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The Neato Botvac is one of the top rated robotic vacuums and a great alternative for those who don’t want a Roomba. Since it is WiFi-connected, you can link yours to Alexa and control it from an Echo speaker. Here’s how.
Note: The Neato Botvac Connected works only on 2.4GHz band. So check that your router is either 2.4Ghz or dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz). Additionally, this guide only applies to the Botvac Connected, the Botvac D5 Connected and the Botvac D3 Connected.
1. Download the Neato App
Before using the Neato Botvac robotic vacuum cleaner with Alexa, you have to set up an account first. You’ll need the Neato app to register a new account.
Get the app for free on Google Play or the App Store.
You can actually use the app itself to control your vacuum cleaner; things like setting cleaning schedules, receiving notifications and even controlling multiple Neato vacuums.
2. Enable Neato Skill on Alexa App
If you are using Alexa, then you already have the Alexa app on your phone. If for some reason you don’t have it, get it from Google Play or app store.
Go to the app and search for the Neato skill. You can also find it on Amazon’s skills page. You can either enable it directly from the app or from Amazon’s website.
3. Connect Alexa your Neato Account
Once you enable the Neato skill, you can access it from any compatible Echo device. That includes the Echo 2, Echo Show and Echo Dot.
To complete the connection to your robotic vacuum cleaner, go back to your account on the Neato app and link it to Alexa.
Now you are ready to start controlling your vacuum cleaner using just your voice.
4. Using Alexa Voice commands
There are several voice commands you can use to control the Neato Botvac robotic vacuum cleaner.
To get the vacuum started say, “Alexa, ask Neato to start cleaning.” To pause or stop it you say, “Alexa, ask Neato to pause/stop cleaning or vacuuming.”
There are several variations of these phrases that Alexa and Neato will still recognize. For instance, instead of ask Neato to start cleaning, you can say ask Neato to go/start/vacuum/clean/run or Neato I need to clean the floor or ask Neato to start my Botvac.
In addition to the three main commands, you can also check battery level and find out where it is. Use the following commands.
Alexa, ask Neato my robot’s battery level.
Alexa, ask Neato to find my robot.
Neato says they’ll keep adding new commands.
Unfortunately, you cannot completely control the Botvac vacuum cleaner using Alexa. There are only three things you can do: start, pause and stop. Other functions such as scheduling are only available through the app or the vacuum cleaner’s physical controls.
What If I Don’t Have an Echo device or Alexa?
If you don’t have an Echo speaker, there are several other devices that come with Alexa built in.
Fire TV comes with a voice-enabled remote control.
The new Sonos One also has Alexa built into it as does the new Ecobee4 smart thermostat. Here is a handy list of third party devices that you can access Alexa voice control from if you don’t have an Echo.
If you don’t have Alexa at all, you can use any Google Home speaker. Neato Botvac is compatible with Google Assistant. It’s also compatible with IFTTT so you can connect it to your smart home hub.
If you don’t want any of this, then just use the app. You can control the vacuum cleaner from anywhere as long as it’s connected to your home WiFi. The app has many more functions than you can access through Google Home or Amazon Echo.
And if you still don’t want to use the app, the vacuum cleaner has a physical control panel.
