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Amazon's Tap was One Big Headache for Me!
I bought a Tap because I was so happy with the Echo as well as the Echo Dot. Both of these work flawlessly in my home. The Tap...well this is a horse of a different color. Let me explain to you what I mean. I set up the Tap and it seemed to work fine; however, next time I tried to use it, it had disconnected from the Internet, and I had to reconnect it. This seemed odd as this never happened with either the Echo or Echo Dot. This same behavior, however, continued. Every time I tried to use the Tap, I had to reconnect it to my Wi-Fi. This was extremely annoying as you can imagine if every time you tried to use any of your "smart" electronic devices, you had to reconnect it to your Wi-Fi. So I called Amazon (boy, what a headache just to find out how even to reach their Tap support) and explained this odd behavior to one of Amazon's tech support people. She told me the problem was that the Tap, unlike the Echo, was only designed for a single band Wi-Fi so unless I split my Wi-Fi router's 2.4 and 5 GHz bands and gave them each a different password and then connect the Tap only to the 2.4 GHz band, the Tap will always disconnect from the 2.4 GHz band! I thought that this tech support person was pulling my leg, as I must have 25 or 30 "smart" devices in my home--from a Roku, to Kindles, to IPads, IPhones, Fires, TVs, blu-ray players, etc. connected to my Apple Airport Extreme and not one of them exhibits this wonky behavior. So I asked to speak to a supervisor--and the Tap tech support supervisor confirmed her statement! I could not run the Tap on a double band router without having to reconnect it to my Wi-Fi with each use as it would be "confused" by receiving the double band router signal! Honestly, I am NOT an electronics expert by any measure, but it makes no sense as to why something designed only for a 2;4 GHz signal would disconnect from it and then try unsuccessfully to connect to a 5 GHz signal to which it is not even designed to connect, so it anyone out there can explain this, please do so. But that is the story Amazon is sticking to: either I buy a single band router, or split my double band router into two signals--each with separate password, or return the Tap--which is what I am doing. I must add that the supervisor could not have been nicer in offering full a full refund for the Tap--including $20 for the third party cover I purchased through Amazon for the Tap. So, I would give Amazon 5 stars for that if I could. But this is a product review, and if what Amazon's Tap support is telling me is true, I would give the Tap ZERO stars if I could. What....Amazon does not realize that people have dual band routers and that I, like am sure many dual band router owners, don't split their router signals and give separate password to each band? I still do not understand why I cannot run the Tap with my Apple Airport Extreme router, but this--folks--is the story of my experience with Amazon's Tap. I originally just felt I received a defective Tap, despite what I am being told by Amazon's Tap support. The Echo and Echo Dot---love them,,,,however, the Tap...well for me it was just one big headache and if what Amazon's support says is true, they should go back to the drawing board with this turkey!!! Amazon should rename the Tap the Dud!
May 2016 · Electronics · verified purchase