8 Ways To Fix Unresponsive Amazon Smart Plug.

The Amazon Smart Plug was designed as the name suggests by the e-commerce giant Amazon, this plug allows you to turn almost any wired device with an on/off switch in your home including your fan, lamp, kettle electric, humidifier, etc. into an automated system that can be controlled via a mobile app or voice assistant.

Without any doubt, this gadget is so useful if you want to turn your dumb appliances into smart ones and control them remotely through your phone, tablet, or via voice commands but like any connected device sometimes you may face some issues with it.

One of the common problems that people ask for is why is my Amazon Smart Plug unresponsive? Your Amazon Plug goes into an unresponsive state due to many reasons like when it is not properly plugged, the outlet is faulty, false frequency channel, weak Wifi signals, old firmware updates, the device is off, an issue in your router.

In the following sections, we will take a closer look at the causes of this problem and how to fix it and get it working again.

One: Power cycle the Amazon Plug.

Probably this is the easiest troubleshooting solution when your Amazon Smart Plug is unresponsive and it will help the device to recover from an unresponsive state.

Here’s how to power cycle your device:

1. Unplug your Plug from the wall outlet.
2. Wait at least 15 seconds.
3. And then plug it back in.

If the issue is coming for the Amazon Plug power cycling it will help it back to work again and if it doesn’t go to the next tips in the following section.

Two: Connect to the right frequency.

The Amazon Smart Plug works on 2.4 GHz only, 802.11 b/g/n and doesn’t support 5GHz networks or connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks, so don’t wait for your device to connect with the app or voice assistant if it’s connected to the wrong channel.

Putting a lot of connected gadgets that operate on the same frequency next to your plug may cause interference issues which also lead the plug to be unresponsive.

Three: Reboot your router.

Of course, the Amazon plug relies on the router to get an internet connection and communicate with your mobile app and voice assistant, and a router can crash due to many reasons like overheating, bugs in the firmware, IP address conflicts, and so on.

So rebooting your router will clean out the device’s short-term memory to keep it running more smoothly, and it may help your plug get back to work.

Here’s how to reboot it:

1. Press the power button or unplug the power cord from the outlet.
2. Wait for 60 seconds.
3. Turn it back on or plug it back into the electrical outlet and wait 30 seconds.

Four: Outdated device update.

Like any other smart device, the Amazon Plug has firmware in it. A firmware is a type of software that is etched directly into a piece of hardware and it’s frequently updated by the manufacturer in order to fix bugs and increase security and performance.

An old firmware update may lead your plug to disconnect or work at low performance and be unresponsive most of the time.

Here’s how to check device updates on the Alexa app:

1. Go to the Alexa app on your phone or tablet.
2. Select Devices at the bottom right of the screen.
3. Choose Plugs.
4. Then select your Amazon Smart Plug.
5. Select About to see your device’s software version.
6. After that go to this website and check the latest software version for your Amazon Plug.
7. If you notice that the plug has an older version installed, it needs to be updated.

Note: Generally speaking the software is updated automatically but do these steps just to be 100% sure.

Five: Outdated app update.

Alexa app is when the Amazon smart plug is controlled from this platform you create scenes, routines, and timers for the devices connected to your plug and it’s also an essential piece if you want to voice control the plug.

So, any issue in the Alexa app will affect the Amazon Plug and may cause it to stop working, and one of the common issues that can affect this app is an outdated update.

The Alexa app is designed to be updated automatically when it’s connected to Wifi but you can go to Play Store or Apple Store and check if there’s a new update version.

If updating the app didn’t fix the issue and your plug is still unresponsive you can jump into the next solution.

Six: Faulty wall outlet.

If the outlet where you plug in the Amazon smart plug provides less or no electrical power than the required amount, it will not turn on and therefore you will not be able to control it from your mobile or Echo speaker & display.

To make sure the problem is with your wall outlet, try connecting the smart plug to another wall outlet and see if it works again, if so, the problem is with the wall outlet.

Signs that tell you to replace your wall outlet:

1. Outlet feels hot to the touch.
2. You smell smoke or see a spark.
3. Cracked outlet covers.
4. When the outlet is loose.

Seven: Weak Wifi signals.

The Amazon Plug uses a Wifi communication protocol to exchange data with your smartphone, smart speaker, or any other connected device you’re controlling the plug from, and when it’s receiving a weak Wifi signal it won’t respond to your commands.

So make sure your smart plug is getting good signals from your router in order to work properly, and you can set up a Wifi range extender to let the signals cover your whole house.

Eight: Reset the Amazon Smart Plug.

If all previous tips didn’t solve the issue you can go and reset the Amazon plug but put in mind that a resetting process will delete the device from your Alexa account and also remove all your settings.

Here’s how to reset it:

1. Make sure the plug is turned on.
2. Hold down the button on the smart plug for about 12 seconds.
3. When the LED light on the smart plug will start to flicker that means it was successfully reset.

After that follow these instructions to set up the device again in the Alexa app:

1. Plug your device into the wall and make sure it’s turned on.
2. Launch the Alexa app on your smartphone or tablet.
3. Then tap on Devices at the lower corner of the screen.
4. Click on the “+” icon and select Add Device.
5. Select Plug.
6. Follow the instructions in the Alexa app to set up your device.

Last words.

So this is how to deal with the Amazon Smart Plug when it’s unresponsive, we hope that we were at the top of your expectation and put in mind that you can always contact Amazon customer support for further assistance.