SSL certificates are one of the most important safety advances of the modern internet, but they also cause a lot of connection problems for smart technology. If your Amazon Echo show SSL certificate error, what should you do?
The first thing you should do is update your Amazon Echo Show as well as your Wi-Fi router’s firmware and drivers. You also need to make sure that the time and date on your Amazon Echo Show are accurately set based on your physical location. The last thing that you should do is make sure that your device isn't blocked by your Wi-Fi router or network administrator.
Let's quickly unpack everything you need to know about Amazon Echo Show and SSL certificates—we'll also get your device connected to the internet again with no problems!
The Amazon Echo Show and Spot
The Amazon Echo Show and Amazon Spot are two of the most popular smart devices from Amazon.
The first thing you're going to notice about both of these devices is that they have a screen. You're not just limited to using Alexa voice commands even though they work just fine with these devices.
The Amazon Echo Show has a larger screen which makes it great for using more touch controls and even watching content with a smaller screen. It also makes a great overall control hub for your smart technology—if you’re all in on Alexa.
The Spot has a much smaller screen, but this can be great if you're looking for something a little more modest. The Amazon spot is great to throw by your desk so you can have a little visual information to go with your voice commands.
Both of these devices rely on SSL certificates. Sometimes a technical-looking error will appearing on screen, saying something like:
- “SSL Certificate Error: Your connection is not secure. The certificate hostname does not match.”
- or:
- “SSL Certificate Error: Your connection is not secure. The date of the certificate is invalid.”
In order to understand how to fix this error, let's take a closer look at what these “SSL certificates” are, and why they matter for Amazon's technology.
What is an SSL Certificate, Anyway?
SSL certificates are currently the standard for safe websites and encryption of online information (encrypt certificate). If you look at the URL of the website you're currently on, you'll see a little padlock icon. That means this website is secured with an SSL certificate:
An SSL certificate is essentially just the sign of digital safety. Here's a quick overview of how they work in practical terms and are different from self signed certificate.
- You click on a new website and before your browser opens it, your browser will request an SSL certificate.
- The website you're going to visit then sends your browser a copy of its SSL certificate.
- Your browser then determines if the SSL server certificate is valid.
- If it is valid, your browser returns a digitally signed SSL certificate and opens up an encrypted connection between your computer and the website.
SSL certificates have been an effective upgrade to online security. They help prevent everything from hackers to corporations misusing your private data. However, they can cause problems when interfacing with older technology, or sometimes the latest smart tech gadgets!
Let's get into some fixes if you've been having problems with your Amazon Echo device giving you the SSL certificates error.
How to Fix Amazon Echo SSL Certificate Error
Before we jump into all of them were complicated fixes, we just wanted to give you the easiest thing you can do to potentially fix your SSL certificate error on an Amazon Echo Show:
Try This First! You should always try restarting your device before jumping and other fixes. It just might be a temporary glitch or a small problem that gets fixed when your device resets.
If this doesn't work, we've got eight fixes that can get your Amazon Echo Show working again.
Update Your Echo Show
Something you should always do is keep your Amazon Echo Show and Amazon Spot up to date.
Keeping smart devices up-to-date is the best way to make sure that they work as intended. Updates cover everything from glitches to potential security threats. Updates are also vital for making sure that your devices can properly exchange SSL certificates.
An outdated device might not be able to deliver a valid or digitally signed SSL certificate. It also might be unable to validate SSL certificates because it's running an older firmware that doesn't recognize updated standards.
Your Echo Show (and Spot) should automatically update its software, but you can also confirm this by clicking “Device Options” (under Settings) then hitting the “Check for Software Updates” menu item:
In short, always keep your device up-to-date and it will run into way fewer problems.
Use a Compatible Wi-Fi Router
You also want to make sure that you're using a router that's compatible with your Amazon Echo Show.
Some modern routers have features that are too advanced for Amazon Echo Show and Amazon Spot. One of the biggest culprits is WPA3 password standards. Amazon's devices currently only support WPA2.
This means you either need to downgrade your Wi-Fi router (if it's a very modern/secure one which no longer offers older WPA2 variants), or get a Wi-Fi router that can offer both WPA3 and WPA2.
Correct Your Echo Time and Date
Our next fix is deceptively simple. The time and date on your Amazon device needs to match with the real world time and date in your location.
If we look under the hood of the SSL certificate, one of the things that goes into validating these certificates is checking the current time. If, for some reason, your device is displaying an incorrect time, it might not be able to validate any SSL certificates.
While you can't change the time directly on your Echo device (this comes from Amazon's servers), you should always check to ensure that the region and time zone are correct. To do this, go into the Settings, click “Device Options” and then “Date & Time”:
Check to See if Your Echo or Spot is Blocked
The next thing you should do is head to the admin settings on your Wi-Fi router and take a look at the list of approved devices.
Amazon Echo Show devices have a bad habit of showing up under odd names like “Android”:
You should scroll through your list of approved devices as well as the list of blocked devices to make sure that your Amazon Echo and Amazon Spot are able to access your Wi-Fi network.
Devices named Android are deceptively common because they include a wide range of smart tech as well as smartphones. You can spot test to see if any of these devices are actually your Amazon Echo by unblocking them one at a time and seeing if your Echo reconnects.
Contact Your Network Administrator
You might be trying to use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Spot on an administered Wi-Fi network. These Wi-Fi networks are common at offices, universities, and even apartment complexes that have included Wi-Fi as part of the cost of rent.
It's entirely possible that the network administrator for your particular Wi-Fi network has accidentally blocked Amazon Echo devices. This could even be related to the Android naming problem we talked about earlier.
If you're on an administrator-controlled Wi-Fi network, send your admin and email to check and see if Amazon Echo devices have accidentally been blocked on this wi-fi network.
VPNs and Ad Blockers
Our next fix involves a little bit more of an advanced situation, but it could be preventing your Amazon Echo device from working as intended.
When most people think of VPNs and ad blockers, they think of apps that they run on their phone or on their computer. However, you can actually have a VPN or ad blocker running at the router level and covering your entire network.
If you have this advanced VPN or ad blocker setup, it might be disrupting how your Amazon Echo Show interacts with SSL certificates. Amazon is notorious for being incredibly picky about VPNs and network-level ad blockers. They frequently disrupt the service of Echo Show and Amazon spot devices.
You'll need to either fully disable your VPN and ad blocker or change their settings around until your Echo Show reconnects to the internet.
SSL Cert Errors and Outdated Wi-Fi Networks
Of course, the problem might not have anything to do with your Amazon Echo Show. It could be your Wi-Fi router that's actually causing you all this trouble.
If it is your Wi-Fi router, you'll probably notice more problems than just an SSL certificate error on your Echo Show. You might have difficulty connecting to the internet in general, or see other connection problems in apps like Gmail and social media.
This happens because your Wi-Fi network is out of date. This means that your router can no longer connect to the latest SSL certificate standards which creates a lot of error message across the board.
You should check to see if there are any new updates for your Wi-Fi router. This could be firmware updates for the router, new drivers for your PC, or maybe even a full hardware update to a new Wi-Fi router.
Using Echo Show on Wi-Fi Networks That Need Frequent Logins
Our last fix has us looking at the Wi-Fi network itself. There's a certain type of Wi-Fi network that's notorious for causing problems with smart devices like the Amazon Echo Show.
If you have a Wi-Fi network that requires you to log in through a web portal before you can access the internet, you might have a lot of difficulty getting your Amazon Echo Show to work.
This type of Wi-Fi is commonly found in shared, public networks. This could be at your local library, student housing at your university, or maybe the Wi-Fi from the coffee shop across the street.
It can be very difficult to get Amazon Echo Show devices working on these Wi-Fi networks. They are often unable to meet the sign in check before fully connecting to the internet. If they can bypass that sign in, there are often a lot of problems as these Wi-Fi networks tend to boot devices that stay connected too long.
You can always try reaching out to the admin for this Wi-Fi network to get your Amazon device whitelisted so it can stay connected longer without having to login. However, this is at the discretion of that network's administrator and whether or not they're willing to play ball with Amazon Echo is going to be determined a case-by-case basis.
