How To Fix Blink Camera Not Working With Alexa?

Blink produces powerful smart security cameras to protect your home, they offer a variety of models like the Blink indoor and outdoor which works with a powerful battery that can last up to 2 years, and Blink Mini which requires to be plugged into a power outlet.

These cams provide so many features like motion-activated alerts, two-way audio to speak and hear people inside your house, infrared night vision and 1080p video resolution, and many more.

Blink cameras can be integrated with the Alexa voice assistant to be controlled from Alexa-enabled devices via your voice, which makes it so convenient for people who are not comfortable using the mobile app or who want to manage all smart home gadgets from the voice assistant.

Sometimes and for some reason, the Blink camera does not connect to Alexa, so voice control and routines will be impossible to use. There are certain tips that you can implement in order to reconnect your Blink cam to Alexa and you’re going to discover them in the next sections of this article.

How to fix the Blink Camera connection problem with Alexa?

We will now walk you through the solutions that you can try when your Blink camera won’t connect to Alexa-enabled devices like Echo Show, Echo dot, smartphone, tablet, etc.

Check your internet connection.

The presence of the internet is mandatory if you want to control your cam through Alexa, so make sure that your internet subscription hasn’t expired yet, then go and do some web searches on your computer or smartphone to ensure that your connection works well.

Check the camera battery.

If you’re using the battery-powered model make sure that the camera has a sufficient amount of battery because when the battery is too low the device may lose connection to Wifi and voice assistant as well. If you find that the batteries are dead replace them.

Use Alexa with other gadgets.

If you’re using Alexa on your smart speaker or display to manage other home devices try to do something else like turning ON or OFF the lights or changing the home temperature to make sure that the problem is coming only from the Blink cam.

Put the frequency on 2.4 GHz.

Blink devices use your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network to communicate with the main servers and with your voice assistant, so make sure that the 5 GHz channel is disabled when setting up the camera as it will not be visible to the Blink system.

Power cycle the Sync module.

The indoor and outdoor models use the sync module to be able to connect to Alexa so if you see a red light in this hub that means it’s offline, here I advise you to power cycle this device to fix the issue.

• Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.
• Wait for 10 seconds.
• Then plug in the power cord again and turn your Sync Module on.
• The device will reboot and then reconnect within 45 seconds.

If you see a solid blue with a solid green light that means your Sync Module is connected, so the problem has been fixed.

Power cycle the Blink Mini.

The Blink Mini does not rely on the Sync module to connect to Alexa so you can power cycle it directly by following the instructions below:

• unplug the wall outlet.
• Wait at least 30 seconds.
• Then plug in the power cord again and turn ON the camera.
• The device will reboot and then reconnect within a few seconds.

Note: Power cycling your Blink mini may get the voice assistant feature back to work.

Power Cycle Your modem and router.

When the previous solutions didn’t fix the issue and your cam still can’t connect to Alexa go and power cycle your modem and router.

• Turn off and unplug the modem and the router from the outlet.
• Wait for 60 seconds.
• Plug in and turn on the modem and router, and allow them to completely boot up until the front panel connection lights on the modem show a steady connection.

Reset the Sync Module.

If power cycling the devices hasn’t resolved the issues and the voice assistant is not working with your cam, you can go and reset the Sync module if you’re using an outdoor or indoor model because a factory reset is considered a good solution for connectivity problems.

• Locate the reset button at the side of this hub next to the USB port.
• Pick a needle or a paperclip and press and hold the reset button for 5 seconds.

After 15 or 30 seconds a blinking blue light and solid green light appear at the front of the Sync Module which means the hub has been reset, now you need to go and delete and reinstall it again on the Blink app, and here’s how to do it:

• Open the Blink app on your mobile or tablet.
• Click on the “?” icon on the “Sync Module Offline” banner.
• Tap the red button that shows “Delete Sync Module”.
• Scan or enter the module’s serial number, then tap Delete.
• Go back to the home screen and click on the + sign in the upper right.
• Choose “Blink wireless camera system”.
• Scan or enter the module’s serial number again.
• Select your Blink system, then tap “Discover Device”.
• Click on “Join, then Select “Done”.

Reset the Blink Mini.

The Blink mini doesn’t need a Sync module to connect so it has to be reset separately through the reset button available on the bottom of the camera.

Press and hold the reset button for 10-15 seconds. The resetting process take a few seconds and when it is done, you will see the solid green and blue light.

Reset the modem and the router.

The next solution that you can try to reconnect these two devices after trying power cycling and resetting the camera or sync module is to perform a factory reset on your modem and router:

Reset the modem.

1. Turn on your modem while resetting it.
2. Press and hold the Reset button with a paperclip.
3. Release the button when the modem lights start to flicker.
4. Wait until the Internet light turns green.

Reset the router.

1. Make sure the router is turned on.
2. Pick a paperclip to hold down the Reset button at the back of the router for half a minute.
3. Release the Reset button and wait 30 seconds for the router to fully reset and power back on.

Change the router placement.

A bad location of the router may cause your Alexa device or Blink cam to not get a stable WiFi signal to opearte correctly, so make sure you place your router in the right place to allow each device to have the connection.

Common issues when connecting Blink to Alexa.

“Sorry, cameras don’t work on this device.”:

This message appears when you’re using a voice command that is not supported by the type of Alexa device you have integrated with the Blink SmartHome skill, So check the type of Alexa enabled device you are using to check its compatibility with the command you were trying to issue.

“Please specify a system”:

This error will appear when you want to arm the Blink system and you’re using multiple ones in your account, so make sure to include the exact Blink system name for Alexa to distinguish between your multiple systems.

“Ok. I’m not quite sure what went wrong”:

If your Echo device is using the 6.5.4.1 firmware version and you say “Alexa show me the camera name” and the device is muted, if you want to resolve this issue enable the microphone for that camera in the Blink app’s Live View settings.

Note: you can receive a “Hmmmm, Camera is not responding” or “OK” and they refer to the same problem.

“Couldn’t find a device name Blink.”:

When your devices are not all found on the Alexa app this error message will appear, follow the steps below to solve this issue:

1. Open the Alexa app > Tap “Devices” > Tap “Cameras” > Check to ensure all the Blink devices are listed there.
2. If all Blink devices are not discovered, go to Devices.
3. Tap the “+” icon located in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Then choose Add Devices.
5. Select Cameras, then Discover Devices.

Source ( Smart Home Generation ).

Conclusion.

You can always try and retry these tips when your Blink camera won’t connect to Alexa, and if you’re not comfortable with the technology, you can contact Blink customer support on their website to help you out.