Forum Discussion

JJL1962's avatar
JJL1962
Reel Rookie
11 months ago
Solved

Issues after upgrading network speed

Today, I upgraded my network from 100/100 to 300/300.  I have confirmed that it is over 300/300.  When reconnecting my Roku devices (Ultra, Steaming Stick +, Streaming Stick), I noticed all devices i...
app playback
  • RokuTakashi's avatar
    RokuTakashi
    11 months ago

    Thanks for keeping us posted, JJL1962 

    As Strega2 advised, If your internet download speed is consistently greater than the values below, you should be able to reliably stream content with the listed resolution.

    • Standard definition, or SD: You may need 3Mbps or more.
    • High definition, or HD: You may need 5Mbps or more.
    • 4K Ultra HD, or 4K UHD: You may need up to 25Mbps.

    Additionally, we recommend checking if you are connected with your router's 5GHz frequency band since this is the optimal channel that you can connect with your Roku devices to achieve a faster internet connection. You may want to make sure that your router is close and within range with your Roku devices.

    Further, restarting your modem/router can also help.

    Let us know how it goes.

    Best wishes,
    Kash

JJL1962's avatar
JJL1962
Reel Rookie
11 months ago

Thank you but I have already tried these tips multiple times.  My real question is why would my signal strength be Excellent on all three Rokus yet the connection speed is much slower than when I was at 100/100.  My Ultra is about 15 feet from the router and typically was over 80mbps.  Today at 300/300, with an Excellent signal, it is below 30 mbps.  Are there any limitations to the Rokus, especially if it is more than a few years old?  And is there anyone I can talk to as it's much easier and faster to resolve an issue?  Thank you.

Strega2's avatar
Strega2
Roku Guru
11 months ago

What are you streaming?  A typical HD stream needs about 5Mbps.  A Netflix 4K UHD stream is about 16Mbps.

For what it’s worth, I’ve seen the same Roku get 120Mbps or 23Mbps depending on which channel I set the router for.  (The channel that produced 23Mbps is the one that a Wi-Fi analyzer showed the least interfering networks on.)

By the way, these tests were on 1000/1000 Internet connections. A laptop near the Roku got around 460Mbps on the first channel and 490Mbps on the channel that produced 23Mbps on the Roku.  That’s one of the joys of Wi-Fi – inconsistent results across different devices. 

  • JJL1962's avatar
    JJL1962
    Reel Rookie
    11 months ago

    Just streaming the usual apps like YTTV, YouTube, QVC.  Up until last night, we had no issues for as long as I can remember.  Today, we switched to 300/300 and all of these apps are either not loading or buffering.  The connection speed was usually above 70 for the Ultra, sometimes up to 90.  Today, I'm getting connection speeds under 10.  I have another Ultra coming tomorrow.  If I still have an issue after installing the new Ultra, I'm calling Verizon for help or to have them take out the new router and I'll go back to the stability of 100/100. 

    • RokuTakashi's avatar
      RokuTakashi
      Community Moderator
      11 months ago

      Thanks for keeping us posted, JJL1962 

      As Strega2 advised, If your internet download speed is consistently greater than the values below, you should be able to reliably stream content with the listed resolution.

      • Standard definition, or SD: You may need 3Mbps or more.
      • High definition, or HD: You may need 5Mbps or more.
      • 4K Ultra HD, or 4K UHD: You may need up to 25Mbps.

      Additionally, we recommend checking if you are connected with your router's 5GHz frequency band since this is the optimal channel that you can connect with your Roku devices to achieve a faster internet connection. You may want to make sure that your router is close and within range with your Roku devices.

      Further, restarting your modem/router can also help.

      Let us know how it goes.

      Best wishes,
      Kash

      • JJL1962's avatar
        JJL1962
        Reel Rookie
        11 months ago

        I could never stream on 5mbps. If my Ultra is not at 70, there is latency. Once again, the only thing that changed was an upgrade to my router from 100/100 to 300/300. I could connect at 80mbps with 100/100 and had no issues. With 300/300, I’m connecting at less than 40mbps with significant latency on multiple apps. The router and Ultra are in the same exact spots.  No issues with any other devices other than Rokus. Are there any techs in this community that are experts on the Rokus?