Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

Posted on
Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:53 pm
madscientist offline
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

I am running Indigo on a MacMini that I prefer to connect to my router via ethernet cable (more stable, and this computer also processes constant video from security cameras). I have had no luck getting Alexa to discover my Alexa-Hue Bridge devices unless I disconnect the ethernet cable and connect to my router via WiFi.

Here are the details:
- echo dot has the IP address 192.168.0.14.
- MacMini has the IP address 192.168.0.11 when connected via WiFi
- MacMini has the IP address 192.168.0.27 when connected via ethernet

The Alexa-Hue plug-in starts up fine regardless of whether I am connected via WiFi or ethernet. I can also see the plug-in at http://192.168.0.11:8178/description.xml or http://192.168.0.27:8178/description.xml, for WiFi and ethernet, respectively. If I'm connected via WiFI, all the Alexa-Hue Bridge devices are correctly discovered. If I am connected with ethernet, no devices are discovered, and nothing appears in the logs.

I suspected I might have port 8178 blocked or forwarded port on my router, but it is not. Any ideas why Alexa can't discover devices via ethernet?

Posted on
Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:12 pm
RogueProeliator offline
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Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

From your description, my first inclination is that the bridge listener is latching on to the WiFi adapter, regardless of the connection status; one test to see would be to stop the plugin, disable the WiFi interface (not just disconnect from the network, disable in System Settings), then restart the plugin and test.

Adam

Posted on
Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:02 am
madscientist offline
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

Thanks for the tip. That was definitely worth a try, but it didn't fix the issue. After shutting down WiFi I also tried overriding the host IP address within the Alexa-Hue bridge plugin settings to ensure it was pointing to the ethernet interface. That also didn't work.

Posted on
Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:15 pm
roussell offline
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Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

As an additional data point. I had the exact same issue. I eventually just gave up since I use Siri most often and didn't have the time to troubleshoot past what you've already done above. The Dot is just gathering dust waiting on an official integration at some point...

Terry


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Posted on
Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:07 pm
madscientist offline
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

I managed to work around this problem by enabling and simultaneously using both ethernet and WiFi adapters on the MacMini. I have set up ethernet to be the preferred network in System Preferences, and therefore my video cameras and other network activity default to ethernet. I then configured the Alexa-Hue bridge plug-in to use the WiFI IP address in the setting called "override the host IP address". It works! I can now bark out voice commands to Alexa to control all of my Insteon devices. What an awesome plug-in!

The drawback is that my Alexa voice commands are now dependent on the stability of my WiFi network, but that's not the end of the world. Still, if anybody has any ideas of what else I can do to try to get the Alexa-Hue Bridge working through ethernet, please post here. Thanks!

Posted on
Thu Apr 27, 2017 2:33 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

madscientist wrote:
Still, if anybody has any ideas of what else I can do to try to get the Alexa-Hue Bridge working through ethernet, please post here. Thanks!


I'm running in exactly that configuration: plugin is running on a Mac connected via Ethernet, all the various Echos are on WiFi. No problems discovering. I suspect it has something to do with how your router is handling UPnP. Perhaps it's filtering out multicast data between the two or something.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:01 pm
roussell offline
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Re: Alexa finding devices on WiFi, but not ethernet

I suspected multicast filtering too, but couldn't check since I use an AirPort Extreme as an access point. I ruled it out (perhaps prematurely) since so many things Apple use multicast and that always seems to work. As a side note, Alexa control from FireTVs, plugged into Ethernet, and on the same physical and logical network as the Mini, won't work either.

Terry


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