Add Echo to Multiple Groups?

[DukeofArmchair]

So I recently have purchased a few Echo's throughout my home, I have a couple upstairs and a couple downstairs. I was trying to set up groups. One called Upstairs, one called Downstairs and one called Everywhere. I created the Everywhere group and it worked fine. I then went to create the upstairs group and it would not let me add any of the Echos. I can't see why I shouldn't be able to add these devices to multiple groups? I understand only one group would be able to play music at the same time and that is what I would expect. I mean if I am upstairs I would like to play music through my Upstairs Echos not Everywhere. BUT on chore days when say the wife is doing work upstairs and I am downstairs we do want to play music everywhere.

Am I missing something, has anyone else tried this type of setup?

[kevb]

Each echo can only be in one group. It is more for "Smart Home" than for music. For instance, when Upstairs, you can say "Turn on the lights" and only the upstairs lights (or the lights in that particular group) will come on. Users have been asking for this feature as many people have Echos in each room of their house, and just want to say "Turn on the light" rather than "Turn on the guest bedroom light".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201749250

[Mebejedi]

Each echo can only be in one group. It is more for "Smart Home" than for music. For instance, when Upstairs, you can say "Turn on the lights" and only the upstairs lights (or the lights in that particular group) will come on. Users have been asking for this feature as many people have Echos in each room of their house, and just want to say "Turn on the light" rather than "Turn on the guest bedroom light".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201749250

So, is that what this setting is for?

I've noticed that, once you select an Echo, it can't be selected again. Nor can I unselect an Echo, or do I have to delete the group  to do that?

So, if i have a group called "Bedroom lights", but I'm in the bedroom with that Echo, I only have to say "Turn Lights Off", and it won't require me to say "Bedroom"?

[kevb]

As long as the Echo is also in the "Bedroom Lights" group, I believe so, at least according to that link I gave. I haven't done this yet though.

[Mebejedi]

For the record, it works. Unfortunately, you can only do it for a single group. Better than nothing, though.

[BrainKing8585]

But the issue here is not smart home devices, rather multi-room music. I have the identical problem. According to Amazon (on their Alexa help page under multi-room music) it says:
“To stream different music on multiple devices or on MORE THAN ONE MULTI-ROOM MUSIC GROUP AT THE SAME TIME, you must have an Amazon Music Unlimited Family plan.” (the caps are mine for emphasis). So despite having Spotify Premium and Tidal, I’m now forking over for the macdaddy Amazon music plan, and still can’t have an upstairs group, downstairs group, plus an everywhere group that combines the two. Frustrating!
I haven’t tried telling Alexa to play music “upstairs and downstairs”. Awkward, but it may work. (That idea just came to me while typing this post.)

[holydoc]

I haven’t tried telling Alexa to play music “upstairs and downstairs”. Awkward, but it may work. (That idea just came to me while typing this post.)

I would be interested on how this works out for you.

[Rockytop]

So I just found this and know it is old...however I want to post.

So people who say that you can't link an echo to more than one group due to turning on the lights and other things like that need to realize that is not a good reason. I have an echo linked to an Amazon tv in one room and another echo linked to an amazon TV in another. No matter which room I'm in I can say "alexa pause fire tv" and it passes only the tv it is linked to. They could do this with lights too if they weren't lazy coders.

They could make it where an echo is in multiple groups...especially since the music part is in a different part of the settings than the lights. Again, lazy coders.

[asianrocker]

While I agree with you that their coders aren't the brightest. I believe your TV work like that coz you have a respective echo for each TV. If you only used one echo for them I don't think it will work like you want.

But then again I also believe the original problem here is solved by the routine feature.

In latest fire TV you can access Alexa directly right? No need for any echo unit. So I don't know why you bought echo for your TV.

You want to make it super genius or something? Like our smart TV is connected to a PC. LOL.

[scottrods]

In latest fire TV you can access Alexa directly right? No need for any echo unit. So I don't know why you bought echo for your TV.

You want to make it super genius or something? Like our smart TV is connected to a PC. LOL.

The Latest "Amazon Fire TV Stick" and "Fire TV" are both Alexa enabled but requires the push of a button to support commands (although the actual latest one is the Amazon Fire TV CUBE, which has only been out for a couple of weeks at most does indeed go hands free, but we will ignore for this discussion)... With these items the echo addition adds hands free functionality as well as more iOt controls than either supports and the new CUBE is less than a whole Echo as well according to their introduction piece I read about it... Not even sure what the purpose for the CUBE will be yet... but hope it is more usable than originally explained. So Basically Rockytop isn't going out of his way to do anything that many others have done... just not the way you're doing it, "asianrocker"... His/her approach seems perfectly normal to me.

At my systems I don't allow Alexa control over but one A/V system, the other belongs to 2 80 yr old people who can't remember to turn lights on and off by voice, even though it's easier than getting up to reach for a switch... But even having only one set of voice controlled A/V stuff... I see how they interact and don't see one way being better than the other. At least for now...

[syvmom]

Very old post, but just in case a search brings someone here ... you can now put your devices in multiple speaker groups.  The key is, it must be done from your mobile app.  It cannot be done from the web site.

Just learned this today from another poster ... life changer.