You've mounted your Echo Hub on the wall, plugged in the USB-C cable, and tapped Add Device in the Alexa app. But setup keeps failing at "Searching" or "Connecting to Wi-Fi." Sometimes it finds the hub but won't register it to your account. Other times the Alexa app just spins forever.
Start with the most common culprit: the Wi-Fi band your phone is on during setup. The Echo Hub broadcasts its own setup network on 2.4 GHz only, and your phone has to talk to it on that same band. If your home Wi-Fi is 5 GHz only or uses band steering that forces your phone onto 5 GHz, the pairing will fail every time. Go ahead and set your phone to the 2.4 GHz network manually before you do anything else.
Check Your Power Source
The Echo Hub ships with a 12.5W USB-C wall adapter, and that's what Amazon expects you to use for setup. If you're trying to power it with a third-party USB-C adapter that's lower wattage or doesn't support Power Delivery properly, the hub might boot but can't maintain a stable enough connection for the Bluetooth handshake and Wi-Fi scan. Stick with the included adapter for initial setup.
If you've already installed a PoE+ adapter (like the PoE Texas at-HUB), make sure it's compliant with 802.3at and that your network switch actually delivers enough power. Some PoE injectors only output 15.4W (802.3af), which is insufficient for the Echo Hub's full operation during setup, leading to intermittent failures. If you're stuck, temporarily switch to the USB-C wall adapter to finish setup, then swap back to PoE+ afterward.
Set Your Phone to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
On your phone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and select your 2.4 GHz network specifically. If your router broadcasts both bands under one SSID (band steering), you'll need to turn off 5 GHz temporarily in your router's settings, or move far enough from the router that only 2.4 GHz reaches. Some routers let you disable the 5 GHz radio for 10 minutes in the admin panel. Do that, start the Alexa app, and proceed with setup.
Grant Alexa App the Right Permissions
The Alexa app needs permission to access your phone's Bluetooth, location, and local network to discover and pair the Echo Hub. Without these, the app will look for the hub but never find it. On iPhone, go to Settings > Alexa and make sure Bluetooth, Location (While Using the App), and Local Network are all toggled on. On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Alexa > Permissions and enable Location and nearby devices (Bluetooth). If any permission was denied, the setup process will hang at "Searching for devices" without a useful error message.
Reset the Echo Hub if It Was Set Up Before
The Echo Hub remembers its previous Amazon account and Wi-Fi network. If it was returned or relisted, or if you're trying to replace an existing hub, you must factory reset it before pairing fresh. The full factory reset is done through the on-screen menu: Settings > Device Options > Reset to Factory Defaults. If the touchscreen isn't responding, hold the mute button on the back for 5 10 seconds to restart the hub, but that only reboots it, it won't clear previous account data. You need the on-screen factory reset to truly wipe it.
Enter the Setup Code Manually
When the Alexa app asks you to scan the QR code on the back of the Echo Hub, you might have trouble if the hub is already mounted flat against the wall. The QR code is on the back of the device, not on the screen or in the box. Instead of struggling to reach it, tap Enter code manually in the Alexa app. The 6-digit code is printed on the back panel. If you can't see it without unmounting, check the original packaging, it's also listed on the quick-start card.
Simplify Your Wi-Fi Password Temporarily
The Alexa app's Wi-Fi handshake has been known to choke on passwords with symbols like %, &, or /. If your Wi-Fi password contains any special characters, change it temporarily to something simple (all lowercase letters, no symbols) through your router's admin settings. Once the Echo Hub is connected and registered, you can change the password back to the original and reconnect the hub through the Alexa app.
Move Your Phone Within a Few Feet of the Hub
The Bluetooth connection used for initial discovery is strong only at short range. If your phone is more than 10 15 feet from the Echo Hub, or there's a wall between them, the BLE link can drop right before the Wi-Fi handshake. Stand right in front of the mounted hub during setup. Once the hub grabs Wi-Fi credentials, distance no longer matters.
Reinstall the Alexa App
The Alexa app can accumulate corrupted cache and stuck setup states. If you've tried everything above and it still fails at the same step, delete the Alexa app, restart your phone, and install it fresh from the App Store or Google Play. Sign in with your Amazon account and start the Add Device process again. This clears any leftover pairing state that might be confusing the app.
Verify Your Amazon Account Region
Amazon accounts are region-specific. If your account was created in the U.S. but you're setting up an Echo Hub purchased in the U.K., registration can fail at the server side. Check your account region in the Alexa app under Settings > Account Settings > Country Setting. If it's wrong, you'll need to contact Amazon customer service to change it, the setting can't be changed in the app. If you have multiple Amazon accounts, make sure you're logged into the one that matches the hub's purchased region.
If the hub still won't set up after all this, the issue might be a deeper hardware fault. But in most cases, it's a Wi-Fi band mismatch, a permissions gap, or a previous account lock. Start with the phone on 2.4 GHz and go from there.
