Chapter 2
Setting Up Alexa and Your Devices
IN THIS CHAPTER
Installing and using the Alexa app
Connecting Alexa to your Wi-Fi network
Customizing your Alexa device
Connecting external speakers or headphones
The basic premise of Alexa couldn’t be simpler: You ask a question, Alexa provides the answer; you give a command, Alexa carries it out. However, this surface simplicity lies on top of a mind-bogglingly complex system that involves hardware, software, networking, artificial intelligence, and the cloud. (I cover the details of this system in Chapter 1.) Fortunately, that underlying complexity isn’t something you have to deal with, but before you can use Alexa, you need to connect a few things together so that Alexa has access to all that good stuff beneath the surface.
In this chapter, you delve into the various chores — both the required tasks that you need to do and a few optional steps that you can do if you feel like it — that turn your Alexa device from a useless hunk of plastic into a useful member of the family.
Installing the Alexa App
Here are a few questions about ...
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