle method with removing and reconnecting the lights using the Alexa app, as explained in the steps above.
Declutter the Wi-Fi Network
You must declutter your Wi-Fi network if Alexa is turning on several lights too slowly.
Most home Wi-Fi networks will be under stress if you connect multiple phones, laptops, computers, and other smart appliances.
The same principle applies to smart lights, too.
One smart light or bulb will not choke a typical home Wi-Fi network’s bandwidth.
However, you may have several lights and plenty of other smart devices using the same bandwidth, which is fixed and thus limited.
Disconnect all the devices you don’t need to stay connected to your Wi-Fi.
You should also check the default settings of your Echo and Alexa.
Ensure you turn off features like Amazon Sidewalk.
The Sidewalk setting reserves a bit of your bandwidth and expands your Wi-Fi network beyond the house.
Such features increase congestion and further reduce the bandwidth available for Alexa and your smart lights.
Remove Obstacles for Alexa’s Speaker
Keep Alexa’s smart speaker in a relatively de-cluttered space.
An Echo should be at least 8 to 10 inches (~20 to 25 cm) away from the wall.
Additionally, don’t keep an Echo surrounded by metal, concrete, plaster, tile, tinted glass, mirrors, and furniture.
All these materials weaken Wi-Fi signals.
Water and drywall weaken your Wi-Fi, too.
Ideally, the smart speaker and the Wi-Fi router shouldn’t have too many objects or obstructions between them.
Prevent Frequency Interferences
Switch your Wi-Fi network to 5 GHz if you have a dual-band or tri-band router.
Although 5 GHz has a shorter range than 2.4 GHz, it is more powerful and will not encounter much interference from the frequencies of security devices and household appliances, such as microwave ovens.
Reset Alexa, Smart Devices, and Wi-Fi Router
Last but not least, reset the Alexa smart speaker, lights, and the Wi-Fi router.
A hard reset or restoring the devices to factory defaults will erase everything, and you’ll need to set up the profiles, settings, and routines again.
This may be necessary if your devices have software glitches.
At this stage, you’ll know if the real problem is a probable hardware failure.
Here’s a short video to help you reset Echo Dots (different generations):
Conclusion
Review the Wi-Fi speed, bandwidth, and connection issues before you reset an Echo and the lights. Consider unsyncing all connected devices and re-syncing them.
Change the Wi-Fi frequency, power cycle, or reboot the smart speaker, lights, and router, and finally, go for hard resets.
All of these fixes should prevent Alexa from turning on lights too slowly, but if you continue to have problems, contact the Amazon support team.