Question Bluetooth speaker not automatically connecting to new Windows 11 laptop on startup

[In2Photos]

I have an Amazon Echo Dot in my office. Previously it automatically connected to 2 different Windows 10 Pro PCs (not at the same time obviously) and also worked when those were upgraded to Windows 11 Pro. I recently got a new work laptop ( a Lenovo ThinkPad 16s) that came with Windows 11 Pro. I got the speaker connected to it but for some reason it does not automatically connect when you turn on the laptop. I have to manually tell it to connect each time the PC boots. I've searched the net unsuccessfully on how to fix this so far. I've tried the following:

Making sure drivers are up to date.
Making sure the "Bluetooth Support Service" is set to run automatically.
Checked the box for "Allow Bluetooth Devices to find this PC" in the Bluetooth settings
Checked the BT settings for any "default device", didn't find anything

Anyone have any ideas to try?

This laptop does have a Dolby App whereas my other PCs did not. I have not tried disabling or uninstalling this app yet to see if that changes anything.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Making sure the "Bluetooth Support Service" is set to run automatically.

Chatbot says -
Do the same for Bluetooth Audio Gateway Service if it exists

It also suggested -
Uninstall device and drivers from device mangler, reinstall.
Disable Hands-Free Telephony (if speaker has a mic)
device mangler - Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and click OK.

I only use a controller and headset with BT, so have no experience with this personally.

 

[In2Photos]

Chatbot says -
Do the same for Bluetooth Audio Gateway Service if it exists

That was also set to auto already and is running.

It also suggested -
Uninstall device and drivers from device mangler, reinstall.

I'll try this next.

Disable Hands-Free Telephony (if speaker has a mic)

Did not find an option for this on this particular device even though it has a mic. Maybe because it isn't a headset technically?

device mangler - Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and click OK.

I did this for the main Mediatek Bluetooth Adapter, will see what happens on a reboot shortly.

I only use a controller and headset with BT, so have no experience with this personally.

Thanks for the response. Google's AI didn't have this much to check out.

 

[In2Photos]

No luck. Tried first by unchecking "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Then tried uninstalling the BT device from device manager. Windows reinstalled it as soon as it rebooted, even with no network connected. I had downloaded the driver directly from the Lenovo site before hand so I could manually install it, but Windows beat me to it.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Bummer.

Chatbot says -

Troubleshooting: If it does not auto-connect, ensure the Echo Dot is set as the default output device in your laptop's sound settings.

Or alternatively, it suggested using the dot to wake up the laptop -

Automating Laptop Startup via Voice

To turn the laptop on using the Echo Dot (rather than just connecting audio), you can use a Wake-on-Lan (WoL) Skill.

• Setup: Register your device on the Wolskill website and activate the skill.
• Command: Say, “Alexa, turn on [device name]” to start the computer.

Key Limitations

• Range: Both devices must be within Bluetooth range for automatic audio connection.
• Bluetooth Toggle: If your laptop disables Bluetooth while in sleep mode, it may not reconnect automatically upon waking up.
• Audio Delay: Bluetooth may have a slight audio latency compared to a wired 3.5mm connection.