Allow Orbi Voice to be included in Alexa Multi-Room Speaker Group

This is ridiculous. A year since the first post on this topic and not a single response or comment from Netgear. I agree with previous comments that this feature should have been implemented a long time ago. It's an ESSENTIAL feature and there should be more reviews online pointing this out so potential buyers of this product are aware of the blatant oversight by the development team on an otherwise very cool product.

Is anyone at NetGear even reading these comments? I spent nearly 5 hours on 3 different support calls at the end of July 2019 before my "free" support ran out. I explained this problem to two different support tiers. The first level had me unplugging and updating firmware with non-public versions, all of which took so much time and was uselss. The second tier had trouble understanding english and kept trying to tell me it worked to group the devices but couldn't seem to understand Multi Speaker groups are the issue. I  repeatedly told him to read the forums and at least reply to users. In the end I helped him form a clearly written support ticket to be taken to a higher tier with the assurance I would be contacted, I never heard from them again. Thought I would post my efforts here so you would know what has been tried so far. A new purchaser with free support time could carry the ball further perhaps? Thanks.

Like the other commenters, I too had the expectation that the Orbi Voice Alexa speaker could participate in a multi-room audio group in the Alexa app. However, thinking about this more, I have a big question...

Is this an Amazon issue, a Netgear issue, or a Harman Kardon issue?

Researching this further, I am under the impression that not just _any_ Alexa speaker can be enabled for multi-room audio, the device has to be an _Echo_ device (e.g., Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, FireTV Cube, Echo Input), or it has to be an

Per below link...

"We have enabled multiple options for developing devices with Alexa MRM"

"Announcing Multi-Room Music for Products with Alexa Built-in"
https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/c4bbbbaf-3559-4b5e-b920-83a9d594e732/alexa-play-rolling-in-the-deep-everywhere-announcing-multi-room-music-for-products-with-alexa-built-in

"Harman Kardon, a premier speaker company, will issue a software update to enable Alexa MRM on their existing Alexa Built-in Allure speaker, allowing their customers to play synchronized music in a group along with other Alexa devices. 'Multi-Room Music allows customers to enjoy crisp, synchronized sound across multiple Allure speakers and Alexa-enabled devices,' said Dave Rogers, President, Consumer Audio at Harman Kardon. 'A simplified configuration process done via the Alexa App makes Harman Kardon Allure speakers even more versatile and delightful for customers.'"

However, if you look at the Q&A for the Allure, as of 4 months ago, Harman Kardon support says that is not yet supported at this time.

Further, the "Orbi Voice" does not exist on Harman Kardon's website, so this is a Netgear issue, as the product is sold under Netgear's name, and Netgear is the partner working with Harman Kardon to produce/maintain the speaker.

To be fair, Neither Netgear nor Harman Kardon advertised that this speaker can do Alexa MRM, so enhancement requests need to be made to Netgear to make this an Alexa Multi-Room Music supported speaker.

In summary, it is not Amazon's fault here, and technically it is Harman Kardon's fault, but we need to channel enhancements through Netgear to work with Harman Kardon.

Apparently netgear doesn't give a rats ass about this issue! I have contacted them innumerable times about this issue and never gotten a straightforward reply.

Just purchased an orbi voice and had read about Alexa limitation wrt drop-in.  Now installed and using, I see it's like a second class citizen within the Alexa ecosystem.   Wish at least multi-room music worked.  My kids really enjoy this feature.  I'm guessing Netgear's silence on this thread is indicative of their low opinion of customers.  Being transparent and direct about their intent is better than silence.  

If the Orbi speaker doesn't support all Amazon functionality it should be advertised as limited Alexa use. 

let's get the multiroom working please. 

or let me plug-in $20 input or dot....

bump.

please fix this so i can use it like any other alexa device and play multi-device music.  huge disappointment for an otherwise nice product.

Are you **bleep**ing kidding me, Netgear?! No multiroom music and this has been open on this thread since NOVEMBER 2018??? Un**bleep**ingbelievable.  And un**bleep**ingforgivable.  Lame as **bleep**.

Yeah, come on NetGear - it's 2020. How is this a difficult problem? Update the firmware!!

Agreed!  Please add this functionality!  I want to use my Orbi voice via Alexa speaker groups!!!