Roku Player refusing to connect to WiFi Connection - Videokarma.org TV - Video

vortalexfan · #1 02-15-2022, 01:31 PM

Greetings, my parents bought a couple of years ago a Roku Player for their TV (which is an older flat-panel TV that came without Smart TV Software Built-in) and the Roku worked fine at their old house but as soon as they moved into their new house last year the Roku suddenly started developing WiFi connection issues, such as continuous buffering during videos and giving connection error messages when attempting to connect it to the WiFi connection in their home.
They do have Comcast/Xfinity High Speed Internet at their home with a modem that doubles as a dual-channel Wireless Router, if that helps any, with figuring things out.

I'm kind of at a loss at what might be going on with their Roku, because my Roku isn't having any connection issues and is still going strong yet, and I have the same kind of internet as my parents have at their house...

Any ideas as to what the trouble might be?

old_tv_nut · #2 02-15-2022, 05:22 PM

How far away is their Roku from the router? Could they have interference from a neighbor's WiFi using the same channel?

If you have a laptop with WiFi, you can install WiFi Analyzer to find out what's in the air there.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/wi...ot:overviewtab

etype2 · #3 02-15-2022, 09:57 PM

A smartphone or tablet will also allow you to see neighboring connections, but I don’t think that’s the issue. The old house may have had a different provider/speed? Is the TV set connected to Roku by HDMI? If they have a lot of devices connected to their Wi-Fi system, it will slow the system down. Sounds like they have a reasonably good router, so you good try setting up priority to the Roku. That may help. I suspect the router is near the modem, which could be interfering. Try relocating or separating the devices. Try elevating the router or reorienting the router antennas, or an extender for a large home. You can download a speed check app to check speed of the Wi-Fi connection. If all else fails, try restarting both the router and modem, or pull the power plug on both devices for one minute.

old_tv_nut · #4 02-15-2022, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etype2

... Is the TV set connected to Roku by HDMI? ... I suspect the router is near the modem...

As I read the OP, the router and modem are a combination in one unit, and
the Roku is connected by WiFi.

etype2 · #5 02-15-2022, 11:10 PM

He said the set was not a smart TV?

old_tv_nut · #6 02-15-2022, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etype2

He said the set was not a smart TV?

Correct. The Roku is providing the services and is connected by hard wiring to the TV, but the Roku apparetnly is connected to the router by WiFi. Connecting the Roku to the router by ethernet would solve the WiFi problem, but maybe that's not physically practical - the OP didn't say.

etype2 · #7 02-15-2022, 11:49 PM

That is correct. Could be a larger house, slower connection, to many devices or handshake problems. I’d also recheck the HDMI connection, and restart everything.

vortalexfan · #8 02-16-2022, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

How far away is their Roku from the router? Could they have interference from a neighbor's WiFi using the same channel?

If you have a laptop with WiFi, you can install WiFi Analyzer to find out what's in the air there.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/wi...ot:overviewtab

Their Modem/Router is in the same room as the Roku, in fact it next to their TV where their Roku is installed.

My mom works for a Hospice care company and so she does a lot of work from home, and so because of that she had to get one of the highest internet speed tiers from Comcast/Xfinity underneath their Business Class/T1 internet service, and the internet has no issues on her laptop or cellphones, just the Roku.

vortalexfan · #9 02-16-2022, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etype2

That is correct. Could be a larger house, slower connection, to many devices or handshake problems. I’d also recheck the HDMI connection, and restart everything.

The house my parents live in now is actually smaller than their old house (their old house was a 2,000 Sq. Ft. Bi-Level from 1962 that the router in their old house was located in the room that used to be my sister's bedroom at one time, and that room was basically right in the middle of their house.
Their home they live in now is a 1600 Sq. Ft. ranch from 1997 that the only place they could put their router/modem was in their living room as they didn't have a cable hookup and phone line (for their landline telephone through Xfinity) in the room that my mom setup as her office in their new home, we've restarted the Roku and the modem/router numerous times and the Roku keeps giving us the same error message.

vortalexfan · #10 02-16-2022, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Correct. The Roku is providing the services and is connected by hard wiring to the TV, but the Roku apparetnly is connected to the router by WiFi. Connecting the Roku to the router by ethernet would solve the WiFi problem, but maybe that's not physically practical - the OP didn't say.

I don't have the capability to wire the Roku up with an Ethernet Cable.

Jeffhs · #11 02-16-2022, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

I don't have the capability to wire the Roku up with an Ethernet Cable.

Is there any reason why you cannot use WiFi to connect your Roku device to your router? I personally have no idea why this connection does not work for you. I don't know what Internet service you have, but that shouldn't matter as long as the connection speed is fast enough. I have Spectrum Internet, TV and phone service here, and it all works very well.

I don't know what part of Indiana you are in, though I am guessing it is the part of the state nearest to Chicago. If this is the case, you should be able to get Internet service from any one of the major carriers in this country.

I don't know what you mean when you say you "do not have the capability" to connect your Roku to your TV, using an Ethernet cable. This type of connection shouldn't be too difficult and is actually the best way to connect the device to your computer. There is a connector on the rear panel of the Roku player to which one end of the cable connects; the other end of the cable plugs into a similar socket on the TV itself. I could be wrong, as it has been quite a while since I used a wired Ethernet connection with my own Roku device (I connect the device to my TV using WiFi, which works very well). The only time I have ever used an Ethernet cable to connect my Roku to the TV was some time ago, and that just to test the Ethernet socket on my Roku device. My entire Roku system connects to my computer using WiFi and works very well. Never so much as five minutes worth of trouble with the installation.

old_tv_nut · #12 02-16-2022, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

I don't have the capability to wire the Roku up with an Ethernet Cable.

1) Why not, if they're right next to each other?

2) Maybe the signal is too strong? try moving the Roku and router farther apart.

jr_tech · #13 02-16-2022, 12:58 PM

Perhaps try your Roku at your parents house? Possibly theirs got damaged in the move.

jr

vortalexfan · #14 02-16-2022, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

1) Why not, if they're right next to each other?

2) Maybe the signal is too strong? try moving the Roku and router farther apart.

The Roku has no Ethernet port, also I tried moving the router to the other side of the house and it still wouldn't connect to the Wi-Fi.

My mom ended up just ordering a new Roku.

vortalexfan · #15 02-16-2022, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Is there any reason why you cannot use WiFi to connect your Roku device to your router? I personally have no idea why this connection does not work for you. I don't know what Internet service you have, but that shouldn't matter as long as the connection speed is fast enough. I have Spectrum Internet, TV and phone service here, and it all works very well.

I don't know what part of Indiana you are in, though I am guessing it is the part of the state nearest to Chicago. If this is the case, you should be able to get Internet service from any one of the major carriers in this country.

I don't know what you mean when you say you "do not have the capability" to connect your Roku to your TV, using an Ethernet cable. This type of connection shouldn't be too difficult and is actually the best way to connect the device to your computer. There is a connector on the rear panel of the Roku player to which one end of the cable connects; the other end of the cable plugs into a similar socket on the TV itself. I could be wrong, as it has been quite a while since I used a wired Ethernet connection with my own Roku device (I connect the device to my TV using WiFi, which works very well). The only time I have ever used an Ethernet cable to connect my Roku to the TV was some time ago, and that just to test the Ethernet socket on my Roku device. My entire Roku system connects to my computer using WiFi and works very well. Never so much as five minutes worth of trouble with the installation.

My parents have Comcast/Xfinity High Speed Internet, I have that as well at my place.

The Roku itself will not connect to the WiFi because it thinks there's no internet connection to it, it keeps throwing an error 14.xx error message which basically means that the Roku thinks that there is no internet connection even though there is.

As for the ethernet connection, the Roku they have doesn't have an ethernet port built into it.