Connecting Roku 3 without cable box
I have several big TVs connected to Xfinity...I pay a monthly fee for each box. i have a little TV next to my desk...I would like to have news on in the backgriund while I am working. i have a Roku...
Forum Discussion
The TV is a Samsung LN22B460.
Assuming your Samsung has an HDMI port, then there's no issue connecting a Roku player to it. The problem might be with the model Roku you have, as the two versions of Roku 3 are now almost ten and almost 12 years old. Looking at the Xfinity support page for Roku, they do support both models at this time. Just be aware that support for that old of a box might go away without notice. Of course, even the basic Roku Express can be bought new for a low price (currently on sale for $17.99). That would be far less expensive than paying rental fees for another cable box.
Also, be aware your TV is a 720p display. The single HDMI port will accept a 1080i signal, but not 1080p. All Roku players support 720p over HDMI, so you should be OK. Just don't try to set it to 1080 in the Roku display settings menu.
Dan--thank you for responding.
I have plugged my Roku into elec power and into the HDMI recepticles on the TV and the Roku. My cable cord is plugged from the wall into ANT IN on the back of the TV. When I turn on the TV, I get snow and a message that says Weak or No Signal.
My Samsung remote does nothing...I have to turn on the TV with the xfinity remote. If I press TV Input, choices come up, including HDMI, but I cannot change it on either remote.
Under Cable Without a Cable Box in my TV manual, it told me to plug the cable into ANT IN but maybe this is wrong? It doesn't seem logical to me that without a cable box, my TV would still be (somewhat) controlled by the xfinity remote.
Thanks...
You won't get any TV channels until you can scan for active channels. Getting snow means it's on an analog TV channel (probably channel 2, as it's the first channel) and since there's no analog TV stations anymore you won't get anything until you scan the digital portion of the broadcast TV spectrum.
It sounds like your Samsung remote isn't working correctly, perhaps bad batteries or they are installed incorrectly. To get to the Roku, you need to be able to change to the HDMI input. Maybe, perhaps, you can cycle through the different inputs with your Xfinity remote by pressing the input button multiple times.
But you are really going to need a working remote for the TV to be able to get everything working. Odds are your cable box is attempting to output an analog signal (terrible way to display a digital signal) and the TV isn't on the correct channel. Most analog outputs on devices (cable TV box, VCR, etc.) usually output by default on channel 3, so you need to be able to change the channel on the TV. If your cable box has analog outputs (red/white RCA jacks for audio and yellow for video) that would be preferable to using an RF modulator sending it out on channel 3. But that still requires being able to change the input on the TV.
