I wonder how well it sounds ?

Maybe worth a punt for $30 NZD

The few comments I read said speaker was quite a bit better than echo dot. Mic's were worse, but supposedly fixed a little while ago with an update. No Bluetooth.

The single band wifi concerns me. My echo tap is largly useless sometimes, and I can only put that down to it only being 2.4GHz so having to sit on that SSID which is barely usable to even stream spotify on a crappy tablet with no 5GHz. At $20 it might be worth a shot tho, lack of bluetooth or audio out makes it really only useful for contrlling things so lousy streaming performance may not be an issue.

How IOT products are expected to succeed without AC networking or an ethernet port is beyond me...

It must increase trouble-shooting calls / e-mails when the products don't take advantage of the best network connections possible.

Huh? 2.4ghz has far better range and penetration. 5ghz is for fast and close range. So pretty much useless on a product like this that will never need 5ghz and makes far more sense always being on the 2.4ghz band.

The 2.4 band is a trashfire of otherpeoples wifi, and other things. I cant even stream spotify on my phone when standing outside with about 6 meters line of sight to the kitchen AP when on 2.4GHz. upstream is almost nothing from the phone when outside being bombarded with everyone elses wifi, including my own with some wifi cameras around the place.

richms:

 

The 2.4 band is a trashfire of otherpeoples wifi, and other things. I cant even stream spotify on my phone when standing outside with about 6 meters line of sight to the kitchen AP when on 2.4GHz. upstream is almost nothing from the phone when outside being bombarded with everyone elses wifi, including my own with some wifi cameras around the place.

 

You in an apartment? (I have around 6 in the suburbs.) Assume you've looked for a less crowded channel?

Not appartments, a house. About 20 other networks visible (16 not mine) when I am inside.

I'm moving into an apartment in about a years time - the aim is to have nothing reliant on 2.4Ghz by that point.

A lot will be hard-wired, but my Harmony Hub and Amazon Alexa are proving to be the two hardest items to replace... I will certainly update them if they offer an AC network version!

I agree - wired is always preferred. Bit annoying Harmony Hub and Google Home don't have the option. Wireless for phones and mobile devices...

But I have no issue on my property with 2.4ghz.